Transcript Report to the MU Faculty by Rex Campbell Chair, MU Faculty

Report to the MU Faculty
by
Rex Campbell
Chair, MU Faculty Council
Fall, 2006
MU Faculty Council
Shared Governance with a focus on
academic policy
30 elected members
plus 4 non-voting members
2006 – 2007 Council Officers
Chair – RRC
Vice Chair – Jenice Prather-Kinsey
IFC (Intercampus Faculty Council)
Representative – Frank Schmidt
(Frank is chair of IFC this year)
Recorder – Clark Gantzer
Board of Curators Observer – Laura Schopp
Interim Web Editor – Sudarshan Loyalka
Parliamentarian – Bryan Garton
Staff – Rebekah Hart
Council Committee Chairs
Academic Affairs – William Lamberson
Diversity Enhancement – Wilson Watt
Faculty Affairs – Edward Adelstein
Fiscal Affairs – Tom Phillips
Student Affairs – Michael Devaney
Three Types of Issues
Finished Issues
In Process Issues
Future Issues
Issues – Finished
Grades (William Lamberson)
A new grade: “Fn”
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To be given as the final grade when a
student drops out of school during the
semester without officially withdrawing
For administrative use only
Will show only an “F” on the transcript
Issues – Finished
Family Leaves
The Family Leave Policy that was
approved by the MU faculty last spring
is now in effect
The IFC is now reviewing at President
Floyd’s request, all types of leaves
Issues – Finished
Non-Tenure Track Faculty
A Brief Review – This creates four types on NTT
faculty with three ranks in each:
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Clinical
Extension
Research
Teaching
Assistant Professors, Associate Professors and
Professors in each
This policy is completed and is being
implemented on all campuses
Issues – In Process
Non-Tenure Track Faculty – (Edward
Adelstein)
On Columbia campus – we are in the
process of adding NTT faculty as
non-voting members of the Faculty
Council
Issues – Finished
Resolution on Diversity (Wilson Watt)
The Faculty Council recently passed a resolution
stating our commitment for equal treatment of all
groups on campus regardless of their gender,
ethnicity, sexual orientation or any other
characteristics
This was done in response to a comment made
at the last Board of Curators’ meeting
concerning “Queer Theory” courses
Issues – In Process
Faculty Grievance Process
(Robert Youngquist & Robert Torres – co-chairs)
MU has a new three year experimental process
We have finished the first year
Seven grievances have been entered and are in
process
The new policy is working much smoother than
the old
The addition of a highly qualified investigative
officer (Laurie Mintz) has been a major
contribution
Nevertheless, there are a few places where
changes will need to be made
Issues – In Process
2008 - 2009 Calendar (William
Lamberson)
Two versions are currently being considered
The difference between the two is the starting
date for the second semester either January 12th
or 19th
The 19th seems to be the preferred version
This will be voted on at the next Council
meeting, November 2nd
Issues – In Process
Proposed “new” undergraduate multicollege degree program in
“professional studies”
It is a major revision of the General
Studies Program
Provost Foster is taking the lead in this
Discussions are still in the early stages of
what the degree might contain and all
other aspects
Issues – In Process
Academic Program Reviews (IFC)
The Board of Curators is requiring that all
academic programs be reviewed
All 144 UM programs are being reviewed at the
UM system level
The program costs per credit hour are being
computed based upon faculty salaries and other
course costs and course enrollments (revenues)
Academic Program Reviews
The basis for comparison is the results of
a national study done at Delaware
If a MU program costs are greater than
150% of the national average for the
discipline, it will be subject to an individual
audit
In some cases, there will be extenuating
explanations for the higher costs
MU Biological Sciences
(partial example only)
Unit National %
Departmental Average Cost per SCH: $193 $208
93%
Costs minus Income
- $66 SCH
Fall SCH per Total Faculty FTE:
256
218
117%
(Instructional Productivity)
Research/Service per Ranked Regular Faculty FTE:
(Grants Productivity)
$177,683 $146,828 121%
Also included enrollment trends, degrees generated and number of
majors and scholarly and service activities
Let me emphasize that it is credit hour production that drives units cost
efficiency
National Average Cost Per Credit Hour By Discipline
Social & Behavioral Sciences
Humanities
Sciences
Engineering
Business
Agriculture
Education
Health Professions
Human Environmental Studies
Professional Schools
0
100 200
300 400
500 600
700 800
900 1000
National Average Cost Per Credit Hour ($)
These are available for individual disciplines
Issues – In Process
Spellings Report on the Future of
Higher Education
Frank Schmidt will discuss the IFC
and MU FC initiatives on
“accountability”
Issues – Future
A few observations on the changing
higher education
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Nation wide, there is movement towards
undergraduate degree becoming even
more of a general credentialing degree
In the not to distant future, almost
everyone will be expected to have a
degree
Much like high school diplomas are
today
Issues – Future
More and more students will start their
post-high school studies in community
colleges and then transfer to four year
institutions
This change has already impacted the UM
metropolitan campuses
UMSL has almost no freshmen students
currently (about 4%)
Issues – Future
This shift means that we must rethink our
educational process including how we
relate to community colleges
Whether we think it is correct or not,
transferability of courses from one
institution to another will be mandated by
state and federal authorities
Issues – Future
Because more people will have the
undergraduate degrees, increasing
numbers will attempt to further differentiate
themselves by getting a graduate degree
We need to develop a “general studies”
master’s degree
My Closing Thoughts
The University of Missouri I entered in 1961 was
very, very different from today’s university
I strongly suspect that unless you are nearing
retirement age, the MU from which you retire will
be very different from that of today.
The rate of changes will not slow down, rather it
is increasing
Changes are very difficult for conservative
organizations like universities
Good Luck!
The Faculty Council solicits your
suggestions for campus academic
policy issues that need to be
addressed
Please contact your college representative
or send your suggestions to me
What are your questions or comments?
Thanks