2011 University Plan, Performance, and Accountability Report
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2011 UNIVERSITY PLAN, PERFORMANCE, AND ACCOUNTABILITY REPORT Office of the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost October 2011 2011 University Plan, Performance, and Accountability Report This document is made available electronically by the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library as part of an ongoing digital archiving project. http://www.leg.state.mn.us/lrl/lrl.asp EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The 2011 edition of the University Plan, Performance, admission, and operational structures are in place, and Accountability Report summarizes the University’s resulting in $1 million in annual savings. major strategic initiatives, indicators of progress, and • Decentralized awarding of graduate student fel- its performance relative to comparison institutions. lowships better aligns responsibility and account- Highlighted below are key areas of strength as ability of graduate education with collegiate units. well as opportunities for growth and establishing • Other opportunities to strengthen graduate educa- best practices that are discussed more fully in the tion include involving students earlier in indepen- respective sections of the report. dent research and improving degree completion. Twin Cities Campus: Extraordinary Twin Cities Campus: Breakthrough Education Research • Graduation rates for Twin Cities undergraduate • The University has an extraordinary breadth of students have improved significantly (the four-year research activities on its five campuses and a strong rate for the fall 2006 entering class was 50 percent, record of securing research funding (10th among up more than 13 percentage points from the rate private and public universities) from the federal of the 2001 entering class), moving the University government, businesses, foundations, private closer to the rates of its comparison institutions. health organizations, and the State. The first-year retention rate has improved to 89.5 • The University won a $51-million Clinical and percent for the class entering in 2009, up nearly 5 Translational Science Award (CTSA) from the percent from the class entering in 2001. National Institutes of Health, which will support • The Twin Cities campus received over 39,000 ap- interdisciplinary activities across the health sci- plications for undergraduate admission in 2011, ences. The award makes possible other opportuni- nearly 24,000 more than in 2000. Over the same ties and helps toward goals of improving the clini- period, measures of student preparation have cal enterprise, biomedical informatics, education, improved, including the proportion of students communication and translational activities. among the top 10 percent of their high school • While the University’s relationship with the busi- class. ness community has improved in recent years, • The achievement gap between undergraduate it needs to forge even better connections with students of color and white students is narrow- corporate partners in order to achieve economic ing, and more students of color are graduating prosperity and development in Minnesota. from the Twin Cities campus. Key measures are Twin Cities Campus: Dynamic Outreach improving at a faster pace for students of color and Service than for other students, including the average ACT composite score, the average high school rank, and • The University expanded its work with communi- first-year retention rates. ty-based organizations to address complex soci- etal issues including college access, health policy, • To continue to attract, recruit, enroll, and retain nutrition and healthy eating, agricultural business top students, additional private fundraising efforts management, pandemics, rural development, en- for scholarships are needed to ensure that highly ergy efficiency, and transportation. qualified students from all economic backgrounds are able to be successful at the University. • The University has made progress towards its public engagement goals by strengthening data • Through the restructuring of graduate educa- collection systems that allow for improved moni- tion, more streamlined and efficient governance, 1 toring and assessment of initiatives, streamlining • To support its diversity commitment and to programs, and establishing the Public Engagement educate students as global citizens, UMD plans Council to address public engagement issues. to recruit and retain more students from under- • Although significant progress has been made in represented groups and international students. raising the University’s status as an “engaged” uni- Morris Campus versity, the University needs to share the results of its community engagement work more widely. • The Morris campus is a national leader in renew- able energy and sustainability. Its research has Twin Cities Campus: World-Class Faculty resulted in pioneering strategies to reduce carbon and Staff footprints on campus. • The New Employee Orientation program introduc- • The Morris campus’ strength continues to be its es new employees to the University culture through ability to attract an increasingly diverse and tal- a year-long series and several training modules. ented student body, while maintaining selectivity. Over 3,500 new employees have participated in • The opportunities to capitalize on the renewable this program since its inception. energy infrastructure available in west central Min- • Average compensation for all Twin Cities faculty is nesota has led to the development of credit- and competitive with its peers, ranking fourth among non-credit-bearing opportunities for traditional, comparison group institutions. elementary, and high-school students, adult learn- • While the University’s compensation package is a ers, teachers, and the interested public. strength, an opportunity exists to increase its com- Crookston Campus petitiveness, as its average salary ranks only ninth among comparison group institutions. • Newly hired faculty and staff on the Crookston campus continue to expand the expertise and ca- Twin Cities Campus: Outstanding pacity for teaching, research, and service. Organization • Ten of the campus’ 29 bachelor’s degree programs • The University has established a goal to improve will be available entirely online in 2011 and student utilization of its Twin Cities campus space by re- interest in these programs continues to increase. ducing operating and lease costs by $10 million. • The campus is advancing relationships with the • The Twin Cities campus launched the “It All Adds Northwest Research and Outreach Center, Univer- Up” conservation program, which resulted in an- sity Exten sion, Regional Sustainable Development nual savings of more than $2.6 million. Additional Partner ships, and Area Health Education Centers. energy cost reductions will save $2 million more Rochester Campus annually. • The Twin Cities campus has improved the condi- • The Rochester campus provides a programmatic tion of its facilities through the demolition of aging niche in the health and biosciences by leveraging facilities, renovation of existing buildings, and the intellectual and economic resources of south- construction of new buildings. eastern Minnesota. Its programs involve collabo- rations with the Mayo Clinic, Twin Cities campus, Duluth Campus Hormel Institute, and IBM. • The Duluth campus conducted a year-long strate- • The Center for Learning Innovation, the academic gic planning process to clarify its mission and to home of faculty and instructors, designs innovative identify a campus vision, core values, and goals. and technology-enriched curriculum. • Recent strategic initiatives led to UMD’s increas- • The campus continues to partner with the City ing enrollment, which brought an increase in the of Rochester and Mayo Clinic to implement the number of bachelor’s degrees awarded. Downtown Master Plan, which identifies the future site and ancillary facilities for the campus. 2 2011 University Plan, Performance, and Accountability Report CONTENTS INTRODUCTION “…[The regents shall] make a report Executive Summary . 1 annually, to the Legislature… exhibiting Introduction . 3 the state and progress of the University… 1 Planning at the University of Minnesota . 4 and such other information as they may deem proper, or may from time to time be 2 History and Overview of the University . 8 required of them.” 3 Twin Cities Campus . 13 —University charter, 1851 Territorial Laws, Chapter 3, Section 16 Extraordinary Education . 15 Breakthrough Research . 53 Dynamic Outreach and Service . 60 The University Plan, Performance, and Accountability Report, now in its tenth year, is a broad, governance- World-Class Faculty and Staff . 71 level discussion of the University of Minnesota’s Outstanding Organization . 79 fulfillment of its mission and its success toward its aspiration of becoming one of the premier research Coordinate Campuses . 90 universities in the world. The report provides a 4 Duluth Campus . 91 performance baseline for the University, an assessment 5 Morris Campus . 103 of progress over time, and an indication of where additional effort is warranted. The 2011 report 6 Crookston Campus . 120 discusses each University campus and presents 7 Rochester Campus . 130 initiatives and investments organized around five strategic goals. Where available, the report identifies Appendix A: Key Links . 140 select measures that indicate levels of success. Appendix B: Board of Regents . 142 Appendix C: Senior Leadership . 143 3 1: PLANNING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA Quality and performance at the University of Figure 1-1. Strategic