Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier, IA
06-08-06
Relationships, budgets, new provost top Allen's 'to do' list
By EMILY CHRISTENSEN, Courier Staff Writer
CEDAR FALLS --- The last official duty Benjamin Allen completed as provost
of Iowa State University was signing off on a salary decision.
Within hours of stepping foot on the University of Northern Iowa campus, he was
surrounded by the institution's top administrators and deep in discussion about
the upcoming year's budget.
For the next month, Allen, who was named UNI's ninth president earlier this year,
will focus much of his time and energy on meeting key university leaders, faculty,
staff and students. The drive behind these meetings though is twofold.
First, he wants to begin building relationships on campus and in the community.
But tough questions Allen will be forced to ask on those second and third
meetings are just as important.
What are your top academic programs? If you had to pare down one or two,
which ones would you do?
"Everything is part of the discussion," Allen told The Courier editorial board
Wednesday.
Allen said he will work closely with each college to develop priorities in academic
programs in hopes of finding areas where cuts can be made. Programs with low
enrollment and that don't have a hook that brings students to the university will
be the first on the block.
Unfortunately, Allen added, cutting smaller programs won't save the university
much money.
That's why Allen said he also will focus on the revenue side of the budget
equation. Universities have only four income sources: tuition, state allocations,
private funding and external funding through research and outreach programs.
Allen was glad to see additional money earmarked for the state's pre-K-12
system since that is where many of his students are matriculating from. However,
he would like to see the university do additional lobbying during the next session
so lawmakers better understand the importance of funding higher education.
The new president said the university would continue to live up to its end of the
"Transformation Plan," which calls for the reallocation of about $20 million each
year in return for additional state funding.
"As an economist, I believe universities should be doing reallocation all the time,"
Allen said.
However, all three universities need to do a better job of explaining how the
reallocations are benefiting the students and state to the Legislators so they will
approve the additional $40 million asked for under the plan.
Once the budget planning for FY08 is under way, Allen said he will then begin to
focus his attention on his next biggest task at hand --- choosing the next provost.
Former President Robert Koob repeatedly said he was retiring earlier than
planned so the incoming president could be on board to help select the new
provost.
Allen hopes interim provost Jim Lubker will stay on for at least one more year so
the university can conduct a thorough search for a permanent replacement.
"The provost to me is a very critical point. This is an academic institution and the
provost is the chief academic officer," he said. "Right now, I feel very good about
Jim Lubker, but the most important decision I will probably make in the next year
or the year after is who do I select as a provost?... That person will set the tone
for the academic side."
Contact Emily Christensen at (319) 291-1520 or
emily.christensen@wcfcourier.com.