Regents receive recommendations for two academics-related TIER cases

Iowa's three regent universities need to set more aggressive growth goals for their distance learning programs -- 10 to 15 percent annual growth instead of the current 3 -- said consultants assessing the issue as part of the state Board of Regents' TIER (Transparent, Inclusive Efficiency Review) effort. Alceste Pappas and James McCarthy of the Pappas Consulting Group presented preliminary recommendations Wednesday to the board on the two academic business cases the firm was hired to look at: enrollment management (formerly identified as time to degree) and e-learning (formerly distance learning).

The board meeting continues Thursday in Iowa City. Audio of public portions of the meeting will be streamed live beginning around 10:15 a.m. 

McCarthy praised what he called the "Iowa Regents' Model" of distance education and said it should be preserved and supported. That model focuses on:

• Linking online offerings to existing strong face-to-face programs
• Using fulltime faculty as instructors for both
• Ensuring the quality of the two is comparable

Opportunities for growth in e-learning exist, he said, in summer school offerings, general education courses with high enrollments and professional graduate programs in high demand areas. McCarthy also encouraged the three universities to collaborate more on e-learning "to insure maximum program reach with minimum duplication." This could include a shared portal that offered one-stop access to distance courses offered at all three universities.

McCarthy said the Pappas team tried to shape its recommendations "whenever possible, on things being done at at least one school.

"They're going on somewhere, maybe not universally," he said. "A lot of inspiration comes from people already doing it."

Enrollment management business case

The Pappas Group defined enrollment management as costs associated with scholarships and financial aid, orientation and first-year success programs, academic advising, registration, counseling services and career services. The group compared these costs to recruitment and admissions costs and found that the regent universities spend more to admit a freshman student than it costs to provide enrollment management services (assessed on a per capita basis). Rising freshman admission numbers over the last 10 years have been countered by declining percentages of admitted students who actually enroll; what Pappas termed "the yield."

Pappas encouraged board members to diminish competition for the same students among the three universities and focus instead on how each fares among its self-selected peer group. She noted that all three schools rank low among their peers in student yield, enrolled students' ACT scores, four-year graduation rate and state-funded financial aid available for resident students. (An approximately $60 million state grant program is reserved for resident students at private or for-profit colleges and universities.)

She recommended that the universities "beef up" student support services to boost retention rates as a revenue strategy.

Pappas also questioned the use of the Regents Admission Index, a formula used to grant admission to any of the three regent schools for high school graduates. It's alright for the three campuses to have different entrance thresholds, she noted.

"There are questions of access and selectivity that each of you needs to address," she said, especially in the context of peer group comparisons.

Other enrollment management recommendations included:

• Each university should develop a strategic enrollment management plan, including performance metrics that suit its mission and peer group.
• Make strategic investments in enrollment management programs at Iowa State and the University of Iowa. The University of Northern Iowa offers a broad range of support programs and invests more (per undergraduate student) than the other two schools.
• Advocate for a state-funded, need-based aid program and merit scholarships for Iowa residents attending the regent universities.

What's next

In addition to the lengthy report the Pappas team shared with board members, the consultants next week will send a data set and work papers to the three universities and the board office to assist with implementation decisions and planning.

Associate vice president and chief of staff Miles Lackey, who also serves as the regents' liaison to the Pappas consultants, said board members have about a month to review the Pappas findings and recommendations. During a not-yet-scheduled November meeting, the board will decide which recommendations to implement.

Faculty work week

Also at Wednesday's meeting, members of the education and student affairs committee received an oral summary of last spring's faculty activity survey, a self-report of work responsibilities on which faculty spend their time. At Iowa State, 84 percent of faculty participated in the biennial survey. The survey they completed was the same one used for the first time in spring 2013, which asks for more detailed information to better capture the variety of faculty work activities.

While there are fluctuations among the faculty groups, ISU faculty, on average, worked 55.7 hours per week, down from averages of 57.2 hours and 58.0 hours, in spring 2013 and 2011, respectively.

Iowa State FT faculty activity: Average hours per week (Spring 2015)

Compared to spring 2013, tenured and tenure-track faculty delivered a smaller percentage of the total student credit hours (SCH) last spring, about 6 percentage points fewer both overall and for undergraduate courses only. Most of that decline was picked up by non tenure-track faculty. However, total student credit hours taught increased about 14 percent from 2013 to 2015 and increased for every instructor group.

Iowa State FT faculty: Distribution of student credit hours (Spring 2015)

Income tax break proposal

Graduate and professional student governments at the three regent universities outlined a proposal to keep more of their constituents in the state following graduation: A 50 percent income tax break, for five years, for regent school-educated graduate and professional students who take jobs in Iowa. The tax break would jump to 75 percent for those who live and work in rural Iowa.

Joshua Schoenfeld, a medical student at the University of Iowa, said the organizing group will continue to seek survey responses from graduate and professional students at the three universities through February, with the hope of achieving a 20 percent response rate. Currently, they have about a 10 percent response rate. The survey asks about interest in a tax break and its potential impact on their job-seeking choices. He said the group would ask the board to support the proposal.

Regent Katie Mulholland, who chairs the board's academic and student affairs committee, asked to receive a final copy of the group's proposal and report when it's completed sometime late next spring.

The group sent its proposal to Gov. Terry Branstad earlier this month for consideration as future state budgets are developed.