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Chapter 7 CRITERION FOUR: ACQUISITION, DISCOVERY AND APPLICATION OF KNOWLEDGE
The organization promotes a life of learning for its faculty, administration, staff, and students by fostering and supporting inquiry, creativity, practice, and social responsibility in ways consistent with its mission.
UMD promotes a life of learning for members of its community by developing and supporting programs and activities that contribute to achieving the teaching, research, and service parts of the organization’s overall mission. The synergy of efforts and outcomes related to the three separate areas creates an environment that promotes and fosters the concept of a life of learning for all who are affiliated with UMD in any way. Although it is not explicitly stated there, the first section of the UMD mission and the “Philosophy” and “Purpose” sections of the University mission provide the basis for the organization’s goal of enabling its students, faculty, and staff to acquire, contribute to, and use knowledge in socially responsible ways to continue their life of learning. To fulfill this area of its mission, UMD provides and supports a variety of activities and programs designed to promote a life of learning. Examples of how the organization promotes and works to achieve this goal are identified and described in the following sections.
The organization demonstrates, through the actions of its board, administrators, students, faculty, and staff, that it values a life of learning.
The commitment of UMD and the University to a life of learning is demonstrated in many ways that are discussed throughout this report. However, the following sections related to this component concentrate specifically on identifying opportunities for professional development available to the organization’s employees; presenting information and data on program activities, levels of participation, and financial investment in providing professional development; how achievement is publicly acknowledged and recognized; levels of research, scholarship, and creative activity on campus; and organizational and educational improvements resulting from professional development as well as research, scholarship, and creative activity.
Policies Supporting a Life of Learning The core policy statement of the University indicating its support of a life of learning for its employees is the Board of Regents Policy on EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT, EDUCATION, AND TRAINING (EDE&T). The commitment is explicitly stated as follows in Section III of the policy:
SECTION III. GUIDING PRINCIPLES
The following principles shall guide the University’s employee development, education, and training programs:
(a) In support of a culture of excellence, the University is committed to providing its employees opportunities to participate in professional development, education, and training activities, consistent with managing the responsibilities and needs of the unit.
(b) The University and its employees share responsibility for continued learning and development appropriate to work duties and for the pursuit of individual, unit, and institutional success.
(c) The University is committed to providing a regular program of relevant, accessible, and affordable opportunities for employees to develop knowledge, skills, and abilities to support position competencies, management responsibilities, and leadership roles.
(d) The University seeks to maintain development leave programs comparable to peer institutions.
University of Minnesota, Board of Regents Policy EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT, EDUCATION, AND TRAINING Adopted March 10, 2006
Sections IV through VI of the EDE&T policy identify specific types of leaves and other training and development opportunities available to University employees. As is true for many of the Board of Regents policies, the rules and guidelines for implementing the parts of this policy related to leave and other development opportunities are identified in Office of Human Resources administrative policies. Statements for some of the policies considered to be most important for faculty, P&A staff, administrators, civil service staff, and union-represented staff are identified in the next and following paragraphs of this section. Data related to the number of UMD employees participating in the various development opportunity programs is provided in the next section.
Section IV of the EDE&T policy identifies the following three types of Professional Development Leaves:
The administrative policy describing the faculty leave options, Granting Faculty Development Leaves, provides rules and guidelines for single semester and sabbatical leaves. As stated in the policy, “Single semester leaves provide opportunity for a development leave one semester in length at full salary and benefits,” and “Sabbatical leaves provide for a development leave up to one year at one-half salary and full benefits.”
The policy describing the P&A leave options, Granting Professional Development and Transitional Leaves for Academic Professional and Administrative Employees, provides rules and guidelines for the following three types of development leaves:
Section II of the Granting Professional Development and Transitional Leaves for Academic Professional and Administrative Employees policy statement provides rules and guidelines for “Administrative Transitional Leaves.” Following are statements from this section identifying the purpose, eligible employees, period of time, and salary and benefits related to this policy:
Section V of the EDE&T policy describes University-Offered Education, Training, and Development Opportunities as falling into the following two categories:
It is generally agreed that the Regents Scholarship Program is one of the most valuable and important benefits available to UMD and University employees. As indicated by the number of employees who use it, the program is most popular with civil service and union-represented staff. The administrative policy describing the rules and guidelines for this program state that the “Regents Scholarship Program for eligible employees is offered by the University in support of contributing to a culture of excellence through educational investments in its employees.” Some of the important rules and guidelines identified in the policy statement are the following:
Finally, Section VI of the EDE&T policy states the following about Other Education, Training, and Development Opportunities: “Time away from the workplace with pay may be granted to eligible employees to attend professional meetings or education, training, or professional development offerings outside the University.” In addition to providing opportunities for using time away from the workplace to attend such activities, UMD administrative units usually provide support for some or all of the registration, travel, lodging, and food expenses related to participation in these activities.
The policies identified above provide evidence that the organization (UMD and the University) promotes and values a life of learning for all members of the UMD community.
Programs and Activities that support a life of learning Examples of programs and activities that support the organization’s commitment to providing opportunities for a life of learning for its employees and students and the levels of participation in them are identified in the next sections. Additionally, information and data related to the estimated or actual cost of or investment to provide the programs is presented.
Development and Transitional Leaves. Single semester leave and sabbatical leave programs are recognized as major sources of support for UMD faculty participation in research, scholarship, and creativity activity as well as personal professional development activities. Table 7.1 reports the number of UMD faculty participating in these programs during fiscal year 2007 and the total number participating in the past decade.
Single Semester and Sabbatical Leave Participation by Faculty
*Single quarter leaves for FY98 and FY99; University converted to semesters FY00
Faculty members who are on a single semester leave receive full pay and fringe benefits. The maximum number of faculty that can be awarded a single semester leave in any year is 4% of the number of tenure-tenure track faculty. Faculty members on a sabbatical leave receive 50% of their annual base pay plus full fringe benefits. In addition faculty members on sabbatical leave are eligible to receive a sabbatical salary supplement of approximately 10-20%. The direct salary cost for single semester leaves and sabbatical leaves is approximately $750,000 annually. Additional investment related to these leaves involves the cost of fringe benefits and the cost of hiring replacement faculty to teach their classes while they are on leave.
Table 7.2 shows the number of UMD P&A staff and administrators who participated in leave programs during fiscal year 2007, and the total number participating in such programs during the past decade.
P&A Staff Development Leaves Administrative Transitional Leaves
As described in the policy, there are three different levels of P&A staff development leaves (Mini-Leave, Short-Term Leave, and Extended Leave); and each of them can be for varying periods of time. Similarly, varying periods of time for administrative transitional leaves are negotiated by the administrators involved. Given the varying levels of compensation and periods of time that may be involved, determining exact costs for these leave programs is notfeasible. Chancellor’s Faculty Small Grants Program. The UMD Chancellor’s Faculty Small Grants Program was started in fiscal year 1996 to provide a small monetary award to faculty members to support activities that will contribute to improving teaching, research, or service for the institution while also contributing to the professional development of individuals. The intent of the program is to provide a small monetary award, currently $750, to stimulate further activity. The awards are granted on a competitive basis. Faulty prepare proposals that are reviewed and ranked at the collegiate unit level and then submitted to the Vice Chancellor of Academic Administration office where final decisions on granting awards are made. Table 7.3 provides summary data for this program from its inception through fiscal year 2007. As shown there, the program has awarded approximately $100,000 annually over the past 10 years and a total of about $1.1 million through fiscal year 2007. There have been a total of 1230 grants involving 1403 faculty members during the past 10 years, now averaging about 123 per year involving about 140 faculty members.
Chancellor’s Faculty Small Grants Program Funding/Participation Summary
Regents Scholarship Program. As noted in a previous section describing it, the Regents Scholarship Program is the most frequently used program for continuing a life of learning by UMD civil service and union-represented staff. The number of these participants taking advantage of this benefit during different periods of time is provided in Table 7.4.
Civil Service & Union-Represented Staff Participation and Estimated Investment Regents Scholarship Program
1For tuition only, assuming each participant registered for one 3-credit undergraduate course 2Using mean tuition rate for the 10-year period
As noted for the previous programs, calculating the exact direct cost or investment to provide this benefit is not feasible. While most participants enroll for only one course per term, some enroll for more than one; and the number of credits for a course varies. Therefore, the level of tuition benefit received per participant varies. However, one way to estimate the cost or investment for the tuition benefit is to assume that each participant enrolled for a three-credit undergraduate course. As shown in the last row, using this assumption, the estimated investment (direct cost only) the organization made in its civil service and union-represented staff by providing this benefit for each period of time was approximately $133,000 for the 175 participants during fiscal year 2007, and over $1 million for the almost 1900 participants during the past decade. While fewer faculty and P&A staff have used the Regents Scholarship benefit over the years, a total of 32 members of these groups were registered for courses using the program in fall 2007; and it has been a valuable benefit for the members of those groups who have used it over the years.
Transformational Leadership Program. As indicated in Chapter 5, “Transforming the U” is currently the major strategic positioning initiative for the University. One part of this initiative is the recognition that developing the people of the University is critical to achieving its goal, and one of the programs developed and implemented as part of this initiative is called the Transformational Leadership Program (TLP). As stated in the description of the TLP, “The University requires significant expertise and people power to run smoothly and ultimately achieve success. To marshal existing talent within the University to lead transformation efforts, the Transformational Leadership Program (TLP) was created in 2005.” Other information at the web site notes that the first phase of the program is a training series that “hones participants' skills in change management and process improvement tools” and that the program’s curriculum “equips participants with cutting-edge leadership skills to successfully engage in the challenging work of strategic positioning and beyond.” The second component of the program involves participants leading critical process improvement projects across the University system.
The second cohort in the University TLP consisted of 19 participants from UMD. The group started the program at UMD in October 2006 and celebrated the accomplishments of its graduates by presenting information about their TLP process-improvement projects to a campus audience in April 2007. Participants completed projects in the areas of information technology systems and services, finance and operations, facilities management, admissions, financial aid/registrar, health services, and collegiate student affairs. A majority of the projects related to efforts to improve retention and graduation rates. The names of participants, their unit affiliations, and information about their process-improvement projects are included at the TLP web site and in two reports included in the October 18, 2006, and April 11, 2007, issues of UMNews Brief.
In October 2007, UMD’s second cohort of TLP participants kicked off its training at the campus. This group composed of 15 talented UMD employees from 14 different campus units has set out to answer the following three questions:
This year, 11 of the cohort’s 15 projects are specifically aligned with and in direct support of the UMD Strategy Map for Improving Retention and Graduation Rates. The retention framework included in the strategy map, which was developed by the UMD Student Success Team in 2006, identifies numerous strategic priorities that influence student persistence. By focusing on processes that are aligned with campus strategies and priorities, UMD will be better able to accommodate students’ learning and support needs and positively impact student persistence and success, a major campus initiative. Additional information about UMD’s second cohort of TLP participants, including their names and unit affiliation, is included in an article published in the October 17, 2007, issue of UMNNews Brief.
Short-Term Training and Development Programs. The information provided above relates to professional development programs that are completed over a period of weeks or months. Supplementing these are the many short-term training and development programs of one or more hours provided by units at UMD. The UMD Department of Human Resources (UMDHR) provides a number of these programs on a variety of topics throughout the year. For example, during the last full year for which data are available, 2006, UMDHR offered a total of 52 workshops that were attended by 772 participants—22 workshops with 422 participants during spring semester, and 30 workshops with 350 participants during fall semester. In addition to the workshops provided by UMDHR in 2006, individuals from the University’s Twin Cities campus came to Duluth and presented a total of 12 workshops and training sessions that were attended by a total of 192 UMD employees. Among the other units most actively involved in providing training and development programs are the Center for Economic Development (CED), and as discussed in the previous chapter, Information Technology Systems and Services (ITSS) and the Instructional Development Service (IDS).
Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program. In addition to the effort to develop and instill an interest in and appreciation for a life of learning among students that is a part of various courses and programs, UMD has an outstanding record of student and faculty participation and accomplishment in the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP). This is an all-University program that at UMD is administered and managed by the VCAA. Following is information about UROP that appears at the University web site for the program.
WHAT IS UROP? UROP offers financial awards to undergraduates for research, scholarly, or creative projects undertaken in partnership with a faculty member. The program affords undergraduates the unique educational experience of collaborating with a faculty member on the design and implementation of a project, while at the same time giving faculty the opportunity to work closely with students and receive valuable assistance with their own research or professional activity. UROP adds new dimension to the undergraduate experience by encouraging students to conduct research and pursue academic interests outside of their regular courses through compensated work on special projects. UROP applications are judged on the quality of the proposed project and educational benefit to the student. UROP provides a stipend of up to $1400 and research expenses of up to $300 for undergraduate students working with a University of Minnesota Faculty Mentor. Full-time (enrolled for ≥12 credits) undergraduates enrolled in any college on any campus (including full-time PSEO students) are eligible to apply. Eligible Faculty Mentors are faculty members holding any type of appointment (including clinical, emeritus, adjunct, research associate, etc.) in any college on any campus. UROP students and their Faculty Mentors are often in different colleges and sometimes different campuses.
Source: UMD and University UROP Web Sites
Table 7.5 provides summary data for the participation of UMD students and faculty in and expenditures for UROP for fiscal year 2007 and the decade since the last institutional accreditation visit in 1997. As shown, 165 students and faculty advisors participated and a total of just over $265,000 was invested in the program during the last fiscal year. For the past 10 years there were just over 1,250 participants, and a total investment of almost $2 million in UROP.
UROP Participation and Expenditures
In addition to supporting undergraduate research and artistic endeavors, UROP also provides support each year for students to attend the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR). In fiscal year 2007, this conference was held at Dominican University of California in San Rafael, California, and 20 UMD students made presentations. Seven UMD faculty members attended the conference with the students. For the years, 2001-2007, over 90 students and 40 faculty members from UMD participated in these conferences. In addition to providing financial resources to make NCUR participation possible for so many students and faculty, UMD has also added over $150,000 of campus resources to the pool of University UROP funding in order to extend the opportunity for significantly more UMD students to gain the benefits of a UROP experience. Lastly, reflective of the level of importance UMD places on undergraduate research and artistic activities, since 1996 the campus has held an annual Undergraduate Research/Artistic Showcase. This is a half-day campus event featuring student posters, computer demonstrations, art exhibits, and theatre productions, all providing information about projects completed by student UROP participants. In May 2007, the showcase included 83 student presentations related to projects that were completed with advice and mentorship from over 50 different UMD faculty members. For the years 2000-2007, the work of more than 475 students completed with advice and support from approximately 350 different faculty members was featured in showcases.
Recognizing and Acknowledging Achievement UMD is proud of the many achievements of its faculty, staff, and students. As is true for all higher learning organizations, promotion and the granting of indefinite tenure at UMD is a major way to recognize outstanding achievement by faculty members. In addition, however, a number of University and UMD programs have been developed and implemented to publicly acknowledge and provide recognition for outstanding achievements in the areas of teaching, research, and service or outreach. Those who have been selected for recognition by any of these programs have truly demonstrated success in acquiring, discovering, and applying knowledge related to one of the three areas. Information about teaching and advising awards was presented in the Chapter 5. Examples of some of the other programs that publicly recognize and acknowledge outstanding achievement by members of the UMD community are identified and described in the next paragraphs.
Research. The Chancellor’s Distinguished Research Award is given to recognize a UMD faculty member for excellence in research. The award recognizes the recipient for scholarly contributions to their respective field and for exceptional contributions to student research in education. The program was initiated in 1999, and a total of 10 faculty members have been recognized to date. The University’s highest recognition to a member of its faculty is selection as a Regent’s Professor. The criteria state this honor recognizes outstanding academic distinction based on research, teaching, and service contributions; and it is generally recognized that the order of the listing of those three areas indicates their rank and weighting in the selection process. The McKnight Land-Grant Professorship program was developed in 1987 to nurture the careers of the most promising young junior faculty members throughout the University. The program is designed to advance the careers of young faculty who are judged to have “the potential to make significant contributions to their scholarly fields.” The University’s McKnight Presidential Leadership Chair program was established in 2004 to recognize deans and other leaders who are recognized both for “extraordinary scholarly achievements and prominence in an academic field” as well as for their role as a respected leader and mentor. One UMD faculty member is a Regents Professor Emeritus, three current UMD faculty members have been recognized as McKnight Land-Grand Professors, and one UMD dean was among the first group recognized as McKnight Presidential Leadership Chair. As its name implies, the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP), described earlier in this chapter, is a program that recognizes and rewards students for interest in research. Students applying for UROP grants must prepare a proposal describing the scholarly or creative activity they will complete, and selection of participants for the relatively limited number of grants is competitive. Thus, being selected as a UROP participant represents recognition of the value of the proposed activity. Outstanding Service. UMD is proud of the many ways in which members of its community contribute to improving the operations of the campus and the environment in which the operations occur. Following are examples of some of the programs that have been developed to formally recognize outstanding service by members of the UMD community. The UMD Outstanding Service Award program was developed to recognize the outstanding contributions of individuals in the following employee classifications: civil service (non-bargaining), AFSCME, Teamster, and Academic Professional and Administrative (P&A) who do not hold faculty rank. A selection committee that includes former recipients of the award reviews nominations and recommends individuals for recognition to the chancellor who makes the final decision and announcement of winners. An awards ceremony is held each year to publicly recognize those selected to receive the award, and recipients are currently provided a monetary award of $2,500. A total of 171 individuals have been recognized as UMD Outstanding Service Award recipients during the 10 years since the last accreditation review; the number of recipients has been between15-21 for each of the years. Those who have committed time and effort to prepare nominations for individuals, serve on the selection committee, and be responsible for administrative and other activities related to the program have done so enthusiastically. The UMD financial investment or commitment for this recognition program is estimated to be $35,000 per year. In addition to the outstanding faculty and academic advisor awards identified above, the Awards Committee under the auspicies of the UMD Kirby Student Center annually selects students and others to be publicly recognized as recipients of “Student Awards” for service provided to the campus. Following is a listing of the awards presented by this group:
A listing of the 2006-2007 “Student Award” recipients is included in the April 24, 2007, UMD Currents. Each of the collegiate units also presents annual awards to publicly recognize outstanding service by students, faculty, and staff of the college or school.
While it is not uniquely a UMD program, UMD has been very committed to and involved in National Student Employment Week (NSEW) activities for several years. There are approximately 1500 student employees at UMD; and as indicated at the UMD NSEW web site, “the organization encourages campus departments to take time during National Student Employment Week to let their student employees know how much their hard work is appreciated.” In addition to the general recognition provided to student employees during NSEW, the campus has been very actively involved in the "Student Employee of the Year" (SEOTY) contest developed by the National Association of Student Employment Administrators. Campus units nominate student employees for the “UMD Student Employee of the Year.” The individual selected as the campus SEOTY becomes the UMD nominee for recognition at the regional and national levels of the contest. A listing of the UMD SEOTY and the first and second runner up for the years 1999-2007 is included at the UMD NSEW web site. The campus community is very proud of the fact that the UMD SEOTY for 1999 and again in 2003 were recognized as National Student Employee of the Year for those years. In addition to the recognition associated with being nominated by those in their unit for UMD SEOTY, those nominated for this award are invited to attend a luncheon that culminates the week of recognition. There were a total of 20 students nominated for UMD SEOTY in 2006, and were publicly recognized at the luncheon; a total of 32 students were nominated for UMD SEOTY in 2007, and recognized at a luncheon.
Producing Scholarship and Creating Knowledge The UMD commitment to producing scholarship and creating knowledge through research is explicitly referred to in the second sentence of the first paragraph of the mission statement, which reads “As a university community in which knowledge is sought as well as taught, its [UMD] faculty recognize the importance of scholarship and service, the intrinsic value of research and . . .” The single semester and sabbatical faculty development leave programs offered by the University and UMD Chancellor’s Small Grants Program that were described above are important to the increasing level of scholarship or research and artistic activity that has been occurring in the organization. As reported in Table 7.1, calculated by considering salary only, just over $1 million was committed in fiscal year 2007 and a total of $13.4 million was invested over the past decade to provide faculty members leave time to stimulate research activity. Table 7.3 indicates that the UMD Chancellor Small Grants Program provided over $1 million of seed funds for the same purpose during the past decade. Additionally, the Graduate School of the University provides strong support for UMD faculty and graduate students who are interested in pursuing research interests and activities. The level of sponsored project activity and funding is considered to be a primary measure of the level of research and artistic activity at universities. Using this measure, it is evident UMD is promoting and fostering inquiry and creativity in ways consistent with its mission.
University Graduate School. As indicated in the UMD organization chart, a unit of the system-wide Graduate School of the University located on campus. Administration of the Graduate School Office is the responsibility of an individual with a 75% appointment as associate dean of the Graduate School and a 25% appointment as a UMD faculty member. The administrative appointment for the Associate Dean was increased from 50% to 75% when the current associate dean was appointed in fiscal year 2007. Excluding salaries, the administrative budget for the UMD Graduate School was $21,000 for fiscal year 2007 and is $27,600 for the current 2008 fiscal year.
The associate dean and staff work closely with UMD graduate faculty members and students to provide information about and encourage participation in programs offered by the University Graduate School. As shown in Table 7.6, a total of 217 UMD graduate students were supported as UMD teaching and research assistants during fiscal year 2007. The funding for the 217 students during fiscal year 2007 was estimated to be almost $4 million. Finally, the table reports that the estimated total commitment of funding to support graduate teaching and research assistants at UMD during the 10-year period since the last accreditation visit is almost $23 million. The allocation of this level of resources for the periods reported clearly indicates UMD and the University value a life of learning for the graduate students and the members of the UMD community with whom they work.
UMD Graduate Student and Faculty Funding Participation
*Determined by using mid-range data for appointment levels and minimum salary and fringe rates in effect during the period covered
Related to providing a life of learning for graduate teaching assistants and in keeping with its mission to provide high quality instruction to undergraduate students, UMD requires all individuals appointed as graduate teaching assistants (GTA) to participate in an orientation session prior to the start of fall semester. Over a period of two and one-half days, the GTA orientation provides information about campus resources available to support teaching as well as teaching methods and classroom management, culminating in participants doing microteaching demonstrations that are critiqued by UMD faculty. There were a total of 79 participants in the fall 2007 GTA orientation session, 35 international and 44 domestic; and the estimated cost of providing the session was $9,000. Table 7.6 above also shows that 17 UMD faculty members have received funding support from the Graduate School for research activity during fiscal year 2007. Additionally, the table reports that the total amount of grants and awards received by UMD faculty for fiscal year 2007 was about $336,000. The funding for faculty identified in the table was derived from Graduate School faculty grants and awards programs such as the Faculty Grant-in-Aid of Research, Artistry, and Scholarship program. The description for this program states that it “represents one important means by which this office is able to promote the scholarly and artistic activities of the faculty and their graduate students and to foster academic excellence within the University.” Proposals from throughout the University compete for funding from the program. Information for the spring 2007 period indicates that the average award was about $25,000, and the list of Spring 2007 Grant-in-Aid Awards indicates a total of 12 UMD proposals involving 14 faculty members were included in the total of 55 awards. One UMD faculty member received funding from the Faculty Summer Research Fellowship program which is offered “to encourage research and artistic creation by enabling members of the faculty to devote full time to intensive work on their projects during the summer.” Sponsored Project Activity and Funding. Responsibility for administration of sponsored projects and contracts at UMD is vested in the Sponsored Project Administration (SPA) unit under the purview of the vice chancellor for academic administration (VCAA). The UMD SPA has a staff of 3.5 FTE and is a part of the University’s overall SPA operations. Although the unit reports and works closely with both the campus VCAA and the SPA Director in the Twin Cities, institutional approval for submission of proposals is vested in the UMD SPA. Table 7.7 shows the level of sponsored research activity in terms of sponsored research expenditures. For the decade FY97-FY06 total sponsored research expenditures have increased approximately 40%. Expenditures in the University of Minnesota Medical School Duluth and in campus collegiate units have increased greater than 50%. The sponsored research expenditures of over $15 million for FY06 is significant for a campus the size and with the mission of UMD and provides evidence that the organization promotes, fosters, and supports inquiry and creative activity.
UMD Sponsored Funds Expenditures Fiscal Years 1997-2006
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