UNH Faculty Senate

Summary Minutes from 14 September 1998

I.  Roll - The following Faculty Senate members were absent:  Afolayan, 
Condon, de Alba, Evans, Herold, McMahon, and Roh.

II.  Communications from the Provost - Provost Eggers announced that he 
plans to resign as provost at the end of this year, which is his tenth in
that office.

III.  Discussion with the President - President Leitzel said that the 
university will mount a national search for a provost, after careful 
consideration about the position.  The search committee will be chaired 
by a senior faculty member and will include faculty from each college, 
some deans, and a representative from Computer and Information Services.

A search for a Vice President for Research and Public Services will also 
be undertaken.  Don Sundberg had been the acting vice president for two 
and one half years and was then appointed as vice president for a 
two-year term which ends in January.  This year there should be an 
internal search, because the position requires a great deal of knowledge 
about our institution and its relationships with business and government.
 
Vice President Sundberg will be a candidate for the position, and the 
search committee will be chaired by a senior faculty member and include 
faculty from each college, the dean of the Graduate School and one other 
dean.

The Board of Trustees met on September 10 and discussed in-state tuition.
A compromise was reached which would include in-state tuition increases 
of six percent for each of the next two years in the board's request to
the state legislature.  A five percent increase in the operating budget 
is envisioned, along with two percent of the current base budget for 
instructional technology in each year of the biennium.  Efforts will be 
made to increase student scholarship support through the current 
fund-raising campaign; and the state will be asked to match small gifts 
at one half and gifts of one million dollars or more dollar for dollar.  
Additional support for library acquisitions has been requested.

The president considers that three important issues for the university 
this year are private fund raising which is progressing well, 
responsibility-centered management, and enrollment management.  We must 
give attention to both student retention and recruitment.  A professor 
asked for feedback from the committee that went to Indiana University in 
Bloomington to look into responsibility-centered management there.  
Another faculty member asked for serious discussion on any such plan for 
UNH, since there are concerns about the plan's affect on academics.  The
president said that the Faculty Senate should discuss the proposal and 
help to clarify values and priorities.  The president was asked about her
role in the negotiation process and whether she supported the board
decision.  The president responded that the negotiation process is one in
which the president has no role and that fair labor practices limit what 
she can say to faculty about issues under negotiation.  She indicated 
that she was disappointed about the impasse.

IV.  Communications from the Chair - The chair passed out a list of 
Faculty Senate committee assignments, adding that those faculty listed as 
committee chairs are actually conveners who have agreed to chair the 
committee if elected as chair by the committee.  Also, the Academic 
Affairs Committee needed a chair with knowledge of last year's work, and 
Deborah Winslow has agreed to be its convener.  If elected as chair of 
that committee, she would resign from the Agenda Committee; and Don 
Chandler would be willing to become the new member of the Agenda 
Committee if elected by the Faculty Senate.

This summer the Agenda Committee agreed to meet several times with the 
deans regarding the budget shortfall.  Both the past chair and the new 
convener of the Faculty Senate's Finance and Administration Committee 
also attended these confidential meetings.  This group of faculty 
senators was able to give input early in the process of budget planning 
and plans to write an impact statement when the deans have prepared their
recommendations.  The impact statement will focus on university-wide 
issues and implications.  During the summer, these faculty senators 
raised a number of issues for consideration and stated that any 
substantial general education changes must be approved by the Faculty 
Senate.  The president has said that she will forward a copy of the final
version of the deans' budget recommendations to the Agenda Committee 
within a week, so that the impact statement can be prepared.  Some 
faculty expressed concern about the Agenda Committee's role in the budget 
process.  The Faculty Senate may debate the issues at a later date.

V.  Enrollment Management - The Vice Provost for Enrollment Management 
plans changes in such services as admissions and financial aid, in order 
to encourage early applications and thus increase the length of time in 
which the university can contact applicants.  In the past, we usually 
have contacted new applicants only once or twice, whereas other schools 
reach out to these prospective students more frequently.  The vice 
provost is working on a long-term strategic process for enrollment and 
also intends to make it easier for prospective students to reach an 
admissions counselor by phone.  UNH already has a good relationship with 
guidance counselors, and the vice provost is contacting school 
principals, superintendents and business people.  UNH recruits students 
when they are high school seniors, but the university needs to work on 
long-term prospect development.  For example, whenever high school 
students attend a continuing education or summer program at the 
university, their names should be sent to the Admissions Office for use 
in recruitment efforts.

A professor expressed concern that UNH sends millions of dollars to the 
system office which uses part of that money to support the College of 
Life-long Learning and its advertising, which competes with the 
university's summer program and Division of Continuing Education.  The 
vice provost said that adult students are a fast-growing segment of the 
student body and that we need to address their needs more fully.  He 
suggested having a faculty committee advise on strategic planning for 
enrollment.  Professors are also concerned about the quality of students.
 
There could be a faculty committee to review those cases which the 
Admissions Office feels are deserving of special consideration.  There 
may be greater interest in technology-mediated learning and learning on 
the internet.  UNH attracts more female than male students.  The vice 
provost wants to research this and other factors and to contact 
prospective students sooner and more often.

Applications went down by fifteen percent in the same year that, because 
of budget difficulties, many fewer names of Scholastic Aptitude Test 
takers were purchased and fewer schools were visited.  We put our names 
in front of ten thousand fewer families and had about 1,250 fewer 
students apply.  Last year seventy-eight percent of the applicants were 
admitted.  The university will become more active in communicating with 
the prospective applicant pool.

VI.  Minutes - The minutes of the May 11 Faculty Senate meeting were 
approved unanimously.  

VII.  Adjournment - The meeting was adjourned.