Academic Convocation Towson University

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Academic ConvocationTowson University

• James F. Brennan
• Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs
• September 28, 2006

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Themes

• Enrollment Growth
• Programmatic Enhancement and Development
• Academic Reputation
• Moving forward.

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Enrollment Size and Mix

• Enrollment Size and Mix Our planning tells us
  that we will grow by about 3,000 students between
  now and 2010. We have planned our growth and how
  we will make it happen. Our plan tells us we will
  grow by another 4,300 students between 2010 and
  2015. That's an average increase of 600 students
  each year for the first five years and then 1,000
  students each year for the following 5 years
  taking us from 18,000 students today to 21,000
  in 2010 and 25,000 in 2015.
• (President Caret, Fall Address, 7 September 2005)

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Where we have been
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Enrollment Growth, Headcount to 2005
Fall 2001 Fall 2002 Fall 2003 Fall 2004 Fall 2005
Total Enrollment 16,980 17,481 17,188 17,667 18,011
Undergraduate 13,959 14,296 13,981 14,311 14,495
Percent Undergraduate 82 82 81 81 80
Full Time 11,757 12,275 12,051 12,405 12,812
Part Time 2,202 2,021 1,930 1,906 1,683
Undergraduate Part Time 16 14 14 13 12
Graduate 3,021 3,185 3,207 3,356 3,516
Percent Graduate 18 18 19 19 20
Full Time 706 762 804 802 819
Part Time 2,315 2,423 2,403 2,554 2,697
Graduate Part Time 77 76 75 76 77
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Where we are
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Full Time Equivalent Students AY 06 - 07
Fall 2006 Percent
Actual FTE Enrollment 975
Enrollment FTE Goal 805
Enrollment FTE Exceeding Goal 172 21.0

Undergraduate FTE 14,098 90.0
Graduate FTE 1,639 10.0
Total Student FTE 15,737 100.0
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Student Headcount and Credit Hours AY 06 - 07
Fall 2006 Percent
Headcount Undergraduates 15,375 81.2
Headcount Graduates 3,546 18.8
Total Headcount 18,921 100.0

Undergraduate Credit Hours 211,469 91.7
Graduate Credit Hours 19,169 8.3
Total Student Credit Hours 230,638 100.0
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Enrollment and Program Growth
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How we are accommodating growth FY07

• 28 new FT, TT faculty positions.
• 12 new staff positions.
• Operational funds increased by an additional
  56,000.
• Health benefits to lecturers, 750,000.
• New adjunct positions, plus raising stipend by
  100 (to 2,450) for total of 500,000.
• Grad Assistant budget moved to state-side,
  500,000.

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Enrollment and Program Growth Guidelines

• Growth should be intentional and carefully
  planned,
• Growth should be targeted to match identified
  needs (current and future) of the metropolis
  (local, regional, national, international) with
  the institutional strengths determined through a
  systematic assessment of our areas of excellence,
  uniqueness and highest potential.

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Guiding Goals within Mission

• Build on existing strengths,
• Consider discipline-based job and career
  projections as well as interdisciplinary
  innovations,
• Marylands identified workforce needs.

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Funding Variables FY 07 and FY08

• USM proposal for FY07 7 general increase 2
  enrollment growth.
• Towson proposal fund the new growth at a 5,500
  subsidy move the funding base of the rest of the
  enrollment core to 5,000.
• Towsons 0-based budgeting, FY08 Delaware
  Study benchmarks.

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Pragmatics Growth

• Enrollment mix keeps graduate students at 20,
• Housing,
• Currently 3,439 (104 capacity)
• 75.9 of FT Freshpeople (up from 67.6, F1999)
• Goal to add 600 beds, F-08 (i.e., FY09)
• Accreditation AACSB, NCATE, Middle States,

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Pragmatics Space

• Capital Plan
• 54.3M Center for the Arts renovation and
  addition completed.
• 117M CLA Complex and Power Plant expansion
  Design completed Phase I construction, February
  2007.
• 5M Child Care Center January 2007 completion.
• Lida Lee Tall demolition January 2007.

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Pragmatics Space

• Capital Plan (continued)
• 1.5M upgrade to Library 3rd floor and entrance
  completed Fall 2006.
• 1.4M renovation of 1st and 3rd floors of 7800
  York Road to accommodate Math completed, Fall,
  2006.
• 1.3M Union renovations and creation of parking
  office in Union Garage, under construction.
• 10.6M addition of 550 spaces to Towsontown
  Garage, design completed.

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Pragmatics Space

• Capital Plan (continued)
• 6M Towson Center Arena improvements, design
  underway.
• 24.4M Campus Site and Safety Improvements,
  design underway.
• 36M Union Expansion, planning underway.

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An interdisciplinary Model for Programmatic
Growth and Enhanced Scholarly Productivity

• pursues an interdisciplinary context consistent
  with the metropolitan mission,
• builds on an integrated set of parallel
  Institutes that intersect to support innovation
  in teaching, research scholarship, and service,
• support closely aligned new programs and nurture
  other interdisciplinary offerings ,

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An interdisciplinary Model for Programmatic
Growth and Enhanced Scholarly Productivity

• centered on 3-fold objectives in
  research/scholarship, extramural support, and
  collaboration,
• serve as a platform to promote innovation and
  cutting-edge scholarship while supporting the
  program,
• host a nationally and internationally renowned
  scholar to provide intellectual and programmatic
  leadership.

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Interdisciplinary Model Institute Themes

• Metropolitan Issues
• Entrepreneurial Issues
• Human Development
• Writing

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Interdisciplinary Model
Institute Programs
Metropolitan Issues Immigration
Cultural Ethnic Studies
Geography Planning
Urban Education
Local Politics
Ethics Social Justice
Community Development
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Interdisciplinary Model
Institute Programs
Entrepreneurial Issues Public Relations
Not for Profit Management
Minorities in Business
Women in Business
Creativity,innovations,inventions
Public Administration
Charter Organizations
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Interdisciplinary Model
Institute Programs
Human Development Age-based programs
Infancy/childhood
Adolescence
Adulthood
Gerontology
Families
Care-giving across the lifespan
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Interdisciplinary Model
Institute Programs
Writing English Language Center
Maryland Writing Project
Composition in General Education
Writing in Disciplines
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School of Technology

• Incubated with FCSM.
• Programmatic interface with Workforce Needs
  Articulated with CCs.
• Possible existing Project Management, IT
  Assurance, Actuarial Science, BTPS in Allied
  Health, Media Convergence, Instructional Tech.
• Possible future Comp Engineering Tech, Health
  Tech/Management, Industrial Design, Animation,
  221 in Engineering.

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Longer Term Enrollment Growth

• Community College as Partners
• - dual admissions,
• - dual advising,
• - Towson programs taught on CC sites,
• - Clearly articulated learning outcomes in
  general education Faculty development
  implications.

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A Note on Distance Education

• Targeted pilots of 2005-06.
• Implemented, fall 2006
• Graduate HRD, Graphics Design, Homeland
  Security/Risk Assessment, fall 2006.
• Undergrad BTPS in Allied Health, fall 2006.
• Graduate Computer Science track, and AIT, spring
  2007.

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Academic Reputation

• January Conference
• Student Surveys, particularly National Survey of
  Student Engagement (NSSE)
• Academic Support
• Achievement Center
• Intentional Advising

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Retention Rate of Undergraduates
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Graduation Rates of Undergraduates
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Graduation Rate Gap between African American
and All Races
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Towsons Reputation How to Build It

• Reputation with students and potential students
  the recognition that Towson is a great place
  for an undergraduate education small classes,
  contact with FT faculty in lower and upper
  division courses, strong liberal arts/majors,
  teaching (student/faculty interaction) is prized
  as a core value.
• Reputation with other organizational/bureaucratic
  entities more problematic and often not as
  salient as the first and is validated through
  more variable and ambiguous sources.
• The Honors College.

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Honors at Towson
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Honors Admissions
Fall 2001 Fall 2006
Applied 461 825 45
Accepted 461 578 100 to 70
Enrolled 317 211 68 to 36 of accepted
Avg GPA 3.68 3.96
Avg SAT 1208 1870 (1250)
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Honors Impact
Fall 2003 Fall 2006
All Honors Credit Hours 1713 2058
Faculty Fellows -- 3
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Honors Scholarships
FY 2004 136,000
FY 2005 324,000
FY 2006 358,000
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Concerns

• How does Towson sustain and grow quality as it
  moves toward 25,000?
• Of the 717 full-time faculty, 19.4 are
  lecturers if add Visiting and Clinical, 29 of
  full-time faculty are other than tenure-track or
  tenured.
• Of the 5,163 sections now taught, 20.1 are
  taught by adjuncts, who represent the equivalent
  of 129.88 FTE faculty

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Promotion Tenure Effective AY 05 - 06
Applications Approved
Tenure 37 34
Promotions to Associate Professor 24 23
Promotions to Professor 11 9
Post Tenure Reviews 31 31
Librarians Promoted 3
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Academic Year 2006 2007 Increased Faculty
Resources
Salary Fringes Totals
COLA 928,482 928,482
Merit 671,942 671,942
Compression 307,692 92,308 400,000
Promotion 203,846 61,154 265,000
Subtotals 2,111,962 153,462 2,265,424
Lecturer Health 750,000 750,000
PT Salary Incr. 580,000 580,000
Grand Totals 3,441,962 153,462 3,595,424
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Faculty Workload Comparisons between AY 2004
,2005 2006
Instructional Productivity 2003 - 2004 2004-2005 2005-2006
Avg Course Units T/TT Faculty excluding Chairs 6.9 7.3 7.1
Avg Course Units Full Time Instructors 8.7 8.1 8.2
Avg Course Units Combined Faculty 7.2 7.4 7.4
T/TT Faculty Meeting or Exceeding Teaching Expectations 118 114 108
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Moving to the Future

• New Academic Programs.
• Growth
• 40 new TT faculty positions (pending
  appropriations)
• funding for part-time and lecturers
• operating budgets
• Undergraduate need-based financial assistance
• Graduate Assistantships.
• Budgeting process.
• Research Intensive status and funding.
• Student Satisfaction and Reputation Measures.

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Moving to the Future

• General Education Planning the Process in
  2007-08.
• Core values in the liberal foundation for an
  educated person,
• Civic engagement, citizenship, and leadership,
• Service learning,
• Diversity and multiculturalism
• Globalization.

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Obessa cantavit (Brennan, 2006)