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College of Letters and Science Faculty Document No. 680 Academic Planning Committee The Academic Planning Committee held eight meetings during the 2003-2004 academic year. The meetings were held on September 30, 2004; November 7, 2003; December 12, 2003; January 8, 2004; January 20, 2004; April 9, 2004; April 19, 2004; and May 7, 2004. The Committee considered the following topics: Procedural Matters Nomination of Faculty Members to Review Sabbatical Proposals:
Stacey Oliker was elected Co-Chair for 2003-2004 academic year. Douglas Cherkauer was elected as Chair for the 2003-2004 academic year. Discussion with the Dean Dean Meadows gave a brief summary of the state of the L&S budget for the current academic year. He expressed concern about the deficit, but told members that the College needed to move forward in hiring new faculty. College enrollment management - The Dean stated that a goal of the College is to serve more students, but funding as well as faculty are crucial issues. He said that a proposal at the System level was made to create a special tuition for students in surrounding states. He added that UWM has attracted non-traditional students over the years and that this would be incentive to attract more. Concern was expressed by Doug Cherkauer that the university would not be able to supply student's needs when there is a lack of space, especially in science labs. Swarnjit Arora expressed concern about population trends and the potential for an enrollment decrease in the future. The College's role in assessment of teaching and learning - The College was granted only a marginal role in the Provost's proposed program assessment priorities even though the College has approximately 53% of the students and 50% of all UWM faculty. The Committee expressed concern that L&S priorities were ignored in the Provost's plan and that the plan seemed to come out of the Academic Dean's Council rather than through traditional governance processes. Concern was also expressed that the plan was developed without first clarifying campus priorities. The Committee discussed at length the problems resulting from the focus on national rankings. A letter to be sent to the Provost was drafted expressing the following concerns: the flawed process, suggesting an alternative metric; Review of 2004-2005 Budget Proposals - The Dean said that this was the first time in awhile that campus administration had asked the units to submit five-year plans. Requests for funds were to be tied to those plans. The Provost's original proposals, based on former Chancellor Zimpher's "20/20/20" plan, did not receive much support across campus. The outcome for L&S was that the Freshwater Sciences proposal would likely be funded, but most of the other College proposals would not receive support. Position Requests The Dean said that the College will have a deficit in the coming year and would only be able to fill a maximum of twenty positions. Tuition revenue was lower than expected because the College was asked to transfer some instructional costs to 189 monies to help the campus stay within its enrollment target. The Dean told the Committee that improving student retention, better enrollment management and implementing the proposals of the Black and Gold Committee could significantly improve tuition revenue. The three Associate Deans prepared position priorities and gave a brief explanation of each. Humanities - Associate Dean Schuster Replacement positions:
Film Studies: film historian, open recruitment New positions: Three requests on hold: Natural Sciences - Associate Dean Harris Dean Harris did not distinguish between replacement and new positions. He noted that start up is the biggest constraint on hiring; natural sciences went over target this year; five positions would cost about $800K in startup. He distributed a table of all the NS requests that did not include the action plan positions because the money for those positions was constrained. He noted that Biological Sciences needs a permanent academic staff member to teach the two anatomy and physiology courses. Mathematical Sciences will hire a permanent academic staff member to cover the shortfall in its lower level classes. Action Plan positions (with funds from the Provost) not yet filled are Neuroscience, Biotechnology and Zebrafish. Biological Sciences Department proposed five Action Plan positions that will not be filled unless funds come from the Provost. The Biotech position would probably be in Chemistry. There is a severe shortage of space in Lapham due to renovation. If there is room, CES would be the number two position to be funded. The Evolutionary Population Geneticist is the department's top priority. Dean Harris feels that the Animal Ecologist position is undervalued by the department. The Chemistry Department's top priority is the Organic Chemist position, but it is very expensive. Dean Harris supports a Chemistry Educator as the second priority position, and it should be a senior hire. The Geosciences Department will need a Mineralogist if the current faculty member does not achieve tenure. Ad hocs handling the position in the past have not been adequate. The Mathematical Sciences Department in Geometry is Dean Harris's third choice. It is a carryover replacement position. He supports the Atmospheric Science position because that area has been very productive. The Physics Department has two positions coupled with Engineering. Both positions depend on the availability of funding. The Biotech faculty have put out grant proposals for over $6M within the last several months. A tech person is needed to service equipment. Social Sciences - Associate Dean Miller Dean Miller set her priorities according to her assessment of the position's ability to attract outside monies. The social sciences hired 12 people during the past year, and they request 32 more hires. Dean Miller narrowed the list to 18. She said that the social sciences were not as effective in attracting outside money as they could have been. If some extramural money was assured, some people could have been hired on soft money. She referred Committee members to the list she circulated. Her priorities are: Health Psychology and Neurobehavioral Psych: Both areas successful at getting extramural funds. Would require startup of $25,000 over two years for each position. Both positions should be AP. Geography: Positions for urban environmental, water and GIS. The department is more likely to get extramural money. With a little more strength in the faculty, Geography is positioned to move into the top 20. Geography has a connection to Freshwater in natural sciences. Positions should be AP. Anthropology: The forensics program has boomed and has sucked dry the department's two physical anthropologists, Anapol and Turner. Position should be AP. Open department, open rank: A teaching person, who would need some general knowledge across all the social sciences. Position should be advanced AP or AP. Political Science: Comparative politics. In the past this area was successful in getting money. Position should be AP. Journalism & Mass Communications: Department is overrun with majors. Media ethics position is requested at the AP level. Political Science: American political institutions. Partly funded by the Wilder Crane Professorship. AP or P. Sociology: The department might be able to merge quantitative sociology with another specialty such as aging. Position should be AP. History: The Dean stressed that UWM should have a German historian, given the history of the state. Position should be AP. Middle Eastern and North African Studies: Position would be partly funded by a CIE grant. It would be open to Political Science, History, Sociology, and perhaps other departments. Position should be AP. American Indian Studies: Humanities or Social Sciences. Searches have failed for two years, first as an academic staff position and then as a faculty position. If a specific individual that is known by the College were sought, a search would probably be successful. Position should be at the Associate Professor or Professor level. Africology: The department requested someone in technology, theory, policy, and evaluation in education. Dean Miller suggested dropping the technology requirement. Position should be at the Associate or Assistant Professor level. History: The department requested a position in colonial South Asia, but British history is also a high priority. The position could probably include both areas. Position should be at the Assistant Professor level. Sociology/Urban Studies: The area of urban studies is growing. The College has $10K per year for 3 years from the Meier Endowment. Position should be at the Assistant Professor level. Economics: Department faculty should be more successful at securing grants. Health and aging position could create a successful research group. Healthy Choices and/or Age and Community could be coordinated. Position should be at the Assistant Professor level. Africology: A position in critical race theory, critical leadership would help the case for the Ph.D. Position should be at the Assistant Professor level. Political Science/Women's Studies: A position at the Assistant Professor level is not critical, but would be a good addition. Final Outcome of Position Requests Humanities The twelve positions requested by Dean Schuster were evaluated according to the needs of the department and none were stricken by the review committee. Some departments have requested the same positions for a number of years. Natural Sciences The nine positions requested by Dean Harris were ranked somewhat differently by the review committee, but none were stricken from the list. The Chair commented that the natural sciences have been ignored in the past five years and that professors have retired and their positions were not filled. Social Sciences The twelve positions requested by Dean Miller were approved by the review committee. The Urban Studies proposal should be deferred until next year. Respectfully submitted, 2003-2004 Academic Planning Committee Douglas Cherkauer, Geosciences, Chair C://Annual Reports/Acad Plan Comm Annual Report 03-04 |
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