Report of the Strategic Planning and Budgeting Committee (SPBC)

February 2, 2009

President Wilson convened the eighth SPBC meeting of 2008-2009 at 12:10 p.m. He asked for comments or questions on the notes of January 12, 2009. John Jordan suggested breaking down the total number of students studying abroad into two separate categories (May Term and semester, summer, and academic year programs) as noted in Stacy Shimizu's report. The notes were accepted with the addition of this information.

May Term

The main agenda item for this meeting was a discussion concerning May Term. President Wilson asked Frank Boyd to address the topic. Frank presented the following information on May Term, which has evolved in many ways since originally designed:

  1. When conceived, May Term was one part of a larger comprehensive curriculum change.
  2. Faculty participation in May Term was originally planned to be voluntary.
  3. The original survey data results used to assess May Term interest did not provide an indication of the student demand experienced over time.
  4. As originally structured, it was expected that students would take one May Term, yet many students have been taking two, three, or four May Term courses.
  5. Last year, over 50% of IWU graduates enrolled in three or more May Terms.
  6. Of the students who graduated early in December over the past three years, 63% had three May Terms.
  7. The growth in May Term interest has increased the need to hire adjunct faculty and placed a burden on the budget.
  8. The University incurs additional expenses related to boarding and housing students on campus for May Term.

Frank indicated that the question of eliminating May Term had been raised from time to time but had always been rejected because the experience was considered a distinctive aspect of our curriculum that offered a number of special learning experiences, including but not only, travel courses. However, it has become increasingly important to find a way to sustain May Term financially. Frank distributed several reports to the Committee. The first report highlighted May Term course distribution over the past six years and depicted the increase in May Term participation of adjunct faculty and the decrease in tenure-track faculty. The second report showed participation in May Term by graduates over the last six years. The third report looked at a May Term budget estimate with numbers (for illustration only) depicting how a potential fee for May Term might work.

Comments by the Committee:

-- The original May Term proposal approved by the faculty stated that we should be charging a fee.

-- May Term was intended to be supply-driven.

-- Some students need additional May Terms.

-- There might be problems with federal financial aid regulations concerning additional fees for a May Term experience.

-- We would need to define how to best manage a program that offered every student one free May Term and charged a fee for the others.

-- A May Term fee was seen as a negative by some.

-- The charge could be for room and board rather than tuition or a fee.

-- The IWU website markets May Term to students without any details on limits or numbers.

-- If an additional fee is charged that relates to the room and board expenses that are actually incurred by the University, this could help it seem more reasonable to parents.-- Whatever decision is made, we need to have a sound rationale for parents and students.

President Wilson asked Bob Murray to investigate the potential financial aid ramifications of charging a May Term fee. President Wilson noted that any new policy concerning May Term would have to be discussed with other campus constituencies. The Committee suggested that discussions be held with the faculty (as a whole), Parent Advisory Group, Student Senate, CUPP, and the May Term Advisory Board. If a change were made, the earliest possible implementation date would be fall 2010. The President asked Frank Boyd to take the lead in developing a proposal for consideration.

Additional comments by the Committee included: (1) the issues surrounding May Term are the result of the success of the program and (2) May Term is a distinctive program for IWU.

President Wilson brought up two other topics:

  1. Preliminary FY2010 Budget -- there are no changes since the January 2009 meeting. It will be going to the Board of Trustees at the February meeting.
  2. Major Review of Retiree Health Care -- IWU has employed an AON consultant to develop options for us concerning retiree health insurance. The information provided by the consultant will be shared with SPBC and the Health Care Advisory Committee.

The meeting was adjourned at 1:25 p.m.