Faculty, Pre-Tenure

Faculty Session (Tenure-Track), August 14, 2018, Question #1 Feedback (from poster sheets)

Question 1: What are two of the key disruptions facing Stetson? These can be within any aspect of our operation: student demand, faculty and staff, learning environment, the financing of higher education, etc.

Skills and competencies vs. majors
Faculty workload to address disruptors
Disconnect between perceptions and reality
DeLand as location
Market alignment to student demand
Align K-12 to university needs
Make sure we provide tangible job numbers. Promise for ROI
Providing correct amount of academic resources for the students we have
Value proposition
Lack of clarity in decision-making: issue of shared governance
Facilities – especially classrooms
Remediation of small percentage of students. Lack of or modified agency
Valencia (et al.) financial challenge – Large institutions starting to look more like us.
Consistency in class scheduling
Articulation of Stetson $ to students
Value of liberal arts, challenged by national politics, culture
What are our differentiators?
Perceived decrease in value of humanities in favor of STEM
Need for faculty hiring to keep up with student demand
Increasing our community outreach
Alignment with student demand
Providing resources for number of students
Faculty and staff work on student retention
Academic programs are becoming interdisciplinary
How do we upfront address investment risk in new programs?
Perception of financial stability
On-line education
Committing to decisions and being on board to whatever the decision is
Adult students – How are we addressing this large population?

Faculty Session (Tenure-Track), August 14, 2018, Question #1 Feedback (from index cards)

Online learning – Increase in other universities offering online programs, courses.
Shifting demand (i.e., what they want to study)
Academic programs that are in demand are becoming more interdisciplinary.
Movement to go learn a trade rather than go to college.
We need to overcome the structural inefficiencies of multiple units (and programs) on a 3,000 student campus.
Enrollment “18 – 21” undergraduate culture to more mature way of addressing/approaching students/prospects.
Student preparedness – training pre- and post-admission. Meeting students where they are and taking them (training) where we want to go.
Large numbers of adult students wanting higher education.
Increased risk aversion in University operations (e.g., new programs – get students first, resource later).
Massive drops in undergraduate enrollment for schools that don’t have tangible job placement numbers tied to admission as “promised.” Return on investment.
Community/institution relations: Move beyond ivory tower. Show the value of higher ed to the community.
Reduced resources for academic programs by # of students.
Who are we? Being a small school with small classes and one-on-one attention is not enough to distinguish us or attract students to us more than a competitor. So, what do we offer that makes us stick out?
Cost: How do we allocate our resources in a way that is consistent with our priorities, and how do we maintain costs or slow growth or even reduce costs?
Learning environment: The expectations of students entering college/university is that technology is more apparent in classrooms.
Increased student demand for undergraduate programs that prepare students for professional fields and careers.
Stetson’s aversion to taking any risk in strategy/actions.
Inability to attract new faculty due to non-competitive compensation packages (candidates decline our offers).
A lack of specific culture at Stetson – a commitment to who we are.
Financial environment whereas the market is struggling to feel we are worth our cost.
Antagonistic relationship between faculty and staff: fight over resources; forced to defend each other’s purpose; not sharing a mission; stopping/controlling each other’s evaluation.
Lack of research experiences for students.
No clear chain of decision-making. A lot of grass-root initiatives get lost or stalled.
Student expectation of facility quality – technology, classrooms, lighting
Increase student demand by improved value proposition – up the 4-year graduation rate; up retention/persistence rate.
Lack of clarity in decision-making: Ambitious, expert faculty being sidelined; confusion over faculty vs. shared governance; transparency in data, reasons.
Strengthen community at Stetson; community events, retention – faculty and staff collaboration, students.
Our admissions/enrollment model attracts the type of student that doesn’t match our institutional goals (academic quality, etc.)
Meeting student demand for online courses and other non-traditional methods of teaching. Student retention.
State of Florida’s $50 million metric-based incentive fund – 9 proscribed outcomes by State; 1 State institution selected (e.g., graduation in 4 years; retention rate; graduation rate). Goals – UF in top 10 nationally (done); FSU in top 25 (in process).
Mismatch between academic demand and offerings, including critical thinking.
Online and competency-based learning methods/offerings. Non-university learning offerings – offering certificates.
Recognizing that DeLand is not exciting.
Market alignment and student demand. Not offering exciting career opportunities; disconnect between careers and education.
Gen Z student population challenging.
K-12 education system alignment to college-level expectations.
The increasing focus on STEM and perceived decreasing “value proposition” of the humanities.
The assault on higher education in our social/political life; the devaluing of a college degree.
The disrupted value of degree programs in the humanities/liberal arts; mostly in favor of commercial or pre-professional programs.
Need for student class offering to be consistent. Students get classes they need for graduate applications to be competitive.
Limited faculty staffing; intro classes for fall semester.
Need for advanced science resources/equipment to compete with other institutions.
Articulation of price tag for Stetson education.
The decreasing interest in a boutique “college experience.”
Giving students individual attention in the face of growing interest and numbers in certain programs.
Perceptions of financial stability; faculty v. staff v. administration.
Time for faculty to successfully accomplish core mission of the university.
Competencies and skills over degrees and majors.
Failure to meet expectation of students; students are told how the university experience will be.
Faculty workload (innovating programs and solving disruptions takes time).
Non-traditional students (age, 4-yr. college, online); small-class intimacy, but growth of online non-four-year college.
Students’ quantitative abilities, or lack thereof, and our lack of resources to help with the issue. We don’t meet them where they are.
Knowing students.
Higher education’s value as a process.
Attitude towards higher ed. How to counter perceptions? Both Republicans and Democrats are attacking higher ed (for different reasons).
Finance
Financing higher ed given demographics; changing demographics make this impossible.
Florida’s growing population – but, not our current traditional demographic.
Salaries for first-year public school teachers (not keeping pace).
State schools creating majors (4-year) that we currently have, at a significantly lower cost than Stetson (e.g., Daytona State).
Diversity/Inclusion (thought/racial/language/agency)

Faculty Session (Tenure-Track), August 14, 2018, Question #2

Question 2: What is one key strategy for Stetson to enable us to be successful in confronting the near term (2019-20) future?

Devote even more resources to faculty work/research with students.
Schedule more evening classes, different times, 2-credit classes. Think about winter/May term.
Reduce tuition
Transparency and community from/between administration/faculty.
Communicate the specific goals of Stetson to incoming students so that they have clear direction.
Hire future stars and support current stars for excellence and highest long-term ROI areas.
Improve retention by improving class offerings and scheduling and advising.
Require departments to create and stick to four-semester schedules, then automate much of the technical advising aspects with software.
Hire biologist to teach microbiology this year; critical pre-requisite course for students.
Full-scale re-analysis of models; coordination between offices – predictive vs. intervention models. Coordinate shared models.
Be deliberate – understand potential consequences of undergrad student morale – about housing/policies, etc.
Manage student expectations.
Hire more faculty.
Use current students to recruit.
Start student mentoring program within the major (e.g., pair junior or senior with freshman).
Increase national name recognition for Stetson.
Increase faculty salaries, research funding, course releases.
Use proper research (i.e., a lot of research is not sound – people can make data say different things). Exit interviews.
Stay in touch with market needs – job market, not students.
Target effectively (proper marketing) to the right segments.
Make discounts contingent upon completion.
Be less risk-averse in resourcing our programs and building new ones. We can’t operate effectively without risking something! (e.g., hire more faculty to lower caps, even if some under-enrollment results).
Monthly film nights to build community (on field, blow-up screen)
Articulate strategies (Top 5), and plan of action for implementation.
Clarify collective/shared decision-making processes to pick and commit to a few things.
Offer a summer bridge class (free of charge), between freshman and sophomore year, for Discovery students who haven’t landed in a major.
Heavily resource one or two areas to make us highly distinctive in the higher ed market.
Focus on retaining the students we have (increase scholarship dollars for those doing well; hold tuition or reduce it). Reward for high GPA; reward for involvement on campus.
Ask advisees to start to articulate skills from classes. Require them to go to the Career & Professional Development Office.
Bring faculty and administration together to visualize, quantify, and “correct” the future.
Welcome new groups – ROTC, Hillel, prep school students.
Commit to educational resources, especially in the areas that promote problem-solving, community outreach.
Focus on retention.
Focus on morale of faculty; transparency from administration, full honesty about our challenges.
Do something and stop talking.
Differentiation messaging/awareness/promotions.
Restructure the College of Arts & Sciences to give more voice to units with currently little or no voice and enhance the nimbleness of those units.
Reach out to high schools to advertise our programs.
Streamline the transfer enrollment process.
Improve communication about applicability of core skills to workplace environments.
Hire professional academic advisors (without adding to number of staff).
In order to promote student agency, reorganize student advising to a formal process where students articulate and assess goals annually and design (and re-design) their curriculum accordingly.
Increase community outreach.
Commit to specific student experiences arising out of the value proposition and to funding them adequately.
Increase institution profile visibility (faculty, student, programs) through social media, conference attendance, and news stories in the community (local, county, state, national, and international).

Faculty Session (Tenure-Track), August 14, 2018, Question #3 (from "Dot Exercise") - Participants were asked to place a dot by the key strategies for success (that were brought forward during the discussions) that were, in their opinions, of highest priority.

Question 3: What is one key strategy for Stetson to enable us to be successful in confronting the middle term (3 years) future?

Key Strategy for Success in the Next Three Years	No. of dots placed
Do a full budget re-assessment	39
Expand and build for “plus-one” programs	25
Go global – 1^st term abroad – make it available to all	24
Increase name recognition through faculty and student research	23
Stop talking – Do it!	20
Eliminate majors – create clusters of competencies	18
Move high-impact practices to earlier in matriculation	18
Enhance faculty/staff collaboration	15
First Florida university to have a tuition re-set	15
Improve communications about how academic skills transfer to workplace	10
Articulate distinction based on what we already do	9
Collaboration beyond hard sciences across Stetson	9
Pair offering of SU – common paradigm of faculty + admissions (hear it in admissions and deliver on it). Unite the diction!	8
Create financial structures to support creativity and interdisciplinary programs	7
Build in cross-discipline opportunities for teaching	7
Name recognition – take pride in who we are NOW.	5
Invest in five big cash cows – sunset others	3
Target corporate education – I-4 corridor	3
Develop and highlight faculty – student learning opportunities	3
Fully fund ideas for new programs at front end – take risks earlier	3
Focus on first-year courses	2
Better sell in-demand programs	2
Cast away dead horses.	2
More jobs for grads/have industry panels to advise	2
Engage students in academic community	2
Find new populations – retain them!	1
Increase effort in local events that are tailored to students	1
Make time management a skill for all	1
Increase number of conferences – have high-impact lecture series	0
Build community as soon as students are accepted and carry it through to life!	0

Faculty Session (Tenure-Track), August 14, 2018, Question #3 (from index cards)

Question 3: What is one key strategy for Stetson to enable us to be successful in confronting the middle term (3 years) future?

Create and sell existing programs and also hot programs that put Stetson on the leading edge of the market.
Cash Cows: Invest in five big graduate programs with market-tested demand and demonstrable and significant positive cash flow.
Hire more faculty. Strategically place professors who want to teach freshmen in freshman courses. Present strong front at beginning instead of in upper-level courses.
Articulate and promote Stetson’s distinction based on what we already do exceptionally.
Invest in sufficient faculty resources that allow us to support our core mission of student focus.
GO GLOBAL! More study abroad; first-term abroad; funding and pushing abroad; incentivize and advertise, etc.
Competency development – framework, design of workshops, etc.
Build awareness (university and offerings)
Retention work.
How can we engage students without draining resources for academic programs?
Implement an education system that promotes a common paradigm of admissions and faculty. Every tenured faculty member and admissions should be proficient in the offerings of the university.
Retention of new and incoming students, as well as new populations of students.
Build “community” for students as soon as they are accepted, and then carry that through during their time at Stetson.
Awareness/marketing is so important on many levels.
Stetson could take a leadership role in organizing more local events in DeLand to provide students more interesting, extra-curricular activities that are more tailored to our student body than boiler plate, extra-curricular activities like tailgating at a football game.
Increase visibility long-term through online/hybrid teaching; building better, long-term partnerships with community businesses/government; increasing number of conferences/lecture series held at Stetson; and international exchange.
Strategic hiring (deans); cart away all the dead horses.
Increase awareness of Stetson (and our exceptional programs) within Florida and nationally.
Completely re-examine budget and re-allocate to key strategic areas. Where are we spending our money and where would/could it be best spent for biggest impact?
Make sure we can achieve the goals we set as most important today – don’t keep talking about it – do it!
Be the 1^st Florida university to initiate a tuition reset.
Become more outgoing by focusing on corporate education and non-traditional students.
Promote interdisciplinary/interdepartmental collaboration.
Fully develop the “student journey.”
Identity: What is going to be our reputation into the future? What do people think of when they hear Stetson? How does that get high-quality students here?
Marketing/Awareness: Focus efforts on advancing the athletic success of selected teams to maximize the exposure of the institution.
Interdisciplinary health and science initiative encompassing areas beyond hard sciences.
Develop programs for non-traditional populations.
Cooperation between faculty and administration to come up with funding for the crucial experiences that make us significant.
Turn attention/resources toward those students who contribute to our institutional goals: high retention, academic quality, graduation outcomes, etc.
Accept risk in funding new programs. Fully fund the best ideas for new initiatives, rather than partially funding many and waiting for the $ to follow.
Hire advising professionals.
Focus on creating more ways to guarantee jobs for our graduates. Connect with industry – create advisory boards from industry in each department.
Focus on international students.
Increase study abroad – embed study abroad in tuition.
Increase name recognition for Stetson through faculty research and highlighted programs.
Move student research to earlier in matriculation.
Increase marketing of Stetson so the institution is better known in and out of state.
Increase faculty hires to keep class sizes small.
Increase resources to support STEM instrument and equipment purchases and maintenance.
Graduate programs plus/business and/or community collaboration.
Curated video lecture series from various departments to sample classrooms – professionally edited, curated, directed, and filmed.
Reduce tuition.
Recognize/advocate for the need for change; start building culture that is comfortable critiquing “the way things have always been done.”
Create financial structures that support interdisciplinarity and creativity.
Cross-disciplinary opportunities – increase co-teaching classes.
Build in consistent end-of-term tasks – students write job skills to show their learning. Demonstrate and practice skills outside the classroom.

Faculty Session (Tenure-Track), August 14, 2018, Question #4

Question 4: How can we (all parts of the university) work better together to achieve outcomes that help Stetson thrive?

Have common vision/goals.
Have mutual respect. What is the most generous assumption I can make regarding this person/group?
Knowledge of colleagues’ work, challenges, etc.
Work better together. Have information sessions (e.g., learning what admissions/marketing/Provost actually does) so that we know what we all do vs. assumptions.
Common educational courses on the offerings of the university – combining the courses, not online together.
Focus groups across schools. Discussion groups toward making decisions. Collaboration spaces.
Involve Faculty Senate and other elected positions in core decisions.
Cross-promote each others’ classes and research. Requires greater awareness, diligence, and care to stay abreast of other faculty.
Have a strategic plan that we can follow at every level.
Work on eliminating silos that prohibit collaboration.
Assume positive intent! Civility.
Keep centered on what is best for student learning.
Find ways to include voices and then decide without consensus.
More opportunities for collaborative work on university goals.
More productive communication between administration, faculty, and staff.
Form a College Council with 24 members: President, Provost, four deans, four vice presidents, eight faculty, four staff, and two students.
Attend and support university-wide events.
Be transparent and trust that information being shared is truthful and in the best interest of the university.
Need to understand the challenges/needs that different and more vulnerable and essential parts of the University face and support them. I do not like survival of the fittest vision.
Talk and have events together that promote sharing of resources and capitalizing on our strengths.
Transparency and communication. Don’t write long complicated reports; rather, single-page summaries that people will actually read.
Trust your colleagues at all levels that they have the University’s best interest in mind.
Go to football games and tailgate.
Increased community and engagement. Increased communication with faculty, staff, and students.
Trust people who are experts in their areas to do their jobs without second-guessing them.
Provide more opportunities to learn what other units on campus are doing.
Improve communication through active listening. Shaping stories.
Deliberate/intentional process for understanding areas of interest among colleagues.
Stop long enough to reach out to others.
Increase retention of key stakeholders via appreciation and salary (especially staff). Their positions strongly impact efficiency and inter-departmental collaboration/work.
Work together with modesty and humility; interdisciplinarily; getting behind a mission.
Implement/revise Shared Governance Policy. We need faculty/admin clarity on “shared/faculty” governance.
Assume good intentions on the part of others in the dialogue.
Fight putting in silos our interests and work (e.g., stop seeing things as zero sum; rather, look for interest alignment and pool resources).
Celebrate success as a university.
Have departments meet with other departments about overlapping courses.
Have online schedule draft that other departments can see as semester schedules are being made.
Dissolve the Senate or make it less like hierarchy. Currently, Senate is like generals on base with no sense of what is going on at the frontlines (where faculty are).
Have more retreats like this one that mix faculty across the institution. This kind of discussion amongst colleagues seems very productive.
Don’t bury tasks in committees.

Faculty Session (Tenure-Track), August 14, 2018, Question #5

Question 5: What action steps do we take to continue today’s conversation?

Combine faculty with administration (particularly admissions) to generate ideas.
Develop a value set (top admin, top faculty)
Develop an instruction base.
Conduct courses for faculty/staff together.
Compile minutes/notes. Send out the document to full faculty and staff listserv. Ask for feedback and corrections and additional ideas.
Leverage technology to collaborate.
Be intentional – set goals.
Seek and give help.
Set clear decision-making processes.
Timetable – set hard deadlines. Two-way street.
Carry out ideas.
Report out to Faculty Senate, Board of Trustees, etc. – people who can implement solutions.
Admin (President and Provost) should periodically schedule attendance at departmental meetings.
Conduct more meetings like this across the institution.
Faculty Lounge happy hours or lunch at round tables.
Have specific tables at the CUB for faculty and students to dine together – not scheduled times, but always open.
Create Blackboard org to house all ideas and allow all across the university to contribute.
Faculty shared space with happy hour!
Schedule a communication gathering weekly (could be a stated hour that is free one day, such as 12:00 – 1:00 p.m.) to celebrate the week’s successes and news, as well as idea generation. Could be 4:00 p.m. once a week for wine and cheese.
Establish a “common hour” (or time during weekday) when no classes are scheduled that would be time for faculty, staff, students to attend meetings, have open dialogue, socialize – NOT on Fridays or at end of day.
Decide what to focus on next before moving on. The next steps are to figure out where we are headed. Do the easiest to implement with the biggest impact first.
Select items for attention from the “dots.”
Form a task force to provide recommendations based on research.
Vote/implement changes. Revise as needed.
Create a schematic of the “student” flow from “interest” all the way through “graduation.”
I can work to increase my department’s visibility within the university and in the community.
Add a few students and a few faculty to strategic group and make a few decisions.
Summarize the most popular ideas, do them, and then assess.
Make time for a strategy team. New strategic plan (1 year). Meet with Board of Trustees and students (2 times a semester).
Schedule follow-up events – assume our ability to collaborate and work together. Collaborative tech? Faculty/staff dashboards (enrollment, retention, budgets, senate reports).
Digest information; summarize; decide on a few action areas; get input (with time limit); DECIDE and then DO IT.
Produce a report and planning for upcoming meeting in advance.
Do something concrete with insights shared and produce periodical updates on the progress or the process that started with this meeting and other events.
Start working on removing barriers to interdisciplinary courses/teaching.
Expand the President’s and Provost’s Cabinet to include more voices, especially with regard to the direction of the University (a permanent expansion) – a larger academic constituency on President’s Cabinet. (I like the voices here today.)
Have monthly report from the President/Provost on what actions are happening – an easily communicated one-page summary with a more detailed report if people want to see it.
Promote the utilization of athletic events/concerts/lectures to build community.
Identify and remove barriers.
Increase athletic department leadership conversations with campus community.
Expand the voices the President regularly hears. Perhaps expand the Cabinet.
Please, please give this, in part, to the Faculty Senate to help digest/analyze/parse the data of these talks (in conjunction with the Cabinet). I beg you. Trust transparency.
Continue open and honest conversation.
Report suggestions on ways to improve communication at departmental meetings.
Designate a time/space in the Commons/CUB where/when we can keep talking, probably on directed topics.
Take personal responsibility for university- and college-level dialogue, its quality and direction.
Compile summary and distribute; prioritize action items; pick dates for hard decisions.
Establish and communicate clear decision-making process, persons, and timetable; Ensure two to three more points of input on direction of decisions; build in end-of-year assessment to evaluate continuation or discontinuation of decisions.
Talk to us.
Figure out ways (NOT faculty-L) to hear all voices.
Figure out big change issues and actually do them; timetable on these decisions.

Faculty Session (Tenure-Track), August 14, 2018, Question #6

To enable Stetson to thrive, if the University would ____________________________,

then I could contribute to Stetson by _______________________________.

commit to marketing our graduate programs,

Enhancing our reputation. Our program is highly distinctive, but few people know about us. Better visibility = higher quality students/graduates = better reputation.

better incentivize high-profile research,

raising visibility and enhancing the institutional reputation with much more impactful research.

quit evaluating existing, thriving programs and focus on supporting each other,

focusing on creating revenue (gifts, etc.).

shed its liberal arts identity,

being a more recognized and vibrant part of a community as a member of a professional school.

figure out who it is and what makes us unique,

having a better direction and mission, a clear purpose that guides my work.

develop a substantial, promotional campaign to let the world know who we are,

helping to spread the same message.

re-envision who students are. Consider their status as an immigrant, (formerly) incarcerated person, adult, community member and organize university resources with these students in mind,

using my research and feeling like I am a true member of this community.

improve retention,

more easily constructing budgets.

invest in unique programs that support existing academic programs as well as local/regional/and national companies,

providing support for future and existing students in their preparations for future careers/job placements and their personal development.

To enable Stetson to thrive, if the University would ____________________________,

then I could contribute to Stetson by _______________________________.

commit to a greater global focus,

teaching students in an international context/setting with ongoing research/exchanges.

increase library staff training and professional development,

focusing on my scholarship and have a chance at getting tenure, instead of doing staff work.

implement research leave for librarians,

producing better scholarship.

support non-senior research,

exposing underclassmen to authentic research experiences.

understand the importance/significance of faculty scholarship,

continuing to inspire students.

do an open budget review,

feeling confident in defending the hard choices we make.

provide funding,

creating an interdisciplinary plus-one program like a medical humanities program.

properly fund and resource faculty (e.g., hire tenure-track to maintain student:faculty ratio at 12:1),

fulfilling my highest potential as teacher-scholar, becoming the best educator for our students.

organize its governance structure and lines of communication in good faith,

being involved.

modernize its committee processes, scheduling, advising, marketing, et al.,

maximizing my potential as an academic, teacher, and mentor, leaving challenging work outside my area of expertise to those more qualified.

give funds to support new equipment for biomedical research (i.e., microscopes, equipment for incorporating research into courses, especially freshman/intro courses),

garnering significant extramural grant funds to return initial investment. To do this, I also need a Dean of Arts & Sciences that supports this direction. I strongly support the idea of a natural science focus in the new dean search. Thank you for this meeting. I really enjoyed the opportunity and community.

To enable Stetson to thrive, if the University would ____________________________,

then I could contribute to Stetson by _______________________________.

invest more money in student/faculty research projects,

spending less time writing grants and more time working with students. Our time is already quite limited at a teaching-focused institution.

fund a social science collaborative space (shared data and projects),

generating interdisciplinary research in an easier manner and creating more opportunities for students to do more meaningful research.

make faster decisions,

moving forward.

pick a few strategic direction points and act on them after listening,

throwing more alignment towards those goals.

create a college council,

serving on a design team to develop this group.

add classrooms and dorms,

fully supporting its growth and expansion.

incentivize extra work,

doing more research and helping build academic programs.

be clear and gain commitment around goals and priorities,

doing my part and supporting others if not mine.

consider course releases for (some) program directors,

having time/energy to market, shape, change, develop, innovate the program and bring in students and revenue.

create more collaborative spaces for students and faculty across the University,

being more involved with interdisciplinary initiatives with more colleagues and students.

be more risk-taking,

developing and implementing innovative ideas.

create an in-house lecture series or event on its own and ask me to join (rather than self-develop or self-promote),

participating much more readily (i.e., ask me to join, not develop by self).