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Larger class sizes for 100-200 level courses no matter what the department argument as to why class sizes must be under 75.
1.) Facilitate new programs that will generate more tuition dollars with no additional costs (and stop the endless bureaucratic hurdles);
2.) Do more to encourage grant procurement; 3.) Do a MUCH BETTER JOB of alumni fundraising and finding business partners for funding programs.
The faculty of some academic departments is nearly 100% tenure-track. The faculty of some others includes a large proportion of non-tenure-track instructors, lecturers, and teaching assistants. Is the ratio appropriate in all departments?
The staff of some administrative departments is nearly 100% status employees. The staff of some others includes a large proportion of student workers. Is the ratio appropriate in all departments?
Union contracts will probably have to be considered in both cases.
See New York Times article: https://proxy.qualtrics.com/proxy/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2016%2F01%2F11%2Fnyregion%2Fcuomo-proposes-higher-education-initiative-in-new-york-prisons.html%3F_r%3D0&token=p9Iz5HGmN4zeZHiTvuvNuzx3B58uyEXkLEzRdg5Tfn4%3D . Could SIUE offer classes to prisoners? Some prisons already offer courses. Governor Cuomo is proposing to use criminal forfeiture funds to finance expanded offerings to prisoners who meet certain criteria. The initiative is intended to help prisoner rehabilitation and reduce recidivism.
I don’t know if criminal forfeiture funds would work in our circumstance. Perhaps we could seek grants, particularly private grants. Perhaps some of the prisoners themselves, or their families, would choose to pay for college classes.
Thought-starter: A 1/4/16 Chronicle of Higher Ed article entitled “How For-Profit Education Is Now Embedded in Traditional Colleges”:http://chronicle.com/article/How-For-Profit-Education-Is/234550?cid=cp21
It discusses for-profit companies, such as Pearson and Civitas Learning, that provide to colleges products and services that are close to the educational core (as opposed to traditionally outsourced campus services such as bookstores and dining halls). These offerings include interactive courseware, adaptive courseware, course-in-a-box kits, online-education programs, academic advising engines, learning analytics systems.
What does SIUE do particularly well? Might we market that directly to other colleges, or license it to for-profit companies such as Pearson?
use what you have that is unique -- land & space.
recruit businesses to build on the university land --- businesses that somehow add to and reinforce programs -- that might be willing to provide some teaching/learning space and equipment for the privilege of a tax free building space.
example - a company that uses equipment that would be very expensive to obtain, but that students would be able to take a class to learn how to use.
Value can be something other than $$ -- so this is a kind of barter -- what we have is tax free land; what they have is tools that costs lots of money and maybe internships that would be attractive to students.
I recommend not selling off segments of the 2600 acres of land. Leasing makes more sense as well as farming some currently unused acreage. Corn and wheat/ soybeans could be produced in rotation in partnership with a nearby area high school FFA program (thereby assisting both SIUE, the area high school, and perhaps even the Ethanol operation in University Park.) Identify unused portions of campus land and harness it to bring in $ that could replace former state $. The 2600 acres is one of SIUE's greatest assets--don't sell acres--that is a only short-term "fix."
Consolidate the health sciences under one dean. These program's deans have the highest salaries on campus.
use the 2600 acres as a land-grant. Lease or sell portions off
Lease the university restaurant space to a national vendor and collect a portion of the profits
Study and analyize the revenue functions at the University and recommend both process improvements with business practice emphasis.
Some obvious things like grants, but this money isn't really used for things that replace State budget. There are institutions across the country that have developed a market niche, and run a profit side that supports the more traditional institutional functions. Again, we seem to be our own worst enemy here. 'Rules' are expressed by individuals outside the academic areas that set limits on creativity, when no real rules exist. Harness the creativity on campus for ideas but do it in the spirit of openness - the reality is we can do many things we are told right now we cannot. This is very clear when we see SIUC doing things we 'cannot'.
Increase enrollment, increase tuition and fees and look for partnerships with business.
