Chair’s Report for October 22, 2002

Senate update

1. Important links to agendas, minutes, Chair's Reports and other sites of interest are available
on the Senate web site: http://www.uwec.edu/Usenate. Senate Chair’s Report will be available on this site by noon on the day of the Senate meeting.

2. During debates, Senators may speak only twice to any motion or amendment. Each speaking term is limited to 10 minutes. The Chair will add names of those wishing to speak to a speaker's list upon recognition.

Senate announcements

1. Listing of University Senate Standing committees was provided in the packets distributed. Listings of University Committees and Senate Committees can be found on the Senate web site.

2. The University Senate will sponsor a Best Practices and Open Discussion on Academic Advising on October 29 from 3:00-4:45 in the Tamarack room. Methods, models and tools used for advising and student reactions to advising will be discussed with an eye on determining if instructional and/or personnel policies related to advising should be revised.

Faculty Reps Meeting – next meeting, November 1^st

Board of Regents Meeting – October 10-11 in Whitewater (notes from News Release)

1. Students at University of Wisconsin System campuses will benefit from expanded opportunities to use skills they learn in the classroom to solve challenges in community settings as part of a national service-learning initiative, according to a presentation given Thursday to the UW System Board of Regents. At a full board meeting on the UW-Whitewater campus, regents heard a report from UW-Parkside Chancellor Jack Keating, who introduced the regents to Wisconsin's membership into Campus Compact, an association of more than 850 college and university presidents whose mission is to promote student learning and citizenship through campus-community partnerships. … Directors said the program helps campuses direct resources toward service learning by encouraging and training faculty members to create lessons that build upon student volunteer experience in the community. … Campus Compact will expand the efforts of service-learning initiatives already in place at several UW institutions. … During President's Week in February, Wisconsin's member colleges and universities will make a combined effort to participate in the National Student Civic Engagement Campaign, which will encourage students to become involved in the political process and map civic engagement on their campuses. Keating said Wisconsin's Campus Compact is conducting a national search for an executive director, and program directors will actively seek out grants to be shared among member campuses.

2. The Business & Finance committee recommended to the full board a resolution to increase tuition at UW-Eau Claire that would support expanded student undergraduate research and service-learning opportunities. Regent Jose Olivieri introduced a resolution encouraging other campuses to bring forward differential tuition proposals that specifically benefit the student experience. The resolution also recommended that institutions aggressively pursue the development and implementation of programming for nontraditional students to cover the full cost of the programs.

3. Recent budget cuts and above-target fall enrollments have challenged the University of Wisconsin System to educate what amounts to 11,000 more students than expected, UW System President Katharine C. Lyall told the Board of Regents. Preliminary system-wide enrollment figures show 134,998 full-time equivalency students were enrolled at UW System institutions as of Sept. 10. That is 2,659 more FTE students above the Fall 2002 enrollment target of 132,339, Lyall said. The figures are a result of mounting enrollment pressures at campuses, which have come at the same time as significant base budget cuts, Lyall said. Earlier this year, state lawmakers cut the UW System budget by $44 million - equivalent to the funding it takes to educate 8,800 students, Lyall said. Combined with the students overenrolled this year, the UW System is stretching its resources to find funding to serve what amounts to an additional 11,000 students. "This is roughly equivalent to operating one of our larger comprehensive campuses with no funding," Lyall said. Regent Fred Mohs of Madison said student learning eventually would suffer if the UW System were to continue to admit increased numbers of students without receiving proper funding. "I think everyone expects us to stretch and stretch, but with that will inevitably come diminished quality," Mohs said. It takes exceptional efforts by faculty to handle increased class sizes with diminished resources, Lyall said. She also expressed concern that more and more instructional academic staff are being hired instead of faculty because of budget limitations. "I think it begins to change the campus culture and the commitment that faculty have to the success of the campus community and students," she said. Regent Jose Olivieri of Milwaukee said the figures demonstrate a need for urgency in enhancing revenues. He suggested that that the Board communicate to campuses a desire to see action on these issues.