Meeting Minutes
Minutes of February 23, 2006 Strategic Planning UPC Meeting
Present: Michael J. Garanzini, S.J. (Chair), Anthony Barbato, Jeff Doering,
Jon Heintzelman, Bill Laird, Wayne Magdziarz, Carol Roup, Kelly Shannon,
Lorraine Snyder, and Mary Theis
Absent: William Cannon, Daniel Flynn, John Frendreis and Ushma Lakhani
Guests: Dean Samuel Attoh (Graduate School), Dean Jack Wall (School of Social Work), and
Michael Kabbaz (Member of the Task Force on Shared Governance System Evaluation)
- Father Garanzini opened the meeting at 8:00 a.m.
- The Committee members approved the minutes from the November 7, 2005 meeting.
- Dean Wall then presented the strategic plan for the School of Social Work. Goals include: increasing faculty research and scholarly productivity; expanding research/training; expanding education offerings at WTC and Carthage locations, as well as internationally; and enhancing the school’s excellence and reputation. Dean Wall noted that enrollment had been a challenge in the past but that now the numbers are strong. The school has created an advisory board representing different constituent groups in Chicago.
Garanzini noted that the biggest challenge for the School of Social Work is faculty size and needs and related scholarship needs. Wayne suggested that Dean Wall talk with the Franciscan Sisters who are building the Clare, since they have expressed interest in collaborating with the University and might want to engage on the School’s aging programs and the like. Kelly asked about the relationship with Carthage College, and Dean Wall noted that the relationship works well. Carthage does the marketing and recruiting for students and Loyola runs the coursework. Tony suggested that the School consider the Medical Center as a placement for social work students, and Dean Wall offered to follow up with him to explore opportunities for closer collaboration. - Dean Attoh then presented the strategic plan for the Graduate School. Goals include: support intellectual achievement and provide high-quality training through innovative academic programming; enhance and sustain quality faculty research and creative artistic endeavors; provide exemplary service and competitive funding to students; strengthen connectivity to the Chicago region; promote initiatives to establish the Graduate School’s global presence; and raise the Graduate School’s endowment in order to provide the financial flexibility to support its strategic goals and initiatives. Dean Attoh highlighted the opportunities in Chicago for internships for graduate students, and also noted that he is trying to put the Graduate School on the radar of the Council of Graduate Schools. Additionally, he noted that the current endowment is abut $3M and that he plans to increase it to $10-15M within the next five years.
In response to a question about how the Graduate School relates to the LUMC graduate student population, it was mentioned that Fred Wezeman of LUMC is Associate Dean of the Graduate School. There are two Associate Deans serving under Dean Attoh, Konstantin Laufer and Fred. Fred’s responsibility is for all the biomedical science programs at LUMC, and Konstantin handles the programs at the other campuses. The Graduate School is present on all campuses and it's traditionally structured, differing only that geography has determined who gets to administer what. Tony suggested considering hiring for a chair in health policy, and engaging possibly the Neiswanger Institute in this effort. It was suggested that both the Business School and School of Social Work would be interested in contributing to this as well. In response to Carol’s question about the centers of excellence and their potential for impact on public policy, Dean Wall agreed that practice and policy initiatives go hand in hand. Father Garanzini added that it is important to link CUERP into this effort so that we build collaboration and not redundancy. He noted that Nancy Tuchman is working on a document detailing how the centers can and should work together, identifying themes that run through different centers and areas of collaboration. Father Garanzini suggested that the committee come back to the issue of public policy/health at a future meeting. - Michael then led a discussion on shared governance, and solicited feedback from the committee members regarding knowledge, effectiveness and participation of and in the system. Most committee members had shared their feedback on the governance system through other meetings convened by the Task Force on Shared Governance System Evaluation. Carol noted that her sense is that people appreciate having a system, even if there is some confusion over how it functions. Dean Wall said that faculty council engagement in the system could be improved, and Dean Attoh said that it would be helpful perhaps to have UPC participants speak to the Council of Deans on occasion. Bill noted that he doesn’t see an avid interest among participants in the Budget and Finance UPC, and Mary added that the system is more relevant to faculty and staff than it is to students.
- Father Garanzini concluded the meeting by announcing that the next meeting will be held on Thursday, March 30th from 3:00-4:30 p.m. In addition to a presentation by Robert Ludwig of the Institute of Pastoral Studies, agenda items he is considering include campus planning, financial issues, implementation of the strategic plan, a review of retention/attrition issues, alumni engagement issues, and employer satisfaction data.
- The meeting was adjourned at 10:30 a.m.