Faculty face plenty of challenges as fundamental change sweeps over higher education, but the biggest one of all may be to participate as decision makers.<\/p>\n
At Northern Arizona University, the Faculty Senate operates under the philosophy of \u201cshared governance,\u201d said Senate President\u00a0Allen Reich<\/strong>. As he begins his second term as senate president, Reich, a professor in the School of Hotel and Restaurant Management, emphasizes \u201cthe need for faculty to play an increasing role in policy making.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTraditional higher education is based on an extremely complex, multi-dimensional organizational structure,\u201d Reich said. \u201cWherever an initiative starts, we just want everyone to get together to make sure it\u2019s effective.\u201d<\/p>\n That doesn\u2019t imply resistance to change, Reich said, although he acknowledged that such an attitude is at times attributed to faculty.<\/p>\n \u201cThe faculty realize that the economic structure of the university has changed,\u201d Reich said. They also are adjusting to the Regents\u2019\u00a0Enterprise<\/a>\u00a0initiative, which Reich said will \u201cmake sure we\u2019re successful in an increasingly challenging competitive environment.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAll of this necessitates a change in mindset,\u201d Reich said, \u201cand change can be uncomfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n Reich has consistently reiterated NAU President John Haeger\u2019s message that what used to work can no longer be assumed to be effective. The traditional model of higher education needs an extensive reassessment.<\/p>\n \u201cSince virtually all universities are dealing with the same issues, we now have to directly compete with them,\u201d Reich said. \u201cWe have to operate more similarly to private business, looking at revenues and expenses, and thinking more like marketers to promote our image as a quality provider of higher education.\u201d<\/p>\n Reich said that Faculty Senate has played an active, although often behind-the-scenes, role in some of the initiatives being launched at NAU. Through ad hoc task forces and 12 Senate committees, \u201cthere is a process that a lot of people aren\u2019t aware of,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Reich personally served on the task force that honed the\u00a0University College<\/a>\u00a0concept recently implemented at NAU. \u201cMany faculty helped in the creation and thought process,\u201d Reich said, crediting vice provost for academic affairs Karen Pugliesi, who is also the dean of University College, with listening to faculty concerns about organizational structure and making adjustments.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s significant that University College did not create a new bureaucracy,\u201d Reich said. \u201cIt\u2019s an extremely low-cost endeavor relative to the potential outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n In another example, Reich explained how\u00a0Grade Performance Status<\/a>, an online academic feedback system, demonstrates that \u201cin higher education, the process needs to go more slowly.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGPS was created with faculty participation,\u201d Reich said, \u201cand then faculty helped determine the process for implementation. The next step is for them to try it out and offer suggestions for improvements.\u201d<\/p>\n Only at that point in the process, Reich said, can it be reasonably hoped that a majority of faculty will adopt the system. He\u2019s confident in the outcome.<\/p>\n \u201cEventually, this will become a normal part of NAU\u2019s operational procedure because it\u2019s critical in helping NAU achieve higher retention,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve already seen a 4 percent increase in retention for students of professors that have used it. That\u2019s a significant improvement.\u201d<\/p>\n Reich previewed university program assessment as \u201cone of the big initiatives\u201d of faculty senate in the upcoming academic year, tying it to the rapidly emerging conversation about competency-based learning. NAU recently announced a\u00a0Personalized Learning<\/a>\u00a0program that places it among the nation\u2019s leaders.<\/p>\n \u201cPersonalized Learning is not only a superb program but it is being recognized as one of the most progressive education developments in years,\u201d Reich said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"