Faculty Senate talks committees, profit-loss sheets

Samuel Nusbaum, Administration Reporter

 

The Faculty Senate discussed concerns with how Eastern is approaching some trouble areas, such as the profit-loss sheets, and it assigned members to committees.

Profit-loss sheets look at the cost efficiency of different programs on campus.

Senate chair Jemmie Robertson told faculty senate members that he met with Eastern President David Glassman last Friday.

In their meeting, he told Glassman he wanted more transparency involving the profit-loss documents. Robertson said Glassman is aware of the concerns and plans to be transparent with the profit-loss documents, and the departments themselves will be able to review the information once the sheets are released.

Robertson said he sees the profit-loss sheets as a conflict between Eastern’s mission, the goals of the university and what the profit-loss sheets could say about the department it discusses.

“Our core mission is not to generate profit,” Robertson said.

Robertson said some departments are inherently more expensive than others. He used his own department, music, as an example.

He said the music department hires professors who are knowledgeable in certain sections, and some hold one-on-one teaching sessions with students to track progress.

Glassman also said he plans on instituting working groups that will be made up of faculty, staff and students to get Eastern growing again.

Robertson then moved on to talk about the athletic budget.

Glassman said the athletic department was close to, if not on, budget this year.

Robertson said it will be difficult for athletics to stay on budget this year when keeping to their schedule because of the drop in enrollment.

Other members brought up concerns about the allotment of resources on campus.

At the meeting, Robertson was told that Glassman was made aware that as resources continue to decrease, productivity expectations remain stable, and this puts pressure on the professors to produce.

Blair Lord, Eastern’s provost and vice president for academic affairs, said a search for the new associate vice president for enrollment is now going on.

There are eight candidates who just went through phone interviews and are now going through reference checks for this position.

The search for a new vice president for academic affairs to replace Lord, who will retire this year, will start as soon as Glassman talks to the Board of Trustees.

The tenth-day enrollment numbers will be released on the thirteenth day, this Thursday. The numbers are being released late so university officials can double-check and finalize the enrollment numbers, Lord said.

Glassman will talk more about enrollment during his State of the University Address.

Samuel Nusbaum can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].