Town Hall Meeting , May 10, 2013
Augsburg Relationship
Attending: Ann, David, Kathy, Antonio, Jesse, Linda, Margaret, Suyen, Regina
David and Ann have concerns about the Bain reports and their basis. David mentioned concern with the endowment analysis. Kathy responded is that it is just one view of higher education. The focus of these meeting isn't to discuss Bain report. But Ann said that she felt that the Bain part was a big basis of the C.Am doc, we need to be careful not to over-rely on it. Ann also pointed out the 10 million donation to the college is a positive sign since donors tend not to support unsustainable institutions.
Margaret isn't saying Bain isn't reliable but, given what they do here in the US, we shouldn't take what they say hook, line, and sinker
Antonio - Playing Devil's advocate... Mexico gets most of the students from Augsburg... Spring 11/ 18 so like 60 %... for the Summer 3 / 5 also like 60 %
Jesse - On the question of what do we gain from Augsburg, several chimed in...general education license for Cuba...lots of students for Mexico...some very supportive departments (SWK, NUR, Mary Laurel True, LGBTQIA)...Tuition benefit for themselves and kids...location (Mpls staff want to live here)...
Margaret - Augsburg is a good collegial community. Good people to work with.
Linda - access to library, journals, books, etc. Negotiating health care plans - hard to say if this is unique to Augsburg.
Suyen - agrees with what others have said.
Ann - national reputation for commitment to experiential learning. Conferences and school visits show that others know Augsburg has this reputation. CGE is a part of this - but others like Garry Hesser, Lois Olson, Mary Laurel True etc. have published a lot on this and consult around the country.
Kathy - what does Augsburg want to gain from CGE? It seems we're less central these days than we used to be a few years ago.
It is an option for study abroad of travel seminars... we have good supporters there but also when I was there for a term was disappointed that many don't know about us
Jesse and Suyen - the college wants us as revenue source. We have to provide a certain income and if we don't, then we're not a priority. Since Auggies don't come to our sites that much (outside of Mexico) then we might not be as important.
Regina - We're getting mixed messages. We were considered one of the four centers of importance to the college. Regina was allowed to play a role in hiring of provost. But when she hears Pres talk about CGE, she's not always sure who he is talking about. She's heard he wants us to be more nimble and move into new areas. Hard to do this.
Ann - Caution: when we talk about Augsburg, we have to be careful because it’s like any other big organization. There can be differences between what the hierarchy says/does and what the community says/does. Ann doesn't think of Augsburg just as the Pres and the cabinet. The college will last longer than any single president.
Margaret - we've been thru rough financial times before, rough leadership before, we've been vilified before.
Jesse - Now we're discussing whether CGE should be housed at Augsburg (#3 on PPT).
Margaret - would a school take on our whole Mpls staff? Can we relocate; are they going to want us to?
Suyen - Augsburg is somewhat limiting. Not that many students. May other institutions be more "into" our current locations? Institutions that have more clarity about how we can fit into the mission and into internationalizing the curriculum and campus. Augsburg is just so small. Besides Mexico, we are relying on non-Auggies. Maybe elsewhere we can have more commitment from students from that institution. More faculty using us and recommending us. Suyen doesn't feel that when she does school visits that we're very well recognized.vIt is actually CGE who is better known than Augsburg. Feels that Augsburg sees us as a burden.
Antonio and Jesse - I agree with Suyen... in school visits many don`t know us...
Ann- I agree with Suyen that it depends on the region and specific school whether it is CGE or Augsburg that is known.
Regina - what is more incensing is the lack of parity with other "centers" or internal organizations...they don't often contribute anything. Currently, we see 217,000 despite getting verbal agreements that the controller knows this is not doable. What I want from Augsburg is a written agreement (which other institutes have). They may lay off a Mpls staff member without consulting us. We can't plan without a target number.
Linda - wants to acknowledge concerns of Mpls staff moving. Keep in mind that we might be able to negotiate with a future home that works for most of us. In any case, it is best to broadly brainstorm. Linda also agrees that the transparency issue is difficult. Very hierarchical. Agrees with Jesse that another institution may also see as us a revenue stream, but maybe they'd be more collaborative and ask for something like a percentage.
Kathy - principal problem is that we are not core to the mission of Augsburg. If we were core, the college would be working with us on the roadblocks to enrollment we are currently experiencing. We're seen more as a revenue source rather than as core. The way they are working with Regina right now is not acceptable and it’s resulting from the lack of our centrality to the mission.
Suyen - what bothers me most...are we a business or not? If we are, then give us more autonomy and let us keep some of the money we do make?If we are making a profit, why can't we keep it or decide over it. Can never get clear on whether we are meeting our costs or not. Gets the message that we're a burden because of IT, marketing, other resources. We could have autonomy here, too - b/c we could potentially do it cheaper. Hears Regina's frustrations...when you are a business, you make decisions on short- and long-term. College seems to be looking at us a short-term solution. Very strange institutional relationship we have. Don't see us on a path where we can grow because of the limitations.
Margaret - agrees with Suyen. Very arbitrary. How can we operate when we don't know what's expected of us. Given the state of higher ed financially - are there institutions that would take on CGE?
Regina - to stay at Augsburg we need to change policies for study abroad to funnel more Augsburg students on our programs. What changes do we need to do with curriculum to make that happen? What does Augsburg need to do with its policies?
Jesse - Moving to #4 - If CGE is housed at Augsburg, what do we need to do to be financially viable.
Regina – I also would like to talk more about what it would mean to all sites to explore a relationship with another institution and how we would go about that
Suyen - Isn't Augsburg just a very small market /pool or students that we can draw from?
Jesse - Augsburg pool is not that small
Regina –Last year Augsburg had 76 semester students abroad not counting summer. I don't think that more than 10 were with us
Ann - agrees that we need to have better policies encouraging students to go with us. Closer relationship with AA is important. Physical and supervisory separation should change.
Antonio – I am afraid that now that Orv is leaving we will even have less of a voice...
Regina - the Pres is going to Namibia in August so Jim sees that as positive for the Namibia team to help get us higher on his list again
Kathy - we've had presidents in the past, yes, but this is the president now, this is the cabinet now. Can we be financially viable with the current administration? We don't have a voice. How does the power dynamic change? Feels something dramatic needs to happen. How do we develop a voice to talk to this current president and cabinet? If we can work together and strategize together, then we have a chance in the future. Let's have a meeting with the president.
Linda - we are joking he's coming here to tell us we are laid off. So impersonal to do that via email. :-)
Regina - Huge implications if we move organizations. Vehicles, properties, websites
Jesse - Syllabi belong to Augsburg, no? Ann says that syllabi are not proprietary to a school
Jesse - I'm scared we're going to faction off. Some of us split and go to new schools some stay with Augsburg
Suyen - new provost...not that hopeful about it. If the pres has already made up his mind about this relationship, what is a new person going to do?
Antonio - Yes, the new person has no connections with us... no emotional attachment... yet
Kathy proposes we strategize with the president. State our bottom line. A meeting. Saying that we can't survive with the current model. We can contribute to the college but we need to make decisions about our funds sometimes as well. We need a model with more autonomy.
Regina - Paul tends to blow with the wind. Whoever has the loudest voice. And that's Tammy McGee. So some hope with Provost...maybe he'll listen to her, who has said she's committed to int'l programs. Likes Kathy's idea of proposing something concrete to the college.
Ann - Agrees with Regina. A provost who supports us could help. Agrees with Kathy that we need to meet. Hoping that meetings on commission Augsburg could help.