Board of Curators meeting: Oct. 22-23, 2009 — October 23, 2009
Forsee talks tuition, aims to overcome obstacles
Welcome to day two of The Maneater's live coverage of the UM system Board of Curators meeting. Keep checking back throughout the morning for all major updates from today's sessions.
UM system President Gary Forsee opened Friday's meetings with his State of the University address to the curators. In his address, Forsee stressed that it is a pivotal time for the UM system in regards to overcoming economic hurdles while maintaining commitment to the university's mission.
Fiscally speaking, Forsee was straightforward about the system's current situation in the midst of a national recession.
"As you would expect in this economic climate, news is not good," Forsee said. "We could have as much as a 10 percent challenge to our operating budget."
Still, Forsee said he believes that the UM system should be more relevant during the state's toughest times.
"Shouldn't we be viewed as part of the solution?" Forsee said.
In discussing methods for overcoming economic hurdles, Forsee addressed tuition and called for a major change. By the end of this calendar year, Forsee said he would like each of the system's four campuses to assess their tuition needs. By doing this, Forsee plans to establish variable tuitions for each of the campuses.
In addition to fiscal obstacles, Forsee pointed out several other issues, including accountability for student learning and outcomes, access and student success, aligning high schools and community colleges with universities, shifting demographics and e-learning.
Forsee concluded his address by calling for active examination over the next year. He said he hopes to gain useful information in the areas of requirements for e-learning and hybrid learning, clearer pathways from high school and community college to university and clarity in credit hour requirements.
"We want to lead, we want to be a part of the solution," Forsee said. "We need to be willing to take on these vexing issues."
Prior to Forsee's presentation, Board Chairman Bo Fraser made remarks of his own about the system's utilization of innovative methods.
“The Univeristy of Missouri is committed to advancing its mission for the state and thinking creatively is how that needs to be done," Fraser said.
One example that Fraser cited as creative thinking was the Tiger Institue for Health Innovation. Fraser admitted that some media outlets scrutinized the system's partnership with Cerner Corporation in this venture, but claimed that these criticizers missed the big picture.
"Public-private partnerships represent some of the finest creative thinking by our university leadership," Fraiser said. "The Tiger Institute will save Missourians 1 billion annually by creating one of the nation's most digitized health systems."
Fraser also honored former UM system Interim President Gordon H. Lamb for his service and dedication to the university.
"It was a privilege and a real pleasure to work with the Board of Curators," Lamb said.
Deaton addresses Board of Curators on MU's collaboration
Chancellor Brady Deaton spoke to the UM system Board of Curators this morning about MU's accomplishments over the last year and highlighted collaboration between colleges and departments across the campus.
This year's enrollment settled at a record 31,324 students, a 3.7 percent increase from last year, Deaton said. This freshman class' composite ACT scores are ranked fourth in the Big 12. Deaton emphasized the increase in retention and graduation rates.
"The cheapest way to recruit is to keep the students you’ve got," he said.
Deaton also emphasized the diversity among students across the campus, explaining that MU currently has students from every county in Missouri, every state in the US and over 100 countries worldwide.
Among the other topics discussed, Chancellor Deaton addressed the issue of federal stimulus money, explaining that, of MU's proposals, there is a 32 percent funding success rate and that 64 of the 108 proposed projects are already being funded.
Deaton talked about MU's initiatives to make improvements to science education across the state, like the $5 million project in conjunction with ninth grade teachers to improve physics classes in Missouri high schools.
Deaton went on to commend the collaboration of administration, faculty, staff and students across the campus.
Later in his speech, Deaton explained the importance of the five Mizzou Advantage initiatives, which he identified as Food for the Future, New Media, One Health-One Medicine, Sustainable Energy and Understanding and Managing Disruptive and Transformational Technologies.
"We’re trying to move outside the narrow disciplines of colleges," Deaton said.
In his speech's conclusion, Deaton commended the faculty and students at MU and said he wishes to continue to see progress and improvement across the campus over the next few years.
Board approves degree programs in film, science at MU, sick leave amendments
The UM system Board of Curators voted to approve two new degree programs at MU this morning.
After a brief recap of yesterday's discussion in the Academic, Student and External Affairs Committee by Vice Chairwoman Judith Haggard, the board voted by a count of 8-0 for the addition of both a Bachelor of Arts in film studies and Masters and Doctorate programs in clinical and translational science.
Yesterday, Vice President of Academic Affairs Steve Graham pitched both of the new degree programs to the Academic, Student and External Affairs Committee.
In his written proposal, Graham said the MU curriculum was falling behind due to the lack of a film program.
"This is a glaring gap in our curriculum, one that puts us at a disadvantage with respect to our comparator schools," Graham said.
The board also approved four amendments to the university's Collected Rules and Regulations in regard to sick leave and holidays for system employees. One of these amendments will allow employees to use sick leave time in smaller than eight hour increments. The amendment will also require employees to use their personal leave for the first three days of their injury. In light of current flu situations, the board also passed an amendment to lift the traditional twelve day sick leave limit per year.
Following up on business from yesterday's meeting of the Finance Committee, the board voted 8-0 to allot over $1 million for turbine maintenance at MU's power plant.
Stay tuned for comments from the curators' post-meeting press conference.
Annual university health systems report presented to curators
Vice Chancellor of the UM Health System Harold Williamson presented the annual report for the health system this morning.
Williamson explained the positive outcomes of the reorganization of the health system, which involved a newly-formed alliance between the School of Medicine, Sinclair School of Nursing and the School of Health Professions.
“The alignment of those health professions schools and what they bring the university, as well as to the health education is a major plus," Williamson said.
Williamson also overviewed the strategic initiatives for the system, involving education quantity and quality, exam scores, diversity, student feedback and financial issues.
"The average amount of debt for a medical school graduate is $130,000," Williamson said. "As a public university, we want to bring that number down"
Williamson highlighted the successes of the various schools. After curriculum changes In the mid 1990s, the system changed to a problem-based curriculum. Such changes caused improved student success rates.
"We knew that students would enjoy it more, and that faculty would enjoy teaching it more," Williamson said. "As a result of those changes the school saw sharp increases in board exam scores."
The nursing school has also fared well in recent years, Williamson said.
"For the last four years, the nursing school has ranked substantially higher than the national average," Williamson said. "And we are very proud about that."
Williamson went on to present data from the Association of American Medical Colleges. According toa report by AAMC, only thirty percent of faculty members at the university are women, in comparison to 35 percent on the national level. MU is also fifty percent lower than the national average of minority faculty members.
The association also reported MU Health System ranked 52 among universities for state funding received. UM system students received $37,000 per student, while number 10 ranked Nebraska received $143,00 per student.
“it is very difficult to gain that national recognition with low funding numbers like that," Williamson said. "So we hope to see improvements in that concern.”
Williamson also addressed the status of the H1N1 virus on the campuses, explaining that while Missouri has seen a 10% increase of cases, the amount of students who are reporting symptoms has leveled off.
"So far it is an ordinary flu epidemic that is out of sync with normal flu strains," Williamson said. "I will say that MU campuses have been working very carefully with the community and the hospital."
Kevin Necas, chief financial officer for University of Missouri Health Care, presented the financial report. Necas said for the year fiscal year ending June 30,2009, the university was able to bring expenses down by $18 million.
Necas also noted improvements in efficiency of patient care among the health care system.
"Last quarter, we were able to take care of 34 percent more patients compared to the prior quarter," Necas said. "We were able to do that by decreasing the average length of stay by 39 percent."
Forsee, Fraser emphasize creativity at press conference
President Gary Forsee and Board of Curators Chairman Bo Fraser fielded questions at a press conference following the conclusion of public sessions of the two day meeting.
Forsee said the university must address the coming issues with a national perspective in the next decade.
"What I suggested this morning is that the University of Missouri ought to go beyond the state, frankly," Forsee said.
Forsee and Fraser were also asked what kind of future creative collaborations from outside companies will exist in the future.
"Our willingness to find those partnerships and bring out that kind of investment is certainly something we and other institutions across the country have to be more aggressive about," Forsee said.
Fraser added that the university must to be willing to keep an open mind about future partnerships.
"We don't know what all those answers are, but we have to be willing to be out there with creative juices looking for things that aren't the old paradigm," Fraser said. "Those kind of things involve change and we can't be resistant to change."