Students Issue New F.O.I.A. Requests re A&S Budget

A&S students have sent the following Freedom of Information Act request to university officials:



Mr. Conley,

We have been invited by Dr. Scarborough to review any budget information to our satisfaction. To this offer, we are requesting the following information:

-An itemized breakdown of the budget for the last five years for the College of Arts and Sciences, including items that are designated as "budgeted elsewhere,""designated revenue" and "expenditures" that originate in the Provost's office or else outside of the Board of Trustee's approved budget.

-The 2008-2009 departmental budget breakdown for all colleges in the university and the medical center.

-The ratio of designated budget per FTE student, budget per headcount of students, budget per faculty, expenditures per FTE student, expenditures per headcount of student, and expenditures per faculty for each college in the university.

-All types of revenue generated by each college and the medical center over the past five years. As well as transfers of monies into and out these areas.

-All communications-including presentations and emails-to the Governor, Board of Regents (including Chancellor Fingerhut), any elected official including state or national representatives and state or national senators, and the Board of Trustees by President Jacobs, Scott Scarborough, any Provost, or Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences under Jacobs' tenure discussing the the finances, revenue and budget of the University of Toledo or finances, revenue and budget of any part of the University of Toledo. Included in this request are any emails on the same topics between President Jacobs or Scott Scarborough and the main campus Provost.

Joe, you may see this part of the request as unnecessarily broad, but based on comments by high level administrators we have reason to believe that there may be significant differences in the amounts given for the budget and revenue for the College of Arts and Sciences, as well as the university as a whole, depending on the audience. Because of this we feel we must make this request.

-The monetary amount of scholarships allocated to each college in the university, the monetary amount of scholarships per student in each college in the university, the number of tuition waivers given to students in each college of the university, and the percentage of students in each college who receive tuition waivers and any other financial aid besides student loans or federal grants.

This information will help us to see a clear picture of the state of the finances of the University of Toledo. We request the information be presented in electronic format, on disc; for ease of transportation, lowered environmental impact, and lowered cost. The student organizers can deliver the information to Mockensturm, Ltd. as part of this review, please contact Evan Morrison to clarify any points.



Evan Morrison, on behalf of SSAS

on stupidity

here is an interesting editorial in the Chronicle of Education that was passed on to me:
On Stupidity.

Informal Poll on Interim Dean Preferences

The new poll is unofficial, informal and incomplete. It carries no official weight, but seeks merely to inquire. No one on it has been formally nominated, no one has self-nominated to be on this list, these are simply "persons of interest" whose names have been mentioned in various email communications discussing possible candidates over the past couple of days. And there may well be others who should be considered for the job whose names do not appear on the list. You can put them down as "write in" candidates under Comments if you wish.

UT Senior Administrators Explain College of Arts and Sciences Budget at Recent Townhall Meeting

"Mass Customization, "X Student Centeredness" and "Directions"

The bulk of questions from the audience at yesterday's packed house President's Town Hall Meeting concerned the relationship between Dr. Jacob's "Directions" document and two driving restructuring concepts that Dr. Haggett has termed both "paradigmatic" and "visionary": 1) "mass customization" and 2) "extreme student centeredness." I put these in quotes because they remain rhetoric, not having been clearly defined or articulated by the Jacobs Administration. Yet they are the heavy equipment driving the present restructuring of the A&S College.

It became clear early on during yesterday's PTH meeting that the Jacobs team is 1) now interested in separating the "mass customization" rhetoric from the "extreme student centeredness" rhetoric, and 2) has no handle on the history, meaning and implications of "mass customization" as it applies to public higher education, to the University of Toledo, to the A&S College, and to the past, present and future value of a rich and diverse liberal arts curriculum within it.

A&Sforum blog readers can gain valuable insight into the meaning of "mass customization" in private and public higher education by viewing here:

http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2008/07/08/fried

In this document titled "Better-Than-Ivy Education: $7,376 a Year" Dr. Vance H. Fried, a "mass customization" in higher education guru, argues that "A well-designed curriculum is key to both improving student learning and lowering costs. Providing a personalized education through mass customization is possible if you build upon a well-designed platform of courses for both general education and the major. While done to insure quality of learning, significant cost savings also ensue because you are reducing the number of class sections you offer." Sound familiar?

I am willing to consider these arguments and discuss them further, as they are critical to the future "Directions" of UT under the present administration. President Jacobs and Provost Haggett have "bought into" Dr. Fried's arguments and proposals, and eager to implement educational policies here at UT based on these arguments. I think students and faculty should read Dr. Fried's article and prepare to discuss it broadly and informally across campus in preparation for release of the release of the UT WMW group's White Paper tentatively titled "Wrong Directions at the University of Toledo: The Social Pathology of “Mass-Customization” Rhetoric and Applications for Liberal Arts Education in Public Higher Education."

Related to this informal discussion, I would like to invite Dr. Fried to the University of Toledo to argue his proposals in a public forum, perhaps sponsored by the UT Student Body or the Alumni Association. At that time Dr. Fried can respond to concerned A&S students, faculty and alumni who object to his arguments and proposals which appear to be those so strongly supported by President Jacobs and Provost Haggett. I encourage everyone on campus and in the community to bone up on the "mass customization" concept and the implications of its applications at UT in anticipation of the important debate looming on the near horizon.

I want to thank our concerned A&S students who raised these significant questions at yesterday's PTH Meeting for taking the lead in guiding us to a productive debate on "mass customization" and for continuing to contribute their ideas, concerns and bibliographical items to WMW in advance of the release of the White Paper.

Article in Blade re Student Concerns Voiced at July 17 Townhall

The article can be viewed at:

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080718/NEWS21/807180347

Once again we must applaud the quality of A&S students.

Comment: Remarks quoted in the article by administrators re hiring seem misleading in that they imply that new College hires equate with the needs of depleted departments. Restricting hiring to mainly lecturers and visitors when the great need is for tenure track faculty doth not a leading university make.

Also related to news coverage, ABC13 Toledo news aired a story on the night of the Dean's resignation, July 16 at 11p.m. But as of yesterday the story seems to have disappeared from their archive of recent news stories. Is there some sort of pressure being exerted? Censorship? Forbidden knowledge?

A&S Students Protest Dismantling of College, Make Demands, at Jacob's Townhall Event

Students of the College of Arts & Sciences issued the following press release. Supporting documents will be posted as they become available.


University of Toledo Students Share FOIA Findings And Announce Their Demands

Organized student protesters announce demands that must be met to bring their actions to an end

July 17, 2008
For Immediate Release
Contact: Evan Morrison, 419.283.7244

Toledo, OH –Today, Thursday, July 17th, students will voice their demands to halt the dismantling of the Colleges of Arts and Sciences and the Jacobs agenda at a press conference at 3:30 P.M. during a rally in front of the UT Health Education building. (Health Science Campus, lawn facing Transverse Drive.)

“We have uncovered evidence showing administrators discussing in blunt terms their goals for the elimination of departments at UT,” says Evan Morrison, a History major. “Students will act to ensure our programs are not dismantled.”

Student protest this summer led to the halting of mergers that were planned to conclude by July 1st, mergers that many saw as ill-conceived attempts to weaken faculty and eviscerate long-standing academic programs to save money. “Millions of dollars have been cut from the budget for our college in the past four years,” says Art and Film major Meg Sciarini.(Sha-rini) “How much more slicing can we endure?” Information found in the FOIA request shows that the mandated 10% departmental cuts are described as “Conversation Starters,” which lead many to believe that even more drastic cuts are planned.

Despite evidence showing the college of Arts and Sciences bringing in revenue in the tens of millions of dollars for the University every school year and growing in every school year reviewed, the discussion amongst high level administrators is to “decide which areas should be fully funded, and which areas should not be funded at all.”

Following the press conference, students will attend a Town Hall Meeting being hosted by President Jacobs at the Health Education Building and present to the President the issues that they feel must be addressed.

Information cited comes from “The College of Arts and Sciences: Budget Hearing, Strategic Planning and Prioritization;” Board of Trustees “FY 2009 Budget Strategies and Assumptions;” and Senior Leadership “Transformational Budgeting.” Copies of the documents cited and others will be available at the press conference.

What: Press Conference held by University of Toledo Students
Where: Health Education Building, Health Science Campus Lot 43
When: Today, Thursday, July 17th, 2008, 3:30 P.M. (prior to 4 P.M. Town Hall Meeting with UT President Lloyd Jacobs)

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