Report from BOR Work Session on 20 May

The BOR can take no actions at a work session, but several important topics were discussed on Thursday, 20 May.

Faculty Senate Chair Royal Berglee was present to present an overview of the Faculty Senate Constitution. President Andrews commented that the document was "not ready" for approval, and he suggested to Chair Merchant that a subcommittee of the BOR be formed to discuss the new Constitution and make a report back to the full group. This subcommittee will meet with Chair Berglee and incoming chair McCormick, the Provost, and the University Attorney. I agreed to serve on the subcommittee, which meets next week.

I think that this approach--the BOR and faculty representatives discussing the Constitution--is a good development, even if the administration and the Board cannot approve the Constitution as it was recently approved by the faculty. Any changes the BOR might suggest would have to be approved by the Faculty Senate and by the full faculty. One of the sticking points (as was expected) is the faculty's role in evaluating the President. The President himself has remarked that the faculty has a legitimate role in the process, but precisely how that process should work is still open to debate. He has also asked (and I think this point of view has some merit) if the Faculty Senate Constitution is the best place to stipulate such a process. More later on this topic as it develops.

While the preliminary report on the STAMATES enrollment marketing survey was interesting, the more general discussion on one of the preliminary findings was, I think, very revealing. The analysts at STAMATES were rather taken aback by the difference between responses from "external" groups and "internal" groups over the issue of MSU's reputation and quality. Most faculty probably won't be surprised to learn that "internal" groups (faculty, staff, current students) did not rate the institution as highly as "external" groups, and they were far less optimistic about MSU reaching its stated goals.

The discussion took a lengthy detour as BOR members and administrators considered the cause of this discrepancy. Fiscal Affairs Chair Verdie Craig was present, and she very eloquently described some of the frustrations felt by MSU faculty and the continued low state of faculty morale at the institution. These are themes that many of us have tried to bring before the administration and the BOR. Faculty were lucky to have had the chance to speak to this issue, and we were fortunate indeed to have Senator Craig there to provide an additional faculty perspective.

President Andrews laid out some possible strategies on addressing the budget, although we will have to wait for the special session to move forward. Our tuition increase of 5% was approved by the Council on Friday, and we are also contemplating some minor adjustments on various fees to help offset the budget cuts. President Andrews believes that we can address the cuts for the next year by applying some reserve funds and by adopting some cost-saving measures. Applications for enrollment look good compared to last year, and indeed any enrollment gains will certainly help.

I guess I don't have to tell you to keep following the budget saga closely. President Andrews has promised to keep the campus community informed.

The BOR will meet on Thursday, 10 June and should be able to approve a budget for 2010-11.

Ron

BOR Work Session on Thursday, 20 May

The BOR will hold a work session on Thursday 20 May at 9:00 a.m. in the Heritage Room.

The agenda is as follows:

1. Budget Update from President Andrews
2. 2010-11 Tuition Rates
3. Faculty Senate Constitution
4. STAMATS Enrollment Marketing Study

Obviously the first item is the most important for all of us. We now know that the Legislature will begin its special session on 24 May (after the primaries, as predicted by just about everyone) with a draft of a compromise budget put together by the Governor's office. We also know some details of that budget (see story here: http://www.moreheadstate.edu/news/release.aspx?id=55230), so it is a matter of learning how the administration is planning to respond.

At graduation, I did have a chance to talk with Rocky Adkins and Walter Blevins about how a government shutdown would affect MSU students and employees. After talking with them, and after reading the news this week, I feel somewhat more optimistic than I did before, but we'll all be relieved when this waiting game is over.

I am also curious how the Faculty Senate Constitution will be received by the administration. As far as I know, it has not been accepted or rejected by President Andrews. There may be a couple of sticking points, but the main one seems to be whether the Faculty Senate has the right to institute formative reviews of the President since the BOR bylaws state that the Board has the "exclusive right" to evaluate the President.

And the final item is tremendously important to us all as well. STAMATES is the firm that we have paid (rather handsomely) to help us determine how to improve our enrollment marketing. Headcount enrollment has been very flat in recent years, and credit hour production is going down. Increased enrollment may not solve all of our problems, but declining enrollment numbers will most certainly keep us from achieving some of our most important goals.

Look for my report on the work session next week.

Ron