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Academic AffairsPROVOST'S RESOURCE PLANNING DOCUMENT 1999-2000: AN INTRODUCTIONby Kenneth L. Watters, Provost and Vice Chancellor The past year has been one of change, planning for new directions and initiatives, and consolidation of past gains for UWM. Most noteworthy, of course, was the change in campus leadership when the sixth chancellor of UWM, Nancy L. Zimpher, arrived to begin her duties on Aug. 1, 1998. Following Chancellor Zimpher's arrival, the campus embarked on an ambitious and broadly inclusive planning initiative which came to be known as The Milwaukee Idea. Planning for The Milwaukee Idea involved more than 200 students, faculty, staff, and community members and led to the identification of 10 First Ideas that have been given to the same number of Action Teams for development of implementation plans. The Action Teams and their Advisory Councils submitted final reports on their work in August, for review and decisions about investment in any or all of these First Ideas. Each of the First Ideas developed around themes of partnership, inclusion, diversity, and engagement and was built upon existing campus strengths and identified community interest and need. Ultimately, The Milwaukee Idea can be seen as an articulation of the Strategic Plan for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee as it seeks to:
All are priorities of the UWM Strategic Plan. The remarkable progress and wide acceptance of The Milwaukee Idea prompted questions about our ability to make necessary investments in these new and focused initiatives and to continue our investments in all of the other important things the university must do. In April of 1999, a retreat of about 50 faculty, staff, and students spent a day and a half developing a set of "investment priorities" and outlining sources of income for these priorities. This retreat, called "Planning for the Future of UWM," was attended by all members of the Academic Planning and Budget Committee, the Chancellor's Cabinet, the Chancellor's Budget Advisory Committee, the Academic Dean's Council, and members of the Provost's staff. The report of that retreat called for targeted investment in seven crucial areas over the coming five years. These are:
During the summer, the Chancellor's Budget Advisory Committee is meeting to hear reports on how we can plan for and accomplish these investments and to develop a much more detailed revenue and investment plan. The retreat also targeted several important sources of revenue to fund these investments. These include:
Again, the Chancellor's Budget Advisory Committee is working to develop firmer estimates of the amounts that might be available to the campus in each of these categories. It is very important to remember that our ability to make commitments of considerable magnitude for this campus at this time rests substantially upon our success in the past four to five years in bringing our campus enrollments back to targeted levels in fall 1998 for the first time since 1992. We project increasing enrollments in the years ahead, based upon the larger freshman classes of the past four years and expanding service to nontraditional students. UW System policy automatically returns 75 percent of excess tuition derived from enrollments above our target levels, and we are seeking access to 100 percent of these tuition revenues. These returned excess tuition revenues will be an important investment source for the campus over the next five years. Our enrollment successes of the past few years come as we begin the preparation for the UWM part of a systemwide enrollment plan entitled EM21. This enrollment plan will be more flexible than systemwide enrollment plans of the last 12 years, and promises to enable UWM to take advantage of its strengths: a reputation for high quality, a strong tradition of access, a large base of potential students in our immediate area, a diverse and broad program array, and an excellent physical plant, to name just a few. All of those governance groups which have been involved in the budget planning described above will be closely consulted as we continue to develop the UWM plan for EM21. Coupled with our success in bringing enrollments to and above expected levels, the campus must also be more successful in generating increased external funding. UWM became a Research II university several years ago based upon its annual number of Ph.D. recipients and the level of federal funding coming to the campus. We are, though, second from the bottom in federal funding on the most recent list of Research II universities. We have the potential to do much better. Graduate School Dean and Associate Provost for Research William Rayburn, working with the Research Policy Committee, is developing a Research Plan that will propose strategies to move the campus forward in its quest to increase substantially its extramural funding levels. If we are to accomplish this, one of the direct benefits of investment in The Milwaukee Idea must be a markedly increased level of extramural support for our research, instruction, and outreach efforts. The Milwaukee Idea, integrated with our research, enrollment, and diversity plans, will form the basis for a campus-specific request for funding in the next state biennial budget (2001-2003). The partnership of the State of Wisconsin will be a critical element of our plans to build our external support, expand our enrollment base and access, and become even more engaged in the life of metropolitan Milwaukee. We will work to develop this budget request over the next several months. Finally, a key element of our engagement over the next few years will be the development of a successful capital campaign for the campus. The Milwaukee Idea and our other planning have laid very important groundwork for such a campaign. A new assistant chancellor has been hired for the areas of development and alumni relations, and he will be key to plans for a successful campaign. Several other leadership positions will change hands in the next year or two. I have announced that I will retire next June 30, and the recruitment for a new provost and vice chancellor has begun with the appointment of a search-and-screen committee and advertising for the position. We also have in place a search-and-screen committee for dean of the School of Allied Health Professions and will interview finalists this fall semester. We are in the process of appointing a search-and-screen committee to identify candidates for dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Science. That recruitment should be completed next spring. We have recently experienced the resignations of the deans of the School of the Arts and the School of Nursing. Interim deans have been appointed, and discussions about recruitment strategies will begin this fall semester. In short order, then, we will replace the campus provost and one-third of the campus deans. Of the eight continuing deans, only three have been at UWM more than four years. This cadre of new leadership will work with Chancellor Zimpher and the faculty, staff, and students to carry UWM into the 21st century amidst a spirit of optimism that surpasses anything I have experienced in my 30 years here. This optimism and the willingness of so many to work so hard toward common goals leads to my conviction that the future for UWM is indeed bright. Return to Report Contents Page |
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