STATE OF THE UNIVERSITY ADDRESS: William V. Muse (A complete text of President Muse's address is available on the A.U. World Wide Web site.)
President Muse reminded the faculty of today's referendum to fund Auburn City schools. He also noted the efforts of V.P. Ferguson and his staff to protect the campus and repair the damage caused by Hurricane Opal last week. Muse said he and Provost Parks regretted the loss of two and one-half days of class time, but they thought the safety and well-being of students and employees should be the primary concern.
Muse began his address by thanking the faculty, who he called "the strength of the University." He proclaimed that A.U. enters its 140th year on "sound footing," and listed five reasons for this positive outlook: 1) the dedication of A.U. faculty; 2) continued emphasis on quality instruction at the undergraduate level; 3) enrollment of excellent students; 4) loyal and supportive alumni; and 5) the optimistic attitude of A.U. alumni and friends. Muse said Auburn's current situation should be viewed in the context of the national environment for higher education. Confidence and support once enjoyed by the academy has been replaced by distrust. The prevailing attitude is that federal and state governments have more pressing priorities, and that higher education has failed to be responsive to the needs of the people. Reductions in funding for post-secondary education have resulted.
In anticipation of a decrease in state funding, A.U. instituted a hiring freeze early in 1995 and set aside two-thirds of the savings from vacant positions. The hiring freeze plus a retirement incentive combined to provide the flexibility needed to accommodate a 7.5% across-the-board decrease in state appropriations. Muse said the 1995-96 budget reflected a "sizeable decrease" in personnel from administrative and support units: an 11.1% reduction in "administrators", a 10.8% reduction in "professionals", and an 8.4% reduction in clerical staff. By contrast, he said, faculty positions were reduced only 4.1%, which was consistent with the announced goal that the greatest losses would be in administrative and support areas.
According to Muse, A.U.'s long term direction became more focused during the past year as strategic plans were finalized and initial attempts to establish academic and administrative priorities were concluded. Muse and Parks have decided that the University must differentiate between priorities emanating from its long-term mission and those that arise from annual resource needs. Muse announced plans to appoint a task force to develop "a clear statement of the University's long-term mission," and to determine which programs are central to and supportive of that mission. He said the assignment should be completed by the end of the 1995-96 academic year. In the meantime, Muse said he expected Parks to continue refining the basis on which priorities should be established for annual allocation or reallocation of resources. He emphasized that factors relating to productivity, efficiency, and quality, were especially relevant to those decisions, and he maintained that A.U. had not given sufficient attention to the measurement of quality.
Warning that universities may have fewer resources in the future, Muse said efforts must be made to assure that quality is preserved and priorities are addressed. He expressed concern about the number of degree programs at A.U. that fail to meet viability standards established by the Alabama Commission on Higher Education. He said programs that do not graduate the required number of students "must be regarded as candidates for elimination," in order to free resources needed elsewhere. Muse also planned to study combining programs with low productivity or whose functions overlap. He said he had already ordered merger of several units, and had appointed a task force to look at consolidating the Nursing Schools at A.U.M. and A.U. Foreseeing other such opportunities, Muse said he would appoint another task force to recommend additional changes.
Muse declared his vision for A.U. was of "a very good comprehensive university that builds upon its traditions," with emphasis on "instruction, high-quality teaching and effective learning." He also saw "a very significant role for new instructional delivery mechanisms," and he stressed "recognition of the individual" as the focus of the University's concern. He envisioned cooperative relationships and strong interdisciplinary programs, as well as "increasing reliance upon private funding." Most importantly, Muse said, his vision was of "an institution that is focused and confident, moving forward and building on a unity of purpose that is dedicated to quality and guided by its priorities." He urged the faculty to embrace his vision.
Muse concluded his remarks by thanking the faculty again and pledging to be "as responsive, supportive, and flexible as conditions will allow in reacting to your concerns."
Y. Kozlowski (Immediate Past-Chair) asked Muse how he intended to pursue prioritization and reduction of costs of administrative services. Muse said each vice president had been asked to consider whether the work within that unit could be done by fewer people.
L. Gerber (HY) mentioned cynicism among faculty because of the lack of correlation between the program prioritization and budgeting processes in 1995. Much of the University's savings was due to retirement, and Gerber was troubled that such a budget strategy failed to recognize academic program priorities established earlier in the year. Muse replied that, based on data given to him by Provost Parks, money from vacant positions was placed into a reserve fund. Parks "looked into reallocating those funds back to the various deans," and Muse contended the reallocations were "highly skewed toward programs that were judged to be of the highest priority based upon our preliminary rankings this past year." He reiterated the importance of distinguishing between priorities associated with the University's long-term mission, and those tied to annual resource needs, and he admitted that last year's program rankings had "intermingled" those priorities.
J. Grover (Chair-Elect) inquired about recommendations from the Senate regarding the semester calendar and the employee benefits study that revealed Auburn's low ranking. Muse said he had delayed forwarding a recommendation to the Trustees on the semester calendar, because he wanted an opportunity to discuss the issue with student leadership and because of a request for a faculty referendum on the issue. Regarding employee benefits, Muse mentioned recommendations by the Insurance & Benefits Committee that he said would improve A.U.'s benefits package and would "make the paying of those benefits more financially responsible."
R. Penaskovic (HY) asked who had initiated the move to "downsize" A.U. Muse said the decision was the result of information from several sources; the strategic planning process that began three years ago had some of those objectives in mind. The movement was strengthened by predictions that Governor James would seek a major reduction in funding for higher education, and by insistence from the Board of Trustees that the institution should move in that direction.
C. Bailey (AEC/RSY) asked what role the faculty would play in program prioritization in the upcoming year. Muse said the two task forces he described earlier would have "significant faculty participation," and other efforts would take place at the level of colleges or departments. Provost Parks added that college-level priorities and goals committees would be retained for 1995-96, and would make recommendations to the Provost's office. U. Albrecht (MH) asked about the prerogative of academic deans to overrule recommendations by faculty committees about college priorities. Calling the process a "modified democracy," Muse said faculty input and discussion would be solicited but administrators would be responsible for making the final rankings within a unit.
M. Melancon (HY) asked Muse to comment on the quantitative nature of ACHE criteria used to evaluate programs, considering Muse's emphasis on quality as a criterion. Muse responded that some programs at Auburn have produced no graduates over a five-year period, and others have produced only one or two graduates per year. He said those programs would be examined to determine whether they should continue, considering the lack of student interest.
J. Brown (JM) asked for clarification of the program ranking process, and Muse replied that the rankings which currently exist would be refined for annual resource allocation and reallocation. He reiterated the need to identify programs that are central to Auburn's long- term mission. G. Howze (AEC/RSY) expressed concern that program prioritization had been conducted outside the conventional standing committee structure described in the Faculty Handbook. Muse agreed that existing committees should be used wherever possible, but, in this case, the issues involved "did not fit conveniently into the responsibilities of any given committee..., and it was necessary to create special task forces to look at this." Muse said he and Parks would continue to discuss this with Faculty Chair Fields to see if an existing structure can be used. Howze stressed that continuing processes should utilize standing committees, rather than ad hoc committees or task forces.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
A. Office of the Provost: Paul Parks
Parks informed the faculty of three vacant deanships. Stewart Schneller (Sciences & Mathematics) will chair a search committee to seek a new Dean of University Libraries. The Senate Rules Committee was asked to suggest faculty names for that committee and also for search committees for Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine and for the Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs/Dean of the Graduate School. Parks noted Muse's appointment of a joint A.U./A.U.M. faculty committee to study merger of nursing programs at those campuses. He also reported asking the academic deans for advice about making up class days lost to Hurricane Opal.
C. Brunner (Secretary) questioned why Parks had asked the Senate Rules Committee to nominate faculty to serve on a search committee for an academic dean, rather than asking the faculty of that college for nominees. Parks said he asked the Rules Committee to provide names from the college for which the search would be carried out, and from colleges having close relationships with that college. He said he was "open to other suggestions" from the University Senate if it did not want him to handle committee appointments in that way.
B. University Faculty Chair: Kent Fields
Fields announced that the University Senate had scheduled a special meeting on October 17 to discuss changes in the A.U. health insurance program proposed by the Insurance & Benefits Committee. He said President Muse planned to take recommendations to the Board of Trustees on November 3.
C. Ad hoc Strategic Planning Committee for University Outreach: John Heilman
Heilman said V.P. David Wilson had appointed the Outreach Strategic Planning Committee and asked it to consider the following: a definition of University Outreach and its relation to Auburn's other missions; impediments to effective outreach at A.U., including reward for outreach activities, as well as the assessment of quality of outreach activities; and the strategic direction of outreach. He encouraged faculty participation in this process, and explained that the committee's report would not be ready for several months.
COMMITTEE REPORTS: None
OLD BUSINESS:
A. Referendum on Quarter versus Semester Calendar: Mike Williams
Chair Fields said the leadership of the University Faculty had received a petition requesting consideration of an issue of concern to the faculty. He called on Mike Williams (ENT), who read the following motion: "The Faculty of Auburn University request that the Auburn University Administration conduct a referendum of all on-campus tenure-track faculty regarding conversion from a quarter to a semester academic calendar. The results of this referendum will be compiled and presented to the Auburn University Board of Trustees prior to their consideration of a change in the Auburn University academic calendar." C. Flood (AEC) seconded the motion.
J. Hume (Univ. Outreach) asked why only tenure-track faculty were included, and mentioned the role of non-tenure track faculty in academic functions. R. Gandy (PS) reported that a similar poll conducted last year had indicated 51% of the faculty favored a change to semesters, while 45% preferred to remain on the quarter system; he recalled that the University Senate already voted on the issue. C. Brunner (VPB) agreed, but explained that some people considered the 1995 survey to have been an opinion poll rather than a referendum. H. Rotfeld (MT) asked President Muse what additional data he thought might be obtained through the proposed referendum, and Muse replied that he considered the poll conducted last Winter to have been an adequate survey of Faculty opinion on the issue. S. Johnson (ZY) asked how much the change to semesters would cost, and C. Brunner replied that the ad hoc committee had been unable to obtain cost estimates.
C. Bailey said he strongly supported representation in the Senate, but the vote to change to semesters had been close and the 1995 survey had been conducted before the faculty appreciated the likelihood of a switch in calendars. He argued that all on-campus faculty should be able to vote in the referendum; therefore, he proposed an amendment that would delete the term "tenure-track" and add the word "University". The amended motion would read "...a referendum of all on-campus University Faculty...". Bailey's amendment was seconded by J. Hume and approved by a show of hands.
D. Martin (PO) proposed an amendment that would change the motion to read, "... conversion from a quarter to an early semester academic calendar." B. Gastaldo seconded Martin's amendment, which passed by a show of hands. H. Rotfeld recommended that the referendum include other information, such as rank or years at A.U., and the authors of the original motion agreed. G. Swanson (PS) said he thought the content of the Holly report was important to evaluation of the issue, and he proposed that faculty be asked to indicate on the ballot whether they had read the report.
J. Grover called the question, and the amended motion carried by a show of hands.
A motion for adjournment was approved by voice vote; the meeting was adjourned at 4:50 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Cindy J. Brunner
Secretary to the University Faculty