College of Arts and Sciences

Council of Chairs

April 28, 2010

2:30 p.m., LSRB 1143

Meeting Minutes

Present: J. Berkowitz, J. Brière, A. Broadwell, A. DeBlasi, E. Gaffney, K. Gersowitz (recorder), D. Goodwin, G. Griffith, R. Hamm, T. Harrison, M. Hill, T. Kinal, R. Lachmann,A. Lyons, C. MacDonald, J. Mandle, G. Moore, J. Pipkin, C. Smith, G. Stevens, M. Sutherland, C. Thorncroft, P. Toscano, K. Williams, T. Wormwood, E. Wulfert, A. Zak, K. Zhu,R. Zitomer.

Introductory Remarks: Dean Wulfert called the meeting to order at 2:30p.m.

Minutes of April 7, 2010: A motion to approve the minutes was made byA. Zak, seconded by D. Goodwin. The meeting minutes for April 7, 2010 wereapproved by a vote of 22 in favor and one abstention.

Announcements:

  • CAS Ice Cream Social: 5/18/10 from 2:30-4:00 p.m. in the lobby of the Arts and Sciences building. Please RSVP to Jaime Galusha by 5/10/10 ().
  • Dean Wulfert encouraged the Chairs to attend the Theatre Department production of The Crucible. The production is part of the Department’s celebration of 100 Years of Theatre. Several alums are in the play, which will hold its final performances Thursday – Saturday (4/29 – 5/1).

Faculty/Staff Participation Requested at these Events:

  • Thank you to all who participated in the following events:
  • Faculty Phone-A-Thon for Group One, Presidential Scholars, Frederick Douglass Scholars
  • Open Houses for Accepted Students
  • Fountain Day
  • Campus Clean-Up Day is rescheduled to Thursday, 5/29/10 (
  • Commencement Weekend is 5/15-5/16/10. Please volunteer by signing up at:
  • Please provide the name of your transfer student advisor for Summer Planning Conferences to Undergraduate Studies (send name of department representatives to Donna LaHue at )

Old Business: - none

New Business- Developing Guiding Principles for Budget Decisions

Background: Two years ago the Provost’s Executive Advisory Committee (PEAC) began to develop reduction scenarios in response to the two budget cuts that took place in 2008-09. No further cuts were incurred in 2009-10, but PEAC has recently been asked to develop scenarios to address potentially unprecedented budget cuts in 2010-11 and 2011- 12. (For CAS, a 5% cut would amount to approximately $1.9 million; 10% would result in a cut of $3.9 million; and 15% would mean a cut of $5.8 million to permanent resources.) As a result of the first two budget cuts the College no longer has sufficient funding to absorb further cuts without reducing programs. Dean Wulfert has asked the Chairs, with the Provost’s consent, to assist her in developing guiding principles for making what may amount to extremely difficult budget decisions. She will use the Chairs’ advice to guide her recommendations to the Provost. She emphasized the advisory role of Chairs to Deansto Provost to President who ultimately will make the final budget decisions.

Disinvestment Exercise: The Chairs were asked to develop principles for disinvestment and, for the purpose of the exercise, to consider the 5% reduction scenario. She explained that although a 5% cut amounts to approximately $2 million, the true cut will need to be much higher, approximately $2.3 million, as the College is responsible for backfilling with adjuncts the instructional capacity lost with any faculty retrenchment (estimated at $300,000). The College has sustained a net loss of 28 faculty over the past two years and we estimate that at the end of the reduction process CAS will be down a total of 35 lines. The College anticipates $1.2 million in turnover lines; however 30% of this money will go to the Centrally Allocated Resource (CAR) pool, leaving the College with a shortfall of approximately $800,000 which must be made up to meet the 5% reduction scenario, if it were to be imposed.

Small Group Discussions: The Chairs were then grouped by discipline. Dean Wulfert provided them with the data listed below and asked each group to derive principles for disinvestment. In addition to the data provided she noted that other dimensions, such as the essential nature of a program to a University, should be considered.

Data:

Departmental Salaries and Operating Budget spreadsheet

Report of Research Foundation Awards/Applications by Academic Unit

Departmental Profiles – Majors/Masters/PhDs

Reports from Group Discussions:

General Theme:

Determine programs that are essential to the mission of the College by using a variety of metrics (e.g., # of majors, strength of faculty, program quality). Restructuring within the College and throughout the University should be considered.

Arts and Humanities (Art, Music, Theatre, History, LLC, Philosophy, English, East Asian Studies):

Potential Costs Savings:

  • Chairs Stipends ($92,000) – Note: Unless stipends are permanently turned in this is not an option for meeting the current budget reduction goals.
  • Cutting Phone Expenses (operating budget – possible savings $250,000)

Decision-making Principles:

  • Protect departments and programs that are essential to the mission of the University. Further discussion is necessary.
  • Cut the fewest number of faculty positions possible.
  • Academics are central to the mission of the University and other non-academic units should bear the brunt of the budget cuts.
  • Reduce program redundancies through the College and the University.
  • Restructure schools and colleges to effect savings.

Sciences: (Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, Math)

Decision-making Principles:

  • Principles of Expendability:

Consider the number majors in a program/department.

Consider whether the program/department has a doctoral or terminal master’s program.

Consider the unit’s contribution to the University’s identity.

Consider the unit’s RF and UAF profile.

Consider the unit’s national profile.

A deficiency in any one of the above criteria (e.g., number of majors) would not necessarily be sufficient to cut a program but would be considered in conjunction with other criteria.

  • Reduce part-time instructors.
  • Cut inefficient programs within departments.

Social Sciences (large departments – Economics, Communication, Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology)

Decision-making Principles:

  • Strength and quality of programs should be evaluated (determined by a variety of quantitative and qualitative measures, e.g., program review documents, GSS documents.)
  • Impact on undergraduate major

Consider the number of majors affected.

Consider the unit’s contribution to Gen Ed requirements.

Consider the unit’s interdisciplinary impact.

  • Doctoral education quality

Consider the unit’s level of external funding.

Consider the faculty’s level of scholarly contributions.

  • Cuts should be undertaken with the goal of restructuring within a contemporary educational framework. Reconstitute programs to better contribute to the mission of the University.

Social Sciences (small departments – Africana Studies, Women’s Studies, Judaic Studies, Geography and Planning, LACS)

Cost cutting suggestions:

  • Cut 10% of part-time instruction across the board ($350,000).
  • Identify programs that are not critical to the College and University (cherry picking).
  • Restructure area studies programs and subsume them under larger departments.

Data Concerns:

  • Decision makers should have access to the most complete data set possible. (GSS original data, departmental reports, panel evaluations, and departmental responses, departmental self studies, external reviewers reports, departmental response).
  • Departments should have the opportunity to check the data.
  • Explanation of so-called“non-departmental expenses”listed in the Profiles was requested.

Summary: Dean Wulfert noted that she will send the Chairs a list of all programs and clarify questions that were raised at the meeting. She asked that each Chair individually identify unitswithin the College that he/she considered not essential to CAS or to the University and also encouraged that the Chairs identify programs outside of the College or outside of Academic Affairs. She requested that the Chairs provide this information to her by May 3 so that she would be able to consider their feedback in her recommendations to the Provost. She emphasized that she would hold individual suggestions in strictest confidence and would not share them with anyone, including her own staff.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:30.

Handouts:

Minutes of April 7, 2010 meeting

Agenda

Departmental Salaries and Operating Budget spreadsheet

Report of Research Foundation Awards/Applications by Academic Unit

Departmental Profiles – Majors/Masters/PhDs

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