10:20 a.m., Dec. 8, 2008----A name change for a college, an update on the effects of the current economic situation on the University of Delaware community and new guidelines for university-wide course breadth requirements topped the items addressed during the Dec. 1 Faculty Senate meeting.

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College of Education and Public Policy

Senators approved a resolution changing the name of the College of Human Services, Education and Public Policy to the College of Education and Public Policy.

The resolution noted that the former name was cumbersome, not typical of college names at other universities and not well understood beyond the UD campus.

The name change was supported by the UD Provost Dan Rich and Michael Gamel-McCormick, interim dean, as well as by the college's faculty and staff and the Faculty Senate. The proposed change must now be approved by the University's Board of Trustees.

University's financial challenges

Rich told senators that the University is pursuing a policy of prudent management of resources in light of the current national and international economic downturn.

“It's no surprise to you that we are in the midst of a challenging economic downturn with serious impacts in all sectors, including higher education. Our University is not immune to those circumstances, but we are in a better position to address these challenges than many other leading universities,” Rich said. “We are determined to address these fiscal challenges in ways that sustain our progress and retain support for our priorities.”

Rich noted that the University's fiscal circumstances are complicated by two sets of factors, including a reduced endowment and projected cuts in support from the state of Delaware as a result of the state's own projected budget shortfall.

“Our endowment has been managed effectively and with a lot less risk taking than at other institutions, and therefore it has been less vulnerable to the recent downturn, but all the same there has been a significant impact on the size of the endowment,” Rich said. “As noted in President Harker's message dated Nov. 21 to the UD community, and also reported in the local media, the state has asked all state agencies, including the University, to prepare for a possible 15 percent reduction in state support for FY 2010.”

Rich added, “While no one knows exactly how events will unfold, state spending is guided by the revenue projections of the Delaware Economic Forecasting Advisory Council (DEFAC) and the state is bound by those projections. There is no such a thing as deficit spending in Delaware.”

DEFAC has projected that state revenues could decline by as much as $500 million for the coming year, Rich said, and the projected 15 percent shortfall is an estimate of what it would take to address that magnitude of shortfall in revenue projections, assuming no other actions will be taken.

One of the anticipated impacts of the current economic downturn, Rich noted, is that more students at the University of Delaware will need financial aid to continue their studies.

“We are committed to doing all we can to assist those students and allow them to complete their University of Delaware education,” Rich said.

Although current numbers on applications for undergraduate admission are comparable with last year, Rich noted that there is much attention being given as to what the economic situation will mean in terms of the incoming class for the fall of 2009.

“We expect that there may be a larger number of Delawareans who will accept offers of admission at the University of Delaware,” Rich said. “There also is some expectation that Delawareans at other institutions, because of economic circumstances, will ask to transfer to UD.”

UD Commitment to Delawareans

Rich said that despite the economic crisis, the University will continue to uphold its Commitment to Delawareans, including two new provisions added regarding admission notification and financial support for residents of the First State who choose to enroll at the University of Delaware.

“The Commitment to Delawareans was first introduced as an academic roadmap, that basically told students in Delaware schools (and their families) what courses they needed to take and at what level in order to prepare for prospective admission to the University of Delaware,” Rich said. “If students follow the roadmap and do well in the prescribed high school courses, then they should be confident that they will be prepared for admission and success at UD.

“What we have added this year for the fall 2009 entering class is that the University will meet the full demonstrated financial need of Delawareans enrolling at the University up to the cost of tuition and fees, on-campus room and board, and books; further we will do so in a manner that will allow students to graduate from UD without high levels of indebtedness.”

Rich said by estimating the amount that an elementary school teacher starting in the state of Delaware could reasonably be expected to afford in terms of debt repayment in the early years of employment, the University decided to set a cap of $18,000 total indebtedness for students entering the University of Delaware in fall of 2009.

The University of Delaware also has instituted a rolling admissions policy that could let Delaware applicants know as early as Jan. 1 if they will be offered admission to the University.

Teaching and research resources

Rich noted that the University is committed to providing the best possible teaching and research resources in support of its undergraduate and graduate students.

“We have no expectation of curtailing faculty hiring. Our intention is to continue with faculty searches, and in fact we believe that current circumstances put us in a preferred position with regard to hiring the best faculty available across the nation,” Rich said.

“Higher education and public education were exempted, and we hope that exemption continues through to the stroke of midnight into next fiscal year,” Rich said.

Rich said the University is encouraging all its deans, vice presidents and vice provosts to be prudent in hiring and in filling nonfaculty positions.

“This is not a hard freeze on staff hiring, but it means that we should be avoiding additional encumbrances, particularly those that are not directly linked to the academic core of instruction and research and that support our students through our scholarships,” Rich said. “We will be taking a very hard, close look at all non-faculty hiring requests.”

University-wide breadth requirements

A draft report on University-wide breadth requirements by the Faculty Senate Ad Hoc Committee was presented by Avron Abraham, associate professor in the Department of Health, Nutrition and Exercise Sciences and faculty director of Academic Enrichment and University Studies.

The report, Abraham said, addresses the current lack of uniformity across colleges and departments with not only different requirements, but different categories and definitions. Changing this lack of uniformity would allow for greater flexibility and ease of movement between majors.

Proposed University-wide breadth requirements would consist of 12 credits, with at least one course for categories including:

Creative Arts and Humanities;

History and Cultural Change;

Social and Behavioral Science; and

Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Technology.

Further actions include feedback, open hearings, senate resolution and catalog revisions, Abraham said.

Article by Jerry Rhodes