COLLEGE OF
SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS
COLLEGE-BASED
FEE PROPOSAL
California
Polytechnic State University
San Luis
Obispo
A Step Towards Greatness
It’s All About Our Students
College of Science and Mathematics
January 28, 2002
1.
Fee Proposal:
A college-based fee of $200 per
quarter will be assessed students registered as majors in the College of
Science and Mathematics beginning Fall Quarter, 2002. For students taking six units or less during the academic year or
eight units or less during the summer, the fee shall be reduced by 50%. The fee shall be indexed periodically to
adjust for inflation based on the average of the Higher Education Price Index
for the previous three years.
2.
Determination of
Fee Level: Analysis of the College of Science and Mathematics
budget, identification of chronic unmet needs and selection of a fee level that
could make a difference were the bases for determining the $200 per quarter
proposed fee. The proposal was
presented to the College of Science and Mathematics Council (department chairs,
dean, associate dean) and College of Science and Mathematics Student Council
for input in late November, 2001, and the College of Science and Mathematics
Ambassadors in early December. Further
consultation occurred with student leadership in the College during the final
exam period in December. During the
last week of Fall Quarter the faculty and staff were informed of the pending
proposal by email and comment was invited.
The plan for student consultation for expenditure of fee revenues was
developed by the dean and College Student Council during January, 2002.
3.
Purpose of Fee: The fee revenues are to be used specifically
to benefit students pursuing majors in the College of Science and Mathematics
and to support degree programs in the College.
Expenditure of fee revenues will be determined by a consultative process
involving students. Examples of potential expenditure priorities
include scientific instrumentation and equipment, computing equipment, access
to classes, student research, and faculty development. Fee revenues will be used to enhance the
quality of College of Science and Mathematics degree programs, the state and
national reputation of the College and Cal Poly, and the value of a Cal Poly
diploma.
4.
Process for
Consultation with Students on Expenditure of Fee Revenues:
General Process: Priorities
for expending fee revenues will be based on annual consultation with students
in meetings during spring quarter each year according to a schedule prepared by
the dean and Student Council. The dean
will provide a report on the actual use to date of fee expenditures from the
previous year and begin the process for consultation on fee expenditures for
the coming year. Following is the
procedure to be used for consultation.
It is anticipated that this consultation will result in discussion and
ideas that will improve academic programs in the College of Science and
Mathematics in general as well as determine priorities for use of the
college-based fee.
Consultation at Department Level: Representative students, faculty, and staff will meet together during spring quarter in each department. Students will have the opportunity to express their views on the strengths and weaknesses of the department, make suggestions for improvement, and, based on the consultation, make recommendations on the use of the college-based fee revenues. The faculty and staff will have the opportunity to discuss their views on the same issues and make recommendations on the use of fee revenues. It is hoped and anticipated that the students, faculty, and staff will achieve consensus and submit a departmental proposal for consideration at the college level. If consensus is not reached, separate proposals may be submitted. The results of this consultation will be communicated to the Student Council to help unify student efforts at both the college and department levels.
Consultation at the College Level: Recommendations from spring quarter consultation in the departments will be considered by the College of Science and Mathematics Student Council or a body designated by the Council. The group considering the recommendations will have representation from each department; the Student Council will solicit representation if necessary through advertisement, clubs, and suggestions from the department chairs. The student consultative group will meet jointly with the College of Science and Mathematics Council (department chairs, associate dean, dean). It is hoped and anticipated that these two groups will achieve consensus and develop a single plan for expenditure of fee revenues. Final decisions on the plan and priorities will be made by the dean based on this consultation process.
Other Opportunities: The dean will meet with the Student Council monthly during the academic
year to discuss the status of the fee revenue budget and progress in
implementing priorities for the current year.
A mid-year report will be made available. Normally the dean will consult with the College Student Council
and the College Council on any proposed significant changes or necessary major
deviations from the final plan resulting from the spring consultation
process. Additional meetings with
department chairs, faculty, staff, and students can be requested by the Student
Council. Likewise, representative
faculty and student groups at the department level can schedule additional
meetings if desired during the year.
Modifications to the Consultative Process: The dean and
Student Council can propose changes to this consultation procedure and with
mutual agreement implement modifications to increase the efficacy and
efficiency of the process.
5.
Financial
Analysis and Impact: The current state budget (2001-02) for the
College of Science and Mathematics is just over $17.3 million. Most (94% or $16.3M) is spent on
salaries. Of the salaries,
approximately $1.95M (11.3% of total state budget) was used for support staff,
$950,000 for administration (5.5%; this covers department chairs, dean,
associate dean and the director of advancement; considering an average of
one-third time teaching for everyone except director of advancement, the actual
administration salaries are 3.5-4% of the budget), and $13.4M on faculty
positions (77% of state budget).
Approximately $1.2M is available for operating expense ($823K, 4.8%),
student assistants ($170K, 1%) and faculty recruitment ($175K for advertising,
on-campus interviews, start-up money, and relocation expenses, 1%).
In addition
to State sources, Lottery money ($93K) was used for grant matching and $60K of
Cal Poly Plan money was available for equipment. Cal Poly Plan faculty positions were funded with $186,000. External money from grants and advancement
activities funded special projects and provided limited supplements to some
aspects of the budget.
Following
are serious unmet needs that could be among the priorities for use of the
college-based fee revenues:
·
Equipment: No
state money is available specifically for equipment and this has been the usual
case since 1989. Approximately $500K is
needed annually.
· Faculty Development: Very little is spent from state money on faculty development (travel, assigned time for professional development, seed money to start projects etc). At least $1000 per tenure track faculty member is needed if we expect that faculty members will attend at least one significant meeting per year and have students accompany them. Estimate $150-200K. This is an area of importance as the College of Science and Mathematics is recruiting the next generation of faculty members in an increasingly competitive environment (one-third of our 150 tenure-track faculty members have been recruited in the past several years). If we can’t purchase equipment for laboratories and student research, provide resources for the faculty to develop professionally, and give the faculty adequate time to work with students on research and curriculum projects, we will not continue to attract the excellent people we have in the past several years.
· Faculty Recruitment: It is important to get ahead of the retirement curve in the hiring of the next generation of faculty members. Fee revenues could assist in temporarily supporting new faculty hires ahead of anticipated retirements and while the applicant pool is still strong.
·
Student Access
to Classes: Much of the student access problem in the
College is in lower division courses taken largely by students from other
colleges. The science and mathematics
fee would not be used to address this problem.
However, access to major classes is a need that could be effectively
addressed.
·
Student Research:
Student research with faculty mentors and student travel to present
results is a priority of the College of Science and Mathematics. Funds do not exist to support student
research adequately nor student travel.
Technical support staff in laboratory departments are needed to support
faculty/student projects. The amount
needed is difficult to estimate but at least $100K would help and more like
several hundred thousand would be useful.
·
Operating
Expense and Student Assistants: These funds currently are minimal for our
needs.
If this fee proposal
is approved and implemented, the College of Science and Mathematics anticipates
approximately $1M in revenue annually (5.7% of the state budget) as
demonstrated by the following projected enrollments.
|
College of Science and Mathematics Majors Estimated Enrollments |
|||||
|
Fall
|
Winter
|
Spring
|
Summer
|
Total
|
Fee Revenue
|
|
1725
|
1650
|
1600
|
400
|
5375
|
$1,075,000
|
The fee revenues will not solve all resource problems but they are sufficient to make a significant impact on unmet needs in the College of Science and Mathematics.
Even with the proposed fee, Cal Poly fees for College of Science and Mathematics majors will be well below the national average. The November 2, 2001 issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education reports average tuition and fees paid by students attending public universities in the United States at $3754 annually. Page 62 of the 2001-03 Cal Poly catalog lists the total of all fees as $715 per quarter or $2145 per year for Cal Poly students. Even with the $200 per quarter increase, our annual fees will still be more than a thousand dollars below the national average. CSU fees are significantly lower than those of the UC system. For example, California residents pay $4595 annually to attend UC Davis; even with the proposed fee increase, College of Science and Mathematics students will pay $1850 less than their counterparts at UC Davis. The budget shortfalls at Cal Poly may be partially attributed to the exceedingly low fees in the California State University.
If the anticipated increased access to classes from fee and other revenues saves a student even one quarter of attendance, the student will actually save money overall. The savings on academic fees, housing, food, and general living expenses for one quarter significantly exceeds the cumulative cost of the fee increase over four years. (The cumulative four year cost of the fee increase will be $2400; page 64 of the 2001-02 Cal Poly catalog presents the estimated per quarter cost of attendance at $3919.)
6. Consultative Process to Prepare Students for the Referendum
· Meeting with College of Science and Mathematics Council (department chairs, associate dean, dean).
· Meeting with the College of Science and Mathematics Student Council.
· Meeting with the College of Science and Mathematics Ambassadors.
· Email information to the faculty and staff of the College of Science and Mathematics.
· Referendum: Draft prepared by the dean for consideration and input by the College Student Council.
· Pro and Con Statements: Responsibility of the College of Science and Mathematics Student Council.
· Faculty/Staff Consultation: Responsibility of department chairs.
· General Procedure for Annual Consultation: Responsibility of dean and College of Science and Mathematics Student Council.
· Informational Materials: Responsibility of dean with consultation with the College of Science and Mathematics Student Council.
· Website: Responsibility of Dean’s Office.
· Proposal to Campus Fee Advisory Committee: Responsibility of the dean in consultation with the College of Science and Mathematics Student Council.
· Determination of Voting Sites for the College of Science and Mathematics: College of Science and Mathematics Student Council in consultation with the dean.
· Meeting with Club Presidents and College of Science and Mathematics Student Council
· Mailing to Students: Early February. Letter from the dean explaining proposal, announcing college and department forums, and providing website address.
· Information for Families: Students will be asked to provide their families with the college fee website where a letter to families from the dean will be posted as well as other information.
· Email Communication with Students: At least two emails, one in mid-February and one the week before the voting.
· College Forums: At least two, probably three or four, spaced during February and early March.
· Department and Club Forums: At least one meeting with each department organized around the clubs. For larger departments, meeting with clubs and a general forum for the department.
· Residence Halls: Two forums, one in mid-February and one in early March in Muir Hall organized by the College of Science and Mathematics Living/Learning Center for all science and mathematics majors in campus housing.
· Presentation to Classes: The dean anticipates reaching half to two-thirds of College of Science and Mathematics students by making presentations to classes.
· Website with Email Responses: An informational website was established January 18, 2002 with preliminary information. By February, after consultation with the College of Science and Mathematics Student Council, a comprehensive website will exist.