Winter Symposium 2011

Small Group Discussion #1: Examining Our Options

(Recommendations shown in bold were included in more than one discussion group.)

1.Recommended Actions

Recruitment / student mix

  • Increase the mix of international students and non-res domestic students
  • Encourage faculty to help in recruitment/visit targeted schools abroad (or out-of-state) when already traveling or attending conferences
  • Strategic investments in facilities upgrades that improve faculty/student recruitment + satisfaction
  • Work with alumni to keep connected (for donations and recruitment of new students, especially international students)
  • Develop international infrastructure to capitalize on the above
  • Understand our non-resident students better
  • Collect student mix data at program level
  • Examine effectiveness of past initiatives and share the info
  • Research the student market
  • Better articulate the difference between PSU and community college curriculum
  • Raise entry requirements
  • Develop video to recruit internationally
  • Identify and invest in programs with the greatest potential to attract non-resident students
  • Strategically look for unique programs to attract non-resident students
  • Tapping into post-bac student market (coordinate with industry and med schools, along with other programs)
  • Consider testing out: Students would pay to take exams
  • Survey to discover effective incentives to encourage students to come to PSU?
  • Establish comprehensive approach to EM, including student success, campus experience, student engagement, and discounting

Tuition

  • Further explore differential tuition; fair allocation to departments
  • Further streamline scholarship process, reduce redundancies
  • Increase our ability to charge more tuition
  • Require financial advising
  • Increase undergraduate and graduate out-of-state enrollment
  • No growth/raise tuition (and retention)

Optimize space use / class size

  • Revisit academic calendar to offer year-round (integrate summer into 4 quarters)
  • Improve space allocation and utilization
  • Offer short courses year–round
  • Understand access to space in evening and weekends (off-hours)
  • Communicate better cost-effective programs
  • Formula for space assignment PSU wide
  • Enhance support staff to assign space or other administrative functions
  • More competitive
  • Use of distance learning/hybrid
  • Continue to strategically remove the number of adjunct courses and sections and think hard about what courses really need to be offered to optimize class sizes
  • Develop more opportunities to hold classes off campus, in area schools, etc.
  • Increase class size w/support from smaller TA sections
  • Be strategic – identify which classes lend themselves to larger sizes (don’t increase DWF)
  • Review growth assumptions (for university itself, or for classroom size?)
  • Increase average class size wile maintaining quality
  • On departmental level develop rational criteria for establishing optimum class size balancing fiscal and student success objectives, etc.
  • Do not offer more than one office to an individual
  • Incorporate community space into housing projects

Increase capacity and enrollment in high-cost programs

  • Review programs’ cost efficiency
  • More efficient graduate program in sustainability w/increased capacity
  • Consider growth of graduate programs
  • Increase capacity in high-cost programs
  • Invest in higher yielding graduate programs

Technology mediated learning

  • Increase number of hybrid/online courseswith support for faculty an students
  • Increase testing locations/testing centers

Academic advising and charting a pathway to degree completion

  • Continue to improve academic advising and advising capacity
  • Support structure for grad students; how do grad students fit into all of this?
  • Increase support for int'l students and all students/community
  • Use DARS to help curriculum mapping
  • Dept. planning of courses taught (by which faculty) based on enrollment maps by students
  • Retention will make planning easier but students don’t use course planning guide
  • If DARS gave info to students on prospective courses and requirements to complete, students would be able to schedule work and family commitments to fit course offerings (software needs to be produced/made available

Improve student success in high dwf “killer courses”/regular courses

  • Better screening and placement for students who want to enter high DWF courses; placement tests
  • Improve retention in DWF courses, especially in STEM fields
  • Integrate basic skills, such as note taking and study habits, as part of redesign efforts
  • Offer/require on-line pre-course review to help students orient in advance to big, high-head count “killer courses”
  • Work with Dept. faculty to identify challenges to student success and develop plan to address those
  • Offer more sections of required courses, more refresher courses, more advising
  • “We need to be attentive to creating graduates who will get jobs!”
  • Expand view of student success to include success after graduation as alumni  beyond year to year retention of grad. rate
  • Develop learning resources
  • Expand funding for existing curricular support mechanism like the writing center
  • Entrance screening and advising:

-Keep folks out of courses they are unlikely to pass

-Disciplinary screening

  • Invest in areas that improve success

-Courses in study habits

-Basic disciplinary how-to studies courses

  • Research grad student retention and success to same degree we have at UG level

Course / program offerings

  • Leverage visiting faculty and scholars

(i.e. summer int'l visiting program)

  • Develop blockbuster undergrad sustainability course
  • Executive sustainability program for non-green businesses Interdisciplinary courses
  • Introduce sustainability courses
  • Strategically look for unique programs to attract non-resident students
  • Develop certificate programs (e.g.: biotech, teaching, etc.) and internships
  • Examine efficiency of 3 prongs of departments: UNST, BA, BS.

Student services

  • Career training for students
  • Create space for students to feel they belong to the university
  • Develop plan to support increasing veteran population on campus

Financial costs / revenues

  • Increase out of state/international enrollment
  • Better understand and communicate relationship between revenues and costs for services like instruction
  • Increased outreach for graduate/alumni; result: increased revenue
  • Develop strategies for how philanthropy can support enrollment management goals by supporting out-of-state student enrollment, expanding high-demand courses
  • Better leverage in-state curriculum and transport it to the other foreign markets where there is demand.

Research

  • Research support and increasing research capacity (this should not be left out of the discussion)
  • Connect grad student issue (increased support needed) to increased research agenda
  • How do grad students fit into all of this?

Growth / mission

  • Historic Growth

– current path not working

- not sustainable

- we’re reaching rather than planning

  • Slow growth
  • How are we going to ensure that increased tuition and non-Oregon international students succeed once we bring them here?
  • “Let the City Serve Knowledge”
  • Work on reciprocal relationships w/companies we supply with personnel
  • Return to mission statement: Are we delivering?

2.How could faculty/staff contribute to the success of these actions?

  • Actively recruit out-of-state activities especially international students
  • Travel to promote these programs out of state and abroad
  • Teach in evenings and weekends
  • Initiate departmental discussion and planning process that identifies appropriate courses for large class sizes, small class sizes, etc.
  • Increase online/hybrid courses
  • Find out why students come to PSU
  • Increase services to better attract non-resident students
  • Collect, analyze, liaise with OIRP to target recruitment efforts
  • Participate in campus and community college recruitment
  • Assist Provost’s office in examining successful programs
  • Participation in tours
  • Lend expertise as needed
  • Attract students who graduated but now work and live in the Portland metro area
  • We can suggest/organize certificate programs and reach out to potential post-bac and working students
  • Examine data on price elasticity of demand- what factors make this successful?
  • Develop financial literacy
  • Greater hands-on with students
  • Champion the initiative at the college level
  • Encourage faculty to take advantage of a quarter off other times of the year
  • Market to students at other schools
  • Develop examples of exemplary online teaching using more technology to provide tutorials, learning services delivery; converting classes to hybrid; taped courses
  • Be open to learning new on-line platforms are they are introduced
  • Record short videos of faculty talking about progress on courses
  • Work with department to convert office space to classroom space using a “Cisco” model
  • Review costs and expenses by programs
  • Look at revenue of high cost programs’ expenses to determine which to grow, which to cut, and which to try and increase efficiency
  • Optimize class sizes as appropriate
  • Use cohort model to increase efficiency
  • Dept. would continue improving own degree maps and tracking – we do a fairly good job of this now
  • Stop incoming advising in July
  • Would like to explore more of this at graduate level
  • Help establish a student support initiative in STEM majors
  • [17 of 22 DWF courses (20% DWF grades ) are STEM or STEM related]
  • Be generally aware of these courses, and be conscious if students we personally serve are struggling
  • Increase “killer course” awareness
  • Have realistic discussion about why these are killer courses
  • For example, PSY enrollment as a series of 2 required major courses yet it is taught by Math because of Ram Model
  • If taught by PSY relevance and retention could be increased
  • Endorse DWF strategy
  • MCECS faculty could help develop optimization tools
  • Help find a “champion” instructor
  • Look at other university successes
  • Look for courses or programs for university undergrads and grads, and community members
  • We can suggest/organize certificate programs and reach out to potential post-bac and working students
  • Individual departments can try harder to keep in touch with their alumni and hold events

3.What support/incentives are needed for successful participation?

  • Establish and communicate a coordinated system of recruitment
  • Include more tuition remission strategies to effect change in student mix and student quality without adversely impacting revenues
  • Redistribution of resources back to departments with differential tuition; redistribution back of resources generated by departments; how does my department benefit from increasing numbers?
  • Provide access to larger classrooms
  • Provide incentives for faculty to work off-site
  • Support needed for instructors and students in large/complex sections, TA’s, graders
  • Technology support for all activities
  • Huge need for faculty support to put courses online and maintain
  • Stable infrastructure/budget allocation/transparent allocation plan for increased revenue
  • Increased staff support
  • Potential additional funding for faculty teaching strategic courses/within preferred schedules (non traditional hours, weekends)
  • Flexibility, flex schedules
  • Faculty incentives for overseeing internships and increasing enrollment above course caps (e.g.: travel award) and/or support staff
  • Establish a culture of pride and recognition of faculty/staff efforts
  • Clear notices and accountability at the unit level re: measuring success in meeting objectives
  • Objectives, results, incentives need to be clear
  • Help departments evaluate each class – separate clinical programs to maintain quality
  • Increase access to rooms and a greater variety of types of rooms - labs; goal: decrease divisions, survey courses
  • Increase recruitment of freshmen  4 –year experience
  • Coordination b/w offices and units for organization

-Training from admissions recruiters

-Stipends to offset costs

  • Invest in improving the characteristics that attract the market
  • Creation of videos – invest in PR to help
  • International students may require more support with writing
  • Support for faculty to develop research agenda to support graduate student work
  • Better library to support grad programs and research
  • Identify strategic partnership for graduate students and faculty to work on innovative solutions
  • Course releases
  • Sensitivity to “needs” of the total academy offerings to be a university
  • PSU could increase marketing for non-res students
  • We need access to what industry wants (anticipated traits of their new employees, courses/programs they would find useful for graduates entering their professions)
  • Need additional recruitment dollars/make case for out-of-state vs. private university
  • Optional off terms for faculty other than summer
  • Faculty salaries need to be addressed
  • Differential pay for off-hours, set faculty and student expectations
  • Support for negotiating w/ off-site lectures reducing costs, logistics, etc.
  • Faculty consideration (salary, benefits)
  • Creation of academic plan/financial plan (for students getting done sooner)
  • Although access very important, may need to really look at becoming smaller rather than larger
  • Some flexibility in interpreting standards for class sizes etc. to accommodate special circumstances
  • Scheduling support
  • Look at increased pay/or differential work loads
  • Provide incentives for departmental contribution to space efficiency
  • Tech support, stipends for course development
  • Needed support: Better tracking of courses students will likely need in the coming year. To plan more effectively – linked to improved capacity, improved success- the dept. needs projections of needed courses. Even with growing information about # of majors, etc., we can’t project specific needs as effectively as we could if we had some online way of tracking students through the program.
  • Support: Curriculum map to forecast demand and times desired (software)
  • Increased funding support for grad students
  • Establishment of a STEM center for student success
  • Work with school districts and community colleges to better prepare students in STEM and for general college readiness
  • Clarity about where/how to support a struggling student in a “killer course”
  • New incentive idea: full courses release to learn tech and adapt courses to online formats
  • Expand student success and outcome to include regional economic success which PSU contributes
  • Help negotiate confidentiality, FERPA, and other legal issues
  • $ for placement tests
  • Support to leverage findings (or funding?) into courses across campuses
  • Support for prep courses – “pre-DWF” courses
  • Support from other departments/university studies
  • PSU could increase marketing to industry, ask industry which courses/programs they would find useful, and perhaps establish core office (or more offices) on campus for such students
  • More welcoming environment for veterans; outreach and support
  • PSU can help facilitate departmental outreach to alumni
  • Time for planning and learning
  • Answers to potential impact on “access” mission
  • Campus-wide discussion/learning session on role of philanthropy
  • Better communication about how units can partner with each other to extend programs and identify opportunities in other markets.
  • Additional venture capital
  • Better communicate about past successes/failures/ history. w/ SBA etc.
  • An increased infrastructure for research: obtaining grants, administrating grants, and getting larger/longer grants
  • Work from home security
  • Parking
  • Grow writing center
  • More international student support