FROM: Interim President Joseph S. Wood
September 20, 2007
Dear Colleagues:
Printed below are suggestions received to date on how to move USM forward. Please share your thoughts by e-mailing movingforward@usm.maine.edu. As you’ll note, identifying information has been removed.
What do you think we should do to reorganize in a fashion that ensures new synergies and reduces administrative overhead? Please share your ideas with me by e-mailing movingforward@usm.maine.edu.
Sincerely,
Joe Wood
Interim President
USM could work toward a model that is being used in the business world. Several offices could be consolidated into one space and use common resources.
Example: We could share an AA and workstudy students. We could also share a copier, printers, and other resources. This would also be more convenient for students - one stop shopping. This might also help build student community which will help with retention. We do not have enough contact with our students once they are enrolled.
Consolidate. Share resources. Stay close to students. Those are my immediate thoughts.
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Don’t sell PH. Why not?
1) the market is too soft right now
2) if USM sells it, then we get a one time infusion of cash, once it's spent we have nada
3) but if we enter into some sort of long lease, let someone else rebuilt or renovate, then pay USM annually or monthly, we have a long term income steam, that can RISE WITH THE COST OF LIVING!
4) we also have an asset (or an income stream) against which we can Borrow
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there is probably not much that can be done about this now, but we can prevent this waste of resources in the future.
As you know, many of the EYE sections are about 1/2 empty. These are very expensive seats!
According to GenEd folks with whom I've spoken the reason that these sections were not opened up to transfers or other students with > 25 hours (or was the cut off 23 hours?) was to "preserve" integrity of assessment.But in conversation, having students with >X credit hours would not adversly affect assessment.
Might even strengthen.
Those students would indicate their credit level on assessment documents, and credit level upon enrolment could also be cross checked with student ID.
Then those results would be sequestered, separated from students with <X credit hours.
Also, would be very interesting to look at how students who are transfers who take an EYE compare in progress toward degree with transfers who do not take EYE.
Perhaps something!!! can be done?
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before asking where can we decrease costs and reduce spending we need to be informed of how monies have been spent. You mentionedtransparency. I do not think that there has been any transparency across the University regarding the budgetary process. The questions that need to be asked are where did the monies go and how did the university getinto this budgetary mess. Someone needs to be held accountable.
My perception is that most of the University spending has been directed at establishing and then continually supporting peripheral programs andoffices that are removed from the primary mission of the university -- educating students and supporting the scholarly and service activities of faculty.
I also question the proliferation of new buildings across the campuses. While the administration has continually argues that funding for this new construction is derived from bonds and private donations they have not been forthcoming with the fact that the upkeep and maintenance for these buildings are derived from the University's operating budget. Moreimportantly though, the University has hired administrators (at big $ for the most part) and support personnel to staff these facilities. (Also, if I am not mistaken these bonds are then paid off in the long run through operational budgets.)
I would also recommend increasing revenues by working more closely with programs at Southern Maine Community College to develop articulation agreements between programs and maybe have SMCC students take courses in majors at USM or faculty teach over there.
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There are a couple of things that faculty can do to increase retention. One easy, it does not require much faculty time. The other is a bit more complicated, but perhaps works better.
1) Use the functionality of Blackboard to note when students have stopped checking in. Clicking on Control Panel, then on course statistics, allows faculty to know if a student is regularly checking the Blackboard site. If faculty make regular (weekly) check-ins a requirement (to note the course announcements if nothing else) they will know promptly when students stop doing course related work. Better still, they can have an assistant check for checking in (I suggest a couple of times a week), so that faculty time and effort is not required. The faculty member, or the student, should then e-mail (again from within Blackboard) to indicate concern that the student is not doing what is expected. This opens a line of communication which often results in an explanation of why the student is no longer working in the course. This may enable some types of adjustments on the part of thestudent or the instructor.
2) Use clickers to take attendance. Students often stop attending class before notifying anyone of their need to drop classes or whatever. And, students who miss a few classes often drop, because they feel so far behind that they cannot catch up. Again, the instructor, or an assistant, can use the information from the clickers to determine who missed a class, then send an e-mail indicating concern. This tends to reduce the number of students who miss class, and so reduce the number of students who feel disconnected from the U. Note, incorporation of clickers into classes is somewhat more complex than using the functionality of Blackboard.
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saving $:
stand firm on cutting units (degrees) and merging units (schools)
cut transportation to & from Portland-Gorham (i.e., teleconference faculty senate meetings & have fewer senators; delineate campuses by degree programs)
have majors clearly delineated as day programs or night programs, and not have as many programs be both day and night (with small night sections). Perhaps the night program should be pared down to a few interdisciplinary degrees and a few professional degrees.
set clear SCH/FTE for each school. The targets for each school may vary due to role in gen ed, graduate offerings, cost of faculty, etc. That way there is pressure on schools to make trade-offs between having more administrative roles, having small classes, etc.
set up more rooms for larger class sizes and do a review of who gets to use the large classrooms (i.e., have they actually filled the classes inthe past)
have better assignments for faculty who have a course canceled due to low enrollment (sponsor general internships, co-teach or assist with grading in large gen ed classes)
force Orono & USM to offer a joint MBA program with a mixture of on-campus and on-line offerings
Orono's B-school has a program fee for ALL of its courses, which funds School-specific services. Why don't we?
raise graduate tuition
rethink the size of on-line courses (my on-line classes are smaller than my face-to-face ones, although they are helping to retain students). Maybe graduate assistantships could be funded by the extra tuition from larger classes enabled by the use of G.A.s in facilitating discussion board interaction.
Convene a group to REALLY get people to turn off lights & unused equipment. During the energy crisis in California there were some campaigns that got gov't offices to reduce their electric bills by huge amounts (25%?) just by changing employee consciousness and habits. Institute user fees on private & dept fridges, vending machines, air conditioners, etc. Have limits on how cool offices can be made with air conditioners & change dress codes for summer.
stop letting deadwood be deadwood.
allow schools to retain a percentage of revenue that arises from new innovative pay-for-fee services & programs (ideally the money could be saved in across years in interest bearing accounts)
charge school rent for their space, and low and behold, we'll free up space.
get faculty to be more frugal while traveling.
ban bottled water (as well as sodas & juice) for ARAMARK events - pitchers of tap water are fine institute better procurement policies (esp office furniture) - stop buying nonrepairable junk that breaks
Some accrediting bodies require that a certain % of students are taught by high cost faculty. Figure out ways to get low cost help (grad assistants & adjuncts) to expand the SCH 'taught' by high cost faculty (e.g., grading assistance, large lectures with breakout classes, etc.)
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1. I would suggest the university look into eliminating the telephone voice menu for the Admission Office. Currently, potential students call the phone number and are automatically put into a menu. They have to select which area they would like to be connected to with no guarantee someone will be available to answer. Since the Admission Office is usually the first contact a potential student has, it is important the caller be able to speak to a live person and not a voice mailbox.
2. I would also suggest opening an Admission Office or at least giving them a presence on the Portland. I do not believe they currently have one. Again, it would be a good marketing tool, especially for the "special student" who is not officially accepted but is taking classes. This may be a way for that student to inquire and possibly look into enrolling as a full time student.
These might seem like small suggestions but I believe customer service and accessability are vital to the growth of USM. Thanks for giving me the chance to voice my opinion.
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Offer a retirement package for those who are over 55 or 60 and have been here 5+ years.
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In a nutshell:
A - HOST/OPEN HOUSE/EXCLUSIVELY for the Community College students - show them our campuses and programs and let them see what they are missing At least some of them are bound to be convinced they should transfer, once they see and hear things in person from the USM side (which I assume is not being encouraged on the Community college side)
To THAT end:
A1- Discover WHY the community college system has not "fed" USM the 2 year students USM expected (this was not revealed in Dr. Wood's speech...) - remedy it based on the relevant issues...was this not an agreement? a contract? what gives?
B- USM should pursue partnering/aligning with Maine Medical Center (assuming USM has not already made this inquiry) and create a partnership of educating and "feeding" them pre-med students for the Medical school they are creating. It seems as if USM has a decent foundation with CONHP, Social Work, Sports MEd, General Sciences, OT, etc. that may be adapted for such a mutually beneficial initiative.
C - Back to basics - Save energy - shut the lights- when leaving conference rooms, restrooms -classrooms, mandate half lights in hallways (without compromising safety of course).. Increase recycling efforts. Have an end if year sale in POR/GOR for the good stuff being tossed out of dorms, and obsolete funtaire and fxtures from our maintenance shops. Mandate double sided syllabi, memos, etc. Cut down on color paper and color copies. We have the resources and technology to avoid so much waste and save money to use where it matters.
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In response to your request for some new ideas for moving forward in a very difficult time at USM, may I offer you some thoughts in the most succinct way possible? None of the following will cost any new money and will potentially reduce the existing costs.
1. Consider combining the School of Social Work (SSW) with the Muskie. Currently, the SSW does not offer enough of upper level elective and required courses for MSW students.
2. Consider designating one of the existing web masters to update the USM website on a weekly basis, sharing updates/news online with some interesting photos and changing images. All of web masters seem very busy doing something else instead of giving the first priority to what should be a routine and very important job The main university homepage projects the same old stagnant image throughout the academic year! A new regularly updated university homepage with energetic images of news on faculty/students activities will make a difference in attracting new students and retaining them.
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Thank you for forthright assessment of the budget issues and what the future might/will portend.
I was pleased to hear comments about budgetary transparency.
I would love to see real estimates/projections of resources/expenditures relative to the new Core. I hear so many conflicting assessments and scenarios that it is hard for me to get a grasp on just what the impact (financially) this will be. Some have suggested that once the faculty "switch" from their current commitments to new core commitments it will be a zero sum game. Yet, considerable funds seem to have been spent to date and projected smaller class-sizes for EYE courses suggest higher costs. Some have averred that since the Core initiative was your "baby" it's unlikely (if costs are high) to get the budget axe. That seems a bit of harsh and unfair to me.
Consider me confused on the financial side of this issue, but not (so much) on the curricular side.
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Eliminate the Professional Development Center and combine Teacher Education and Professional (or what used to be called "Adult") Education. I haven't seen yet how keeping the latter two separate helps either, and it seems many larger public institutions do not have this false separate within their single Education dept or division. Mostly colleges of education are cash cows for their institutions, since they make a lot of $$ providing in-service work to schools, both providing for themselves enough faculty and administrative assistance *and*, frankly, helping the larger institution pay its bills.
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Spin off LAC. Should be a two year school. Bring the faculty into the USM (Portland/Gorham) fold. Make the OT program a dept. of the school of nursing. Reassign faculty to the units that match their degrees. Lease back the facility to YCCC or CMCC.
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If all the AAs for the CAS depts that are scattered around in small bldgs were all in one place, then CAS would not need so many AAs.What if you appropriated a classroom or two in either LB or PS and reconfigured as AA central?
Could replace most of the photocopiers with one or two really heavy duty ones that are in AA central, also get a rizograph which makes copies at less than 1 cent per page. White buildings only need some printers, everything else can get zapped electronically to AA central for printing, collating etc.
Could create small cubicles where faculty could have some of their office hours, especially faculty in the harder to reach buildings.
AAs could organize their own work flow. They would not sit all day in those buildings by themselves so much, and they could decide who would open and close so that CAS offices would have some presence for evening students.
23 CAS departments, each with 1+ AAs, is a lot of salary money.
Could replicate this over on the Gorham campus.
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Faculty members by and large get into prettyserious ruts in terms of the courses they are willing to prepare and offer. Some offer the same electives multiple semesters in a row, and in summer session, even as enrollments decline because the total population of students who are both interested and eligible is, after all, limited...
OR we offer multiple sections of the same course in the same semester, even though it's evident that one section is sufficient to meet the need of students. Then we have the cost of multiple instructors covered by a number of students who could all have enrolled in the same section.
OR we offer electives that conflict with required courses in the same major, even though we could with some minimal tweaking prevent these problems.
It seems to me that we should be able to plan for demand and need better than we do. And given our current ability to contact students by e-mail, we should be able to survey them periodically to get their feedback on, for example, courses they would be interested in taking if they were offered, OR times of day they would like courses offered....
I know any move in this direction will cause some faculty members to cry that the administration is violating their academic freedom. But that doesn't seem to be the point. We do have to figure out ways to be more responsive to student needs and demands.
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One-As personnel cuts become real, USM should consider creating a magnet school. The reserach on this stresses that magnet schools should have a theme determined, in part, by the community. (A step that was always missing in the formation of an Honor's College, I might point out.) Preliminary research would be imperative, but possibilities include gifted and talented programs, emphases on the ecological/gloabal issues, emphases on technology and the sciences. Magnet programs receive significant funding to the extent that they offer educational equality/excellence for underrepresented populations. As a refugee resettlement center with Portlands offers a healthy environment for a magnet school. One might think of it in terms of desegregating Waynfleet and taking some of the pressure off Deering High school, which is filled beyond capacity. For USM, the magnet school would help reinforce our mission, connect us to the community in appropriate because academically-driven ways, distinguish us from the other schools, offer a feeder, and perhaps provide an opportunuty for faculty-and particularly for non-research faculty-to reimagine their jobs. Talented but non-researching part-time faculty might also participate.
Two: Integration of departments. Several members of English and of Modern and Classical Languages are heavily affiliated with Women's Studies. English might consider merging with Classical and Foreign Languages, with the option of some faculty transferring their lines to Women's Studies. This could create cross-pollination between English and CFL courses, while encouraging English majors to get that second language that's on the books but which is never enforced. It could also create an outlet for faculty who are primarily identified with the Women's Studies Program to devote their energies to that program, which continues to lose faculty support. They no longer have enough partcipating faculty from enough disciplines to mount that Master's program as originally envisioned.
Three: The Honors program needs to ask the university whatit believes an Honor's Program should do.
Four: If we need to cut personnel, we should consider the possibility of combining some aspects of student service with some academic positions. The line between the wto needn't always be so dramatic.
People who have worked closely in upper-level administration are doubtless better positioned to imagine structural changes than I am but there ought to be ways to educate faculty, or allow faculty to be educated, into effective self-governance.
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1. There are many offices or services on campus that are duplicates of services that are available out in the public. I believe that this duplication begins some of the fat that should be trimmed to lean us out. Offices such as the Center for Sexualities and Gender Diversity, Womens Center, Multicultural Center, Center for Hate Violence Prevention, etc. are all services that are available through City and Town governments, various non-profits, and other groups throughout our area.
2. Sell off Portland Hall and the Stone House in Freeport. Both properties are underused, have costly operations and are not vital to the operation of the University.
3. The System should participate in group purchases of major items, such as vehicles and equipment. By pooling together and making a large order rather than several small ones, money can be saved and there are often discounts given for multiple orders. Further, the System should work together and share equipment from one unit to another. If UMF is throwing something out that USM needs, than there should be no red tape to facilitate a swap or trade.
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It may serve the interests of the university to move criminology back into sociology. Criminology grew out of sociology.
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America Beyond Capitalism by Alperez discusses a bunch of states and municipalities that have taken public property and arranged lease arrangements.
Notable examples are Fanieul Hall, and Hartford's Civic Center.
City owned property --> leased to private developer --> developer pays owner of property rent that is tagged to the level of business activity. This in leu of property tax. So there would need to be some modification of this model, but it is worth thinking about.
A continuous cash flow, versus a one time injection of not even enough money to eliminate our past deficit ... if the YWCA doesn't sell at $2m, PH won't net $6m, and that's the accumulated debt.
Also, won't the city require that the number of bedrooms not change? Unless there is a waiver?
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Generally speaking there is a tendency in organizations, as they grow, to create departments. This ensures that each aspect of an organization gets the attention it needs to function. Typically what I have seen is that as departments grow they develop their own goals and objectives. These at times and in subtle ways can become contrary or at odds with the central mission of the whole organization. It is important to create a system of checks and balances. It is more important to look at what a department can do for the whole than what the organization can do for the department. As a company grows, that thinking can become reversed. Perhaps a solution is that monies allocated to a department are proportionate to what that department contributes to the whole.
I have a daughter who is a senior in high school. She has been looking at colleges for a year now. Despite the fact that she can get discounted tuition she will not even consider USM. Why? She says it is old and not very….. I perceived the word she was looking for is notable or reputable. Where is the home state pride? What can we do different in marketing to improve the image? Are we getting adequate representation in the high schools? By the way she’s thinking something along the lines of an Ivy League school. I have seen no other reasoning from her other than name and reputation.
Attitudes. I would suggest an attitude of ownership versus entitlement. This is my University. What can I do for my University? Coming into the University I perceive many people are looking more at what the University can do for them.
What is the answer? I believe it is setting a new standard. As you said “Sharpening the focus”, Communicating goals and visions, also, creating accountability through departmental self evaluation and Performance evaluations. Individuals have performance evaluations to determine how well they are doing on there jobs and what they can improve on. Perhaps departments could have similar evaluations. How aligned are they ies vision? How efficiently are they achieving university goals?
I suggest more communication through town meetings, memos, and newsletters representing the attitude of “This is my University, when it is successful then I am successful. This is my University, I am responsible for its success.”
Thank you for the opportunity to express my opinion.
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1. The undergrad catalogue is dense, lengthy, and not very user friendly. It costs alot to print. Can we place the entire catalogue on-line and make it more user friendly--with links to specific pages?
2. Parking around Bailey Hall is intolerable. Now with the new dorm, there are even less spaces for more people. I have suggested in the past that we take the money we charge our CEHD graduate students for parking and us it to reimburse local high schools for the use of their buildings for classes. It is hard enough for our students, who work all day and then have to tend to families, to come to class. We can surely make it easier and make USM more welcoming.
4. Better yet, move the entire CEHD to Portland and make Gorham an undergraduate college !!! All of our students commute along 295 or 95. Portland is accessible, and there is parking.
3. Attracting and retaining students are BIG issues, as you noted. but, I am not sure we are going about it as strategically as we could . We need to involve faculty more in offering solutions. When faculty hear we should help students succeed, they often take this to mean that we should lower standards. I have some ideas on this.
In order to attract students, we need more articulation agreements with the community colleges. For instance, social work does not take 60 credits. There is an associates in early childhood education, but no way to complete at USM. (UMF now offers a completion BA that is 120 credits and takes all 60 from the cc's.) The same is true for graphic design and other programs.
And we need to develop articulation agreements with the high schools. The cc's have these already--an agreement that certain high school course, vetted by faculty, count toward college credits. Mo Chabot did this with calculus. We can surely do this with our developmental courses--not that they count toward graduation, but that completion of a curriculum guarantees entry into 100 level courses.
We also know that coming back for a second year is not enough; students have to come back with 21 credits if they are to graduate in six years. I have asked for these data before, as you know, about how many of ours return with 21 credits toward graduation.
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I'm sure you've already thought of it, but if not, what about spinning off Muskie as separate 501c3? I'd hate to lose so many good jobs in Maine. Spinning it off would preserve much of Muskie's research/public service function while relieving USM of having to support/subsidize the massive infrastructure.
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Perhaps there is already a plan to change this situation, but I see it as a real problem for attraction and retention in this web-based information environment:
We haven't update the USM webpage in, what, two years? That looks AWFUL to prospective students. It looks like nobody's at the helm.
I've been told we no longer have a webmaster. It would seem that a remedy of some kind for this absence is needed: an ongoing contractual arrangement at the least.
I'm sure this isn't #1 for many, but as we move to more asynchronous teaching we shouldn't forget our electronic "front door."
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Any cuts made should be across disciplines – academic, scholarly, community service for example – and not focused on one area or discipline.
Travel funds should be cut for those not presenting research at a professional organization or directly taking part in the conference (e.g., scheduled lecture, tutorial, committee representative, etc).
For the moment traveling faculty may need to focus on regional rather than national ventures.
From an academic standpoint: Those faculty not performing research but who appear to be taking full advantage of the 3-credit release for research should be teaching four 3-credit courses (12 credits total). This is not a punishment. Indeed, it can be viewed as a strength for those faculty who want to concentrate on teaching rather then research; they should be judged accordingly.
Are faculty using summer courses as part of the year long teaching load? If so this practice needs to be stopped immediately.
Are faculty teaching three courses, not during research, and teaching an “overload” course for extra pay? This practice needs to be stopped. Sustainability should be practiced with a vengeance.
Faculty may need to take part in student recruitment forays. As an example, high school guidance counselors from around the state usually meet once a year at a specified location. The individual departments (e.g., Exercise, Health and Sports Sciences) need a representative there. We can not rely on university-wide representatives. Moreover, this type of service should be rewarded as part of community service for those faculty involved.
CONHP had an associate dean and an interim dean. Why? – The associate dean position seemed wasteful.
Exercise, Health and Sports Sciences needs to be joined with Recreation and Leisure; with one Chief of the department. Or perhaps run CONHP as a single department.
Dean’s need to take a leadership role and teach 1-course a semester.
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I'm cosponsoring an event with an outside group (who would pay our inside rates for Abromson rooms & let students attend for free or at a discount), but I can't rent rooms in Abromson during Oct due to "staff shortage" (i.e., they want authorization to hire another person)
Possible solution:
Get computing to set up an on-line room reservation for CEC like the computer classroom system - this would save a lot of calls to Abomson inquiring if rooms are open
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- Looking at academic programs in terms of number of students and collapsing programs or eliminating if the number is so low that we can't justify the expense of faculty.
- If virtually the same class is taught at both USM and SMCC by the same instructor eliminate it here. We are undercutting ourselves since cheaper at SMCC. If taught there does it need to be taught here too?
- Ensure faculty is teaching full load. If class is canceled prior to start of semester, why not have faculty member teach extra class the following semester to make up for it or arrange for them to take over class being taught by instructor? Makes sense since many of those instructor taught classes are lower level and should be manageable by a faculty member within their department.
-If four classes is full time, then all faculty should be teaching full time if they are being paid full time.\
- Address underperforming faculty members regardless of tenure. Retention will be a problem if we have faculty whose evaluations are consistently poor.
- Enact a moratorium or put a one year freeze in place on sabbaticals to save money on hiring others to cover those classes/duties.
- Enact a temporary freeze on the promotion and tenure process. Hold off one year to allow for some budget savings and bring back following year. Perhaps even change this process to every two years instead of every year.
- Eliminate course releases for one/two years
- Eliminate Chair stipends in summer since they are not on campus
- Do we need Chairs for EVERY department? Could you have a chair that covers hard sciences, social sciences and the arts in CAS rather then one in every department? This would make giving a course release for that individual very worth it and perhaps be more attractive/prestigious for faculty.
- Freeze building projects for a least one year.
In general, we need to be less fearful of the Unions and more focused on what we need to do to make USM fiscally viable and a place where students are the priority.
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One thought I had to share with you is in regards to an opportunity lost with our summer session students - I recently graduated myself and have the prospective of both a student in classes over the summer also as a staff member.
Many students register for a class or two while they are home or vacationing here for the summer. This is a recruitment opportunity that we are failing badly. We charge them full unified student fees, when many of the services and activities available to Fall and Spring students are limited or not available at all. (like tutoring extended lab hours).
These students then take their seats in classrooms many of which are not air-conditioned. If the students are in Gorham, they can find little relief from the oppressive heat in the library, which is otherwise a wonderful resource. If you have ever tried to concentrate in a classroom where the heat is in the high ninties, I can tell you from my experience that it is practially impossible and dangerous for health reasons.
I understand our budget contraints. But consider restricting summer classes to only air-conditioned wings of our buildings and possibly offering complimentary cold drinks for students or maybe screened in semi-permanent tents to facilitate outdoor classes as an option. The majority of these students come from expensive rival campuses, and I belive if they had a pleasant experience here, they may consider a transfer. Possibly we could 'sweeten the pot' by giving them a couple of vouchers for 1 free credit hour with to be used with two paid credits as an additional enticement for full time students enrolled elsewhere. Maybe offer them a FREE online class....? In summary, perhaps USM should be wooing these summer session students as potential transfer students, not par-boiling them.
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1. Eliminate business lunches and food at meetings.
2. I just received a bunch of booklets "SUCCESS @ USM". These booklets are of the highest quality and must be very expensive. The information in the booklets is so basic that it make me wonder why we have a whole department duplicating information about other departments.
Seems like fluff.
I was glad to hear about the freeze on travel. I see large groups ofpeople going to the same national conference year after year.
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Use more graduate students to fill appropriate half-time positions at the university. Students are paid a graduate assistant wage with no benefits (maybe some tuition waiver) - the university saves money. The students gain needed income and experience in their areas of interest. USM has had great success in placing graduate assistants and graduate aides (work-study) in new areas this year such as the Office of International Exchange,The Office of Community Standards, The Free Press, WMPG, and The Learning Center. In addition to working as teaching and research assistants, Graduate Assistants also continue to work at the Library,in the Early Student Success program, Upward Bound, and Career Services. Departments were thrilled to have more mature student workers. This broadening use of graduate assistants and aides further integrates graduate studies with the university and draws attention to our presence.
Graduate students enrolled in Counseling, Social Work, Adult Education, Leadership Studies, Muskie PPM, and Creative Writing have all found unique ways to contribute to the USM's success through their student positions this year.
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Could not help but notice that in your remarks on Friday (thank you for being so brief and too the point!) you made the point that we must focus on our primary mission ... teaching.
I am guessing this is a signal that for faculty who are not research productive there will soon be some increases in teaching load?
A speculative question, no need to respond.
If you are thinking about this, and I can't imagine you're not (each 10 associate professors who teach 3/3 instead of 4/3 or 4/4 cost USM either $4.5K per year or $9K per year x 10 = $45K or $90K. not chump change in my checkbook), the process of doing this will be touchy.
Perhaps there is a way to have facultyin the various schools set minimum standards for retaining 3/3 load, moving to 3/4 load, and moving to 4/4 load.
It is important to do this at school level, not depts. b/c people are already at each others throats.
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Use Portland Campus to increase Honors Program/College (like Orono has). Portland has some of the architecture for that already, smaller classrooms, smaller classes anyway. That could attract a different caliber of students but still the campus for those who have double lives (i.e. working students/non]traditional students, also for those whom might be interested in pursuing the honors program). For the Portland campus,intensify the reach out to more non]traditional/change of career baby boomers (or some baby boomers who did not finish degrees). Increase the Gorham campus student activities and ability to get back and forth to Portland, day and night (they are so close to Portland, yet are stuck there if there is no transportation). Portland is a good resource for cultural happenings/increase the availability to the Gorham students. Have someone from the Gorham campus work with the town of Gorham to beef up the village area (the look of the intersection of Rt 114 and 25). First impressions are big with parents of prospective students.
Make more professional/more adaptable/more energetic and passionate....the advising. It could be more to more people. That I found makes a big difference.
Somehow(not sure how but....) increase the sense of community and pride here at the Portland Campus. It could attract students who are looking for opportunity in an urban setting but on a small scale, manageable and not overwhelming.
Also, what about co-op program? It seems like the Portland Campus would be the perfect setting for such a thing. Working with the city of Portland (surrounding municipalities) to do co-op, especially for the nursing, psychology, engineering, business schools....Today's young people are not as experienced with jobs as they use to be. This might be attractive to those who are looking for that path of education mixed with experience and practical application.
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The idea that comes to mind immediately is one that I'm sure you have heard before, and will hear again: co-ops. While having a vital, visible, and integrated office of Career Services & Professional Life Development is essential, I think that one of the most underutilized and underpublicized services they provide is the opportunity for students to have a co-op experience.
From the Early Student Success perspective, being able to connect students with a co-op experience that could provide connection, direction, and self-discovery can be the difference between remaining at USM or leaving. I think that Advising Services would play a critical role in making that connection as well, as would the faculty advisors. I know that there are many in higher education that believe that a college education is not about employment; I myself had a truly transformative experience as an undergrad. However, when students were asked during the Orientation sessions this summer why they were coming to college, invariably all of them said that career pursuit was one of those reasons. I see this as part of "meeting students where they are at", while not limiting the college experience to a stepping stone inone's career path.
While this clearly is not the silver bullet, I look at how the co-op program at Northeastern University transformed that institution to the benefit of its students, the surrounding communities, and frankly the institution itself. USM is poised to have even stronger relationships with the many employers in the greater Portland area, and a strong co-op program could be a powerful recruitment tool. I would imagine that it may help our Advancement cause as well.
For what it's worth, that's my idea. I welcome your thoughts, and wishyou luck on a very challenging but potentially transforming year.
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The AFUM contract states that USM will grant 15 sabbaticals (12 of them ours, 3 of them University sabbaticals, which do not appear to be real, as least financially). We grant many more than that number every year. Holding to the requirement would eliminate some need to hire additionalpart timers and/or fixed length faculty. Are all sabbaticals created equal?
Given the amount of money returned to Academic Affairs from expired Faculty Senate Research Grants (to be renamed to reflect RSCA), it appears that some of these projects are not completed, perhaps not taken seriously, perhaps not able to be carried out as expected. Faculty development is to be encouraged, but at the cost of small projects never completed? Would we be better served by funding larger projects to fewer people or to people collaborating with colleagues? Faculty development funds available have decreased over the past few years via permanent reductions, but we have not curtailed the amount of money dedicated to this project and the two below.
Provost's Writing Seminar at a cost of close to $15,000 - necessary every year?
Faculty Senate Awards - $15,000+ awarded in $750.00 increments. Limit to fewer faculty, tenure-track faculty, junior faculty, brand new faculty to encourage research?
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The school I came from was strongly involved in the Gear Up program, as you can see http://www.fscwv.edu/gearup/
Federal money dramatically increased our bond with the community and region and helped direct junior high students to the university.
The work to apply for and administer the grant seemed to be worth it.
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This is a small thing, but may be applicable to larger stuff. If we at USM (us'ms) could purchase one order of pens for all the departments that have their own done we could get a volume discount.
If we could consolidate student involvement opportunities into one message to our students and potential students instead of each office, and in some cases each office on each campus, sending out their own separate messages and promotions. This would include residential opportunities, community involvement, student senate and the programs it sponsors, the Lab Theatre, music, art, planetarium, college and department clubs and opportunities, work options, and all other things I haven't mentioned so a student can see the whole set of choices. We would also pay for one promotion for all).
It would be nice to have one Web site with this information and Free Press ads and print materials that send them to the Web site for information.
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Your moving appeal at the opening breakfast for unity of commitment to recruitment and retention needed to be made. However, I have concerns that you were either preaching to the choir or to those who have never committed and still do not know how to go about it. To that end, I believe that concurrent with the ongoing revitalization of Gen Ed, every department of every college would benefit from special discussions about fostering a learning community atmosphere, one that promotes student engagement with fellow students, with faculty, and with the USM community.
I realize that learning communities do not appear overnight. However, USM now has expertise and templates, not to mention a critical need. The EYE experiment and others are promising as far as they go, but they are not learning communities with sustained engagement on then part of students and faculty.
Across]the]board learning community commitment by institutions have proven very effective in recruitment, engagement, and retention.You know this from your experience at GM; but Alverno, Wagner, Evergreen, U Michigan, to name a few have greatly benefited by an institutionalized commitment to learning communities. The equation is simple, LC + Institutional Will= Retention, but the deal]maker/breaker is Institutional Will.
The University of Maine at Orono has undertaken aggressive learning community programming, not to mention marketing. This likely contributes to their reported recent increased enrollment.
Again, every department, some more than others, could benefit from discussions about how a learning community environment can enhance their recruitment/retention results. However, the format represents a significant cultural shift for USM, one that can only occur with aggressive, imaginative encouragement from the Seventh Floor combined with commitment and consistency, and.. I believe that this can be done concurrent with the Gen Ed intiative.
Perhaps this topic merits its own convocation year.
These are my humble thoughts on addressing the big picture.
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Cutting positions seems inevitable as a cost fixer...but you know it is not the people's wages that is the problem...it is an easy target...because it is so readibly apparent...this person that money, cut the person money saved. Not so.
The money loss is in the waste....waste of time, waste of paper, waste of products, reuse recycle rediscover...how usable so many items, rooms, areas, and personel are.
My suggestion may seem a bit naive but I know in my heart it is not.....I have been around schools all my life.
At the end of the year...soooo much is tossed cause no one wants to deal with organizing and storing for reuse.
Please consider a thorough revamping of people's use of university supplies and areas...how many clubs and groups in the Portland could help with...use of rooms for a fee...after all the University belongs to the people...get people interested....faculty especially ...a recycle bin for paper bottles and cans in every hallway.
Cutting people ruins lives....better use of what is at hand will save lives, renewing the importance of what is in hand.
We are all so hell bent on spending ....rediscovering the value of what we have....that saves money.....Sustains us!
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While I have not laid out the entire design I hope that you might consider the idea of the creation of a College of Graduate and Professional Studies...incorporating Muskie, Business and Law (maybe Engineering). Appoint a "super Dean" with an associate Dean for each of the 3/4 schools and eliminate chairs (as well as at least 2 or 3 Deans positions). Might also want to add the Office of Graduate Studies with a Director rather than a Dean. Good reduction in administrative layers, creating new synergies at the graduate level, supports TUSM and the desire to increase graduate students in a meaningful and effective way in selected programs. Still enables Schools to maintain their identity but establishes a clear USM Graduate presence. Still an idea in progress but thought I might be intriguing.
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Did you see the NY Times piece about the increase in interest in masters degree programs? Perhaps we can think of some new programs that cross disciplines.
For example: public policy and education / finance and education.
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I do not know the complete structure of tenure, but when you write 'highly engaged, transformative teaching and learning' at USM, I felt I needed to make a comment.
From my position as a counselor to many students, I have found that the same professors' names come up as inadequate, not highly engaged, etc etc. For retention and transformation, these professors need to change or go. I know that departments know which professors are inadequate due to the feedback that students give each semester. the professors may be excellent writers or researchers....I understand that teaching is not their only responsibility. However, I hear about offering excellence to our students, but we continue to offer mediocrity and outright low standards of teaching is some instances.
I know tenure is in place. Maybe that foundation of our university system needs to be looked at. I also know that it is a structure probably cast in concrete. So what will you do about the inadequate teaching of professors.
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Gorham becomes a liberal arts campus with a major emphasis on out of state undergraduates.
The Academy building becomes the logo for a marketing effort to define the Gorham campus as the liberal arts college of the University.
The School of Applied Science, Technology, and Engineering stays in Gorham and CEHD moves to Portland with the other professional schools (closer to the professions they serve).
Portland becomes the center for professional programs. Marketing based on the national accreditations of our excellent professional programs has never been done effectively. USM needs an identity and an image that comes to mind when thinking of who we are and what goes on here. I think well managed campaigns to sell Gorham as a liberal arts college and our nationally accreditated professional schools/colleges, would help establish a greater sense of order and a simpler image.
I also think that teaching quality is the key... not to mention advising.
This place has no center it is too scattered and thus elicits a chaotic image. This is not a good thing when we are trying to attract new students.
Thanks for the opportunity to share some of my thoughts. Given the situation I think you are doing a very good job and I trust you will make the right decisions.
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The focus on re-examining the role of USM and not trying to be everything to everyone is right on target. When making changes, it is important to consider how these changes will make life better/worse for the students. Almost anything you can do to make things easier and less frustrating for students will be helpful in terms of student retention. Here are some of my thoughts:
***USM Website***
1. The USM website is very boring, difficult to use, a number of webpages are out of date and provide incorrect information, and some are just confusing. Quite a few are very poorly layed out. The language used on some pages is total jargon and or poorly worded. There are broken links. This makes it very confusing and frustrating. When I came two years ago, I was shocked at how difficult it was to find information and understand how things at the school work. I feel for the new students.
The homepage is stagnant. There is nothing that draws my attention ] why can't it be more alive and provide current information? Other colleges often have homepages that are much easier to navigate, give the impression of an active campus, make it easy to find Admissions info and directions, and provide headlines about school happenings and upcoming athletic contests and other events.
Take a quick look at what some other schools have for a homepage and compare the site to USM's in terms of visual quality and ease of navigation.
http://www.williams.edu
http://www.umass.edu
http://www.brandeis.edu
http://www.gordon.edu
http://www.wpi.edu
http://www.bentley.edu
http://www.umassd.edu
http://www.plymouth.edu
Student Retention
2. Has Admissions/Dean of Students been doing surveys / "exit interviews" with students who have left to find out why? There should be some overlap in reasons for leaving that could possibly be addressed. When the registrar is asked to send out transcripts, do they notify the Dean of Students so the Dean can contact the student (or is that illegal) ?
Gorham Activities
3. Is there enough emphasis on activities: movies, concerts, ... for students who live on campus?
I work primarily on the Gorham campus and it does not always seem like there is much to do. If students feel more engaged in the school, maybe it would help improve retention.
*Some private colleges work together to bring a "famous" person (comedian, singer,..) to their campuses who then over the course of several days will visit two or three schools that are near each other. Thus, the schools get a break on the overall cost. Can USM work with other colleges in Maine/NH to sponsor such activities?
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Weekend trips to Boston, a museum, a professional sports event?
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Are the current activities and events publicized adequately? Can students easily find out what is going on and what will be going on?
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Do the dorms have CD collections that students can borrow during the weekend?
Bus Shelter
4. Bus shelter outside of Bailey Hall in Gorham. Yes, this would be an expense, but for the many students who use the bus to travel back and forth, it would be a wonderful addition. There are some benches out front, but these are not of much use when it is raining, snowing, or cold. Students can go up the cement stairs and wait inside Bailey Hall lobby, but it sometimes gets crowded and also, when it is icy or slushy out it is a pain for them to lug their backpacks up and down slippery stairs.
Could there be a bus shelter built for 15+/] students with plexiglas on three sides and some benches?
Does USM lose any students due to the inconvenience/pain of traveling between two campuses? If yes, what can be done to improve this experience?
There is a nice bus shelter at the intersection of Rand Road and
Brighton Avenue, by Lowe's, ] would Lowe's give USM the bus plans and help with financing construction (in exchange for publicity)?
Gorham Guest Lectures
5. All/most guest lectures are held in Portland. Portland does have better, larger spaces; however, is it possible to schedule some speakers in Gorham? (possibly in a lecture room or if warranted, the gymnasium). Lectures by guest speakers are a great way for students to expose themselves to new people and ideas, but if these events are always scheduled in Portland, the Gorham student must decided if it is worth their time to travel by bus in the evening given their workload.
Parking
6. Parking is difficult. Some of the Gorham spaces have lines painted so close together that even drivers of small cars parked between the lines will end up banging their car door into the next car. When a larger car, SUV, or truck park in these small spaces, inevitably they take up two spaces... decreasing the number of placess for us to park. In the winter, the snow is plowed so that a number of spaces are lost at the end of rows.
This makes it very difficult for staff, faculty, and students. If you arrive here for work or a class mid]morning, then the "circling" begins.
In the late afternoon, teachers and others arrive for a 4pm or later class (with only limited time between getting out of work, driving here, and parking before class) start their "circling" of the parking lot. Do people stop taking classes at USM because of the parking?
It was a nightmare last year when the bomb scares created grid lock on the campus and on the streets of Gorham, and now with the new dorm ] 300 beds and 20 new parking spots ] but probably 150]200 new student cars, it is a disaster waiting to happen.
Is anyone looking at this?
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"Innovation economy" has a distinct scientific ring. What happened to the "creative economy", and where are the "arts" in USM's new priorities?
I fear that the new vision for the university will place the "arts" in service to other disciplines, generalizing them to the extent that professional degrees are diminished and even phased out.
Moving forward is falling back without affirming and supporting the role of the "arts" in USM's liberal arts and sciences base.
Create new synergies by establishing a college of visual and performing arts. This will strengthen and streamline the structure of "arts" programs at USM.
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Would a merger of Linguistics and the Communications departments be a money saver? Just a random thought.
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Electronic signatures resulting in electronic filing/distributions. This would effect cost of paper, delivery handling, and reduction on amount of labor needed to the process. The ability to scan and store all documentation, would provide easier and more accurate availability of information.
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It came to my attention that Muskie does not receive 'credit' for revenue earned during the summer. My problem with this is that Program Chairs take this into consideration when deciding what summer courses to offer!
For example, a Chair may wait until fall semester to schedule a popular course, even though it very well could be in the best interest of students for them to be able to take it earlier (i.e., during the summer).
This is a disservice to both students and the University! First, is it not part of USM's fundamental mission to provide the best service possible to our students? Planning a course schedule around the summer sessions does not seem to have the best interests of our students in mind. Also, would it not benefit the University to receive revenue up to four months prior to September if we could remove any perceived negative aspect (from a programmatic perspective) of revenue earned during the summer?
One final thought...If this perspective is housed within Muskie's academic programs, I suspect that the same thinking is going on in the other academic areas. Perhaps the remaking of USM should address this issue.
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I believe some type of conservation campaign could be planned and implemented that would save dollars across all our campuses.
1) Consolidate & re-organize Computer Science and Technology departments. If USM wants to establish information science and technology depth (and capitalize on a potential local market for students AND industry contracts, AND state R&D interest, AND the local entrepreneurial and small business community), then we should (loudly) embrace the applied information technologies and pull these programs into emphasis on one/more of the following: spatial and digital imaging/mapping, bioinformatics/marine informatics, computational biology, web-based applications, or any of those actually useful domains. Put somebody entrepreneurial into that mix to get the partnering engine going.
Reduce the number of faculty in COS and Technology, overhaul the curricula and use some industry talent for teaching fellows in the appropriate courses. (save $$$)
Research at USM will not advance without strong computational and information technology expertise.
2) Throw the GIS lab into that mix as an applied technology center and a resource to researchers within and outside USM.
Give this consolidated unit some charge to catalyze commercialization - in conjunction with talent in the B-School, MCED, Ctr law and innovation.
3) Get a (really good) biostatistician (or two) as the next available faculty recruit for any applicable department. This will do more to catalyze research at USM than any other hire.
1. In the mid 90's the college of ed. decided to create a new 5 year program. I've heard rumor that just having the college of ed reinstate their 4 year undergraduate program could make a huge difference in enrollment. That rumor included a figure that annually USM receives over 100 applications for admission into the non-existant 4 year program. I do know for a fact that the number of students enrolled in the college of ed was greatly reduced when they changed their program.
2. I've long thought that the practice of 9 credit hour loads was a bit of a luxury at USM. Maybe we're past that time? If everyone taught even one extra course per year, the financial implication must be fairly large. That is a structural change that could make a serious and sustainable effect on the budget.
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I wonder, we have a number of auxiliary enterprises; book stores, printing, logic shop, that have a considerable potential to cycle University dollars through the procurement process and to wring the last penny out of the transaction that are lost to leakage through buying similar products and services directly from out side sources. The people in Telecommunications have done a fine job in plugging these leaks and the logic shop has taken action with its machine maintenance policy but there is still an inflow from outside sources. The book store and print shop both market themselves but, as is the case with the logic shop, there is no clear encouragement to the community to "recycle" its purchasing dollar by using an in house resource. Might this be the time to encourage a more collaborative process and encourage more use of these resources to take advantage of the revenue generation that these resources offer. I know this won't solve the deficit but I hope this might help in some small way.
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USM should focus on the Portland campus, and gradually phase out and eventually sell the Gorham campus. It seems that this is inevitable. There will be an awkward period before new buildings can be built in Portland to accommodate the programs currently in Gorham, but eventually the transition will be complete. It will have to start sometime. Even if this means fewer students overall, it would be worth it for the focus and efficiency.
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St. Joseph's College has been able to take graduate programs from the traditional format to on]line distribution. I believe that USM's capability to do the same with some areas of both the undergraduate as well as graduate program would help meet the demands of the day in terms of scholarship as well a financial responsibility.
However, while I do see a need for USM (as well as other Maine schools) to become one with the web, I also see where traditional classroom experience for some programs is vital for the community in which we live and for general academic purposes as well. A combination of both seems to be the order of the day for more and more colleges and universities.
USM would probably do well with more doctoral programs that would be delivered via on]line studies. Having a group from USM explore such schools as Fielding, Capella, St. Joseph, Goddard, Central Michigan University, and other traditional schools that have in place nontraditional methods for off]campus learning might be another avenue to explore.
Students are not sure how to go about the transfer process. Another concern issued from some is that USM is not receptive to students from the community colleges. There may need to be liason work done between the various institutions, which would help with the greater picture of recruiting and retaining students from the community colleges.
I know from experience that both SMCC and CMCC have students who want to learn and move forward with their careers. Maybe another area of the work you are proposing might be to actually speak with students in order to get a clearer picture of what they expect from higher education. A good qualitative study might help with the student retention situtation as well as that of finances.
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In terms of saving money how about offering employees an option to purchase extra vacation time? There are employees who love their work here but would enjoy a little extra time off. (And I am not saying the University vacation time is not generous. It is certainly generous for professionals.) Then the employees could take this extra vacation time while classes are not in session or during a slow period in their departments.
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In another university I was associated with that suffered from declining enrollments, one of the first things that was done was to no longer pay extra comp for the summer semester, rather to treat it as a normal part of a faculty's load. There were enough faculty willing to teach in the summer without extra comp.
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1. One of the measures to achieve the cost savings needed without harming students, faculty, the curriculum and vital support services, might be to examine the numerous centers and institutes that have been established over the years. A few that come to mind are: Maine Philanthropy Center, Maine Writers and Publisher's Alliance, Center for the Prevention of Hate Violence, Maine Patent Program etc. Although these may be worthy community support organizations, are they fundamental to our core mission? Could the space they occupy be converted for use by students and faculty?
2. Would consolidating smaller academic departments like chemistry and physics make sense, and realize sufficient cost savings?
3. Are we administratively top heavy in some units? For example, do we really need two co]directors and two program directors in Multicultural Student Affairs?
4. Could we administratively consolidate the library's three separate special collections (Osher Map, Special Collections/Sampson Ctr and LAC's Franco American collection) to achieve savings?
5. As the library converts more print journals to electronic format, would assigning the Gorham library periodicals check-in operation to the Circulation dept be a realistic function consolidation?
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1. If someone is working from home 90% of the time, why do they have office space for 10% of the time. The University may not have the lack of space issue we hear about. Maybe others can work from home too.
2. I know travel expenses are another issue. Departments would have to be more resourceful/creative if a limit was put on their budget for travel. Plus if it is critical to travel each person can pay from personal funds if the department exceeded their limit. When it is time to do their taxes it is possible to get these charges refunded.
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