The Resource Planning Committee receive

The Resource Planning Committee (RPC) was charged in September 1999 to update Washburn's strategic plan as articulated in the document, "Washburn University for the Twenty-First Century." The central task of the committee was to develop a strategic vision for the University to enhance or maintain the delivery of quality teaching and service to Washburn's constituents during a period of declining enrollments and shrinking tuition-based revenues. During these past six months, the committee has studied the operational and academic processes of the University, listened to faculty and staff presentations about existing and proposed programs, and examined the internal and external implications of a rapidly changing marketplace for higher education. To that end, the committee's major objective was to make recommendations to strengthen Washburn University as an institution.

The committee has responded with a report that is visionary. The goals of the report are to increase educational capacity and responsiveness through interdisciplinary collaboration, and streamline the existing academic and administrative structures while maintaining the full complement of degree programs. The report offers recommendations for program enhancements when funds are available, suggests a number of strategic mergers, and recognizes several programs that are truly hallmarks of the Washburn University educational experience.

The Resource Planning Committee held its first meeting on October 22, 1999 to develop a strategic vision for the University. This effort began by developing an executive summary of the University mission statement.

Washburn University emphasizes excellence in teaching and prepares students for lifelong learning and careers in a variety of disciplines. Washburn is committed to developing the leadership potential of its students to design innovative solutions that deliver significant value to the community, the workplace, and their own lives.

The committee had lengthy and detailed discussions about the future of the University and its hallmark programs. At its meeting of February 18, 2000, the committee completed its fact-finding and discussions and began to formalize a set of recommendations to forward to President Farley.

As education enters a new millennium, Washburn University begins a new era, an era in which the University can reshape key aspects of itself to become a better resource for, and a more proactive partner in, the communities it serves. The Resource Planning Committee has cooperated in developing recommendations and identifying hallmark programs designed to focus the institution on the enriching, productive, and unique opportunities before it. The recommendations presented, within the context of the Resource Planning Committee's charge, are both visionary and practical in nature.

From a visionary perspective, the goal is to bring about the reality of an integrated liberal arts education through a structure that enhances faculty cooperation through the integration of ideas, teaching and scholarship.

A liberal arts education should be more than an accumulation of knowledge from categorically independent disciplines. Its true essence is the ability to integrate and understand the commonalties and unique features of disparate and diverse fields: how we know ourselves, others, and the world around us. The achievement of such an outcome is made more likely through an administrative structure that promotes both an interdisciplinary and, hopefully, even a transdisciplinary approach to the process of higher education.

Many faculty have desired the option of teaching across traditional departmental lines either by reframing their knowledge and expertise to fit another discipline or by co-teaching with academics outside their assigned academic departments. Current administrative structures and perceptions have made this an infrequent occurrence. This proposal creates a structure that supports and promotes interdisciplinary faculty pedagogy.

At a practical level, the recommendations for reorganization create a structure that allows greater resource allocation to enhance the programs within these newly combined units. The proposed reorganization should provide increased flexibility and the ability to respond to demands placed on the academy in the future.

The committee has not completed its revisions of the strategic plan. However, it has determined the programs to be listed as hallmark programs, thus making them candidates for additional funding through reallocations or increased funding allocations. Hallmark programs are those established programs, which are consistent with the mission of the University and are successful in terms of enrollment and quality of their graduates. Also considered hallmark programs are those programs that represent the community held image of Washburn University. These programs are listed in alphabetical order:

Allied Health and Nursing - The nursing and allied health programs have a strong reputation for academic excellence producing highly competent health professionals. Topeka's position as a regional medical center provides diverse educational experiences and ongoing employment demand for the graduates of these programs.

Business - Both the undergraduate and graduate programs have good student demand and meet the mission of Washburn. Location in the city of Topeka, which allows for internships and part-time student employment, is also a strong positive factor. The non-traditional nature of the MBA program makes it ideal for an urban center.

Computer Information Science - This continues to be a growth area in employment and student demand. Its emphasis on an applied computing curriculum and its use of internships and cooperative experiences are the program's strengths.

Criminal Justice - There is a very strong student demand and limited competition from other public universities in Kansas. This program meets the mission of Washburn. The department has good leadership and has the potential of developing programs of national and international stature.

Law - For nearly 100 years, the School of Law has prepared attorneys, jurists, legislators, and corporate executives. There continues to be strong student interest in the school, which enjoys a national reputation for leadership in legal information technology, clinical legal education, and teaching excellence.

Liberal Arts Education - This is a major part of Washburn's mission. No matter what undergraduate area is emphasized in the future, a strong liberal education component will serve as a foundation for all programs.

Pre-law Program - With Washburn University still providing the largest number of students for the School of Law, we need to develop more fully this excellent cross-discipline program.

Pre-medical Program - The program has a strong faculty from Biology and Chemistry with a long history of proven success in the education of pre-medical students.

Social Work - There are strong student and employment demands in this area. It meets Washburn's mission and location in Topeka. The relationship with Menninger in the MSW also strengthens the program.

Eight other programs were identified as potential areas for enhancement. These programs, listed in alphabetical order, were selected, in part, because of their ability to enhance University enrollment:

Art - Mulvane Museum - The Mulvane Museum connection could give this program an advantage over art programs at other institutions.

Education - While state proposed changes in licensure and technology linkages place Education in a state of flux, the enormity of opportunities place the Education Department in a strong academic position.

Leadership Program - This can be a major program contributing to the mission of the University. The Washburn Institute for the Study and Practice of Leadership will be a regional center for leadership education with a mission of educating graduates who will make an immediate contribution in their professions and communities.

Mass Media - The location and close affiliation with KTWU could give Washburn a very strong program in television, especially in broadcasting and production.

Music - This program has excellent faculty and leadership and has grown significantly in the past five years.

Public Administration - Great progress has been made in this program, which has unlimited potential in Washburn's urban, state capital location.

Technology Administration - With the increase in technology associate degree graduates, there is a growing need for a bridge bachelor's program. There is little competition in this area from other Kansas universities. The program uses available staff and attracts students into areas where there is unused capacity.

Victim Studies - The symbiotic relationship of the Center and the Human Services Department has contributed to the national recognition of Washburn University as one of the premier victim related educational programs in the nation.

The faculty's concerns and the needs of the academic units are communicated to the College and the University through a structure comprised of committees. Academic units through representation on committees have input and are able to lobby for their unit's benefit. At present, small academic units lack the number of faculty necessary to represent their interests effectively. The proposed structure creates larger units; wherein, through the process of shared governance, the individual unit's voice is more likely to be heard.

The committee recommends academic department consolidations occur within the College of Arts and Sciences that result in a total of no more than seven individual units within the College. The following is an example of a consolidated structure:

Computational Sciences - Computer Information Science, Mathematics, Pre-engineering and Office Technology (from School of Applied Studies)

Communication Arts - English, Communications, Foreign Languages and Mass Media

The consolidated divisions will maintain the integrity of the current academic programs, but not necessarily each department. Each division should have an administrative head.

The committee reasons these consolidations will enable valuable faculty currently in departmental administrative positions to be returned to the classroom, and will foster a more interdisciplinary approach to instruction, as well as encourage a more collegial environment. Additionally, the administrative structure reporting to the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences is reduced to a more manageable number of units.

The committee recommends that Office Technology be moved from the School of Applied Studies to the College of Arts and Sciences and merged into the Computational Sciences area.

The Office Technology Program has an emphasis on service courses dealing with computers and corresponding software programs. These service courses are what will transfer to the College. The degree program at present duplicates a program offered at Kaw Area Technical School with whom we have a very active articulation agreement.

The committee recommends the Department of Health, Physical Education, and Exercise Science be moved from the College of Arts and Sciences and merged with the University's health focused programs, namely the Department of Allied Health and the School of Nursing.

The Department's emphasis on wellness, athletic training, and human movement studies suggests beneficial and synergistic outcomes from the proposed merger for each of the involved programs. Such a move is not inconsistent with program changes at other universities or with AAPHERD (American Alliance for Health, Physical Education and Dance) standards and places all three academic programs (Health Information Technology, Athletic Training and Respiratory Therapy) accredited by CAAHEP (Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs) under the same administrative structure.

After lengthy discussions, the committee recommends the School of Nursing and the School of Applied Studies be merged. The resulting academic unit should be renamed by the faculty of the combined, newly formed unit to reflect more appropriately the new focus. The committee also recommends the combined faculty determine a grouping of similar programs within the newly formed unit comparable to those the committee recommends for the College of Arts and Sciences. The committee suggests savings gained from this merger should be used to strengthen the Nursing program. In addition, the committee believes this strong support should be communicated to the general campus in support of the Nursing faculty and should reinforce to the medical community Washburn is committed to serious new partnerships.

The nursing and allied health programs have a strong reputation for academic excellence producing highly knowledgeable and competent health professionals. Topeka's position as a regional medical center not only provides opportunities for diverse student educational experiences in a wide variety of health settings, but also creates an ongoing demand for health professionals. The nursing and allied health programs will continue to be strengthened as a result of an escalating demand in employment opportunities for health professionals. In addition, the programs should be strengthened as a result of this merger and be able to seize opportunities for program innovations along with the new alliance with HPEES.

After lengthy discussions of current and future technology needs and how to coordinate computing efforts to create an efficient computing system providing information to the campus community, the committee recommends the merger of Administrative Data Processing and the Academic Computer Center into an administrative structure which will most efficiently coordinate the campus computer, telephony, and video services. The committee envisions one administrative head being responsible for these services. The committee further recommends the Electronic Technology Committee continue to function as it is now.

The committee recommends the personnel, resources and functions of the Media Center be distributed among the Mabee Library, KTWU, or the combined computing center to develop a more synergistic organization capable of assisting with the distance learning programs and with enhancing the level of mediation in faculty classroom presentations.

Other committee recommendations. These recommendations are designated as being strategic or operational issues and are listed in priority order within those two categories.

School of Business Accreditation. The program is important enough that it should be accredited. Accreditation will improve the perceived quality of education and image of the School of Business and the University.

Have the recruitment plan reviewed by a paid consultant. The committee is deeply concerned with student recruitment to date and recommends the recruitment efforts be re-evaluated.

Hire a minority recruiter. Diversity among the student body is important and can be better achieved if the University has a minority recruiter.

Increase library support. With increasing costs for materials, especially periodicals, more than routine cost adjustments needs to be granted to the library, which is the "center of the University."

Emphasize student life. The campus needs to continue efforts to revitalize student life since a vibrant student life is both a laboratory for life experience for students and an important component of the marketing of the University to prospective students. This will be increasingly important when the Living Learning Center opens and more students are living on campus.

Hire maintenance personnel for personal computers and other hardware and software. The committee recommends the University add personnel to support maintenance needs for personal computers, hardware and software on campus.

Purchase new administrative software. The committee recommends the University purchase an integrated administrative software system. This, combined with the merger of the computing centers, will enable the coordination of all campus computing requirements and dissemination of information to end users not currently available.

Enhance classroom environment. The committee recommends the University make classrooms a priority project by replacing current tablet-arm desks with tables and more comfortable and visually appealing seating. The committee also recommends the classrooms be upgraded by adding lighting and mediation technology.

CLASS. This area needs to be enriched to better cope with the new demands of conditional admission students as well as adding an additional personal counselor where we are woefully understaffed for the numbers of students we serve.

Considerable effort was made by the committee to represent the diverse interests of Washburn University. The committee collectively has endorsed the contents of this report after receiving input from the deans and area heads affected by its recommendations and believes the institutional mission will be enhanced through its implementation.

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