University Planning and Quality Council
Minutes
Members Present:
Dr. Paul Hosier, Ms. Kay M. Ward, Mr. Scott Cowdrey
for Dr. Robert E. Tyndall, Dr. James Dragna for Ms. Pat Leonard, Dr. Jo Ann
Seiple, Mr. Lawrence Clark, Dr. Virginia Adams, Dr. Cathy Barlow, Dr. Robert
Roer, Dr. Terrence Curran, Dr. Mark Galizio, Dr. Dan Noland, Dr. Carol Pilgrim,
Dr. Thomas Schmid, Mr. Robert S. Russell.
Others Attending: Mr. Max Allen, Mr. Mark Lanier, Ms. Marybeth Bianchi, Ms. Sharon Boyd,
Mr. Ed Davis, Dr. Rebecca Porterfield, Ms. Peggy Chance and Dr. Kenneth
Spackman.
A quorum was established and
Provost Paul Hosier called the meeting to order at
The minutes of the
Background Information
Dr. Spackman described the
contents of the packet of information provided to the Council, including a list
of existing statements addressing UNCW’s identity,
mission statements of UNCW’s six divisions (as well
as mission statements of UNCW and the UNC System, and the Board of Governors’
Strategic Directions), transcripted comments from the
Chancellor’s open benchmarking forums, and interim results of the Identity and
Core Values Survey (94 responses as of November 20). Dr. Spackman also presented two brief sets of
PowerPoint slides—one highlighting the possible uniqueness of UNCW’s combination of quality undergraduate education and
research activity as measured by research expenditures; the second showing that
UNCW has a comparatively large proportion of transfer students among its
entering students.
Council Discussion
On transfer students
Hosier: There
has been a conscious effort to bring in more transfer students over recent
years. Advantages include a) transfer
students perform as well as students entering as freshmen (especially those who
enter through articulation agreements), b) transfer students don’t require as
many introductory resources (Basic Studies courses), and c) enrolling transfer
students gives us the opportunity to serve the region by providing an
alternative means of entering UNCW through community colleges.
Noland: Doesn’t
it look bad if people we won’t admit (referring to transfer students) do at
least as well as those we do admit? In
answer to Dr. Noland’s question, the following points were made: a) community colleges help to do the
selecting for us, b) those transfers who come in with an AA degree are
“completers” (and have a 3.0 at community colleges), and c) the students are
not the same populations (many transfers never applied as freshmen to UNCW).
Porterfield:
She observed that the number of non-returning students was 813 this year
(up from 653 last year). It was agreed
that it is important to look further into this, possibly with a breakdown by
area.
Hosier: We must
monitor the transfer student mix to make sure we get enough out-of-state students
to maintain financial viability.
Spackman: In
answer to several questions: 44% of students transferring to UNCW come from
four-year institutions; 82% of all transfers to UNCW are North Carolina
residents; however, 41% transfer their most recent credits from out-of-state
universities or community colleges.
On teaching & research
Schmid: Does
the distribution of research at UNCW affect our research expenditure
comparison? In answer to Dr. Schmid’s question, there was agreement that institutions
not as active in sciences (or engineering, for example) are likely to have
lower research expenditures, and that most institutions have one area that
dwarfs others in research expenditures.
Noland: Are we
asking whether what we want to be is an institution dedicated to four year
liberal arts education and select graduate research-oriented programs?
Spackman: Many
of the survey comments are fairly generic; they would apply to almost any
university. We want to pinpoint what
makes UNCW unlike other institutions so that we can work on cultivating
that and convincing the Board of Governors, the legislature, the public and the
parents of prospective students that we are worthy of their support. You should be able to tell by reading our
answer to “Who are we?” that “That must be UNCW.”
Roer: “The fact
that we can provide doctoral level experiences for our master’s and our
undergraduate students may be a key point—that’s unique. We have master’s programs that predominate at
the graduate level, we have lots of undergraduate students who are engaged with
faculty, and we are obviously providing them with doctoral level experiences.”
Barlow: “We’re
a master’s level institution, and we’re in the same ballpark with doctoral
institutions.”
Hosier: What is
it that we have done that has led to that and can foster and continue that if,
in fact, that’s what we decide we want to do?
Roer: An
emphasis on marine biology and marine science has set the course. Other programs (e.g., creative writing and
psychology) have risen to that level of scholarly productivity and
engagement. Several graduate programs at
UNCW are experiencing increasing rates of attracting research dollars.
Clark: “I think
that what’s unique is that we’ve had the scholarly output but we’ve kept
teaching important.” He cited AACSB
survey statistics (that likely apply across campus) that confirms the
simultaneous quality of undergraduate education and scholarship. We can have good teaching and good
research—it doesn’t have to be either/or.
Galizio: “The
data show the juxtaposition of the research dollars and the commitment to
undergraduate education, and it shows not only that juxtaposition exists here,
but that it’s fairly unique. It defines
the niche. But I think you can go
broader than that. It’s not just
research opportunities, but the opportunity to study with very high quality
faculty: our undergraduates get individualized attention, they work on
internships, they work on research, they work on creative writing projects. It’s this combination of infrastructure of a
large doctoral-granting school with the continued commitment to individualized
undergraduate experience. There aren’t
very many places like that.”
Curran: “I
don’t hear across the board students saying that they are so immersed in
research and scholarship and intellectual communication—there are some, and
those are those who have the capability and intellectual capacity to engage in
those kinds of dialogues and experiences with faculty...The real question is,
‘How elite do we want to become?’”
Pilgrim:
“...new faculty know that high quality teaching and high quality
research are the expectation—that’s what they see modeled around them and
they’re flourishing in that.”
Roer: “...part
of the problem is that we haven’t articulated [UNCW’s
combination of research activity and individualized attention to students] and
that’s why a lot of students don’t realize the capabilities that are afforded
to them.”
Curran: “As we
grow in size, how far can a faculty member stretch themselves to provide that
level of individual attention...It’s not practical for a public university to
be like a smaller private liberal arts institution.”
Lanier: “It’s
this combination of quality teaching with high quality research that we are
becoming, and if we’re saying that’s who we are, we’re really saying it with
the other question in mind of who we want to become. But it gives us direction in terms of some of
the important decisions.”
On changes at UNCW over the years
Seiple: The percentage
of UNCW students who complete their baccalaureate degrees at other UNC
institutions has declined. (UNCW is now
more of a “destination” school.)
Schmid: We have
been a growth institution and a great market for hiring at a time when many
highly qualified PhDs were available.
Seiple: Faculty
we are hiring now are committed to discovery.
Roer: The
attitude in some departments years ago was, “This person is too good; we don’t
want someone like that.” (Faculty feared
they wouldn’t come here, or were afraid of what everyone else would look
like.) There was agreement that whole
culture is totally gone.
Roer/Seiple:
There was for the longest time two camps—the “teachers” and the
“researchers”—and neither should be expected to do the other. “You don’t hear that any more.”
On planning in general
Hosier: Rather
than focus only on five or six indicators, we should “pick a constellation of
fundamental activities” that will have the effect of improving the indicators.
Hosier: “It’s
apparent that the number of small classes is decreasing and the number of large
classes is increasing just because of our financial resources...By the same
financial issues that we have...we’re getting a larger number of part-time
faculty teaching our 100- and 200-level classes...Those are the kinds of things
that we want to change. When we change
those things, then these other factors are going to change.”
Hosier:
(Following Dr. Schmid’s comments about faculty
recruitment) We
need to do constant environmental scanning with respect to faculty supply and
locations where they may be attracted as the economy, market conditions and
competition change.
There was no new business.
The meeting was adjourned at
3:00 pm.
Future Meetings
December
18, 2003, 3:30-5:00 pm, AL 215
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