Office of the Provost

AAPC - Newsletter, December 2004

A Note from the Provost
Diversify and Increase Our Funding Sources
Develop and Expand Community Partnerships
Process Improvements
What Lies Ahead

A Note from the Provost

The Academic Affairs Planning Committee (AAPC) was formed in Spring 2004 to bring together faculty, staff, and administrators from Information Services, Liberal Arts and Sciences, Outreach and Extension, Professional and Graduate Studies, Student Services, and the Provost's Office. AAPC's charge is to develop and use an integrated planning process to 1) guide decision-making, 2) allocate resources, and 3) act in a coordinated fashion.

We agreed that if we are to seize control of our future, we must do three things:
     — Confront the emerging challenges that face higher education today.
     — Control key issues so we can have greater influence over our own future.
     — Create innovative solutions to our issues.

AAPC has met three times since our last "Update" was issued in October. During those meetings, we have heard tentative plans from all of the budget divisions represented on our committee, and we've considered a number of emerging challenges, opportunities and recommendations. Each division is actively confronting challenges, controlling issues, and creating solutions within its own area of operation. Soon we will begin identifying the priorities that span across our respective divisions and the steps we will take together to promote the well-being of our students and our institution.

As noted in the last "Update," we want to create an organization that encourages people to be creative and empowers them to thrive during change. To be empowered, we need resources, we need freedom, and we need connections to the community. Earlier this fall, AAPC had decided that the three most pressing issues for 2004-05 are:
     1) Diversify and increase our funding sources.
     2) Develop and expand community partnerships.
     3) Eliminate outcome inhibiting processes — the ones that frustrate people, don't make sense,
       hinder achievement, and result in untimely decisions.

We decided to begin addressing these issues immediately, even as we plan for the future. In this newsletter, we will fill you in on the progress we've made thus far and give you a preview of the next steps. In addition, each of our budget divisions has identified its own goals and actions for the coming year. These will be discussed in future "Updates."

As always, we welcome your comments and suggestions. Thank you for your interest.
Sue K. Hammersmith, Provost

Diversify and Increase Our Funding Sources

Several creative initiatives are underway already. The following, for example, are currently being pursued or explored by our respective divisions.

  • Developing a much fuller and more marketable summer school program, along with a marketing plan and an innovative business plan to make it viable.
  • Transitioning Interdisciplinary Studies (Extended Degree) into a self-supporting program.
  • Developing new funding models for off-campus programs, models that would bring in resources to both sponsoring units and supporting units.
  • Becoming positioned to get funding to expand our baccalaureate-completion options for nontraditional students.
  • Exploring an expansion of our distance education options.

Faculty and staff on the AAPC also have spoken to how community partnerships have benefited their academic programs and student learning opportunities. A number of new partnerships are being developed or explored. A subcommittee has drafted a set of principles and criteria that could be used to evaluate and prioritize such opportunities in the future. We'll consider partnerships further in the coming months.

"Diversifying revenue sources, developing partnerships, and eliminating outcome-inhibiting processes are not three separate activities. They're all ways of approaching your work, and they're interrelated. They affect all my decisions, how I prioritize, and how I look for creative solutions in my own area."
       — Fergus Hughes, Interim Dean, Liberal Arts and Sciences

Develop and Expand Community Partnerships

In October, AAPC discussed fifteen broad areas of concern for which we thought campus processes were frustrating, ineffective, or counterproductive. We decided to identify which processes to tackle first, using these criteria:

  • The process does not produce the desired outcome, in the perspective of many people.
  • The process is in our scope of responsibility and control (i.e., within the Provost's area of responsibility).
  • The process can be improved in a relatively short period of time — weeks or months.
  • The process can be improved without a big investment of fiscal, personnel, or technological resources.

Of the fifteen areas of concern we had identified, AAPC ranked three general areas as most pressing. One of these — the curriculum approval process — was referred to the University Committee. The other two areas of concern were subsequently narrowed down to specific processes that we could focus on. Selected AAPC members began discussions with others on campus to further clarify desired outcomes, processes, and creative solutions. In addition, the lead program assistants in academic affairs identified one area to look for efficiencies in during the coming year: forms.

Process Improvements

Process Desired
Outcomes		 What's the
Problem?		 Discussion
Partners		 Creative Solutions
to Consider
Academic Program Review Continuous improvement in student learning and academic programs Backlog in the Academic Affairs Council. Questions as to whether it makes a difference. Unclear, what's the "value-added" contribution of this process. Academic Affairs Council, unit chairs, deans, provost, and University Committee Clarify the purpose of academic program review. Review APR recommendations each fall and consider them in the annual planning cycle. Explore alternative process for approval of new courses (to relieve workload of council.)
Conflict Resolution Successful conflict resolution as near as possible to the source of the conflict People should be able to get help resolving conflicts "in house," before they reach the point of invoking formal governance conflict-resolution processes. Committee on Rights and Responsibilities, Secretary of the Faculty and Academic Staff, Academic Staff Committee, deans, and a trained mediator Outline steps to be taken before lodging a formal complaint heard by governance committees. Encourage supervisors to use mediation when appropriate. Train some UWGB employees in mediation skills, to assist others as needed.
Forms     Lead program assistants are taking the lead to improve forms that affect their work  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What Lies Ahead

The planning landscape is never static. New challenges and opportunities arise throughout the year and need to be dealt with. The AAPC will be instrumental in setting priorities, allocating resources, and making decisions about actions to be taken. At the present time, the AAPC is considering broad planning issues that cut across the divisions, priorities for the Provost to attend to in the coming year, divisional goals submitted to SBC, and how to develop a coherent strategic plan for the whole Academic Affairs area. These will be reported on in future "Updates," as the discussions progress.

AAPC materials and related information can be accessed at www.uwgb.edu/provost/aapc.htm.

Future "Updates" will consider some of the planning priorities that have been identified in our respective budget divisions, progress with respect to our three critical issues (increasing/diversifying revenue sources, building community partnerships, and improving processes), and continuing preparation for our budget submission for the coming year.