Transcript Radford University Faculty Presentation to the Board of Visitors May 10, 2013 Dr.

Radford University
Faculty Presentation to the Board of Visitors
May 10, 2013
Dr. Laura Jacobsen, [email protected]
Outline
• Selected activities and successes from 2012-2013
• 2013 Faculty Morale Survey response rates
• COACHE Survey status
• Key efforts in the coming year
• Motions requesting position by BOV
• Financial resources and needs
• Elected Faculty Senate officers for 2013-2014
Selected Activities and Successes in 2012-2013
Faculty Senate established each of the following task forces:
• Child Care
• Honors Academy
• Online Education
Reports from each task force will be summarized at fall BOV meeting
Selected Activities and Successes in 2012-2013
Internal Governance Reform:
• Strengthened relationships between faculty and the BOV
– Thank you!
• Task force efforts in progress
Selected Activities and Successes in 2012-2013
• Recommended transition to +/- grading system
• Eliminated the 133% rule for faculty salaries
• Recommended a new family-friendly policy on extension of the
probationary period for tenure under special circumstances
• Recommended changes in terms and evaluation of department
chairs/school directors
• Recommended creation of a new rank of Senior Instructor
Faculty Morale Survey Response Rates 2013
Administered by the Radford University Faculty Senate Campus Environment
Committee from March 25 – April 5 using Qualtrics.com.
The survey recipient list included 715 T&R and A/P faculty with teaching
responsibilities, including adjuncts. A total of 317 faculty members participated in
the survey, for a response rate of approximately 44%.
COACHE Survey of Faculty Satisfaction
•
62% response rate (213 out of 343) at RU, compared to 50% average response rate
nationally
•
COACHE will provide the full report very soon, including national comparisons
•
Team of RU administrators and faculty responsible for distribution of results has been
established, with membership as recommended by the COACHE administrators at
Harvard University
•
Detailed results will be shared with the campus community in the fall
•
Collaborative goal to celebrate strengths and collaborate toward improvement in areas
where we face greatest challenges
COACHE Survey Themes
I.
Nature of the Work (Overall, Research, Teaching, Service)
II.
Resources & Support
III.
Interdisciplinary Work
IV.
Collaboration
V.
Mentoring
VI.
Tenure and Promotion
VII.
Institutional Governance & Leadership
VIII.
Engagement
IX.
Work & Personal Life Balance
X.
Climate, Culture & Collegiality
XI.
Appreciation & Recognition
XII.
Recruitment & Retention
XIII.
Global Satisfaction
Motions Requesting Position by BOV
• Support for the Climate Action Plan
• Goal of improving faculty salaries
• Goal regarding faculty staffing
Note: These motions are included in the Appendices for this presentation.
RU Climate Action Plan
• A living document tailored to the university to guide efforts to
reach climate neutrality.
Support for Climate Action Plan
Resolution:
The Radford University Faculty Senate endorses the Climate Action
Plan and recommends that the President and the Board of Visitors
adopt the Plan as Radford University’s carbon neutrality roadmap.
Support for RU Climate Action Plan
• Global climate change poses a substantial risk to future generations
• In 2009, President Kyle and Radford University joined over 600 other colleges
and universities in all 50 states in signing the American University and College
Presidents’ Climate Commitment
• Participation in the Presidents’ Climate Commitment requires that schools set a
date certain where they will meet carbon neutrality
• Dozens of RU faculty, staff, and students have participated in a serious and
careful examination of what RU needs to do to reach carbon neutrality by 2040
• The RU Climate Action Plan is aspirational, balanced, and flexible
Improving Faculty Salaries
Although faculty productivity is above average, faculty salaries are well
below the average salaries of our benchmark institutions. Further, SCHEV
and the General Assembly have adopted a goal of having Virginia salaries
at or above the 60th percentile. The low salaries at RU are hurting our ability
to attract and retain quality faculty. Low salaries are also having a very
negative impact on faculty morale.
Motion:
The Faculty Senate recommends the University adopt a goal of having
faculty salaries at or above the 60th percentile in six years. The Faculty
Senate further recommends that the Board of Visitors develop a strategy for
reaching this target.
Faculty Staffing
There is an ongoing discussion about the number and type of faculty
positions required to adequately staff departments. The adoption of a
staffing model would allow better decisions to be made about allocating
resources to address faculty shortage and provide the data to support
additional positions where needed.
Motion:
The Faculty Senate recommends the University adopt a goal of having all
departments at a faculty staffing level consistent with the Base Budget
Adequacy model within five years. If there are reasons for exceptions to the
model, those exceptions must be approved in writing by the Dean and the
Provost.
FYI: SCHEV Base Budget Adequacy Model
• The goal was to determine what drives the cost of providing higher education so
that these cost drivers could then be incorporated into a funding guideline. Two
factors determine the number of faculty needed:
1. Types of programs offered (social sciences, engineering, health professions,
etc.); and
2. Level of instruction (undergraduate, master’s, doctoral).
The next step was to develop student-faculty ratios based on the number of faculty
required in different kinds of programs and at different levels of instruction. Ultimately,
the ratios were based on a combination of four sources:
1. Guidelines used in other states
2. Appendix M (Virginia’s old guidelines used in the 1970s and 1980s)
3. Recommendations from Virginia’s colleges and universities
4. Accreditation standards on staffing requirements
Source: http://www.schev.edu/Reportstats/BaseAdequacyMethodologies&ProcessesReport.pdf
Key Efforts in the Coming Year
• First Amendment Resolution (http://thefire.org/spotlight/schools/1719)
• Summer School Policies and Procedures
• Intellectual Property Policies
• Core Curriculum
• University Budget
Key Efforts in the Coming Year
• Leadership Development:
Rethinking the ‘L’ Word in Higher Education: The Revolution of Research on Leadership by
Adrianna Kezar, Rozana Carducci, and Melissa Contreras-McGavin
• “In these times of change and challenge in higher education, pleas for leadership have
become frequent. However, the type of leadership required within this new context (of
globalization, demographic changes, technological advancement, and questioning of
social authority) may call for different skills, requiring a re-education among campus
stakeholders if they want to be successful leaders. In the past twenty years, there has
been a revolution in the way that leadership is conceptualized across most fields and
disciplines. Leadership has moved away from being leader-centered, individualistic,
hierarchical, focused on universal characteristics, and emphasizing power over
followers. Instead, a new vision has emerged: leadership that is process-centered,
collective, context-bound, non-hierarchical, and focused on mutual power and
influence processes.
• This volume summarizes research and literature about new conceptualizations of
leadership to inform practice.”
Financial Resources and Needs
•
Student enrollments
•
Examples of enrollment challenges for fall 2013
•
Consequences of underfunding
•
Need for significant new resources
•
Supporting the RU mission
RU has made every effort for many years to keep costs low for students, to the
extent that we can not afford this year to increase tuition and fees at average
or below average rates. Our tuition and fee increase will need to be substantially
above the state average to meet students’ needs.
See details from my presentation to the Academic Affairs Committee.
Elected Faculty Senate Officers for 2013-14
• President:
Dr. Laura Jacobsen
• Vice President:
Dr. Jerry Kopf
• Secretary:
Dr. Kim Gainer
• At-Large:
Dr. Mary Ferrari
• At-Large:
Dr. Vincent Hazleton
Thank you!
Appendices
• Resolution of support for the RU Climate Action Plan
• Motion to adopt a goal of improving faculty salaries
• Motion to adopt a goal regarding faculty staffing