Dear Colleagues,
As we begin the spring semester, I write to update you on the progress of our budget model review, alert you to the opportunity to meet candidates for the new vice president for enrollment management and announce a recent appointment.
Objectives and insights
Don Sparks and I have the privilege of leading the Responsibility Based Budget (RBB) Review Committee, which has made tremendous progress over the last couple of months.We began our work by articulating principles and objectives to guide our decision-making process. Central to our discussions are two principles:
· Resource and cost allocations should be driven by core academic priorities and the pursuit of excellence for academic programs and research prominence throughout the University.
· Revenue flows and cross-college subsidies should be transparent to encourage trust and collegiality.
The seven objectives the committee identified are to:
1. Assign revenues and costs to units in a fair and predictable manner;
2. Incentivize all units to increase revenues and reduce costs while holding excellence paramount;
3. Encourage and reward innovation and efficiency;
4. Provide academic leadership with the financial capacity to lead effectively;
5. Keep rules as simple as possible;
6. Phase in any changes in budget model to minimize major disruptions; and
7. Provide for a sufficient pool of resources to support University-wide strategic initiatives.
In addition, we have developed a scope of work that focuses on three key concerns:
1. Undergraduate tuition, state allocation, unrestricted gifts, and endowment return make for a large pool of resources that is distributed to colleges based on their percentage of undergraduate teaching, numbers of majors and sponsored activity. We will be examining whether this structure provides the right balance of incentives for undergraduate teaching and research.
2. Currently there is very little flexibility given to the Provost in directing resources where they are most needed. We will be examining how subvention might be utilized better to support core academic priorities and how we might generate a pool of resources for the Provost to direct to new initiatives.
3. Central administrative costs need to be sufficient to provide the services the campus needs yet operate efficiently. We will be examining how we can be sure this objective is being met.
To facilitate the committee’s work on these issues we sought advice from an external team of individuals from around the country who have deep and valuable experience with RBB-type budget models. This team included John Curry, managing director of the Huron Consulting Group who previously served as executive vice president at MIT and vice president for budget and planning at the University of Southern California; Aimee Heeter, associate vice provost and director of budget, planning and development at Indiana University; Richard Stanley, senior vice president and university planner at Arizona State University and formerly executive vice provost at NYU; Julie Tonneson, budget director at the University of Minnesota; and Robert Zemsky, chair of The Learning Alliance for Higher Education at the University of Pennsylvania. They spent a day on campus meeting with the committee, as well as with deans, senior administrators and Faculty Senate leadership. Their report, which we received on Feb. 3, will be very influential on the recommendations of the committee.
This spring, our committee will have a robust set of recommendations for Provost Grasso. However, our work does not end with the issuance of a report. We are also dedicated to communicating this information to the campus community. The work of this committee was motivated by the concerns of faculty and staff across campus, and we have an obligation to share the results with you in a way that is responsive to your concerns.
Highly qualified candidates
The search committee for the new vice president for enrollment management has identified three highly qualified candidates for the position, and they will be visiting our campus next week.As part of the interview process, each candidate will participate in a town hall meeting to give a brief presentation and then answer questions.
These sessions are being held from 3:15-4:15 p.m., Monday through Wednesday, Feb. 10-12, in the Atrium of the Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Laboratory. I hope you will be able to join us for these important meetings.
Transition
Please join me in congratulating Iain Crawford on his new assignment as faculty director of the Office of Undergraduate Research and Experiential Learning. At that same time, I am most grateful to Lynnette Overby for her leadership of the office over the last six years.Iain has been actively involved in national conversations about undergraduate research through his participation in the Council for Undergraduate Research, and before coming to UD, he was vice president for academic affairs at the College of Wooster, which is well known for its undergraduate research program.
Lynnette, who returns to her faculty position in the Department of Theatre, has played a key role in elevating the work of the office. Her leadership with the ArtsBridge Program, in particular, has resulted in considerable opportunities for our undergraduates to engage in community-based scholarship in the arts.
Best wishes for a productive and rewarding spring semester.
Regards,
Nancy Brickhouse
Deputy Provost
Office of the Deputy Provost
116 Hullihen Hall • Newark, DE 19718 • USA
Phone: 302-831-2147