Academic ConvocationTowson University

James F. Brennan Provost and Vice

President for Academic Affairs

September 28, 2006

Themes

• Enrollment Growth • Programmatic Enhancement and

Development• Academic Reputation• Moving forward.

Enrollment Size and Mix

Enrollment Size and Mix: Our planning tells us that we will grow by about 3,000 students between now and 2010. We have planned our growth and how we will make it happen. Our plan tells us we will grow by another 4,300 students between 2010 and 2015. That's an average increase of 600 students each year for the first five years and then 1,000 students each year for the following 5 years taking us from 18,000 students today to 21,000+ in 2010 and 25,000+ in 2015.

(President Caret, Fall Address, 7 September 2005)

Where we have been

Enrollment Growth, Headcount to 2005

Fall 2001

Fall 2002

Fall 2003

Fall 2004

Fall 2005

Total Enrollment 16,980

17,481 17,188

17,667

18,011

Undergraduate 13,959

14,296 13,981

14,311

14,495

Percent Undergraduate 82% 82% 81% 81% 80%

Full Time 11,757

12,275 12,051

12,405

12,812

Part Time 2,202 2,021 1,930 1,906 1,683

% Undergraduate Part Time

16% 14% 14% 13% 12%

Graduate 3,021 3,185 3,207 3,356 3,516

Percent Graduate 18% 18% 19% 19% 20%

Full Time 706 762 804 802 819

Part Time 2,315 2,423 2,403 2,554 2,697

% Graduate Part Time 77% 76% 75% 76% 77%

Where we are

Full Time Equivalent Students AY 06 - 07

Fall 2006 Percent

Actual FTE Enrollment 975

Enrollment FTE Goal 805

Enrollment FTE Exceeding Goal 172 21.0%

Undergraduate FTE 14,098 90.0%

Graduate FTE 1,639 10.0%

Total Student FTE 15,737 100.0%

Student Headcount and Credit Hours AY 06 - 07

Fall 2006 Percent

Headcount Undergraduates 15,375 81.2%

Headcount Graduates 3,546 18.8%

Total Headcount 18,921 100.0%

Undergraduate Credit Hours 211,469 91.7%

Graduate Credit Hours 19,169 8.3%

Total Student Credit Hours 230,638 100.0%

Enrollment and Program Growth

How we are accommodating growth: FY07

• 28 new FT, TT faculty positions.• 12 new staff positions.• Operational funds increased by an

additional $56,000.• Health benefits to lecturers, $750,000.• New adjunct positions, plus raising

stipend by $100 (to $2,450) for total of $500,000.

• Grad Assistant budget moved to state-side, $500,000.

Enrollment and Program Growth: Guidelines

• Growth should be intentional and carefully planned,

• Growth should be targeted to match identified needs (current and future) of the metropolis (local, regional, national, international) with the institutional strengths determined through a systematic assessment of our areas of excellence, uniqueness and highest potential.

Guiding Goals within Mission

• Build on existing strengths,• Consider discipline-based job and

career projections as well as interdisciplinary innovations,

• Maryland’s identified workforce needs.

Funding Variables: FY 07 and FY08

• USM proposal for FY07: 7% general increase; 2% enrollment growth.

• Towson proposal: fund the new growth at a $5,500 subsidy; move the funding base of the rest of the enrollment core to $5,000.

• Towson’s “0-based” budgeting, FY08; Delaware Study benchmarks.

Pragmatics: Growth

• Enrollment mix keeps graduate students at 20%,

• Housing,– Currently 3,439 (104% capacity)– 75.9% of FT Freshpeople (up from 67.6%,

F1999)– Goal to add 600 beds, F-08 (i.e., FY09)

• Accreditation: AACSB, NCATE, Middle States,

Pragmatics: Space

• Capital Plan– $54.3M Center for the Arts renovation

and addition: completed.– $117M CLA Complex and Power Plant

expansion: Design completed; Phase I construction, February 2007.

– $5M Child Care Center: January 2007 completion.

– Lida Lee Tall demolition: January 2007.

Pragmatics: Space

• Capital Plan (continued)– $1.5M upgrade to Library 3rd floor and

entrance: completed Fall 2006.– $1.4M renovation of 1st and 3rd floors of 7800

York Road to accommodate Math: completed, Fall, 2006.

– $1.3M Union renovations and creation of parking office in Union Garage, under construction.

– $10.6M addition of 550 spaces to Towsontown Garage, design completed.

Pragmatics: Space

• Capital Plan (continued)– $6M Towson Center Arena

improvements, design underway.– $24.4M Campus Site and Safety

Improvements, design underway.– $36M Union Expansion, planning

underway.

An interdisciplinary Model for Programmatic Growth

and Enhanced Scholarly Productivity

• pursues an interdisciplinary context consistent with the metropolitan mission,

• builds on an integrated set of parallel Institutes that intersect to support innovation in teaching, research scholarship, and service,

• support closely aligned new programs and nurture other interdisciplinary offerings ,

An interdisciplinary Model for Programmatic Growth

and Enhanced Scholarly Productivity

• centered on 3-fold objectives in research/scholarship, extramural support, and collaboration,

• serve as a platform to promote innovation and cutting-edge scholarship while supporting the program,

• host a nationally and internationally renowned scholar to provide intellectual and programmatic leadership.

Interdisciplinary Model: Institute Themes

• Metropolitan Issues• Entrepreneurial Issues• Human Development• Writing

Interdisciplinary Model

Institute Programs

Metropolitan Issues Immigration

Cultural & Ethnic Studies

Geography & Planning

Urban Education

Local Politics

Ethics & Social Justice

Community Development

Interdisciplinary Model

Institute Programs

Entrepreneurial Issues

Public Relations

Not for Profit Management

Minorities in Business

Women in Business

Creativity,innovations,inventions

Public Administration

Charter Organizations

Interdisciplinary Model

Institute Programs

Human Development

Age-based programs

Infancy/childhood

Adolescence

Adulthood

Gerontology

Families

Care-giving across the lifespan

Interdisciplinary Model

Institute Programs

Writing English Language Center

Maryland Writing Project

Composition in General Education

Writing in Disciplines

School of Technology

• Incubated with FCSM.• Programmatic interface with Workforce

Needs; Articulated with CCs.• Possible existing: Project Management,

IT & Assurance, Actuarial Science, BTPS in Allied Health, Media Convergence, Instructional Tech.

• Possible future: Comp Engineering Tech, Health Tech/Management, Industrial Design, Animation, 2+2+1 in Engineering.

Longer Term Enrollment Growth

Community College as Partners- dual admissions,- dual advising,- Towson programs taught on CC sites,- Clearly articulated learning outcomes in general education: Faculty development implications.

A Note on Distance Education

• Targeted pilots of 2005-06.• Implemented, fall 2006

– Graduate: HRD, Graphics Design, Homeland Security/Risk Assessment, fall 2006.

– Undergrad: BTPS in Allied Health, fall 2006.

– Graduate: Computer Science track, and AIT, spring 2007.

Academic Reputation

• January Conference• Student Surveys, particularly

National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE)

• Academic Support– Achievement Center– Intentional Advising

Retention Rate of Undergraduates

94.1

91.1

88.7

92.289.9

86.8

92.0 91.7

87.7

92.2

90.3

86.3

60.0

65.0

70.0

75.0

80.0

85.0

90.0

95.0

100.0

Cohort 2001 Cohort 2002 Cohort 2003 Cohort 2004

Retention Rate of Undergraduates

African American All Minorities All Races

Note: The percentage of first-time, full-time degree-seeking undergraduates who re-enrolled at Towson University one year after matriculation. Data

Graduation Rates of Undergraduates

48.4

52.4

60.4

50.6 50.4

59.958.0

55.6

64.1

57.8 58.261.0

0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

25.0

30.0

35.0

40.0

45.0

50.0

55.0

60.0

65.0

70.0

Cohort 1996 Cohort 1997 Cohort 1998 Cohort 1999

Graduation Rates of Undergraduates

African American All Minorities All Races

Note: The percentage of first-time, full-time degree-seeking undergraduates who graduated from any Maryland public four-year institution within six years of matriculation. Data Source: MHEC

Graduation Rate “Gap” between African American and All Races

0.0

3.0

6.0

9.0

12.0

15.0

18.0

Difference in Six Year graduaton Rate

Cohort 1996 Cohort 1997 Cohort 1998 Cohort 1999

Graduation Rate "Gap" Between African American and All Races

Towson’s Reputation –How to Build It

Reputation with students and potential students – the recognition that Towson is a great place for an undergraduate education: small classes, contact with FT faculty in lower and upper division courses, strong liberal arts/majors, teaching (student/faculty interaction) is prized as a core value.

Reputation with other organizational/bureaucratic entities – more problematic and often not as salient as the first and is validated through more variable and ambiguous sources.

The Honors College.

Honors at Towson

Honors: Admissions

Fall 2001

Fall 2006 %

Applied 461 825 45%

Accepted 461 578 100 to 70%

Enrolled 317 211 68% to 36% of

accepted

Avg GPA 3.68 3.96

Avg SAT 1208 1870 (1250)

Honors: Impact

Fall 2003 Fall 2006

All Honors Credit Hours

1713 2058

Faculty Fellows

-- 3

Honors Scholarships

FY 2004 $136,000

FY 2005 $324,000

FY 2006 $358,000

Concerns

• How does Towson sustain and grow quality as it moves toward 25,000?

• Of the 717 full-time faculty, 19.4% are lecturers; if add Visiting and Clinical, 29% of full-time faculty are other than tenure-track or tenured.

• Of the 5,163 sections now taught, 20.1% are taught by adjuncts, who represent the equivalent of 129.88 FTE faculty

Promotion & Tenure Effective AY 05 - 06

Applications

Approved

Tenure 37 34

Promotions to Associate Professor

24 23

Promotions to Professor 11 9

Post Tenure Reviews 31* 31*

Librarians Promoted 3

Academic Year 2006 – 2007 Increased Faculty Resources

Salary Fringes Totals

COLA 928,482 928,482

Merit 671,942 671,942

Compression 307,692 92,308 400,000

Promotion 203,846 61,154 265,000

Subtotals 2,111,962

153,462

2,265,424

Lecturer Health

750,000 750,000

PT Salary Incr.

580,000 580,000

Grand Totals 3,441,962

153,462

3,595,424

Faculty Workload Comparisons between AY 2004 ,2005 & 2006

Instructional Productivity 2003 -

2004

2004-2005

2005-2006

Avg Course Units T/TT Faculty excluding Chairs

6.9 7.3 7.1

Avg Course Units Full Time Instructors 8.7 8.1 8.2

Avg Course Units Combined Faculty 7.2 7.4 7.4

T/TT Faculty Meeting or Exceeding Teaching Expectations

118% 114% 108%

Moving to the Future

• New Academic Programs.• Growth:

– 40 new TT faculty positions (pending appropriations)– funding for part-time and lecturers– operating budgets– Undergraduate need-based financial assistance– Graduate Assistantships.

• Budgeting process.• Research Intensive status and funding.• Student Satisfaction and Reputation Measures.

Moving to the Future

• General Education: Planning the Process in 2007-08.– Core values in the liberal foundation

for an educated person,– Civic engagement, citizenship, and

leadership,– Service learning,– Diversity and multiculturalism– Globalization.

Obessa cantavit (Brennan, 2006)