Envisioning BBC-FIU

Report of the BBC-FIU Task Force

DRAFT

July 31, 2006

The Vision

The Biscayne Bay Campus of FIU (BBC-FIU) should be a dynamic campus offering innovative, multi-disciplinary undergraduate programs spanning across academic boundaries and quality graduate degrees in anchor disciplines and selected fields. In addition to traditional degrees, a wide spectrum of continuing education, e-learning, and custom-made offerings that respond to the diverse needs of the neighboring population and suburban Miami-Dade and Broward counties should be developed. BBC-FIU should be an arena where deans, program directors, faculty, staff, and students identify and explore opportunities for creative partnerships to enhance teaching, learning, and service through innovation. This vision demands entrepreneurial energy of campus constituents while promising to deliver an exciting learning environment that foments intellectual imagination and program-driven growth.

Task Force Objectives

The BBC-FIU Task Force was convened to outline:

  1. A vision for the campus, within the parameters of “one university” that would result in robust expansion (articulated above);
  1. A set of guiding principles on which to base the short-term reinvigoration of BBC-FIU;
  1. Goals and objectives that would render the vision operational;
  2. Potential academic programs that could be featured by the re-conceptualized campus;
  1. A set of recommendations as to the appropriate structure and leadership to render the vision a reality;
  1. An innovative financial formula that would entice Deans and program directors to recommit to the campus; and
  1. An action plan specifying immediate and longer term steps to move the process forward.

Background

BBC’s Current Strengths

The Biscayne Bay Campus of FIU consists of two anchor professional schools and a strong arts and sciences presence that serve the diverse segments of the Miami, North Miami and Broward communities with quality, affordable educational programs, primarily at the undergraduate level. Students at BBC-FIU can, therefore, enjoy the best of both worlds: the environment of a liberal arts college and the advantages offered by a large, research university with strong professional schools. The campus is distinctive owing to its location (which provides a comparative advantage for the development of specific programs such as Marine Biology), its collegiality, its relatively small size (which allows for closer faculty/student interaction), and a number of programs of distinction (Creative Writing, Journalism, Hospitality, African-New World Studies, Kovens Conference Center, among others). However, BBC-FIU has not reached its potential and, as a consequence, remains an underutilized asset of the university and the community.

Opportunity for Growth

BBC is an opportunity and a challenge for the university. The potential for campus expansion, dynamism, and excellence in a number of areas remains to be fulfilled and the possibilities for BBC are compelling. Capacity for additional students, existing programs with national and international reputation, demographic growth and transition in neighboring areas, the inauguration of a Marine Science building, and the opening of an elementary and a high school at the entrance to the campus are just some of the circumstances creating tremendous opportunities for growth. BBC is also a frontier for university expansion as the UP is quickly reaching its maximum building envelope.

Guiding Principles for Change

The Task Force has identified five guiding principles on which to base its vision, objectives, and recommendations for a new BBC-FIU:

·  Commitment

·  Creative and Responsive Administration

·  Academic Innovation

·  Student-Focused Culture

·  Community Engagement

Principle-based Objectives

1) Commitment

·  Vision alignment (from the top executive to faculty and staff) that would present BBC-FIU as a priority for the university and encourage Deans to take advantage of the opportunity to expand programs on the campus

·  Strategic and long-term investment with a commitment of a minimum of three to five years

2) Creative and Responsive Administration

·  Seek opportunities for program development, research, fund raising, and creative linkages with the private sector and town-gown partnerships

·  Promote programs that generate growth and critical mass in terms of students, faculty, and programs

·  Develop quality start-to-finish programs, particularly at the undergraduate level, that would build on the strengths of BBC

·  Exploit BBC-FIU’s comparative advantage and achieve national and international recognition by establishing new, multidisciplinary programs that use resources already in place in a creative manner

·  Provide incentives to the Deans to recommit

·  Brand the campus as a distinctive component of one university, highlighting BBC’s distinctive features and market it accordingly: its location in a dynamic, diverse urban oasis by the bay, a student friendly atmosphere, a liberal arts college with the advantages offered by professional schools in the context of a major institution of higher education

·  Prioritize programmatic areas of investment - invest in highest yielding possibilities based on FTE growth and quality programs

·  Think creatively in terms of intellectual innovation, flexibility in delivery modes, scheduling, and faculty hiring (i.e. support both clinical professorships as well as tenure track lines, depending on the unit, emphasizing full time appointments)

3) Academic Innovation

·  Develop interdisciplinary and cooperative programs at the B.A. and certificate levels with available courses

·  Reduce redundancy wherever possible

·  Emphasize program-driven development via a new investment model

4) Student-Focused Culture

·  Foster a culture of service to students and efficient administrative operation

·  Develop undergraduate research possibilities in key areas

·  Offer start-to-finish programs and a full core (in a creative fashion that maximizes synergy across units by adding breadth and depth with minimal new investment)

·  Improve student facilities (dining services, housing) and student life on campus

5) Community Engagement

·  Promote intra and extramural collegial engagement, including partnership with the private and public sectors

·  Respond to the community’s educational needs, enhancing economic and social development of the region

Leadership Structure

·  The current model of a campus Vice Provost is recommended provided it enjoys strong support from top administration.

·  The Office of the Vice Provost must be afforded the resources necessary to garner greater authority, including funds to negotiate interdisciplinary ventures.

·  The Vice Provost should act as a visionary negotiator and generator of possibilities for innovative expansion.

·  The Office of the Vice Provost should have a dotted line of responsibility to all BBC services and should work in close collaboration with UP supervisors.

Academic Programs for Innovation and Growth

The Task Force recommends jumpstarting the process of curricular innovation by:

1) Bringing together programs already at the campus in unique ways to produce new certificate and B.A. degrees. Among the possibilities are:

·  Entrepreneurship Studies

·  Environmental Studies

·  Global Studies

·  Eco-Tourism

·  Leisure and Recreation Management

The College of Arts and Sciences has several programs of this type in the pipeline, including “Law, Ethics and Society.”

2) Piloting hybrid classes based at BBC-FIU. Hybrid classes have been popular with students at UP who are willing to pay a fee for a more convenient schedule. Since the financial model for hybrid courses includes the payment of a fee for an adjunct, this also has the possibility of adding more FTEs at BBC without needing additional E&G funding.

3) Incremental expansion of start-to-finish BBC programs in areas such as the ones proposed by the Deans and included in the compendium prepared by the Task Force. Among these are programs that maximize synergy with available degrees on campus such as:

·  Marketing

·  Management

·  Elementary Education

A New Business Formula: Strategic Investment, Resources, and Incentives

While additional data are needed to craft a medium-term business plan, the Task Force members identified several possible types of investments to institutionalize program-driven vitality at BBC-FIU:

1) Strategic Initiative

A Strategic Initiative for BBC-FIU would be created to act as a funding catalyst for program-driven change and FTE growth.

2) Institutional Investment

Additional funds would be added to the base of the unit’s budget, specifically allocated for BBC programming. While seed funds are attractive for short term investment, BBC requires an injection of revenues that would guarantee a minimum of program continuity over the long run. Investments would adhere to the following:

·  Such investments will be expected to produce results in term of FTE production in a clearly defined formula that departs from a campus-specific baseline.

·  Deans would be held accountable for FTE production by campus.

·  The greatest share of investment should be devoted to faculty resources.

·  Marketing of the campus must be considered as an upfront investment.

·  Investments in specific programs should have a three-to-five year timeframe. While programs will be expected to meet milestones along the way, a final evaluation of outcomes is to be conducted at the end of the investment period.

Note: Investments in infrastructure in the near to medium terms will be needed (i.e. housing and IT, among others).

3) Incentives to the Deans

Integral to the entrepreneurial administrative model is a financial formula that would provide incentives to the Deans, making engagement at BBC enticing, expeditious and rewarding by:

·  Recognizing the value of expanding and investing in BBC-FIU

·  Benchmarking the increase of FTEs starting from a campus-specific baseline

·  Co-sharing risks of investment between the Administration and the Deans

·  Identifying and establishing centers of responsibility that would, among other things, hold Deans accountable

·  Ensuring that at least a portion of the funds generated by additional growth is reinvested in programs at BBC-FIU

·  Establishing a partnership between Academic Affairs and the Deans to convert adjuncts to full time faculty that would prioritize BBC-FIU

Action Plan: Immediate and Next Steps

Immediate Steps

1)  Using current course offerings, take immediate steps in key academic areas, including Education, Business, and Arts and Sciences, to design new B.A. and certificate programs.

2)  Offer hybrid courses on a tuition plus basis in the Spring in prioritized areas.

3)  Craft a new financial formula (perhaps based on the center of responsibility concept) to guarantee incentives to Deans and, in tandem, draft guidelines that explicitly require the Provost’s approval for divestment from BBC.

4)  Assess current curricular offerings at the unit level for alignment with new vision for BBC, considering linkages with anchor programs, campus specializations, and mode of delivery.

5)  Plan and launch a marketing and branding campaign specifically designed for the campus, including a fresh look for the BBC-FIU website.

6)  Obtain data for targeted short and long-term planning; assign the effort of collecting the necessary information to the Office of the Vice Provost of BBC-FIU working in close collaboration with other units (i.e. Planning and Institutional Effectiveness and the Budget Office).

Next Steps

1)  Draft a business plan and a medium-term master plan.

2)  Establish the BBC Strategic Initiative to provide the initial resources needed.

3)  Provide support for BBC recruitment and admissions. Create a mechanism for students to designate their principal campus (through Admissions/Registration) to facilitate student tracking and to more effectively plan and provide specific campus services.

4)  Address pressing student life issues promptly and effectively, particularly those dealing with food services and campus activities.

5)  Enhance Honors Education presence, including living-learning communities, and foster undergraduate research as an integral part of the educational experience at BBC.

6)  Target special initiatives beyond traditional educational programs, including an expansion of CAPS on the campus and e-learning possibilities.

Note: Data reports gathered for and used in the preparation of this document are available upon request, including:

·  BBC Master Plan 2001

·  BBC Revenue and Expenses, 2005-2006 (Draft 2006)

·  Start-to-Finish Programs at BBC 2001 and 2006

·  FIU-Biscayne Bay Campus: Surrounding Conditions (Distribution of Selected Socioeconomic, Educational, and Demographic Variables and Percent New Housing Development…) (Draft 2006)

·  Fall 05 Headcount, FTEs, Space Utilization, High School Feeders, Faculty Data, Student Profile (2006)

·  Surveys of Recent Student Demand for Courses at BBC (2006)

·  Courses Offered at BBC Fall 2006

Task Force Members

Rosa Jones and Damian Fernandez, Co-Chairs

Catherine Ahles

Judy Blucker

Camilo Silva (SGA President, BBC)

Joyce Elam

Shawna Mcnair (Graduate Student, Education)

Mark Szuchman

Joel Trexler

Joe West

2