Colleagues –
As part of the annual evaluation of deans, we are asked for a brief annual report. As I said last year, this request is, of course, reasonable unless the College is Arts & Sciences with its 28 departments and institutes, 550 plus faculty, and over 17,000 majors! I will try to be brief in highlighting this past year's accomplishments. I refer you to two URLs that provide much more detail. The first URL is a portfolio of college activity prepared by the Office of the Provost: http://www.ods.usf.edu/DSS/Resources/docs/college-profiles/Arts%20&%20science.pdf
First, I call your attention to the substantial increase in FTE tenured/tenure track faculty over the past five years and the substantial increase in total FTE faculty over the same period. That growth in faculty was fueled by the enrollment growth in the College from 03-04 to 06-07. Enrollment growth has stopped, however, with the College producing fewer fundable FTEs this year as compared to last. One reason for the reversal was the requirement beginning Fall 07 that incoming students must select a major. This requirement resulted in an “ensilofication” as students shifted course selections to those available within the college of their major.
Second, average fall class size in is down noticeably over the 03-07 period, particularly at the undergraduate level (page 3). This trend undoubtedly has some positive benefits for our undergraduates. Other indicators on the “Courses/Degrees” page are positive as well.
Third, and truly a bright spot, is the performance of the College in contracts and grants. The 06-07 total was over $27M, the best ever. Although federal awards dropped from the previous year, federal awards to date this year (07-08) have rebounded. In fact, the College is on track to set a new high water mark in 07-08. Please note that awards outpaced growth in tenured/tenure-track faculty so that per capita awards increased as well (on the “Faculty Activity” page).
The second URL is my report to the 2007 Fall Assembly of the College faculty.
Here is the URL: http://web1.cas.usf.edu/MAIN/include/0-1201-000/fallassembly2007.ppt
I would direct you to the good news first, contained in the second half of the presentation beginning with the slide “Meanwhile, in the trenches…” It documents the many achievements of the College and its faculty, from awards won and new programs approved to a new venue to display faculty scholarship, the Dean’s Office Bookcase (the photograph only shows two bookcases, but a third had to be added almost immediately).
Then, there is the bad news, specifically, the budget reductions we face. The first half of the presentation, beginning with the slide “CAS from the 30,000 foot level…”, gives an overview of the College on a number of dimensions, but concludes with what we knew about budget reductions in December of last year. And what we knew then was that we had sustained a 3% reduction of our base, less credit for the tuition we generated. That last proviso meant that our cut as a % of total base was less than the % in other colleges who generate fewer tuition dollars relative to base than we do. The total amount of this cut was just over $845,000.
However, since December the state funding picture has darkened considerably. The storm clouds are no longer on the horizon, they are right overhead. In anticipation of steeper cuts, vacant rate in the college as of 1 March 2008 was swept and will not be available next year to support visiting faculty and summer teaching. Not all searches authorized last year were permitted to go forward. The total vacant rate no longer available to the college approximates $2.6M (salary and benefits). As if that were not enough, the Provost directed that all colleges make plans to cut an additional 3% of their total base and for CAS that amounts to an additional $2.0M. The impact of all these reductions is truly staggering.
At the same time that I work with your Chairs and Central Administration to plan for these reductions – protecting tenured and tenure earning lines – we have been encouraged to think creatively about how departments and colleges can be realigned and/or consolidated. The report of the budget priorities task force precipitated these conversations. (My response to this report is here: http://web1.cas.usf.edu/MAIN/include/0-1201-000/CASbudgetReply.pdf.)
The “brainstorming” process has been driven by two major concerns: (a) better alignment of organizational structures in light of the USF strategic plan and (b) cost savings. The process has yet to conclude…so stay tuned even when we break for summer.
Even in these dark days, my vision for the college remains one with the following components:
We have made some progress in each of these areas, but there is obviously much more to do. I invite your comments on this brief update and/or the portfolio or Fall 2007 report as we work together through the difficult times ahead.
John Skvoretz, Dean
skvoretz@cas.usf.edu