A Message from the President
February 24, 2010 - Southeastern program prioritization criteria
As I shared with the campus community in my update last week, many developments are unfolding that will affect our institution and its future.
While we are grateful that the Governor chose to spare higher education from further direct budget reductions in his recently announced Executive Budget, there are already rumblings among some legislators, as they have begun reviewing the budget, that additional cuts may be necessary.
Furthermore, budget projections for the 2011-2012 fiscal year continue to point to additional financial challenges for higher education. For these and other reasons, we will remain on the path to develop and implement a strategic budget plan that ensures the long-term viability of our university.
One element of this plan that has been under development for several months is the identification of criteria that allow us to prioritize support for programs. In the past, the university has supported multiple academic programs as well as a number of mission-related programs that provide non-instructional services and programming to students and community constituents. I have shared in multiple communications, both on and off campus, that increasingly constrained finances likely will require us to reduce or eliminate some of these programs.
As we prioritize the allocation of limited financial resources, I want to be sure that we are making data-based decisions against a set of well thought out criteria. With that in mind, two sets of criteria have been developed - one for academic programs, and the other for non-instructional/outreach programs.
The academic program criteria were developed in multiple stages, beginning with input from our Faculty Senate. In the second step, the criteria were refined and expanded by an ad hoc task force of faculty members. These criteria were then shared with deans and department heads for their feedback. Finally, a student group was convened and asked to review and provide input regarding the criteria.
The non-instructional/outreach program criteria were developed with the assistance of an ad hoc task force that included faculty, staff and community members. The criteria that group developed were also shared with the student group for its review and feedback.
As a result of these processes, I believe we have two sets of criteria that will allow us to make sound and reasoned data-based decisions about funding priorities for these programs. Both sets of criteria are available for review at: http://www.selu.edu/admin/president/prioritization/.
We will continue to keep faculty, staff, students and other constituents informed and involved as developments occur.