5-15-09: Stanford: VPUE restructures

Bravman updates Faculty Senate on recovery plan

Financial realities once again dominated Thursday’s Faculty Senate meeting, where all ears turned to Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education John Bravman for an update on the recovery of his office.

“I think we all understand that we’re in a period of financial crisis,” Bravman began.

But the tone of the vice provost’s report was clear: optimism.

Referencing the creation of hundreds of small courses, the upcoming launch of the Stanford Arts Intensive and a small expansion of the Bing Overseas Studies Program (BOSP), Bravman cited the recent 30,400 applicants as an indication of “infinite demand” for the University.

“That’s how we think about it,” he said.

Still, after a cut of approximately 15 to 20 percent in the University’s general funds budget and a reduction in endowment income between approximately 20 and 30 percent, some 1,000 of Stanford’s funds are “underwater” — that is, their current market values remain below their historic dollar values. These underwater funds now pose the largest threat to the Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education (VPUE), according to Bravman.

“We have built up reserves for a rainy day,” he said, “but we have not built up reserves for universal Armageddon.”

Along with $8 million of the VPUE’s funds that have already gone out the window, Bravman has also implemented a major restructuring of his office, compacting nine units into four: Undergraduate Advising and Research (UAR); Stanford Introductory Studies (SIS), where most layoffs have occurred; Bing Overseas Studies Program (BOSP); and Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL), which has lost its administrative support but will be propped up by the VPUE office.

VPUE Cuts

Bravman noted that the major impingement has been on his staff — 16 layoffs, five hires for revised roles and the loss of nine positions due to attrition have meant an 18 percent reduction in the VPUE’s non-lecturing staff. Further reductions have hit advising, which slashed the $750-per-year honoraria for its advisors and resulted in the loss of its HPAC (Head Peer Academic Coordinator) and peer advising programs, as well as the Sophomore Seminars and Sophomore College programs, which will face “continued reductions on the order of 15 to 20 percent.” The latter two programs, Bravman said, are where students will feel the pain.

But Stephen Stedman, a senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and a former Resident Fellow of Larkin House, probed Bravman on the elimination of the HPAC program. The vice provost responded bluntly.

“We received evidence that HPACs were giving poor advice,” he said. “The life experience of a 19-year-old is not optimized to offer advice to an 18-year-old.”

Bravman instead touted this year’s new Academic Director (AD) program, which places a professional or faculty member in each residential cluster that houses freshmen.

“We’ve seen, anecdotally — I can’t prove this to you — that ADs offer a great experience for students,” he said. “Knowing that students will always seek advice, we should be paying professionals.”

The Future of VPUE

Looking to the future of VPUE programs, Bravman assessed BOSP, SIS and advising. On overseas studies, he noted that a large portion of funding still streams from the President’s funds, and the program is “extremely vulnerable” to swings in the strength of the dollar. At the same time, presidential funds will largely fund the new program in Cape Town, South Africa. With SIS, the vice provost admitted that although PWR and IHUM run at very lean levels, they still cost $10 million per year.

“I think we have to look at the costs of these programs,” he admitted. “We need to move on this sooner, rather than later.”

The VPUE office will also launch a new Stanford Arts Intensive for 2009, which will be gift funded for three years.

And on advising, Bravman remains optimistic that the benefits of the AD program will outweigh its cost.

University Fundraising

Martin Shell, vice president of the Office of Development, followed Bravman with a report on University fundraising. Shell reported that $108 million of the Stanford Challenge goal of $200 million has been raised for scholarships.

“For the past four years, we have raised more money than any peer institution in higher education,” he said.

Still, for fiscal year 2009, the University continues to see a slowdown in cash gifts and new commitments.

“I think most people felt like the world stopped somewhere around January 5,” Shell said. “Conversations have elongated; donors are slower to make commitments, asking for more time to pledge.”

Bravman will address the Faculty Senate with a follow-up report in November, and, if asked, Shell will return in the fall for an update on year-to-date fundraising.

http://www.stanforddaily.com/cgi-bin/?p=1030984