Official Updates from USFFA

April 29, 2020

Sabbatical Proposal Resolution

As you all probably know, the administration is considering cancelling, delaying, or limiting sabbaticals for next year (although many have already been approved). We have been told this would save approximately $4 million. We have serious concerns about delaying sabbaticals, and the Policy Board passed a resolution addressing the issue last week. We will be discussing further at today’s meeting. Here’s the resolution:

RESOLUTION IN RESPONSE TO ADMINISTRATION’S PROPOSAL TO DELAY SABBATICALS 

WHEREAS sabbaticals are central to the process of research production that is essential to the academic mission of any university; and

WHEREAS delaying faculty sabbaticals significantly disrupts faculty scholarship and curricular planning, exacerbates instability for our students, and threatens the livelihoods of term and part-time faculty; andWHEREAS the administration has not provided a full accounting of the projected savings of $4 million from delaying faculty sabbaticals; and

WHEREAS there have already been significant budget cuts to academic units over the past five years; and

WHEREAS declining support for academic programs undermines our ability to attract and retain students; and

WHEREAS decision-making about budget cuts, layoffs, and furloughs should first and foremost safeguard the academic heart of the University, minimize disruptions for students, and protect the most vulnerable members of the University community; and

BE IT RESOLVED that the University of San Francisco Faculty Association rejects the proposal to delay faculty sabbaticals by one year; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that budget cuts, layoffs, and furloughs should be made to non-academic units before academic units; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, in line with the principles described above and as is happening at other leading universities, the 15 most highly compensated individuals employed by USF should take a 20 percent cut in their compensation for fiscal year 2021; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we request immediate and full access to the University’s entire budget before any further decisions about budget cuts are made.

Nominating Committee

Last week the Policy Board approved the formation of a Nominating Committee that will be composed of all Division/College/School Council chairs and two members form the Committee on Committees.  This group will review applications to serve on university-wide committees in which representation is not based upon membership in a school.  This is an important step in increasing our shared governance capacities, and this group will be put into action right away as we review applications for the open UBAC Seat. 

The Nominating Committee will also play an important role in staffing emergency faculty committees that will be needed over the summer.  These committees will be discussed in the upcoming policy board meeting on May 6th.

Member Report from the Fall 2020 Committee by Keally McBride,USFFA Vice President

Some of you have noted that faculty members were not placed on almost any of the emergency committees that were set up in response to the COVID-19 crisis.  I wanted to take this opportunity to report out from one Committee that does have faculty representation:  the Fall 2020 Committee which is chaired by Michael Beseda.  I was the former chair of the Strategic Enrollment Management Faculty Advisory Board, which is now chaired by Dean Rader.  We have both spent three years serving on this committee and learning more about the incredible complexities of enrollment, recruitment and retention.  Vice Provost Beseda asked us to sit on this committee because of our knowledge in this area, and also because he wanted to have faculty input when needed. I am not formally representing the USFFA on this committee, but as a member of the USFFA, I am happy to report back to all of you about what happens in this particular group. What I have learned in my time on the SEM FAB is that the team works hard to promote the programs we have designed to prospective students and allow them to find out how phenomenal we are in person.  But doing so effectively requires intricate knowledge of different communication systems, strategies, messaging, trends in demographics and student interests, knowledge of what competitor institutions are doing, and ever evolving federally mandated standards and rules around admissions.  

The Fall 2020 Committee largely tracks trends in recruitment and retention.  There are complex spreadsheets provided at the twice weekly meetings and when trends are identified, plans are often put into place in responding to them.  For instance, this morning we looked at a spreadsheet that shows which admissions counselor is in contact with every deposited international student that explains when the first visa appointment for a student from that country will become available.  Maintaining a healthy enrollment from incoming international students requires that someone track embassy capacity, be in touch with students, and try and facilitate their ability to obtain visas.  

Students who have been admitted from the City of San Francisco have been called in the past week--all 2400 of them--and invited to a webinar on “Close to Home” in which current USF students from the City will talk about their experiences attending USF.  Returning student registrations are slightly down, and so CASA advisors are now reaching out to students who have not enrolled to ask about their circumstances.  Faculty advisors will be copied on these communications so they can follow up with their students as they chose.

The volunteer effort to talk with prospective students that so many faculty members participated in was organized by the Strategic Enrollment Office, and it is important to know that May is the month when students decide whether they will transfer to USF.  There will be a need for individual  faculty consultations with admitted transfer students soon.

In short, I have been incredibly impressed at the level of recruitment activity that has been happening in the absence of our usual campus tour and visits. And Dean and I very occasionally make a suggestion which we hope is constructive!   Though most of us do not have an opportunity to spend much time talking with all the different staff on campus about what they do exactly, it is heartening to see the level of commitment, energy, collaboration and creativity I have witnessed in this group.  Classrooms, dorm rooms, and open spaces on campus are being measured in preparation for planning that will happen once guidelines from the State of California and City of San Francisco are made available.  There is not a single university or college in the country that has a clear idea of what life on campus will look like in the Fall at this point, but the planning for achieving different possible scenarios is under way. The Fall 2020 Committee is doing important work in trying to stabilize our enrollments and hence our revenues.  Faculty do have a crucial role to play, and the Committee has expressed gratitude for your responsiveness to their requests for help in recruitment and retention.  I am certain there will be more asked of us all in the coming months.