UCA PERSPECTIVE FOR SEPTEMBER 17, 2001

Samual P. Buchanan, University Provost

Good afternoon. My perceptions are that the beginning of the semester has gone very well and I hope that has been the experience for each of you. It seems that the registration processes in place are working efficiently. The number of students who were purged for nonpayment of fees was down significantly and the normal knot of frantic students trying at the last moment to get registered into closed sections over in McCastlain Hall was almost non-existent. I attribute that to the fact the registration process has FINALLY entered the computer age. This has allowed the process to be decentralized so academic advisors can actually register students in their offices. Congratulations! It worked very well. Of course, as is the case with all procedures, I am certain that there are opportunities for improving the process. If you see such an opportunity I hope that you will not hesitate to point it out to either the University Registrar (Tony Sitz) or to the Interim Associate Provost (Jonathan Glenn). I’ve learned that not many members of the faculty are too shy about pointing out how administration could be improved.

The summer reading program this year has been declared a huge success. Results of the survey indicate that the near 800 students participating in it overwhelmingly liked the book, the discussion, and the program. My sincere thanks to all of you who participated in the program; to all of the members of the committee for their hard work; and especially to Dean Roden, Dr. Vanderslice, and Ms. Stone who administered the program. I hope you will give them your ideas as to how it can be improved and how we can encourage wider participation among the members of our faculty and staff on campus, as well as among citizens of the central Arkansas community.

As you know, the summer reading program is simply one of several programs that have been designed to improve the retention of students. Perhaps you read the article appearing in a recent issue of Time magazine describing those colleges regarded as “the best in the nation.” The article describes the programs that each college has to “welcome and retain” their first-year students. I am pleased to say that almost all of the programs mentioned in the article are already in place at UCA. However, even though our retention rates have improved, we still have an over-all freshman retention rate from the fall 2000 semester to the spring 2001 semester of only 75.1%. By comparison, the retention rate for our residential colleges for the same period is 98%. Clearly our programs are not reaching all of our students. I urge that all of you become involved in the retention efforts. If you can, participate in one of the programs…perhaps the Freshman Interest Groups or one of the residential colleges. But if you are, for some reason, unable to participate in the organized program, please understand that you can contribute by simply being the best teacher/advisor that you can be. The number two reason that students elect to remain at an institution is because they have formed a bond with a member of the staff or faculty.

I think most of you will be pleased to hear that the UCA North Central Association Steering Committee is just about extinct…but not quite. There still remain some issues that need to be addressed. One is a pro-active affirmative action hiring plan. I am charging the university’s Affirmative Action Committee to work with Dean Maurice Lee in developing an action plan for improving the diversity of our faculty and academic staff. This plan will be submitted to the Faculty and Staff Senates and finally to the University Council for recommendation to the President.

The NCA visiting team has also directed the university to move away from the “cookie cutter” approach to faculty evaluation. We must realize that this university has grown to include many different faculty roles. It is unfair to expect that all faculty members meet the same standard for promotion, tenure, and merit pay. Therefore, I will ask both the Council of Deans and the Faculty Senate to collaborate on developing a method of identifying those actions that should be considered meritorious. Each faculty member will be evaluated by comparing the agreed upon role the person plays in the departmental and college with the performance of those expectations. 

Another bit of unfinished business from the NCA report is our strategic planning efforts. Currently, we have almost completed gathering input from the student body regarding their thoughts about the important issues facing the university. They are being asked the same questions you responded to at February’s “Big Event.” From your input we learned that the values you felt were important for our university to possess were intellectual curiosity, a sense of community, integrity, citizenship, and involvement. You felt that the greatest barriers that we needed to overcome were lack of resources (specifically money, time, and technology), apathy, and lack of communication. The initial results from the students last spring indicated that they shared your values and concerns. As these efforts wind down, I will work with the three senates in forming a campus-wide planning committee that will use the results of “Big Events” to develop a strategic plan for the institution. Hear this! If you feel that you have a stake in roads to be taken by this institution in the future, this will be the time either to volunteer to serve on this committee or to have your voice heard by it. We are on the brink of important transitions at this university that within the next two years will very likely result in the chief executive officer and the chief academic officer being new to the campus. Therefore, no one will have any preconceived ideas as to what the outcome of this planning effort should be. This is an opportunity to be heard!

Speaking of the presidential search process, I want to make certain you are aware that the search committee is named…the list of committee members can be found on the UCA website. I truly believe the search is a wide-open search and urge any of you who know of qualified applicants to nominate them. Further, I urge each of you to be actively interested in and involved in the process of selecting the next university president as candidates come to the campus. Make certain that you get to know as much as you can about each candidate and when you given the opportunity, let the selection committee know your thoughts.

When asked about the strengths of this university, I naturally think of our students, staff and faculty. We are fortunate that our student body is comprised of some of the better students in Arkansas. Because we are in the rural South, I don’t think we very often experience some of the problems of working with young people that are reported in other sections of the country. However, for the last seven years I’ve had very little classroom contact. I know, in that time, classroom dynamics have changed…I hear members of the faculty complain about students being disengaged, disinterested, disrespectful, disruptive, defiant, or even disturbed. These reports do not surface frequently here, but it does seem that I’m hearing about more of these types of incidents than I did seven years earlier. This coupled with an article in the April 2001 issue of the AAHE Bulletin entitled, “The Age of Incivility,” has prompted me first to want to assure each of you that it is the position of this administration that the professor is in charge of the classroom and is ultimately responsible of the maintenance of an atmosphere conducive to learning. Many faculty members are unaware of what types of resources are available to them and what procedures will result in their maintaining control of the classroom. Therefore, I am asking the Faculty and Staff senates to work with the Assistant Vice President for Legal Services in the development of specific guidelines that will empower the faculty to act with confidence and without the fear of being legally liable for such action.

I am proud to be a member of this faculty. I know that the faculty and staff represent the hope of the university in this time of transition and I am confident that we will continue to grow serving as a base for building a greater university. Further let me say that if any of you have not yet met our newest faculty members, you will profit from seeking them out. These young professors and instructors are excited and talented…and that excitement is infectious. I ask that you get to know them, assist them in becoming integrated into the fabric of our campus, and mentor them in how you have become the excellent member of the faculty that you are.

I would be remiss if I closed without mentioning the horrific events that unfolded a week ago today in New York City and Washington DC. There is no one on this campus that was left unaffected by these tragedies. I appreciate the intelligent and sensitive responses that the faculty and staff made. I hope you will continue to be aware of the need simply to sit with students who need someone with whom they can discuss these events. It is time like these that help form opinions in our students, particularly our traditional-aged students. If the opportunity presents itself, I ask that you incorporate the events of last Tuesday into your curricula. Not since the assassination of John F. Kennedy almost 40 years ago—when I was an eighteen year old freshman on The University of Texas campus—has it been more urgent and vital for teachers to make their classrooms into seminars to assist our students in dealing with such heart-breaking trauma.