DEFINITIONS
• In this document, program refers to any program or service offered at SUNY Fredonia (e.g., academic programs, student services programs, athletic programs, or university services).
• Data sets refer to information (a) generated by IR, (b) produced by programs, and/or (c) included in Annual Reports.
• A unit is any logical group of people, e.g. department, group within a department, group of departments, etc.
PLANNING ASSUMPTIONS
1. The following planning assumptions will serve as the basis of the process:
2. Program reduction or elimination will be implemented only after thorough consideration of all cost-cutting and revenue- generating options, and all options other than workforce reduction have been exhausted.
3. A process of program reduction or elimination will include consideration of programs across all divisions of the campus.
4. The same criteria, with appropriate adaptations and metrics, will be used in evaluating programs or service areas across campus.
5. Decisions about program reduction or elimination will be based on analyses of relevant data, using existing data sets. Data-based decisions will be made after examining multiple measures collected over the prior four-year period, and will take into consideration potential disciplinary/unit differences and differences between baccalaureate and advanced degree programs, as well as artifacts that could be the result of staffing restrictions or other reductions that occurred in the data collection window.
6. Program reductions or eliminations will result in significant demonstrable savings to the institution, although some savings may not be immediate.
7. Program reduction or elimination will have a minimal negative impact on the university’s identity, its ability to carry out its mission and attract students, and the health and safety of the campus.
8. Those directly affected by proposed program reductions or eliminations will have an opportunity to provide further information and perspectives before final decisions are reached.
9. Effective implementation of this process will require timely, clear communication.
10. These procedures will be reviewed every five years or as needed, as initiated by the Senate Executive Committee.
Recognizing that a thorough review of programs must necessarily include both quantitative and qualitative considerations, the following steps will comprise the review process:
Step 1: At the President’s directive, Institutional Research will compile data sets cited in this document, specifically data sets identified for Criteria 1 and 2, with Annual Reports, for the past four years.
Step 2: The President, the Cabinet, and the Senate Executive Committee (or its designated representative(s)) will convene to review data sets and to identify a narrowed list of programs for potential reduction and/or elimination. (The role of the Senate Executive Committee representative(s) is to monitor the process to insure adherence to the policy, and to provide perspectives on Step 7 of the process.)
Step 3: The President will then inform identified units. The President will provide each unit with the data that have been compiled.
Step 4: These units will then be given the opportunity to provide supplemental, corrected, and/or additional data, as well as to submit a rationale for program maintenance.
Step 5: The President, the Cabinet, and the Senate Executive Committee (or its designated representative(s)) will convene to review data sets (both institutionally-collected data and “local”, i.e. unit- submitted, data) and to identify a narrowed list of programs for potential reduction and/or elimination.
Step 6: The President will then make the final decision and convey the decision to the affected unit(s).
Step 7: The President will work with all relevant stakeholders, including governance, to build a feasible communication and logistics plan for implementing any planned reduction or elimination of programs, respecting potential negative impact on students, faculty, staff, and university reputation, while maintaining optimal visibility of the process.
The following four criteria have been adapted from those used by other institutions of higher education:
Criterion 1: Demand for the Program
Criterion 2: Costs vs. Revenue
Criterion 3: Centrality to the Mission
Criterion 4: Quality of the Program
The criteria are addressed separately in the following four sub-sections.
What is the demand for the program? “Demand” is interpreted as being on the part of students, other programs, the institution, and the general public. For example, if a program provides essential services for students, this could be construed as demand for the program. As another example, if a program leads to credentials for professions that are in high demand, this could be construed as demand for the program.
The following data could be employed in evaluating demand for the program:
ACADEMIC AFFAIRS
a. Enrollment data (i.e., incoming freshman and transfer majors), inclusive of (but not restricted to) history of meeting enrollment targets
b. Number of seats offered vs. filled
c. General Education seats/courses offered
d. Seats/courses offered that are not General Education courses, but that are required by the major/minor.
e. Numbers of majors, double majors, minors, and concentrators served by the program.
f. Number of completed majors, double majors, minors, and concentrators served by program.
g. Number of matriculated students in graduate programs and CAS programs.
h. Graduation rate (time to graduation, etc.).
i. Annual Reports
STUDENT AFFAIRS
a. Residence Hall occupancy data
b. Utilization of services (i.e. number of students served in counseling center, heath center, etc.)
c. Program participation (i.e. number of students involved in athletics, campus activities, center for multicultural affairs, etc.)
d. Student evaluation of programs and services
e. Impact of availability of the program on recruitment and retention of students
f. Annual Reports
ADMINISTRATION/UNIVERSITY SERVICES/FACILITIES
a. Necessity of the service provided by the department
b. Federal, State, SUNY System Office regulations/requirements/mandates
c. Usage data/transaction counts
d. Contractual obligations
e. Facility demand in relation to existing capacity; need and timing of expansion and/or replacement
UNIVERSITY ADVANCEMENT
a. Outreach to alumni, general public and media. (press releases, general and focused publications)
b. Responses to requests for data from media
c. Number of website page views
d. Alumni participation in reunion activities, gatherings, and homecoming
e. Requests from campus departments and offices for design, writing and publication services.
f. Number and amount of scholarships provided to students
g. Dollar amount and number of gifts made to the Fredonia College Foundation in general, and in support for specific projects.
h. Annual Reports of Advancement Division and Fredonia College Foundation
What are the costs associated with the program, and how much revenue does it generate? Costs and revenue could be indirect, such as the effect on revenue of a program that makes the university as a whole more competitive or attractive to students. Cost and revenue considerations could include potential redistribution of resources that would be available as a result of termination of a program, weighed against costs, lost income, prior commitments, and other negative effects of such termination.
The following data will could be employed in evaluating costs and revenue:
ACADEMIC AFFAIRS
a. Unmet demand (for course seats)
b. Salary per student credit hour
c. Consumption/contribution data
d. Revenue generated (e.g., tuition, fees)
e. Costs not supported by fees (e.g., equipment).
f. Annual Reports
g. External funding or grants
STUDENT AFFAIRS
a. Revenue generated by program
b. Costs related to program elimination or reduction
c. Costs supported by fees
d. Annual Reports
ADMINISTRATION/ UNIVERSITY SERVICES/FACILITIES
a. Availability and cost of alternate service providers
b. Contractual obligations including the time and cost of administering layoffs/retrenchment and resulting position “bumping” rights
c. Direct and indirect costs associated with the service or lack thereof
d. Punitive damages for non-compliance with Federal and State requirements (Dept. of Health, OSHA, etc.)
UNIVERSITY ADVANCEMENT
a. Comparison of the cost of development office and Foundation staff, and their operating expenses (Foundation budget and OTPS) with the amount of funds contributed annually to the Foundation
b. Income from invested funds that support endowments, and the annual earnings of those endowments
c. Calculation of impact of electronic and print material on student recruitment
d. Evaluation of negative impact on volunteer participation in the Foundation Board and Alumni Association Board resulting from decline in staff support activities
e. Annual Reports of the Advancement Division and the Fredonia College Foundation
How do the program’s functions/outcomes relate to the university’s mission? To determine the centrality of any program to the mission of SUNY Fredonia, the following assumptions, derived from the university’s mission statement, will be used:
• The chief mission of the university is to promote learning.
The university is committed to:
1. A general education in the arts, humanities, and sciences;
2. Involvement in the scholarly and creative enterprise;
3. Diversity, specifically a commitment to equity, inclusiveness, and access;
4. Scholarly activity that directly involves students in the creative process;
5. Having an impact on the community;
6. Programs, services, and activities that contribute to the intellectual, social, and emotional development of students and the community by preserving the quality of campus life beyond the classroom and by ensuring a rich variety of experiences.
The following data could be employed in evaluating centrality to university mission:
ACADEMIC AFFAIRS
a. Annual number of students who graduate
b. Persistence rate of students from entrance to graduation
c. Credit hours generated by general education courses to which the program contributes
d. Annual Report data (e.g., Scholarship, creative performances, and exhibitions)
e. Number of students working with faculty on research projects and creative exhibitions
f. Number of students producing papers, presentations, and exhibitions under the direction of faculty
g. Number of opportunities to engage in community projects or service learning offered to students
h. Number of community consulting or advisory positions held by faculty
i. Demographic profile of the faculty as a measure of diversity
j. Demographic profile of students as a measure of diversity
k. Evidence of curricular commitment to diversity
l. Persistence rates in bringing highly qualified students to graduation
m. Master’s theses and other contributions to intellectual research and professionalism
n. Graduate student mentoring, teaching, and other programmatic/co-curricular interaction with undergraduates
o. Graduate student curricular interactions with area schools and teachers
STUDENT AFFAIRS
a. Recruitment, enrollment, retention and graduation data
b. Program participation rates and evaluations
c. Student satisfaction
d. Learning outcomes
e. Annual Reports
f. Demographic profile of students
g. Services provided to the community
h. Evidence of student development
ADMINISTRATION/UNIVERSITY SERVICES/FACILITIES
a. Impact of the service or lack thereof on the University’s ability to:
1. recruit qualified students/faculty/staff
2. provide adequate facilities to educate/shelter/nourish
3. administer requisite support services for all faculty, staff and students
UNIVERSITY ADVANCEMENT
a. Impact of website and print materials on student recruitment and general reputation of the institution (data supporting amount and frequency of viewing by external constituencies, and/or number of print items distributed)
b. Amount of scholarships, grants and awards provided annually, and the growth of support for these funds
c. Impact of scholarships and grants on recruitment and retention of students
d. Annual Reports of the Advancement Division and the Fredonia College Foundation
What indicators of program quality are exhibited? The following data could be employed in evaluating quality:
ACADEMIC AFFAIRS
a. Quality of the faculty: Degrees, experience, intellectual/creative contributions as demonstrated on curriculum vitae of full- and part-time faculty
b. Student outcomes: Success in achieving student learning outcomes, demonstrated on annual assessment reports
c. Student placement: Rates of placement of graduates in graduate/professional programs and jobs in their fields
d. Program reputation: Evident in successful five-year program review, accreditation review, and rankings or commendations for the program
e. Quality of contributions made by graduate students in their capacities as instructors, mentors, technicians, etc.
f. Graduate student contributions to their professions through capstone, thesis, or other kinds of research g. Annual Reports
STUDENT AFFFAIRS
a. Quality of the staff: Degrees, experience, involvement in professional organizations and special recognitions as demonstrated on the resumes of full- and part-time staff responsible for the program
b. Outcomes: Success in meeting the annual goals of the program, as evident in the Annual Report for the program which shows the measures used to determine quality in that year
c. Program reputation: Evident in special recognitions for the program
d. Student evaluations, benchmark data and research reports
e. Annual Reports
ADMINISTRATION UNIVERSITY SERVICES/FACILITIES
a. Quality of the staff: Degrees, experience, and special recognitions as demonstrated on the resumes of full- and part-time staff responsible for the program
b. Outcomes: Success in meeting the annual goals of the program, as evident in the Annual Report for the program which shows the measures used to determine quality in that year
c. Program reputation: Evident in special recognitions for the program
d. State and federal audit outcomes
e. Compliance or citations for lack- of compliance with state and federal regulatory agency requirements
f. Timely completion of Annual Certifications
g. Physical condition of campus buildings, classrooms, grounds, roadways, parking lots
h. Participation in professional organizations and professional development opportunities, training programs, etc.
i. In the service sector, accomplishment is often measured by the lack of complaints as opposed to commendation for a service well delivered (case in point: student billing and collection functions)
UNIVERSITY ADVANCEMENT
a. Quality of the staff: Degrees, experience, and special recognitions as demonstrated on the resumes of full- and part-time staff responsible for the program
b. Outcomes: Success in meeting the annual goals of the program, as evident in the Annual Report of the Advancement Division and the Fredonia College Foundation for the program which shows the measures used to determine quality in that year
c. Program reputation: Evident in special recognitions for the program
d. Multi-year outcomes, such as Doors to Success Capital Campaign
e. Comparison of quality of print and electronic materials with peer institutions, as well as a comparison of staffing and operational resources
f. Comparison of the amount of funds raised annually with peer institutions, as well as a comparison of staffing and operational resources