Opening Day Remarks 1998

Good Morning and welcome to "Opening Day" at Bowling Green State University and the start of the 1998-99 academic year. I am pleased to see so many faculty and staff here this morning...gathered for fellowship with colleagues and co-workers, and also united by a common purpose--- "to become the premier learning community in Ohio and one of the best in the nation." I am also pleased to be joined via satellite, by our friends at Firelands College. Due to the advancements of technology and the efforts of the staff and students in the Center for Teaching, Learning and Technology, Instructional Media Service and WBGU-TV, you are able to share opening day with your colleagues here in BG. This morning's remarks will be provided to the media immediately following the presentation, and will be posted on the University's home page accessible to all, by late afternoon. 

Before I begin my remarks, would the new faculty and staff stand so that we may recognize you and officially welcome you to Bowling Green State University. 

Our vision statement and core values were established two years ago with the goal of providing the university community with a succinct description of "who we are" as an institution of higher learning and "what we stand for" as educators. This goal has been achieved...as today, faculty staff and students can articulate the intent - if not all the words of our vision to others: 

"BGSU aspires to be the premier learning community in Ohio and one of the best in the nation. Through the interdependence of teaching, learning, scholarship and service, we will create an academic environment grounded in intellectual discovery and guided by rational discourse and civility. Bowling Green State University serves the diverse and multicultural communities of Ohio, the United States and the world." 

It is important that as we come together today to focus on priorities for the upcoming year, we recognize that everything we do must support our vision for BGSU. With that being said, let us be mindful of the statements that support our vision. 

Our vision is supported by:

1. an extensive portfolio of distinctive undergraduate programs, focused master's and specialist degrees and a select number of nationally recognized doctoral programs; 
2. scholarly and creative endeavors of the highest order; 
3. academically challenging teaching, fully connected with research and public service; 
4. innovative academic planning that focuses on society's changing needs, student outcomes and the appropriate integration of technology; 
5. an educational environment that develops culturally literate, self-assured, technologically sophisticated, productive citizens who are prepared to lead, to inspire and to preserve the great traditions of our democracy. 

While the core values were established two years ago, this summer marks the indoctrination of these institutional values into the Orientation and Registration Program. This is truly exciting as entering students are discovering "who we are" and "what we stand for" as soon as they arrive on campus. This summer, the Orientation and Registration Staff established and facilitated an orientation and welcome week curriculum that is focused programatically around "Core Value Themes." Additionally, new students now associate each core value with a specific color. 

• Red---Respect for One Another 
• Green---Cooperation 
• Yellow---Intellectual and Spiritual Growth 
• Orange---Creative Imaginings 
• Blue---Pride in a Job Well Done 

This innovative curriculum will assist us as we model the way for our students by not only embracing the five core values, but also incorporating them into our daily lives. 
These core values have a special meaning at Bowling Green State University. Although any institution transmits values every day, the academy is not just any institution; it helps determine the beliefs and behaviors of American society. With this in mind, it is especially important that higher education be clear and consistent about its values. 

Our stated core values guide us and help us as we shape the future direction of Bowling Green State University by each year developing a specific set of priorities. It is important to note however, that previous years' priorities are not simply abandoned when the priorities for the new year are announced. Rather, in working toward the new priorities, we build upon the old, remaining focused on institutional improvement, and guided by our university's vision. The six priorities for the 1998-99 year are: 

1. Recruitment 
2. Student Success 
3. Faculty and Staff compensation 
4. Graduate education and research 
5. Professional training and development programs, AND 
6. Assessment of academic and non-academic programs and the way in which we deliver these programs 

This year, we have so much to celebrate in the area of enrollment! Our 16% increase in the Freshman Class (from fall 1997 - fall 1998) is outstanding! Our residence halls are filled, and the academic qualifications of our first year students are very impressive. It is important to note that our freshman enrollment has increased due to a collaborative effort across the campus. Faculty, staff and students have all played a significant role in recruiting quality students. Our increase in enrollment does NOT mean we have lowered any academic standards. In fact, this year's entering class has a higher average ACT and GPA than last year's freshman class. It is said that "a team can outperform individuals working alone, but only if the members suspend self-interest in favor of mutual interest." This sentiment reminds us that our recruitment success is due to a university wide effort that was spearheaded by "the Enrollment Network." Would all faculty and staff who served on the Enrollment Network please stand so that we may thank you for your leadership in coordinating a fine recruitment effort. Playing a significant role in the Leadership of "the Enrollment Network" has been Dr. Don Nieman, Professor and Chair of the History Department. 
While it is important that we celebrate this year's enrollment success, recruitment must continue to remain a top priority for all members of the University community. 

While recruitment efforts are vital to the future lifeblood of the institution, it is our collective responsibility to provide an environment at BGSU that enables students to succeed. Student Involvement is key to student success. Alexander Astin, Professor of Higher Education and Director of the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA states that:

"The greater the student's involvement in college, the greater will be the amount of student learning and personal development." 

Student Success means having a positive in AND OUT of the classroom experience. 

Research has shown that by making a meaningful connection with at least one other person on campus, students are more likely to be successful in college, matriculate to graduation and become good citizens with a strong sense of civic responsibility. It is important to mention here that the term "Student success" will be used instead of "retention" as sometimes the word retention has a negative connotation. Some people may think that by "retaining students" the University is interested in "hanging on to them", for fiscal purposes, regardless of their academic qualifications. Since this is not an accurate assessment of the university's approach to student retention, it seems more appropriate to use the term "Student Success". 

With this in mind, this fall, Lee Meserve, along with a number of other faculty members have created a student success program called "Leading and Learning Together." This is a faculty initiative designed to focus on a student centered approach to retention. We are starting to see the development of other student-centered retention efforts by faculty and staff. The Faculty Senate is currently collaborating with the Division of Student Affairs on the "PLUS program", an initiative designed to get faculty and students to come together in an informal setting where faculty can assist students in identifying their needs early in the postsecondary experience. 

Like the "Plus Program", "Leading and Learning together" is an exciting effort, the outcome of which will be an environment that encourages stronger mentor relationships between faculty and students. Such relationships undoubtedly contribute to student success and are true treasures within the academic community. Tuesdays with Morrie, a national bestseller, chronicles the power of such a relationship as the story of a Brandeis Sociology Professor and his former student unfolds. It is the story of a college student, turned grown-up and his admiration, respect and love for his mentor. This type of mentor relationship is powerful and can definitely play a role in our students' success. Lee Meserve, Distinguished Professor of Biological Sciences recently explained the importance of student success, the purpose of "Leading and Learning Together", and ideas for how we might best enlist faculty as key retention agents as the campus community moves forward with the comprehensive plan of "Turning Freshmen into Sophomores". 

While we have some exciting new initiatives underway in the area of student success, we are not starting at the ground level. The current university-wide initiatives at BGSU include: the First Year Experience Program, the Honors program, a general emphasis on academic advising, the programs and services provided through Academic Enhancement, and the Center for Multicultural Affairs and Academic Initiatives. 

Essential to the success of our students are Enhanced Learning Communities. At BGSU, these communities include: UNIV 100 Freshman Seminar Course; Springboard; BG Effect; Chapman Learning Community; Residential Colleges; and the President's Leadership Academy. In February, at the State of the University Address, I announced that one of my main goals for the University was that eventually, all first-year students will participate in at least one enhanced learning community experience. I am pleased to say that this fall, with 30% of all first-year students enrolled in one of our enhanced learning communities...we are well on our way to achieving that goal. 

Vincent Tinto, a Syracuse University faculty member and expert in the causes of student attrition, advances the notion that for a University to have good retention, it must provide its students with a good education. For our students to be successful and continue on to graduate, we must provide them with a complete education ...a positive in and OUT of the classroom experience. Ensuring Student Success must be something we all strive toward. 

It is important for BGSU as a community to not only ensure student success, but also provide an environment where faculty and staff can be successful. One of my highest priorities for the coming year and beyond is to enhance the rewards that BGSU provides to productive faculty and staff by making our compensation more competitive. The future of BGSU depends to a significant extent on our ability to maintain a competitive compensation program that allows us to recruit and retain the high quality faculty and staff that are essential to our reaching our aspiration to be the premier learning community in Ohio and beyond. Our immediate goal for this fall is to develop a plan which we will implement over the next 4-5 years to make BGSU compensation for faculty, administrative and classified staff truly competitive. There will be extensive consultation with the appropriate groups from Faculty Senate, Administrative Staff Council and Classified Staff Council, as well as, of course, the Board of Trustees, as we are developing our long-term compensation plan. 

Part of our plan will involve dedicating a minimum of $500,000 per year to addressing the need for market and equity salary adjustments and funds for targeting specific groups which are falling behind our peers/competitors. These funds will be in addition to the regular pool for annual salary increases. Another example of an area where these funds would be applied is dealing with the issue of appropriately reflecting years of service in the placement of administrative staff within the salary ranges. 

One key component of our compensation plan will be to carefully re-examine the composition of appropriate peer groups against which we benchmark BGSU compensation. For classified staff, the most relevant comparison group is probably the local labor market where we are competing with other employers for classified staff. On the other hand, we compete nationally for faculty and so in their case, the most relevant peer groups are comparable institutions both nationally and within the state of Ohio. For administrative staff, we will most likely need a mixture of local, state and/or national peer groups. 

When considering institutional peer groups within Ohio or nationally for faculty and administrative staff, I believe that it's important that the institutions be as comparable in mission and institutional-type as possible. We are currently collecting data to inform our discussions in these areas. 

It is important to emphasize that this approach to faculty and staff compensation rests on two major assumptions: 
1. That we continue to make progress on enhancing enrollment through the recruitment and retention of students; and 
2. That financial support per full-time equivalent student from the state of Ohio at least keeps pace with inflation. 

As articulated in our vision statement, "BGSU has an extensive portfolio of focused masters and specialist degrees and a select number of nationally recognized doctoral programs." 

To truly live our vision, we must ensure that the quality of our focused graduate programs are nationally competitive, and that while here, graduate students develop skills that further the University's mission and match the needs of the external environment. 

It is also our responsibility as members of the academy, to provide graduate students with opportunities to work collaboratively with faculty to generate new knowledge and original scientific insights. 

As we look to continued success in the area of recruitment and retention of students, it is vital that we provide the appropriate training and development programs that support and foster skills in faculty and staff that will help them meet the needs of our students. We need to build upon the current training and development programs offered on campus. Programs such as: Customer service; participatory leadership; conflict mediation; managerial effectiveness; and sexual harassment education. 

At a time when institutions of higher education are expected to "do more with less", it is vital that we assess both academic and non-academic programs, as well as the way faculty and staff deliver these programs. The University has engaged in major efforts to develop standards and review processes throughout the institution in order to improve performance and enhance the quality of academic programs and support units. Several key initiatives in this area include: the development of new program review policies for all academic and support units; the development of a measurement tool by the Office of Institutional Research - the "measures to Profile Instructional Productivity and Cost Profiles According to Discipline" - which will serve as a measurement tool during academic program reviews; the development (by the University Budget Committee and the Faculty Senate Budget Committee) of standards and review processes related to the University's annual budget review process; the newly developed administrative staff performance evaluation; and efforts by the Student Achievement Assessment Committee (SAAC) to identify learning outcomes for BGSU students. Over the past two years, the Student Achievement Assessment Committee (SAAC) has worked with faculty to identify learning outcomes in their programs and departments. We need to continue to assess "what we do" and "how we do it." At the grassroots level, our institutional assessment should be grounded in responding to three basic questions: 
1. What kind of citizens do we want our graduates to become? 
2. What kind of society do we want them to live in? and 
3. How can we best shape our institution to nurture those kinds of people and that kind of society? 

"What we do" and "how we do it" .....Our programs, academic and non-academic, and the spirit in which we deliver them must reflect our core values. As members of the BGSU learning community, we must incorporate these ideals...these values... into our daily lives. If we can do that, we will be able to meet the high standards for excellence set forth in this years six institutional priorities, and guided by our University's vision...."to become the premier learning community in Ohio and one of the best in the nation." You've many times heard me share my thoughts regarding the strengths and potential of Bowling Green State University. Some members of our learning community recently shared their insight on "who we are" and "what we stand for" ... 

Thank you for coming this morning and best wishes as we collaborate with each other and embark on a new school year.