Task Groups

 






Academic Year Model Update 12-2010

Creating a Shared Vision

Last October (2009), the AYM Task Force was charged to “Critically review the current Academic Year Model and propose a funding mechanism that relates student enrollment to the allocation of faculty lines and addresses the allocation/reallocation of faculty lines as student enrollment grows or decreases over time.”

CONCLUSION
After a yearlong analysis of the funding model, interviews with faculty, deans, budget managers, and other key personnel, and a study of the ways West Chester stacks up against peer institution inside and outside of PASSHE, the AYM Task Force concluded that a decentralized model (like the AYM) was favored by almost all constituencies. The main concern, then, was not that we should have a different model for funding, but that we should fix some of the problems in the current model so that it would function better. The task force also discovered that there were widespread misconceptions about the AYM, and that most faculty members misunderstood its relationship to the funding of Academic Affairs as a whole. The recommendations below attempt to address the problems identified with the model, to build on the strengths of the current model, and to enhance communication and understanding about the funding mechanisms for the colleges. 

AYM Task Force Recommendations – SUMMARY:

  1. Base productivity and efficiency benchmarks on pedagogical principles that allow West Chester to maintain its relatively low class-sizes, but provide tools to department chairs and program directors that will help them analyze programmatic data and work with deans in reconciling discrepancies between college targets and achieved productivity.
  2. Clarify the role of Alternative Work Assignment (AWA) in the work of academic affairs so that AWA used to support contractual obligations and Student Success are always funded, and Deans still have funding for discretionary AWA for projects and services that they would like to support. 
  3. Align university enrollment management and the resulting increase or decrease in revenue with resources needed in Academic Affairs to maintain student success. 
  4. Implement a plan for periodic re-evaluation of the benchmarks established for each college and the distribution of funding for AWA over time.
  5. Create a resource allocation model for the entire University, including incentives for meeting the model’s expectations, and consequences for underperformance.
  6. Simplify the model, where possible, and communicate with the university community about the model’s assumptions and function.

To see the full report, click here.

NEXT STEPS:
The President has asked that further analysis be done to assess West Chester’s faculty productivity in relation to peer institutions, and has agreed to commission a smaller group to conduct that analysis and to create the tools for Department Chairs and Deans referenced in recommendation #1.