Dear Colleagues:

            This past Friday I met with the Budget Working Group to finalize our strategic budget for the coming fiscal year. From the beginning our focus has been on strengthening our ability to deliver our teaching and research missions and growing revenue, while doing so in the most efficient and effective manner possible. The budget submission process has been completed, the faculty and research mission have been preserved and we have created a solid foundation for the fall of 2014 and beyond.    We have a broad range of recruitment, retention, and completion efforts already underway.  I’ll be sharing details and early results over the next two weeks.  I think you will be pleased with indications of early progress and momentum. I want to thank the deans and chairs for their leadership and hard work. 

            I am pleased to share that the budget reductions in Academic Affairs are now complete, with total reductions of $10,570,007 in the coming fiscal year and $4.5 million rolled into the next fiscal year.  This approach will allow time for careful study and also an opportunity to gauge any growth secondary to the broad range of retention and completion initiatives already underway.  Of the total, $3,554,733 (34%) is being captured through administrative reductions and $3.2 million (30%) through the recovery of designated tuition/fee funds (as shared very early in the discussions).  In short, 64% of the total reductions are outside of the core academic delivery and research mission of the University. 

          As noted before the holiday break, there will be no faculty layoffs, with the reductions being managed through normal attrition.  It is important to mention that we have taken care to position ourselves for growth in targeted colleges and programs, along with supporting our core research mission. We have strengthened our ability to deliver a comprehensive educational experience for our students, reaching from the arts to the sciences.  For the first time in over a decade we will expand our research support infrastructure, with services provided at the college level. Our commitment to interdisciplinary research will continue to expand in concrete and practical ways over the next few years.

            I have asked Dick Evans, President of the Faculty Senate, to work with the Senate membership and offer recommendations on a mechanism for annual reviews of academic program performance, along with administrative efficiency and effectiveness.  This group will provide input for the Budget Working Group and the central administration on how well our budget decisions continue to align with university priorities. 

            Thank you for your hard work and for caring so deeply about the University of Memphis and our students.  We’re making great progress and meeting the challenges in a thoughtful and strategic fashion. 

 Go Tigers!

M. David Rudd, Provost

Dear Colleagues:

Here’s another update on our efforts to grow enrollment and help our students successfully complete their degrees. Efforts to increase our doctoral production are working and this is very good news, indeed, with profound positive consequences for both our academic mission and our financial health.

One-hundred thirty (130) doctoral students have applied for May 2014 graduation.  Seventy-one (71) doctoral students have graduated so far this academic year: Forty-six (46) doctoral students in Summer 2013 and twenty-five (25) doctoral students in Fall 2013.  Perhaps not all 130 who have applied will graduate this semester, but if even just over half of the candidates pass their dissertation defenses, we will surpass the number of doctoral graduates for 2013-2014 and set a new University of Memphis record.

Doctoral Degrees Granted

If everyone who has applied for doctoral degrees for May 2014 is successful, we could graduate 201 doctoral students this academic year–an astounding 54% increase!   Under the current funding formula the University stands to reap significant financial rewards by increasing the number of doctoral degrees awarded.

As I like to say, I am profoundly confident in our ability to be innovative and creative and to meet the needs of our students in an efficient and effective fashion. Core to our mission is an obligation to help our students not only complete their degrees and launch their futures, but also overcome potential barriers to success. Our success is tied to theirs. You are to be congratulated on your remarkable efforts to make this work.

Go Tigers!

M. David Rudd, Provost

Dear Colleagues:

 Consistent with a firm commitment to growing interdisciplinary research and teaching on campus, efforts to establish an integrated College of Health Sciences are taking another step forward with the appointment of a transition planning group.  The College of Health Sciences will include the School of Public Health, the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, and a proposal for a newly formed School comprised of the existing Department of Health and Sports Sciences. The new College of Health Sciences is actually the realization of an idea that has been considered for several years now, initially discussed in 2008.  The new college will allow for greater interdisciplinary collaboration in the health sciences, along with improved administrative efficiency, including not only administrative staffing but also space utilization.   A decision was made to leave the Loewenberg School of Nursing autonomous given its unique opportunities for growth and expansion in the local clinical health services delivery community.  The executive dean for the new College of Health Sciences will be Dr. Don Wagner.   Dean Wagner was engaged in similar restructuring  efforts at the University of Cincinnati.

 Transition team members for the College of Health will include:

 Dr. Donald Wagner – Workgroup Chair

Dr. Linda Jarmulowicz, Associate Dean, Communication Sciences and Disorders

Dr. Robin Roach, Professor of Nutrition and Dietetics

Dr. Marian Levy, Assistant Dean, School of Public Health

Dr. Richard Bloomer, Professor of Exercise Science and Chair, Department of Health and Sport Sciences

 The College of Education will consist of the departments and programs currently in the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences, with the exception of HSS.   The transition team for the College of Education will include:

 Dr. Sutton Flynt-Chair

Dr. Ernie Rakow

Dr. Deborah Lowther

Dr. Larry McNeal

Dr. Doug Strohmer

 The transition planning teams will identify and address issues critical to the transitions. 

Sincerely,

 M. David Rudd, Provost

Dear Colleagues:

In earlier postings I have stressed our efforts to grow enrollment, improve retention and help our students successfully complete their degrees as critical to our mission. An important part of this conversation must include an honest effort to answer the question “Why do students leave the University of Memphis?”  We’ve been looking carefully at academic performance, along with a broad range of challenges and stressors students face.

A survey was recently administered to students who were enrolled at the University of Memphis during the Spring 2012 term but did not re-enroll for the Fall 2013 term.  This pilot study attempted to glean information about the students who leave the university.  Two hundred and fifteen students who either had cumulative GPAs above 2.0 or who were in good academic standing at the end of the term completed the survey. It’s critical to recognize that almost 87% of our students carry cumulative  GPA’s at 2.0 or above, indicating the ability to successfully complete college.  We’re currently graduating about half of these students.  

Fifty-two items in the survey determined whether the students possess certain characteristics or beliefs and whether or not these qualities influenced the students’ decision to leave.  Consistent with anecdotal evidence over the years, it was discovered that some of the most influential factors in a student’s decision to depart are related to monetary or work issues.  Here are some of the most frequent responses:

• I needed more money to be able to support myself (49%)
• The amount of student loan debt worries me (56%)
• I ran out of financial aid funds (46%)
• I didn’t want to take on more debt in order to go to school (41%)
• In the most recent term that I attended the UofM, I worked more than 20 hours per week (60%)
• I was satisfied with the quality of instruction at the UofM (52%)
• I paid for most of my college expenses (36%)
• I had conflicts with my job schedule (30%)
• Working and going to school was too stressful (28%) 

Surprisingly, many previously accepted reasons for students’ departures appear to have very little actual influence on our students’ decisions.  The majority of students who leave the UofM were not dissatisfied with the instruction.  Remarkably, only 9 percent of these “leaving” would not recommend the UofM to someone else.  Furthermore, the vast majority of departing students did not experience discrimination; only 2.6% of participants expressed that they experienced racial/ethnic discrimination or sexual discrimination at the UofM.

Retaining students already attending the University of Memphis represents our single greatest challenge. It is critical to recognize that the majority of students leave the University in good academic standing, and many do not attend another institution of higher education.  As has been reported previously, the numbers leaving after successfully completing 90+ hours are alarming.  Pilot studies indicate such losses are primarily the result of financial challenges and psychosocial issues.  In short, the University of Memphis is grappling with an enrollment problem that is more expansive than the recruitment of first-time freshman–it’s one characterized by profound retention challenges among sophomores, juniors and seniors.  The good news is that these are problems we can target in specific fashion and likely influence on a short time horizon. 

Why do students leave us? The simple answer is that they cannot afford to stay in school. It is not difficult to sort out why:

• U of M tuition has nearly doubled in the last ten years
• Students exhaust their loan capacity before they can graduate, often times taking courses that don’t count toward their eventual major
• And student debt is at an all time high.

The college graduating class of 2012 is, on average, deeper in the hole with student loan debt than any class before. An independent, nonprofit organization based in Oakland, Calif., the Institute for College Access & Success, recently released its eighth annual report on average student loan debt in the U.S., which found that college graduates who borrowed for bachelor’s degrees granted in 2012 had an average student loan debt of $29,400 — the highest average student loan debt on record. ICAS reported that 57% of the 2012 graduates at The University of Memphis left with educational debt.

“The graduates of 2012 left school and entered repayment at a time of high unemployment,” said Debbie Cochrane, research director at the institute. “In many ways, these graduates were hit from both sides.” They went to college during a recession when their family’s ability to pay for college was likely reduced. Now they are graduating from college and may be experiencing substantial challenges getting a job to repay the loans.”

The University’s decision not to raise tuition next year is one important step towards addressing our students’ financial burden. The driving force behind our efforts to restructure and reexamine the organization of the University can be summed up in one word, students.   We are determined not to shift the rising cost of education to our students, and to find every way possible to tie our success to their success.

With your help it is a goal we can reach.  You will be hearing more about our proposed Degree Pathway Initiative in the coming weeks.

Go Tigers!

 M. David Rudd, Provost

Dear Colleagues:

Consistent with our commitment to greater efficiency and effectiveness on campus, the President’s Office and the Office of the Provost are implementing budget reductions that will total approximately $1.3 million.  In my office we are making several changes, including eliminating two vice-provosts positions and recommending the movement of the vice-provost for research to an autonomous division, reporting directly to the president.  This will elevate the role of research on campus, particularly efforts to grow interdisciplinary collaborations, along with providing research consistent access and input at the highest level.  In short, this change demonstrates a serious and strategic commitment to reaching our goal of $100 million in research expenditures.  The two vice-provost positions being eliminated include the vice-provost for extended programs and the vice-provost for undergraduate programs.  Elements of extended programs will be folded into the Division for Academic Planning, Assessment and Innovation, with the integration offering greater efficiency and effectiveness.  With the rapid pace of change in curriculum delivery and our seamless use of technology on campus, the idea of “extended” programs is no longer accurate or meaningful.  Regardless of where or how students engage with the University of Memphis, they are Memphis Tigers. 

Dr. Lattimore will be returning full-time as dean of University College.   He has done a remarkable job of growing our online delivery, with penetration in every college on campus and almost every program.  He has also directed our Lambuth campus over the last several years, not only establishing a solid foundation but spearheading strong and consistent growth.  The search for a permanent dean for the Lambuth campus will wrap up this spring, with a targeted start date of mid-July.  The Innovation unit, under the leadership of Dr. Dick Irwin, will assume responsibility for a number of select programs including internships and experiential learning, among others. Dr. Irwin has been leading many of these units for some time now.  Elements of the undergraduate programs division are also being folded into the Division of Academic Planning, Assessment and Innovation.  Most important, though, our advising units will be integrated into a consolidated Student Success Center, along with comparable programs from Student Affairs.  This will allow us not only greater efficiency, but improved effectiveness as a result of better coordination across Academic Affairs and Student Affairs.  As a result of these changes, Academic Affairs will have three primary divisions including Enrollment Services, Information Technology Services, and Academic Planning, Assessment and Innovation. In recognition of its remarkable growth over the last few years, the Helen Hardin Honors Program will report directly to the provost and the director will join the deans’ council. Dr. Blanton will be returning to the faculty in the Department of Political Science.  She has played a critical role in the growth of the Honors Program, along with exceptional work in the Center for Academic Retention and Enrichment Services.  All of the changes summarized will become effective with the start of the new fiscal year, July 1, 2014. 

 These reductions demonstrate a commitment to efficiency and effectiveness at all levels at the University of Memphis, particularly the highest levels of administration.  The effort has revolved around a firm commitment to eliminating duplication and improving efficiency across the divisional structure in the provost’s office, recognizing that the bulk of infrastructure and support is needed at the college level, with those in direct and daily contact with our students.  

 Go Tigers!

M. David Rudd, Provost

Dear Colleagues,

The Faculty Senate executive committee requested clarification of our current and future teaching load policies.  As part of our overall budget and efficiency review process, I recently requested that all deans clarify their workload policies. In some cases, workload policies had to be developed.  In general, there has been a lack of clarity and uniformity across colleges regarding existing TBR policy and translation at the University of Memphis.

Before clarifying existing policies, let me first reinforce our unwavering commitment to growing our research mission and our goal of $100 million in research expenditures. We have protected our research enterprise from any budget reductions, recently completed a research capacity analysis, and just a few days ago a broad-based group of faculty (in coordination with the Faculty Senate research committee) provided an implementation plan to help guide expansion of our research infrastructure.  We are serious about growing our research mission.  Greater clarity and consistency in teaching loads at the college and department levels are essential to that effort. 

It is also worth noting that, arguably, the greatest opportunities for expansion and success on the research front are embedded in interdisciplinary collaboration.  We need to be creative and innovative about how best to generate and sustain interdisciplinary work.  The Institute for Intelligent Systems is a wonderful example at the U of M.  The pace and breadth of their success has been nothing short of remarkable.  Some of our reconfiguration efforts on the health side will provide unique and fruitful opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration, creativity, and innovation.  I’ve requested that vice-provost for research, Dr. Andy Meyers, develop an interdisciplinary initiative, one that will make funding available to support targeted interdisciplinary projects.  There should be no doubt we are serious about growing our research enterprise, and we are taking definitive and concrete steps to demonstrate that commitment.

Naturally, clarity of faculty workload is an essential for productive research universities. I have not asked for any increase in faculty teaching loads. What I have requested is that all colleges have clearly articulated workload policies (consistent with TBR policies), that we follow existing policies in a consistent manner, and that we have accountability built into the system.  As you all know, TBR policy defines a full faculty load as 15 credit hours of undergraduate teaching per semester, or the equivalent, or 12 credit hours of graduate teaching per semester, or the equivalent. 

Teaching loads at the U of M vary across colleges and departments, with equivalency credit for other activities– research/creative activity/scholarship being most prominent.  Other activities have also resulted in reductions, including advising, administration, institutional/public service or other professional service associated with the profession. Deans have developed, or are in the process of developing, policies to guide workloads across departments and programs. There has been no request for uniform increases in teaching loads. We will continue to provide reductions for appropriate reasons, particularly active and productive research/creative activity/scholarship, while taking into account the particulars of various academic areas.

 Go Tigers!

 M. David Rudd, Provost

Dear Colleagues:

I hope this note finds you well as we approach a new year.  As indicated in my last correspondence, I wanted to provide an update on our budgeting process for the 2014-2015 academic year and beyond prior to the holiday break.  I have been working with the academic leadership team (i.e. deans, chairs and directors), as well as with the new budget working group.  I am now confident that we will be able to resolve our immediate budget challenge without any tenured or tenure-line faculty layoffs, something I wanted to communicate quickly and clearly.  This will be possible only because of the creative and thoughtful work of many of our colleagues. We will be able to close the budget gap with a combination of efforts, including currently open positions, retirements, and normal turnover and attrition over the next two academic years.  Combined with a range of efforts geared toward streamlined administration and improved efficiency across campus, this approach will not only help us move to the configuration and structure necessary to grow in coming years, these changes will allow us to respond in flexible and effective fashion to future opportunities.  As I recently shared with the Faculty Senate Executive Committee, this budget working group will be a permanent fixture, one that will continue its work on a regular basis.  

I want to remind you that we have approached this problem in strategic fashion.  We continue to hire vigorously in targeted programs and we have insulated critical areas from reductions that would impair their ability to deliver our mission and grow in coming years.  In particular, we have taken special effort to protect and invest in our research mission.  The net result is not only protecting our core teaching and research missions, but strengthening our foundation for growth in the next five years. Despite enrollment declines over the past three years, I am increasingly confident that our broad-based enrollment and retention efforts will help us grow in coming years.  The support at the program, department and college levels has been nothing short of remarkable.

We have yet to make definitive decisions about several organizational and structural initiatives.  There is no doubt we need to improve our administrative efficiency, an effort that will require some organizational changes. Those efforts will continue to be studied, with updates in the near future.   Regardless, though, we will not experience tenure-line faculty layoffs, something that I know has been a concern of many.  This is only one piece of the challenge we face, one that is at the heart of our mission.  I will reach out quickly as decisions are made regarding our general configuration and structure, particularly on the administrative side.  I anticipate some of these decisions will be made in late January to mid-February. 

I wanted to share some good news prior to the holiday break.  Thank you for your hard work, dedication and commitment to the University of Memphis.  I wish you and yours the best for the holiday season and the coming new year.

 Best Regards,

David

Dear Colleagues:

 As all of you are aware, the vision President Martin offered at the beginning of this academic year not only emphasized our core missions of teaching and research, but also our great need to explore and identify measureable outcomes to monitor the success of our efforts. Without measureable outcomes, it’s impossible to gauge our progress, implement and modify effective strategies, and realize our full potential.  We owe it to our students, the taxpayers, and to ourselves to be able to communicate in clear and succinct fashion that we are thinking strategically, investing wisely, and effectively monitoring both our successes and challenges.  

 There is considerable debate across the higher education community about the utility and impact of outcomes and related metrics.  Some aspects of what we do translate directly and seamlessly to outcome measures, but others are not so easily captured with metrics.  Some disciplines line up nicely with this effort, others do not.  Hence, the need for us to be thoughtful and thorough, but without shying away from the challenge.  In response to the complexity of this effort, I have engaged the Faculty Senate, Deans, Chairs, and Program Directors in an ongoing conversation, one that has only just started.  Members of the Faculty Senate will play roles in three key areas. First, Senators will be part of the “budget working group” that will begin its work on Tuesday.  Second, the Faculty Senate’s Performance Committee is  charged with identifying outcome metrics to gauge progress and performance in both teaching and research.  Finally, members of the Senate serve on the research implementation teams charged with developing a strategic response to our recent research capacity analysis. Deans, chairs and program directors are also engaged as part of the University administrative and academic leadership team.

 Although the challenge of developing and implementing performance metrics is difficult, it is arguably one of the more critical tasks in our immediate future given their important role in strategic planning and budgeting.  An interesting question has quickly emerged about how we represent interdisciplinary activity, both across teaching and research.  A focus on interdisciplinary collaboration is essential.  Similar questions have emerged about innovation. We have some great minds on campus and I have unwavering confidence we’ll answer these questions in a creative and meaningful fashion, with consideration to the full range of nuances that emerge across a broad range of discipline-specific concerns at our comprehensive research university, where we are committed to broad exposure in the curriculum.     

 Recent discussions about some early figures released on costs per degree have been lively and productive.  Although only a crude measure of where and how we’ve invested past funds, it’s one that has started the conversation about outcomes and performance-based metrics, a conversation that will continue indefinitely as we explore a budget model that is more flexible and responsive to the rapidly changing higher education landscape. Not only do we need to be creative, innovative and interdisciplinary in our approach, we need to be nimble in structure and more localized in decision-making, empowering our programs and faculty to strategize, invest and implement in their particular areas of expertise. 

 This is an exciting time to be at the University of Memphis.  I am profoundly confident in our ability to be innovative and creative and to meet the needs of our students in an efficient and effective fashion.  As you read in a recent Commercial Appeal article, we’ve implemented a range of empirically informed strategies to improve our retention rates and facilitate degree completion, while holding costs down, maintaining rigor, and striving for excellence.  Similarly, I have no doubt that we will reach our goal of $100 million in research expenditures within the next five years.  Thank you for your energy, your ideas and commitment to moving the University of Memphis forward.

 Go Tigers!

M. David Rudd

Provost

Dear Colleagues:

As I’m sure many of you are now aware, I spoke with the Faculty Senate last Friday, providing an update on our current budget situation and an initial proposal to resolve a portion of our $20 million budget challenge.  This  initial proposal would allow for approximately $6 million to be absorbed through changes in configuration, with significant reductions in administrative costs.   This would buffer the impact on programs, faculty, and staff. 

 In particular, the recommendation is for the creation of a College of Health Sciences, incorporating the Loewenberg School of Nursing, the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, the School of Public Health, and Health and Sports Sciences.  The College of Education would be able to focus more specifically on the initiatives outlined previously by President Martin.  An additional $1 million would be recovered through the graduate student tuition waiver and stipend budget (currently an $18 million annual expenditure).  It is also recommended that we continue to explore a collaborative partnership with the UT Health Science Center for operation of our speech and hearing clinic, an operation that has a net annual loss in excess of $1.3 million.  The partnership would allow us to continue the clinic operation in collaborative fashion, ensuring clinical training for our students while dramatically reducing the unsustainable losses we have been experiencing for years now.

 As a result of discussions with the Faculty Senate on Friday, I have formed a collaborative budget working group that will include three yet to be named faculty senators, myself, along with Dean Karen Weddle-West, Dean Lin Zhan, Dean Tom Nenon, and special assistant to the provost Dr. Henry Kurtz.  We will begin our work immediately.  I look forward to working in collaborative fashion to identify and implement solutions in a timely manner. 

As we move forward with resolving this budget challenge, I think it important to remember our core values and mission.  I spent some time with senators discussing this very issue on Friday.  Our ability to deliver the curriculum effectively at both the undergraduate and graduate levels is essential, with a firm commitment to rigor and excellence.  We need to continue efforts to improve retention and graduation while thinking strategically and creatively about innovative and interdisciplinary approaches.  We need to continue efforts to grow our Lambuth campus as well.  We cannot slow our efforts to grow research, scholarship, and creative activity–rather we need to make smart investments during this period. 

 As you can see from our integrated enrollment plan, we are being aggressive in efforts to grow our student base, with a wide array of initiatives already underway.  The recent news that we will not pursue a tuition increase this coming year recognizes that the single greatest barrier for our students is a financial one.  As recent enrollment declines indicate, we cannot continue to shift costs to students by increasing tuition and fees.   This challenge provides us the opportunity to innovate, improve efficiency, and think in creative ways about how we can cross traditional silos and disciplinary boundaries to deliver our mission more effectively.  As many of you know, the higher education landscape is changing and we certainly are not alone. I’ve provided a link below that you might find interesting.  Even the most well-funded universities are facing similar challenges.   

As I shared with the Faculty Senate, our budget situation is indeed a challenge. But embedded in the challenge is an opportunity for us to position the University of Memphis for growth and success in the coming years.  As you all know, this campus is filled with great minds, including faculty, staff and students.  Working together we will find the solutions needed and not only adjust to the rapid changes in higher education, but implement the strategies needed to thrive in the coming years. 

 Link of Interest:

Changing Higher Education Landscape: http://chronicle.com/blogs/bottomline/are-colleges-ready-to-adjust-to-a-new-higher-education-landscape/

 Go Tigers!

M. David Rudd, Provost

Dear Colleagues:

 Here’s an update on our efforts to grow enrollment, improve retention and help our students successfully complete their degrees.  You’ll find a link below for our integrated enrollment plan, one that cuts across not only first-year freshman recruitment, but our broader retention challenge.  A few things are worth mentioning. 

First, this is the University of Memphis’ first integrated enrollment plan, one that ties the work of our colleges and departments to our central enrollment and retention offices. 

Second, the plan emphasizes the importance of retention and offers some specific numeric targets across colleges. The Office of Institutional Research has developed a new tool that allows in-depth examination of student progression across colleges (and years). As you can see, the persistence of the problem is a unique and critical challenge. 

Third, we will launch efforts to reward our students directly and in meaningful ways for degree progression, efforts geared toward lowering costs, reducing debt burden, improving efficiency, and helping make degree completion a reality. 

Finally, we have a number of initiatives well underway.  We are quite active right now, with several additional strategies being explored and implementation decisions to be made in the very near future.

 I have great confidence we will not only grow enrollment but strengthen retention in the coming years.  Core to our mission is an obligation to help our students not only successfully complete their degrees and launch their futures, but also overcome potential barriers to success. One thing is certain, students learn more effectively, progress more efficiently, and complete their degrees with greater frequency when connected in meaningful ways to faculty and staff.  A common variable across all effective retention efforts nationally is the importance of key relationships with faculty and staff.  I look forward to working with you to build these relationship and helping our students accomplish great things. 

Integrated Enrollment Plan

 Tigers!

David