I know, I know... you are all probably asking "why is that Jeff kid sending
emails yet once again? Doesn't he know it is summertime? School doesn't
start for another 7 weeks or so." While it is true that I have taken both a
summertime and permanent hiatus from sending any more inbox stuffing
emails (the new GTU officers are in charge of that!), I feel that I must con-
tact you to inform you about recent strategic developments taking place at
the University of Toledo, as they stand to shake the fundamental essence
of our geography department, as well as the entire university.
The University of Toledo Implementation Committee on Strategic Orga-
nization, a committee recently formed by Dr. Jacobs to look at the organi-
zational structure of the University of Toledo, recently released a list
(see attached PowerPoint) of recommendations for the reorganization of
UT. As you can see from the PowerPoint, these recommendations are quite
broad in scope, and if they are implemented as suggested, they have po-
tential to profoundly impact the entire university in unforeseen and potentially
negative ways.
Of particular interest to GEPL community in this report, however, is the
implicit threat of elimination of both the College of Arts and Sciences
(A&S) and the Department of Geography and Planning. Instead of the
current organizational structure (the GEPLdepartment within the College of
A&S), the strategic organization committee recommended that the College
of A&S would be replaced with something called the "College for the Study
of the Human Condition", while the Department of Geography would be
replaced with the "School of Geographic & Political Sciences & Public
Affairs Faculties". It should be noted that these ideas are only recom-
mendations at this time; however, the UT administration is very interested
in implementing these recommendations as soon as possible.
As to why this reorganization is taking place, I am not quite sure, nor is any-
one else. A list of guiding principles sheds some light on the reasoning behind
this reorganization. Another possible reason is that the State of Ohio is facing
a $8 billion dollar budget deficit in its next budget. A reorganization of the
current structure of state universities would allow "fiscal flexibility" --
"fiscal flexibilty" being a buzzword for the elimination of academic programs
and the firing of university workers-- by university administrators. All in all,
this process has been extremely nebulous and unclear to the vast majority of
and UT students, and accordingly, most UT students and staff are unaware of
this list of recommendations. Indeed, many of the GEPL students I have
recently talked with are completely unaware of this potentially department
breaking development. Hence, I decided it was time that I sent this email out
to the entire GEPL community...
These recommendations, especially the ones that pertain to the College of
A&S and the GEPL department, are, in my opinion, a terrible idea. They
threaten to destroy the traditional and venerable integrity and identity of our
GEPL department if implemented. They implicitly and explicitly reduce
our credibility as a department, a college, and a university. Nowhere else
throughout American system of higher education exists a "College for the
Study of the Human Condition", and if we implement such a silly college
at UT, our academic reputation is sure to suffer. Even more important than
this semantic concern, however, is the concern that these recommendations
were developed with minimal student input -- at best, it appears that only two
members of student government were involved in the drafting of these recom-
mendations, according to a recent IC article. I find this lack of student participation extremely disconcerting and difficult to understand, as
UT will be changed forever with the implementation of this plan... how can
Jacob's committee make decisions on our behalf (as students) if we have not
first been consulted?
All in all, it is imperative that the GEPL department, as well as other A&S
departments, provide much needed student (and faculty) input to this committee
on why these nebulous recommendations are not worth the paper they are printed
on.
Here are a few links that will help you do just that.
1. I encourage everyone to learn more about this proposed strategic plan by
looking at the attached PowerPoint, and by browsing the UT Strategic Planning webpage, http://www.utoledo.edu/strategicplan/index.html .
2. If you disagree with the proposed changes, an online petition titled
Postponement of Changes to UT College of Arts and Sciences has been started
by an A&S student named Ken Evans. You can read and sign the petition by
clicking this link: http://www.petitiononline.com/PCUTCAS/petition.html Also, it
is very important that written and verbal feedback be directed at stratigic plan
comittee members, administrators, and other involved with this process. I don't
have all of this contact information, but a good place to start adding your input
is through the various persons found on the stratigic plan webpage: http://www.utoledo.edu/strategicplan/index.html
2. And for you Facebook users out there, a Facebook group called The
University of Toledo Arts and Science Council has also been formed. This is an
open group and any Facebook member can join. You can view the group page
by clicking this link:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=129507347089840
This is a great Facebook group to join, as it easily allows for information about
the college of A&S to be easily shared.
Again, I apologize for this long tirade of an email. The reorganization of
UT's orgnizational stucture has the potential to profoundly impact us as GEPL
students, faculty and staff. We must make our opinions and vocies heard! As
always, please feel free to contact me if you have any questions... I'll be more
than happy to assist in anyway that I can.
Jeff
Jeffrey Kodysh
The University of Toledo
Geography and Planning '10
Former President, Gamma Theta Upsilon Zeta Xi (2009-2010)
jeffrey.kodysh@rockets.utoledo.edu
419-902-5138 mobile
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