Chancellor forms three taskforces for efficiency

Chancellor Walter Wendler is hoping SIUC will put its “money where its mouth is” in the coming years.

During the Fall Faculty Meeting Tuesday, Wendler outlined a plan to help the University rid itself of its bureaucratic ways and become more efficient.

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“What we tend to do in a bureaucracy is to say ‘no’ before we’ve given it complete thought,” Wendler said.

To combat the large, cumbersome bureaucracy known as SIUC, Wendler said he is creating three task forces, or “the red tape busters” that will examine the University’s agility and efficiency.

“We must match our rhetoric with our resources,” he said.

The three task forces will focus on academic and student services, business practices as well as hiring and personnel practices. The task forces will then answer to the Planning and Budget Advisory committee on which the Chancellor and other upper administration will serve. The task forces’ purpose is to “institute a culture of self-assessment and continuous improvement.”

Wendler said one step to improve efficiency, and comply with demands from the Illinois Board of Higher Education, was to cut administration costs by 25 percent. Right now, administration cuts are nearing 27 percent.

Wendler hopes the task force will push him to make tough decisions because of excellence, not tradition.

“I want my feet held to the fire about this,” Wendler said. “We should stretch ourselves.”

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Retention is a major obstacle for the University right now, he said, and something must be created to stop students from leaving or transferring before graduation. One way to do that, he said, would be to push students academically.

“When I mean serve them well, I do not mean serve them like they are customers at Dollar General, but serve them by challenging them intellectually in every way so that they grow,” Wendler said.

Undergraduate enrollment has been declining for the last four years, Wendler said, and with the help of Seymour Bryson, vice chancellor for diversity, the University is committing $100,000 to minority enrollment on both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Wendler pointed out that in the same four years, the ACT scores have risen by almost one point. In 2001 the average ACT score at SIUC was 21.6 now Wendler said, the number is 22.5.

He said some people on campus fear that if the University raises its ACT scores radically, it will leave behind the first-generation college students.

Wendler said that doesn’t have to be true. Rather, the University should increase quality and increase accessibility simultaneously, but that will take innovative approaches and hard work.

“We need to find ways to attract, mentor, nurture and retain first-in-family students who want to come to college,” he said. “A lot of research universities are leaving that behind and I think they do so in a way that is ultimately very detrimental to what they are trying to do.”

One faculty member asked Wendler what the University is doing to prepare for when community colleges try to offer four-year degrees. Wendler said there is strong opposition to that proposal across the state.

Wendler said the University should work to enhance relationships with community colleges because of the large number of student prospects who go there.

“We need to embrace rather than tolerate community colleges,” he said.

Recently, Wendler met with Larry Dietz, vice chancellor for student affairs and enrollment management, and drew up a plan to offer scholarships to the two top graduates of each community college in the state. The amounts have not yet been determined.

During the 2004-2005 academic year, that Wendler has dubbed the “excellence and quality year,” he said he foresees an improving fiscal environment despite the lackluster state support in previous years. This year SIUC’s budget remained steady, with only a slight improvement.

Also, four faculty members were recognized at the meeting. Charles Fanning, a professor in English, was named Outstanding Faculty Scholar of the Year. Joyce Fetro, a professor in Health Education and Recreation, was honored with Outstanding Faculty Teacher of the Year, and Rita Polston, a lecturer in mathematics, was named Outstanding Term Faculty Teacher of the Year. The 2003-2004 Faculty Senate President, Kimberly Espy, was also honored.