Notes and comments from today’s (4/8/15) Town Hall Meeting on Organization 18 attendees, and 6 committee members. Paul Otteson acted as facilitator. Steve Weiter took notes. If any of these comments are inaccurate representations of what was said or meant blame Weiter. J How much thought was given to the non-­‐academic side of re-­‐organization (administrative, operational)? Under our current organizational scheme we have increased enrollment, lack of classroom space, related issues. Was that addressed, and if so how? Why don’t we consider losing all ties to “physicality”? Move into the online century. -­‐Global university/tech based. -­‐Imagine a completely different structure. We need to address physical sciences – i.e., chemistry. Disciplines need to exist for accreditation reasons These new structures don’t solve problems. Trans/Multi/Cross-­‐disciplinary efforts require relationships, regardless of structure. We need technology to pursue science. Revenue Stream – How many alumni do we have -­‐ (19,000) Are we training students for jobs that don’t exist? (Is that true?) What do we need to do to keep life-­‐long relationships with students so they give back? What steps will work given where we are right now? Four years from now, where are we with financial model currently in place? We are so rare we are unique. (This did not come from a member of the committee!) We need to think about stuff that is repeated/redundant and the impact that has on resources/efficiencies. There is already a lot of effort to make trans/multi/cross disciplinary activities happen. Connections exist, but how are they used? Can the existing cross/trans/multi-­‐disciplinary efforts/interactions serve as models for future efforts? -­‐There are no existing barriers to interdisciplinary research. -­‐What is needed to promote collaboration? -­‐How do we eliminate administrative/physical roadblocks? -­‐How do we value cross-­‐departmental efforts in the P&T process? -­‐ not done evenly across all departments. Experience here is both inside and outside the classroom. Any workable organizational model needs to encompass more than these do. An Organizational structure that makes sense to students is critical! Currently, transfers have a very tough time transitioning. Grad students take most of their classes in some departments with undergrads due to lack of resources. The Vision is too diffuse with all of the options available to students. Biggest concern is organization around the majors. Having accredited programs is important. The presumption that there is a problem or need to change that drives a re-­‐organization may not be true. No SWOT has been done – strengths/weaknesses have not been defined. Perhaps we should separate teaching and research loads/expectations for the faculty. What function does the departmental structure play aside from administrative functions? After 15 years we still have no clear processes for faculty/staff to use. I still don’t know who to call when I need to ascertain certain things. If we have no idea what problem we’re dealing with, all of this is hard to evaluate.