By Emily Bruzzo, Staff Writer

Published in print Sept. 24, 2014

At a Faculty Convocation held last Wednesday in the Virginia Dare Room, a panel of the chancellor’s executive staff met to discuss the key issues facing UNC Greensboro and plans for campus change and development.

The panel’s first speaker was Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Dana Dunn, who spoke on UNCG’s current state, and the challenges the university must overcome.

Dunn argues that last year’s budget-induced tensions, which were felt by faculty members and students alike, resulted in a more unified community with a stronger commitment amongst administrative members to be more transparent.

“It’s going to take all of us working together, to shape the future we desire,” Dunn said.

As for what that future looks like, much is undetermined. Dunn argues that declining state funding is one of the key factors directing which path UNCG will take. 

Though tuition increases have helped counterbalance waning state support, Dunn argues that public universities need to curb this practice lest they risk “pricing students out of an education.”

Dunn argues that diminishing social support of higher education is another stressor with which UNCG must deal. 

Dunn asserts that UNCG must better show the ways in which students are playing a part in their communities post-graduation and how faculty’s research contributes to society.

However, Dunn says the most important issue facing UNCG is enrollment.

“If we don’t find a way to grow our enrollment,” Dune asserted, “We will continue a spiral downward. But if we keep enrollment moving in the right direction, funds will follow.”

Dunn outlined a five-stage process administration will be launching that will culminate in a solidified campus-wide strategic plan for moving the university forward.

The first stage includes, what Dunn called, “Visionary forums,” in which administrators, faculty members and students come together and discuss UNCG’s future.

Dunn said the website for this process will be up and running soon.

Dunn concluded by warning the faculty-audience against expending time and energy on fights over petty differences.

“We need to establish more focus as an institution,” Dunn said, “We cannot be all things to all people. At the very least, we need to pick our battles.”

Charles Maimone, Vice Chancellor for Business Affairs, followed Dunn with a budget update.

Maimone discussed the Average Annual Full-Time Equivalent (AAFTE).

AAFTE calculates the number of Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) students for an academic year. It is based on the number of full-time students, both undergraduate and graduate, who are enrolled for the fall semester and projected for the spring semester.

Because the monetary potential of a student is determined by enrollment status, AAFTE estimates are crucial. FTE projections allow a university to predict, with more certainty, tuition revenues, which affect the budget and often state funding. 

According to Maimone’s enrollment and tuition reports for 2014, UNCG has been successful, though just barely, in meeting the expected number of FTEs. This means the university should generate enough tuition revenue to match the 2014-2015 budget of $75,432,772.

However, per a memorandum issued by North Carolina’s Office of State Budget and Management (OSBM), UNCG must provide a reduction of $2.9 million to the estimated state appropriation base budget of $143.5 million, which the North Carolina General Assembly has currently passed as the 2015-2017 biennium budget.

Instructions for these reductions were provided just hours before the Faculty Convocation, and UNCG has until this Friday, September 26, to submit a plan.

Though the initial report is due to the OSBM within a short timeframe, Maimone said that UNCG may continue to refine the reductions over the course of the year, allowing for a more timely analysis of the possible repercussions that could result from the required cuts.

Following Maimone’s presentation was the Associate Provost for Enrollment Management, Bryan Terry.

Terry reported on the recent increases in retention rates and how the campus community can maintain this newfound momentum.

Terry and his colleagues calculated that UNCG’s retention rate made an impressive leap from 73.6 percent in 2013 to 78.1 percent at the beginning of this semester.   

The improvements are due to increased outreach efforts on the part of faculty members. Students who had not originally registered last semester, or who had encountered issues, were contacted sooner and given more support.

“We’ve found that once we register a student before they leave campus,” Terry argued, “They don’t want to drop.”

Terry asserts that UNCG can maintain the momentum of these retention increases by continuing to provide more conscientious aid to students in need.

The Students First Office has been restructured to make student advising more like, as Terry calls it, a “one-stop-shop.”

By expanding the department infrastructure— which involves a consolidation of many different advising units— more students can be helped without shuffling them from office to office.

Paul Mason, the Associate Vice Chancellor for Marketing and Strategic Communication was the final panelist to speak.

In talking about UNCG’s self-promotion, Mason declared, “We’re a well-kept secret.”

Mason says his team will work more with admissions at better advertising the school to potential students.

His primary goal, however, is to market UNCG as a high profile institution that is a more desirable investment for future donors.

In a brief interview after the panel discussion, Chancellor Brady spoke on some of the issues her executive staff addressed.

In talking about communication between students and administration, Brady said, “I just think the more that we can interact with students in smaller groups around focused issues the better.”

“I’m frustrated,” Brady continued, “about simply using email and website because that does not appear to be a very good way to reach students. What would help me would be to hear more from students about what they feel is the best way for us to communicate.”

Concerning the crossroads at which UNCG finds itself, Brady asserted, “On any university campus there will always be issues, and there should be. But I’m delighted with the new administrative leadership. There’s a different spirit in this group. I think we’re in a good place.”