|
The opening of the academic year is a traditional time for setting direction and focusing on the critical work ahead. All across the country, chancellors and presidents are giving opening addresses and welcoming faculty members back. I would like to vary a bit from that tradition by taking a few minutes to reflect also on where we have been. I'm not sure how often we actually take the time for this type of reflection, but I think that it is particularly important at this stage in our university's life.
In February of 1996, in response to requests from faculty leadership, I gave a talk that has become styled the "Plan for Excellence." I'm not so sure that it really was a plan; it was more of a general direction-a compass heading if you like. What to me was most instructive about that talk is that it reflected a great deal of what you the faculty, trustees, students, alumni, business leaders, community members, and educators told me you wanted this university to achieve. What was most impressive to me was the degree of consistency in your perceptions. You knew that the future of this university was bright and that all we needed to do together was to "get on with it." We had the right people in the right place at the right time. We just needed to make it happen. Your themes were very clear and well articulated. You knew that academic quality was the key to our future. You also knew that education was changing rapidly and that we had better become more systematic in our use of technology in the classroom if we wanted to remain competitive. You told me that you were not happy with the reputation of this university and you were willing to do what was needed to change it.
Think about this for just a minute. How many universities in the country are blessed with a faculty that says, "We're willing to put in the effort to make this university better"? There aren't many. In fact, most people in my position will tell you that this is almost a unique situation. While in the winter of 1996, it was clear that you knew which compass direction we needed to follow. It also was clear that, as a group, you had established a self-deprecating culture. You really didn't know how good you were. What is interesting is I'm not sure that this part of our culture has changed a great deal. We sometimes find it very hard to let others know what we are doing. It somehow sounds like bragging. But you know it's not. What you are doing here is close to amazing.
Take for example the computing admissions standard. You thought about the issue, made a decision, and implemented it all in one academic year. This certainly is not typical of higher education and it even surprised experts in the field. Representatives of Apple Corporation told me that they did not believe that this could be done-not by anyone in higher education. This summer they told me that not only had you done it, but that you made it look easy. They also sent General Administration a note in which they reiterated their admiration for what you accomplished. My hat is off to every one of you who helped implement this program, who took training, or who plans to use the computer in teaching and learning this year. This was a world-class accomplishment. You were in the first dozen universities in the United States to implement this requirement.
If this were all you accomplished, it would have been a lot. But, it was only a beginning. We have talked together about raising academic expectations-the infamous "raising the bar" conversations. Again, you didn't just talk, you acted. Across this campus, academic expectations are increasing. Your students know this is happening, as do our alums. I know that raising expectations of students can only happen when you are willing to put in the effort. And you are to real effect.
There is a down side to increasing academic expectations. In the short-run, it will negatively affect enrollment. Raising standards has created a short-term mismatch between our academic quality and our student recruitment. As a consequence, a very large number of current students did not do the work necessary to meet your expectations. Approximately one in five freshmen, and 6 percent of all undergraduates, failed to meet the academic expectations that you have set. While these are very hard numbers and new admissions cannot make up those kinds of numbers in the short-run, the only option we have as a university is to continue to increase academic expectations. Stay the course; you are doing the right thing both for the university and for our students. We know that the track we are on has to succeed, but it will not do so without some difficulties. We'll work those out together and seek assistance from the General Administration. You have a great deal of support from alumni, General Administration, and the community for what you are doing. We will try to minimize any negative impacts of short-term enrollment issues as you engage in this most important work of raising academic expectations and the academic reputation of this wonderful university.
That's the down side, but there is an up side that is tremendously impressive. This year's freshman class is the best academically prepared class in our history. Average SATs going into the fall are 994 (the official SAT will not be calculated until the sixth week of class, so it could change a point or two). This is the first time that we have ever had an average SAT above 990, and it represents a fourteen-point increase over last academic year and a thirty-point increase since 1995. The average high school GPA for our freshmen this year is currently 3.11. In 1995, the average high school GPA was 2.87 and it has increased each year since. The 3.11 is the highest high school grade point average in our history. Just think, we are within striking distance of an average SAT above 1,000 next year, and, if we can stay on track, we could pass some of our sister schools the year after. What an accomplishment.
That talk in the winter of 1996 also introduced the notion that we should develop a residential honors college and that we should seek National Merit recognition. Well, many of you have worked on the Honors College and on developing the honors curriculum and it paid off. Last year, we enrolled our first class of freshmen in the college. You may recall that 134 freshmen enrolled who had an average SAT of 1160 and an average high school GPA was 3.94. This year, the honors class has 165 members (that's over 15 percent of all freshmen) with an average SAT of 1182, and the high school GPA is again 3.94.
By the way, other universities have been coming to Western to examine our honors college, and the consultants who worked with the university this summer tell me that your work on this program is of such a quality that they plan to export the model. They also pointed out that the retention rate of the Honors College is like that of a "small, elite, private liberal arts college." Those of you who are working with this college have a great deal to be proud of. We are now completing our third year of candidacy for National Merit status. This year we have four National Merit Finalists among this year's freshmen, brining a total of seventeen on campus. As a result, the admissions office informs me that we have our final year of candidacy next year and that we will be reviewed for recognition during the following academic year. This will be an important recognition for Western.
Many of you are working with students in strong mentoring relationships. This is producing a first-rate education. Your work, for instance, in mentoring undergraduate research has moved Western to prominence nationally. WCU was fifteenth in the nation among colleges and universities in the number of papers presented at the National Undergraduate Research Conference this year. And, of course, you recall that two of five undergraduate papers presented at the national meetings sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this summer were by Western students. We're getting attention and it's due to mentoring. You are establishing a pattern of mentoring students that can only be of benefit both to them and the university. Now, let's take the next step. It is time for Western to have a Rhodes or Truman scholar. You've demonstrated that you are willing to mentor good students; let's get you the recognition for your hard work. We have a student who is preparing herself now for the Rhodes competition. Let's help her and identify others who should be trying for these awards. Your personal touch will make a difference.
And speaking of personal touches, many of you spent the summer preparing to take part in "learning communities," in modifying our approach to university transition programming, and establishing a program of "learning contracts" for students with academic potential. These initiatives, too, have been hard work but they will make a difference both in terms of the quality of a student's education and the quality of academic life. Both will contribute to the reputation of the university and to retention of academically qualified students.
Much of our work this year will need to be focused on retention of academically qualified students. Far too many of our students transfer or simply drop out. I'm not talking about those who choose not to meet your standards. I'm concerned about the ones who should be here. We lose entirely too many of these students.
As I mentioned in my summer letter to you, we have taken some very specific actions to improve retention. Many of you have contributed time and knowledge to these efforts over the summer and you deserve a special vote of thanks. We also have hired Alceste Pappas and Associates, arguably the best consulting firm in the nation in this area, to help us rethink admissions and retention. Their suggestions are making a difference.
Building on some ideas and preliminary work in admissions, Pappas is working with us to move to a "client service" model for admissions. For example, we are asking our admissions counselors to answer the telephone instead of having calls forwarded to them from the secretary. Research on admissions shows that students who telephone for information are more likely to enroll at a university. This puts our most knowledgeable staff in direct contact with students. Further, data show that when potential students are engaged in conversation on their first contacts they are more likely to apply. Pappas also recommended ways of improving our application review process and speeding up notices of decision. These are very different processes for our university, but they have been very effectively applied in other settings.
On the retention side, a great deal of work will be done this fall in the CAP Center. The focus of retention services will move to what is known as a "whole student approach." It is akin to "case management" in social work or counseling. Like the changes in admissions, these techniques have been shown to be very effective on other campuses and should immediately help our student retention. Also we are looking to move these services to better quarters. This, too, should make a difference.
Retention of academically qualified students is our most pressing problem. And, as Pappas has pointed out, we need to focus and coordinate our efforts much more than we have in the past. To this end, I am asking Dr. Richard Collings and Dr. Robert Caruso to co-chair a retention task force to assure that we coordinate and effectively implement a strong retention program. Because many recommendations of this task force will require approval of the Faculty Senate for implementation, I am asking Dr. Terry Kinnear to suggest appropriate members of the senate to serve on the task force.
Even though we are focusing on systemic issues in retention, this is an area in which your help is greatly needed. No matter what other services the university provides, your relationships with students are critical to their retention. You are the key player in student retention. If you see a student who needs help or who is failing, let the CAP Center know. We may be able to intervene before that student fails out.
Another issue that has emerged from faculty and staff discussions over the summer that I want to heartily endorse involves a re-thinking of our orientation program. We do a good job of socially orienting students, but we have not traditionally focused on their academic orientation. You have established very specific academic expectations of students and we need to assure that they understand what you expect of them. One suggestion that has come forward is that entering students should be required to read a specific book over the summer prior to entering the fall semester. During the two day "jump start" program at the beginning of fall semester seminars would be held to discuss the book. Ideally, the book should be a topic of discussion in at least one required freshman course during the fall semester. Also, when possible, Freshman Convocation could be changed to have the author of the book become the keynote speaker. This is an interesting idea that could assist students with their academic transition to college life and set the norm early that we are serious about their education.
Likewise, faculty and some of our better students have asked that we continue to enhance the quality of the academic culture on the campus. One way in which that can be accomplished is to have significant academic events that set a very visible tone. To this end, starting this fall we will initiate a "Chancellor's Lecture Series." We have invited Mrs. Barbara Bush, former first lady, to speak on issues of reading and education. I encourage all of you to assure that your students take part in this program.
Those of you in the sciences may have been following the very visible news about the controversy regarding the human genome project. What you may not have known is that this controversy has been caused by a graduate of Western Carolina. Tony White is president and CEO of Perkins-Elmer Corporation, which has created an alternative genome research project. Tony has agreed to help sponsor a one-day symposium on the human genome at WCU this fall. He also has confirmed that Dr. Craig Venter is willing to keynote the symposium. Our audience will be the research scientists in North Carolina and surrounding states. But, we need to assure that all our science students have the opportunity to participate.
These very public programs can affect the tone of the campus and off-campus perceptions, but the real, day-to-day work of the university is what makes a difference to the student and her or his willingness to stay at Western. Many, many faculty members have worked on USI 130, developing learning communities, mentoring students, and advising. This is absolutely critical work and it is fundamental to our development. Yet many faculty also tell me that this work is under-rewarded and not fully recognized in the annual faculty evaluation, merit, or tenure and promotion processes. We need to fix that. This year, I am asking Dr. Kinnear on behalf of the Faculty Senate and Vice Chancellor Collings to address these issues. We need to reward faculty members who are willing to do this work well.
This is a crucial component of the development process for this university. This is not a situation that is unique to Western or to universities in our mission class. High- quality teaching and learning in a supportive environment is what will define the successful university nationally over the next decade. Even some well-known research universities-Cornell comes immediately to mind-are changing the importance of teaching in tenure and promotion reviews. This is the life's blood of all universities and we need to assure that we are rewarding our colleagues who are willing to bear the brunt of the work.
Another crucial question that we need to address this academic year involves undergraduate program review. As I stated in my closing remarks at the end of the last academic year, program review is not really something that any of us look forward to; it is simply the next step in the process of assuring that we can meet the challenges that are ahead of us. Some of you will recall that we had Dr. Robert Shirley, the author of the form of strategic planning that we are using at Western, come to campus to act as an outside reviewer of our plans. Dr. Shirley was generally glowing in his review, but he noted that we had not yet addressed the programming questions and that we could not effectively continue planning until we did address them.
Please understand that I have no preconceived notions about the number of programs we should have or what the specific outcomes of program review should be. What I do know is that we have many more undergraduate programs-on a per faculty member basis-than equivalent universities in the system. Our average number of faculty members per program is significantly less than at other universities in the state. This does not necessarily mean that we need to eliminate a great number of programs. It may be that we plan for how programs can attract more students. It also may mean that we think about how programs can be reorganized to make them more effective and viable. As I said, I have no preconceived notions as to what specific outcomes should be. We simply need to assure ourselves that what we are doing is reasonable, viable, and of high academic quality.
At the same time that we are looking to review programs internally, we also need to assure ourselves that we are developing new programs. What makes this a bit odd is that we, in some cases, do not have enough faculty to appropriately support programs we already have, so why create new ones? The bottom line is that we need to continue to develop a program mix that is attractive to potential students and that directly addresses the needs of the people of this region-and North Carolina generally. We must have a competitive program mix to remain viable and we need to continue to address the changing needs of the people of the state.
This semester is a critical time for us. The system is opening its two-year academic program plan during 1998-1999. If we do not include a program in this cycle of the plan, it could be four years before we could implement a new program. This is the time to bring forward preliminary proposals. I also would like to ask Dr. Collings and Dr. Kinnear to work together to assure that our internal review processes allow us to meet the deadlines that will be published this fall, and, at the same time, that no program leave campus that has not been agreed to by the Faculty Senate. We need to assure that our processes work as intended.
Program review and program development processes will provide the opportunity to assure that we are taking the right steps with regard to the academic major. General education review will assure that we are giving the best possible education to all our students. There has been a great deal of progress-and no little discussion-regarding the shape and direction of general education. Please participate in that discussion. Every student in this university must have the benefit of a well-designed and well-executed general education program. The committee is very open to suggestions and recommendations. The nature of general education is one of the most important decisions that we will make over the next several years. I encourage you to be part of it. As we are thinking about significant revisions in general education, there are some immediate actions we can take that will both enhance the quality of education and help with retention of qualified students. Every department that teaches freshmen needs to assure that the very best faculty are assigned to those classes. It is so important that the first-year student get to know the very best faculty members we have to offer and feel the commitment that we have to their education. To be selected to teach freshmen during their critical transition to college has to be seen as an honor and rewarded as such.
Likewise, class scheduling is an important issue in retention. Students who leave campus on Thursdays because their classes are done for the week are making a very modest commitment to their education at WCU. If they are already in Charlotte, Greensboro, Raleigh, or Boone three and a half days a week, why not just stay there full-time? Friday classes are a must. Moreover, we need to increasingly schedule classes in such a way that students can get courses that fit our educational goals for them. We need to reconceptualize class scheduling as an important educational and retention tool.
Most of this talk has focused on undergraduate education. Since most of the work of the university is at the undergraduate level, that makes some sense. However, it is important that we talk a bit about graduate education and research. Western has a core, recognized mission in graduate education for this region. Unlike our undergraduate programs that have a statewide focus, graduate education in a regional comprehensive university has to have one of two foci. Either it has to serve directly the real needs of the people of the region or it has to make use of the unique resources of the region. This does not mean that regional comprehensive universities can't have viable general graduate programs they can. But these programs have to be self-sustaining within the context of the specific university.
In North Carolina, regional universities will not receive assistantships or graduate tuition waivers at a level that will allow us to offer graduate work as if we were a Carnegie Research I institution. At the same time, we must have graduate programs that meet the needs of the region and that are viable. There are funding proposals before the legislature that will, if adopted, improve the ability of the university to offer certain types of graduate programs, but the fundamental nature of our mission will not change. To meet our mission, we must dedicate real resources to graduate education and we must assure that all graduate programs are of a nature that they are viable within our funding base and institutional direction.
This discussion cannot be concluded without mentioning our graduate programs in Asheville. It is important that all of us understand that graduate courses taught in Asheville generate faculty positions at the same rate as graduate programs taught in Cullowhee. These are not extension or continuing education programs. They are a vital part of our core. Departments that have responsibilities in Asheville have faculty members whose positions are directly derived from Asheville enrollments.
It is in our own best interests to effectively serve the Asheville market. When we teach in Asheville, we're teaching adult learners. The potential in this market is significant and we are not addressing the market very well. Asheville students are primarily mature adults. Their needs and commitments are very different than those of traditional students. Rick Collings has been working with Dean Dougherty this summer to focus more attention on the needs of this type of student. Now that Abdul Turay is here, I have asked him to spend a great deal of time with faculty members on this critical area of graduate education. We can immediately affect our enrollment in Asheville by addressing the needs of the adult learner. It is one of the most important actions that we can take.
While the focus and nature of graduate education differentiates us from the Carnegie Research and doctoral institutions, the inclusion of scholarship in our mission differentiates us from the historical liberal arts institutions. We must remain committed to active scholarship to meet our core mission as a regional comprehensive university. As with graduate education, the specific time and effort given to scholarly development needs to reflect the institutional mission. We also need to assure that the distribution of time for scholarly development and reflection is equitable. Likewise, we must continue to seek grants and funded projects to promote scholarship on campus. There are a number of disciplines where grants can allow faculty members to "buy time for scholarship" and support graduate assistants who could not be supported from state funds. Where this is possible, we need to take advantage of it. In fact, appropriately using grant support may help make some of our graduate programs viable which today are very marginal and subject to closure during the UNC system's program review cycles. It also will allow us to continue to offer undergraduate programs in a manner consistent with the approved mission statement and the long-term philosophy of this university.
Well, I have been going on too long. Yet, there are so many important works in which you are engaged which deserve mention. The governance review is progressing very well and should reach conclusion this academic year. Strategic planning and assessment of the performance of seniors are moving forward. If things go as we expect, we will break ground on the fine and performing arts building, the high tech building, and the extension of the University Center this year. As I said previously, the quality and type of work you are doing is close to amazing. You should be proud. To paraphrase Yogi Berra, it's not bragging when it's true. You've earned it every day with your work and your caring for our students.
I'm sure that it is not lost on anyone who has been here for even one academic year that we are in the middle of a significant transition in this university's direction. I like to think of it as "reclaiming our legacy." From reading the published histories of this university and Jackson County, and from some wonderful discussions with older graduates, it is clear that we have inherited a special institution. Professor Madison, President Reynolds, Dean Albright, and Mrs. Camp all set very high standards for academic excellence and personal behavior. Professor Madison, especially, was a very human person and very people-centered. He lived much of his life in Webster and people who grew up in that community tell such wonderful anecdotes about him how he sat on the stoop of the local store and told stories to children about his own childhood and his family's visits with Robert E. Lee.
I've been told about his visits to the classrooms where he taught children how to play music on pencils with their mouths. At the same time, all accounts tell us that he expected the best from his students. They had to perform well and meet his standards for excellence. The people who tell these stories tell them with love and affection. They worked hard, but they knew that the people of Western cared about them. This is Western's legacy-this is what this university has stood for, for nearly 110 years. Through your individual and joint actions you are well on your way to reclaiming our legacy. I know that it is hard work, but let's stay the course. You deserve the recognition for your commitment to excellence and our students deserve the quality education embodied in that legacy. Thank you and have another great year.
|
