September 7, 2006
Challenges, opportunities face LAS in the coming academic year
Challenges are nothing new for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the
largest and most diverse college at Iowa State University, which offers all
Iowa State students the basic courses in the humanities, social sciences, biological
and life sciences, physical sciences and mathematical and computational sciences.
But while some challenges are daunting for "the university's college,"
there are opportunities in those challenges according to Michael B. Whiteford,
LAS Dean.
Potential looming budget cuts and implementation of the new budget model dominated
Whiteford's address during the LAS Fall Convocation on Wednesday, Sept.
6, in the Memorial Union.
"Like any challenge, we need to be able to look at this as an opportunity
to do things that we otherwise might not wish - or be prepared - to do,"
he said.
Whiteford said that although Iowa State has not received a budget cut in the
past two years, the Iowa Legislature has funded the university's salary
packages with temporary funds. In order to give salary increases, the university
has asked units such as the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences to prepare
to cut budgets to bring the overall university budget into balance.
"We don't know what our ‘bill' will be," Whiteford said, "but
we are working with departments to develop some scenarios.
"But because of repeated cuts, we will do everything possible to protect
the core budgets of departments and the college."
Whiteford announced that the LAS Budget Advisory Group would be reestablished.
This group of LAS administrators, department chairs and other faculty members
met on a regular basis for two years before going on hiatus last year.
Curricular reform is another area Whiteford focused on during his state-of-the-college
address. He said that many academic departments in LAS are already working on
determining if the college has too many classes in certain areas and whether
courses could be "selectively trimmed and refined without damaging quality."
"Are we trying to do too much?" Whiteford asked. "There is no
question that we try to do too many things. We haven't been able to afford this
for some time and we will continue to have to act in a responsible and consultative
way to resolve some issues."
For the past year, the university has worked on the establishment of a new budget
model. Whiteford says the basic concept intends to distribute revenues and costs
to units more consistently with responsibilities and workload.
"Units that increase student credit hours should benefit in a manner that
does not take place today and the model would be transparent," he said.
"We will be able to see where dollars come from and where they go - something
that doesn't happen with the current budget system."
Whiteford touched on three other areas that are critical to the success of the
college over the next academic year. He said the college continues to work on
ideas that will make the First-Year Experience more engaging and challenging.
"We teach a lot of large classes of 100 or more students," he said.
"Some of our very best classes are taught to groups of several hundred
students at a time. We want to encourage excellence in this area."
To that end, Whiteford said the college wants to put the very best instructors,
regardless of rank, in front of these classes.
LAS is continuing to offer first-year seminars on topics that are timely and
interesting. The college will be working this year to further refine that format
to attract more faculty and students.
Attracting additional students is another key area for the college. Whiteford
said as state support continues to decline, the university must rely more on
tuition dollars to function.
"We need to become partners with our recruiters in welcoming prospective
students when they are visiting campus and let them know, through our actions,
that we value their presence when they arrive," he said. "If nothing
else, the proposed budget model is proof positive of the importance of all of
our roles in working to bring students to this campus."
Whiteford also reported that the LAS development team raised $10 million this
past year. That revenue stream has taken on an increased importance for the
college in recent years.
"The work of our Foundation team is absolutely essential in helping us
do our work," he said. "It will become even more important in assisting
us to carry out our mission in the future."
