Report of the Strategic Planning Task Force on Regional Campuses

Preamble

The Task Force on Regional Campuses was charged to develop mission and role statements for the regional campuses and a governance model that will facilitate fulfilling that mission and role in accordance with Objective 8.5 of the University 's Strategic Plan: "Evaluate and develop the use of the regional campuses as centers that meet the needs of traditional and non-traditional students, part-time students and the community for degree-oriented programs, continuing education and as centers for delivering University programs."

The task force believes that the objective can best be satisfied by more tightly weaving the regional campuses into the fabric of the University and developing mechanisms for cooperation and collaboration between the main and regional campuses.

I. MISSION AND ROLE OF THE REGIONAL CAMPUSES

The regional campuses are integral units of the University with a mission identical to that of the entire University.

I.1. MISSION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT

Founded in 1881, the University of Connecticut serves as the flagship for higher education and the sole doctoral degree granting public institution in the state. The University serves as a center for research, dedicated to excellence in higher education and fulfillment of its land grant status. We are committed to meeting the educational needs of our undergraduate, graduate, professional and continuing education students and providing our faculty with the means to develop their intellectual capacity through teaching, research and interaction with society. Through the integration of teaching, research and service, we shall provide an outstanding educational experience for each student.

The University of Connecticut aspires to be the outstanding public university in the nation; a center for learning providing excellence in both teaching and research. We will be a center for intellectual pursuits offering the citizens of Connecticut, the nation, and the world the highest quality educational services. The research and creative endeavors of our faculty will provide the foundation upon which we build a challenging intellectual environment for all students. We will examine all we do with a global perspective in recognition of the exponential increase in knowledge in a rapidly changing world.

The University will focus its efforts on ensuring that the student experience fosters the transmission of knowledge and inspires intellectual curiosity in each student. The University experience will be oriented to ensure a positive, productive and responsible student life. We will create an atmosphere of trust and mutual respect enabling each community participant to benefit from the University's resources. We shall recognize our ever-changing leadership role as a flagship university to provide and facilitate educational services for all those seeking to expand their intellectual horizons.

The University will serve the state and its citizens in a manner that enhances the social and economic well-being of its communities. It will do so by providing leadership in the pursuit and dissemination of knowledge to all its constituents, recognizing that the continual transmission of knowledge and lifelong learning are essential to Connecticut's future in a global context. It will seek to enhance the quality of life and the economic well-being of Connecticut.

I.2. ROLE OF THE REGIONAL CAMPUSES

While each regional campus shares in the overall mission of the University, the specific roles of the campuses may differ. Jointly, however, over the next 10 years, the regional campuses will evolve to assume the following common roles:

-- The regional campuses provide local access to the flagship, public research university's degree programs and services for highly motivated, intelligent, traditional and non-traditional students, who, because of life obligations or financial situations, are area bound. These students attend regional campuses as their first and perhaps only UConn choice.

-- The regional campuses primarily offer upper-division instruction, providing area-bound students with the opportunity to complete baccalaureate degrees in a limited number of programs close to home, jobs and families.

-- The regional campuses host selected graduate courses and graduate degree programs which reflect the needs of local communities.

-- The regional campuses provide lower-division offerings necessary to complete the bachelor's programs and to provide sufficient background for those students who must complete degrees in programs offered only at Storrs.

-- The regional campuses serve as an entry point for access to the University for qualified students with limited economic resources.

-- The regional campuses provide their local communities with outreach programs to address the educational needs of the citizenry and work with local leaders on projects of mutual benefit.

-- The regional campuses will provide local communities with the high-quality and rigorous instructional programs that are commonplace throughout the University. As such, degrees conferred to students matriculating at the regional campuses will be those of the institution as a whole.

Students will be admitted according to a common entrance standard and held to common scholastic standards. Similarly, faculty will be regular University faculty teaching, carrying out research and performing community service.

The programs at the regional campuses will be integrated with all offerings of the University. Regional campus offerings will take full advantage of articulation and cooperative agreements with the community-technical colleges and be as coordinated as possible with the programs of the state university system. Each degree program is offered by a critical mass of full-time faculty with an appropriate support staff. The programs will be funded by resources redirected within the regional campuses, augmented from the central administration, or generated by regional campus activities.

All campuses of the University of Connecticut are essential to the overall mission of the institution and will be governed to maximize their contribution to the people of the state. All campuses will share fairly in the resources of the institution according to a common resource allocation policy and will act in common for the benefit of the entire University.

II. REGIONAL CAMPUS GOVERNANCE MODEL

II.1. ORGANIZING PRINCIPLE

There is one unified University of Connecticut with multiple physical locations. This university has a single student body, a single faculty and a single administration and staff. All degree and support programs are University of Connecticut programs based upon common academic standards and a commitment to quality service to students. As integral elements of the University, the regional campuses must operate under a clear and consistent governance model which links responsibility and authority, and must adhere to the principles of the University mission and the particular regional campus roles.

The successful execution of any governance model requires cooperation and collaboration among all parties: departments and schools, colleges and divisions at Storrs as well as each campus's local administration. All must work together both to provide excellent educational and support services to our students and present the image of one university.

Schools, colleges, divisions and departments are functionally responsible for programs and services throughout the University. Programs and services must be implemented and administered locally. Faculty and staff are citizens of both the University as well as a local campus. Good citizenship is required of all at both levels. This reality means that collaborative decision-making must exist between the schools, colleges, divisions or departments and the regional campuses. The chancellor has responsibility for all academic programs and University operations and thus stands as the ultimate authority for the regional campuses and would serve as the point of conflict resolution if necessary.

The following sections outline the responsibilities of the various parties and their reporting relationships. In all cases, these structures must be designed and formalized to enhance the delivery of high quality education for all students at the University.

II.2. ACADEMIC GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE

The faculty of the University of Connecticut, including the faculty at the regional campuses, is governed according to the following principles:A. There exists one set of schools and colleges and academic departments in the University. Faculty members at all campuses are full members of their school or college and department.

B. Department heads and deans administer, with formal input from the campus administrator, all aspects of faculty governance including instructor hiring, evaluation, promotion, tenure and merit increases. This input follows from an annual process of joint goal setting and evaluation by the department and the campus. The allocation of resources for personnel decisions is described in item 4.G.

C. Faculty members are assigned to a primary campus and are tenured throughout the University. Should the primary campus cease to exist or a tenured faculty member's program terminate at the primary campus, the faculty member would be assigned to another campus with that program.

D. Responsibility for academic programs including permanent staffing, curricular development and academic advising at all campuses rests with the schools, colleges and divisions. The deans receive specific, non-fungible, allocations for permanent faculty positions for centrally funded regional campus programs.

E. Adjunct faculty for undergraduate programs are budgeted to the regional campus and appointed by the campus administrator with the approval of the department head.

F. Schools, colleges and divisions must commit to levels of service at regional campuses as determined by their budgetary allocation from the chancellor. Authority for on-site activity and schedules must lie with the regional campus administration. These responsibilities cannot be exercised unilaterally or in a vacuum by either the department or the campus. New systems of responsibility and accountability must be developed. These must include joint goal setting and mutual agreement about teaching loads and other duties, teaching venues, schedules, and office hours.

G. Degree programs may only be offered at specifically designated campuses. Only faculty and counselors approved by the dean responsible for the degree programs may advise majors and sign plans of study for students in those programs.

H. From time to time, faculty may be asked to provide services at another location for the welfare of the students and to insure delivery of the academic programs of their discipline.

II.3. PROFESSIONAL STAFF GOVERNANCE

The governance of professional staff proceeds from the principles similar to those stated for the faculty.A. Each department providing support services at the regional campuses should have an individual responsible for the delivery of those services at the campuses reporting directly to the head of that department even if staff is not present on some campuses. This individual is responsible for the coordination of services at all regional campuses and has supervisory responsibility for the resident staff at the regional campuses who deliver these services. Budgetary responsibility for professional staff lies with this individual who receives a specific, non-fungible, allocation for permanent regional staff.

B. Support services included in this category are the library, security, computing, student services, Registrar, Bursar, Enrollment Management, General Studies counselors, and Center for Academic Programs.

C. Departments administer all aspects, with formal input from the campus administrator, of staff governance including staff member hiring, evaluation and merit increases. This input follows from an annual process of joint goal setting and evaluation by the department and the campus. The allocation of resources for personnel decisions is described in item 4.G.

D. Professional staff members are assigned to a primary campus. From time to time, staff may be asked to provide services at another location for the welfare of the students and to insure delivery of services.

E. Responsibility for support services, including permanent staffing and program development at all campuses, rests with the departments. The department heads receive specific, non-fungible, allocations for permanent staff positions for centrally funded regional campus services.

F. Professional durational employees for support services are budgeted to the regional campus and appointed by the campus administrator with the approval of the department head.

G. Service departments must commit to levels of service at regional campuses as determined by their budgetary allocation from the chancellor. Authority for on-site activity and schedules must lie with the regional campus administration. These responsibilities cannot be exercised unilaterally or in a vacuum by either the department or the campus. New systems of responsibility and accountability must be developed. These must include joint goal setting and mutual agreement on functional responsibilities and other duties, schedules, vacations, and office hours.

II.4. ADMINISTRATION

A. Each regional campus will have a chief administrator, with the title of Assistant Chancellor for the X Campus, responsible for coordination and integration among all programs at the campus. Functions of the position include the day-to-day operations of the campus such as utilization and management of facilities, chairing the campus coordinating council which will include representatives from all schools, colleges, and divisions including General Studies with programs on the campus and the major service units, and managing local institutional advancement functions such as public relations, alumni relations, and fund-raising, identifying new program opportunities, and acting as a champion for the students at the regional campus.

B. The assistant chancellor will manage the campus infrastructure including the central operating and capital budgets of the campus as well as the general clerical support staff. A budget for campus-wide events and activities will reside with the assistant chancellor.

C. In order to fulfill their mission of providing credit programming for non-traditional students including BGS and non-degree, the regional campuses must commit to levels of service for non-traditional students at regional campuses as determined by their budgetary allocation from the chancellor which will be established in cooperation with the Division of Extended and Continuing Education. These services and courses must be offered a times which meet the needs of non-traditional students. The Division of Extended and Continuing Education's campus representative will serve as a member of the campus council and participate in the planning of academic offerings and campus activities.

D. Separately budgeted programs resident at regional campuses will continue to fund their staff and activities. A non-exhaustive list of programs presently fitting in this category includes the School of School Work, the evening MBA programs, the Institute for Public Service International, the Marine Science and Technology Center, and the School of Education Graduate Programs in Stamford.

E. The assistant chancellor will play the lead role in campus outreach activities (see Recommendations 3.f. and 3.g of the Outreach Task Force report) including non-credit programs of the Division of Extended and Continuing Education and be an advocate for the University in the local region. Primary responsibility for local non-credit programs will lie with the assistant chancellor and be executed by a staff member assigned by the Division of Extended and Continuing Education. This staff member will report primarily to the regional campus. Business conditions will determine the timing of the assignment of the non-credit administrators who may coordinate activities at multiple campuses. Outreach activities on each campus will be guided by a process of joint goal setting between the campus and the Division of Extended and Continuing Education. Similarly, University-wide outreach goals for the regional campuses will be established by a council involving all deans with programs at the regional campuses and the assistant chancellors for the regional campuses with the Dean of Extended and Continuing Education serving as the chair.

F. In addition, each school, college or division with academic programs on regional campuses will have an individual reporting directly to the dean with responsibility for all regional campuses. Each such unit should determine the specific organizational assignment of that responsibility. In the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences there will be a third associate dean appointed from the regional campus faculty, stationed in Storrs who will have primary responsibility for CLAS programs at the regional campuses. The college will also appoint academic coordinators on each campus who will participate fully in the college's department head meetings.

G. The chancellor will have a direct report (an associate chancellor) who has primary responsibility for the regional campuses including budgetary allocation to vice presidents, deans and campus administrators and direct supervision of the campus administrators. Decisions on the allocation of resources for personnel actions at the regional campuses will be made by the associate chancellor in concert with the strategic mission and priorities of the University and the campus.

H. The specific responsibilities of the assistant chancellors will be determined by the associate chancellor in consultation with appropriate deans and directors. An assistant chancellor may delegate authority to associates with the approval of the associate chancellor.

I. Evaluation of the assistant chancellor must include formal participation by the representatives of the constituencies served by the individual and those units with whom the individual formally cooperates.

II. 5.ISSUES REQUIRING FURTHER DISCUSSION

A. The three mid-state campuses (Hartford, Torrington, Waterbury) have begun cooperating on class scheduling and other issues. The chancellor should determine if a single administrative entity for these three sites would best serve the needs of the students at those campuses.

B. The meaning of offering a degree program at a specifically designated campus requires clarification.

II.6. IMPLEMENTATION

Implementation of the governance model should begin immediately and should be completed as soon as possible, given the availability of resources. The process must be complete within five years in order to realize the mission and role of the campuses. The chancellor should charge the appropriate responsible individual to carry out the implementation.

Respectfully Submitted: