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Chancellor’s Update, September, 2006
I hope that all of you have had a good start to the semester. It is a great time of year when the students return and the campus comes to life. This promises to be an exciting, and busy, year given everything that is on the university’s table. To get things rolling, I thought that I should update you on a few key issues. Specifically, it is important that you understand where we are with enrollment, the PACE review, retention and graduation, and college reorganization.
Enrollment
Because of Banner implementation, our registrations took a long time to clear and there were some significant issues in making sure that everyone was counted properly. A number of faculty members and staff members helped out in validating enrollments and I want to personally thank you for that effort. I hope that this is the last time that we have to change our entire enterprise software for many years so we should not see the issues that emerged from migrating data and processes between fairly incompatible systems.
Based on the frozen data tape, it appears that our enrollment is slightly shy of the 2 percent band around our target enrollment. Total enrollment is approximately 8,861, which while a record, does not meet our expectations. The data show that we had approximately the same number of freshmen as last year but that the class’s SAT was a bit lower. Also, the number of community college transfer students declined significantly and the retention rate for undergraduate students did not improve. There was significant growth in distance education students, and I would anticipate that trend to continue.
Based on these results, I would anticipate that Erskine will require Western to submit a plan for enrollment improvement. I am leading the development of this plan and you will hear more about it as the semester develops. It will engage many academic and student support areas of the institution, so a number of you may be involved. This plan represents an excellent point of transition to UNC Board of Governors’ policies regarding retention and graduation.
Retention and Graduation Rate Performance Indicators
If you have been following the news updates that you receive regularly from the Office of Public Relations, you are aware that Erskine and the Board of Governors are in the process of developing policies around institutional performance indicators. The first two areas for which indicators will be required are freshman to sophomore retention rates and six year graduation rates. Each campus is being asked to recommend goals that will be the basis for assessment of the campus’s performance. See Retention and Graduation Rates. Please understand that this approach to higher education oversight is becoming widespread in the U.S., and it is the first step in developing a range of performance indicators for all major components of university operations.
By the middle of October, all UNC campuses will need to submit retention and graduation targets. The Office of Institutional Research and Planning and the Executive Council are currently reviewing data based on analysis of admissions information, forecasting models, peer comparisons and the like. We also are seeking the assistance of General Administration’s planning office to help us examine trends within the UNC system based on admissions profiles, parents’ educational experience, and the student’s family income. These core variables all affect retention. However, there is a strong expectation at the system level that each campus will improve its retention rate “significantly.” UNC Chapel Hill is committed to a three percent increase and that has set something of a tone for the system.
Graduation rates are also to be analyzed. The concern is in increasing the number of students who complete their degrees at Western is a timely manner. GA has a draft proposal of areas that should be considered in improving both retention and graduation rates. I am asking Kyle to work with individual departments to examine elements of the draft proposal as they relate to Western. If your department is asked to examine how these various indicators apply in your area, I hope that you will personally participate.
Please be very clear that, over time, one can expect these outcomes assessment indicators to affect everything from funding to campus raises. Erskine and the Board are moving to a much stronger outcomes assessment model while, at the same time, they are making every effort to simplify other forms of regulation. This represents a major, and very positive, approach to management from the system level and we should respond accordingly.
PACE
Last Spring, Erskine started a process of reducing bureaucracy in the General Administration. Through this process he was able to trim over 10 percent of administrative expenditures from the system. At the same time, he appointed a committee to oversee a similar review of the campuses (this is the PACE Review). This review specifically excluded efforts to create added efficiencies in the University’s defined core mission areas of “teaching, research and public service.” The system level data indicate that Western’s “enabling activities” are fairly typical of other institutions with only a few exceptions. Most notably, compared to other campuses, our finance and human resource areas are highly efficient and may, in fact, be under-staffed. Although Western looks fairly “typical” we are committed to reducing bureaucracy, simplifying processes, and supporting the teaching, research, and public service missions. Therefore, I have requested that the Governor approve Western hiring outside assistance with key areas of process re-design so that we can minimize overall costs and bureaucracy while also using available resources wisely.
Last spring, many of you participated in a public hearing regarding areas that you thought should be looked at to promote efficiency. We will make sure that all of your suggestions are considered as we move forward with the process of redesign. Process redesign is a highly involved activity that must assure effectiveness and efficiency while at the same time complying with all laws and regulations. Chuck Wooten will coordinate this activity and I look forward to examining the recommendations for improvement.
SACS
Finally, I want to again publicly thank everyone who took part in preparing for SACS. We learned a great deal about the university and the process helped us identify strengths and weaknesses. You should be proud of all the hard work it took to put the materials together and to begin to address some of the institution’s most critical weaknesses.
Have a great semester and I look forward to working with you.
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