WKU Proposal Addresses Student
Success, Academic Quality
October 16, 2003
(The proposal presented to the Board of Regents Executive Committee for enhancing academic quality and student success is available here.)
Bowling Green, Ky. - Responding to pressures from unfunded enrollment growth, Western Kentucky University has proposed an initiative to enhance student success and academic quality.
The $5.8 million proposal will create additional faculty positions, expand programs to enhance student success, strengthen academic operating budgets and make improvements at the WKU South Campus.
The recurring revenue to enhance academic quality will require a tuition increase of $200 per student beginning with the spring 2004 semester.
The Executive Committee of the Board of Regents approved the initiative Thursday as well as a proposal for a 10 percent cap on a tuition increase for the fall 2004 semester. The full board will consider the academic quality and student success initiative Oct. 31.
"We want to ensure that Western has the absolute highest academic quality at the undergraduate level in Kentucky," President Gary Ransdell said.
Western's academic quality is being compromised as a difficult economy has left the state unable to fund the University's 24 percent increase in enrollment since 1998, he said. Those pressures include too few faculty positions, rising faculty-student ratio, insufficient academic operating budgets and ill-equipped classrooms.
"Our president and our board have made an important decision that we are not going to let academic quality of the Western experience be negatively affected," Provost Barbara Burch said.
The proposal keeps Western's tuition at a reasonable level while having a dramatic impact on academic quality, Dr. Ransdell said. "This plan allows us to deliver on our promise that our students can expect the best at Western," he said.
Dr. Ransdell will be meeting with students, faculty and other groups before Oct. 31 to discuss the initiative.
The proposal would increase undergraduate in-state tuition to $2,025 per semester.
"Quality, value for cost and meaningful faculty-student engagement must define the Western experience," he said. "The best thing we can do to add value to the academic experience is to ensure academic quality."
The proposal includes the following:
*$2 million for faculty staffing, recruitment and retention, which will fund 30 new full-time faculty positions and enhance academic operating budgets.
*$1.9 million for student success and academic support, which includes a Student Success Center, enhanced Honors Program, a stipend increase for graduate students and additional scholarship support.
*$1.8 million for academic learning environments, which includes classroom improvements, upgrades of instructional equipment and expansion and improvements of South Campus facilities.
"This plan does not address faculty salaries, health care costs, inflationary costs, utilities or other expenses normally addressed with an annual tuition increase and state appropriations," Dr. Ransdell said.
More WKU news is available on the World Wide Web at www.wku.edu. If you'd like to receive WKU news via E-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.
