Universities struggle to survive

Nothing is new about financial problems at EMU. As a tuition-dependent, small, private church college, it is struggling, along with the Ivy League schools, to make the dollars stretch.

What is new is that, rather than a top-down decision to cut professors and programs, the university is undergoing a year-long "prioritization process" involving administrators, faculty, and students.

"Look at the process as a two-sided funnel," Provost Beryl Brubaker wrote recently in an e-mail to faculty and staff. "Coming out from the funnel on the right side will be the recommendations. In the middle, before the recommendations emerge, will be a feedback period when departments can think creatively and share ideas for change with the Priority Steering Committee."

In institutional jargon, a 13-member PSC, which met weekly during the spring semester, is to "identify programs for the future that are sustainable financially and driven by the mission of the institution. Subsequent decisions and actions will be to reallocate resources accordingly," according to its mission statement.

In a yet-to-be scheduled meeting on Monday, Sept. 26, President Loren Swartzendruber will seek student input, right after meeting with all EMU employees to explain the rationale behind the process and provide information on how programs will be divided into categories.

The department chairs and administrators of each academic and administrative program were recently asked to complete a report on the history of their program, any relevant data, and these criteria: mission, external/internal demand, quality of program inputs and processes, quality of program outcomes, productivity, cost effectiveness, opportunities, and any other factors deemed relevant.

PSC has evaluated these reports based on a predetermined scale and will share the results at the upcoming meeting. Following this process the campus community is about to enter into the "feedback period" between the funnels. From Sept. 26 to Oct. 10, department feedback can be submitted via an electronic form to PSC.

Creative thinking will take place, they say, as each department looks for ways to save costs and increase revenue. Feedback and ideas involving change in enrollment statistics since last spring, program change proposals, departmental change proposals and/or university changes are being asked for. Student involvement in their respective department is being emphasized in this process as departments are reportedly being encouraged to include student voices in their feedback, according to Brubaker.

From Oct. 10 to 31 PSC will review the ideas and feedback received. On Oct. 31 an all-employee meeting will be held to share the best ideas received and provide a time for comments.

From Nov. 1 - 21 another forum will be held to share the recommendations.

A two-week appeal period will be in place from Nov. 21 to Dec. 5 for the opportunity to send an appeal to the president. The final results from this entire process will be taken to the board of trustees in March 2006.

No changes will occur overnight, Swartzendruber emphasizes. "Our first commitment is to provide for the needs of current and prospective students, and we will also be very sensitive to the needs of faculty and staff."

The PSC website contains an archive of meeting agendas and minutes from the meetings that have taken place up to this point. Forms containing the criteria of department reports are also posted, as well as additional information on the process as a whole.