The Faculty Senate drafted a letter to President Vaughn on September 13 urging University of Tampa administration “to engage in dialogue with the faculty” on issues of academics and growth. “[W]e understand the University is growing far more quickly than the faculty or administration expected,” the letter stated. “Although many faculty have heard a projected enrollment goal of 10,000 students, we have not been informed of the plan to support this size student body and the timeline to achieve such a goal.”
The letter addressed a number of faculty concerns including: poor academic space, a growing dependency on non-tenured adjunct professors, lax admissions standards, and the absence of a “clearly defined vision of The University of Tampa of the future.”
“Our concern,” the letter noted, “is whether or not we are providing our students the kind of education we claim to provide.” Implying low faculty satisfaction, the letter said, “If faculty are fully informed of the direction the University is moving, they can be encouraged to become engaged in the goals and, as a byproduct, overall morale may rise as well.”
On admissions standards, the letter expressed some skepticism about the methodology that the administration uses to maintain academic standards for students’ test scores. “SAT/ACT averages may have kept us in line with our peer institutions, but we are also aware that the average is made up of extreme variations in scores—the low scores are quite low while the high scores are quite high,” the letter started. “This is evidenced in the number of preparatory classes we continue to add year after year to accommodate the incoming class with more and more remedial learning needs.”
In addition, the letter said that rapid growth of administration has led to “a decrease of adequate academic space.” “Many classrooms are filled to capacity. . . . If enough desks are available, it is because the desks have been crammed into the room and students have very little space to work with.”
The letter raised concerns about whether high enrollment and lack of academic space would lead the University toward less personalized teaching methods. “Of course you [President Ronald Vaughn] realize the current limitations we experience in academic space may impact delivery of curriculum—potentially hybrid courses using distance education technologies will be offered. How does such a delivery method align with our mission?”
The letter concluded: “We urge you [President Vaughn] and the administration to engage in dialogue with the faculty” for an “attainable growth management plan for the betterment of our students, our colleagues, and The University of Tampa tomorrow.”
Tracy Morse, associate professor of English and member of the Faculty Senate, echoed the concerns laid out in the letter. “We don’t know the administration’s vision for the University,” she said.
Dr. Morse expressed concerns that the administration is making too many decisions without faculty input, both spatially and academically, and that faculty are often unable to discern the origin of administrative decisions. “Something is decided and we [faculty] respond to it.”
Provost Janet McNew painted the university’s growth in a more positive light, describing herself as a “very lucky Provost” for being “able to oversee expansion and hiring of faculty members and new programs and things that just aren’t happening in American higher education right now.” She agreed that shared governance is “a perennial concern of faculties” and professed to “share that concern.”
“In a sense,” Provost McNew said, “it’s one of my jobs as provost to try to get that sharing to happen.”
However, she drew a distinction between the domain of faculty and administrators.
“The things the faculty take the lead in are particularly things that have to do with the curriculum, with peer-review of each other,” she said. “The administration takes the lead in some things, things like enrollment and the size of the institution, that kind of strategic planning and long-range planning. Budget matters and things like that. But they still should be shared and there are various processes laid out in the faculty handbook that does share those.”
Though McNew stated she does not represent the side of the administration that decides enrollment targets, she did not think the university’s over-enrollment was deliberate. “Enrollment targets are one thing and enrollment realities are another,” she said.
Richard Mathews, professor of English and vice president of the Faculty Senate, noted that he found it hard to tell whether this year’s record enrollment was accidental or planned. “The enrollment over-achievement this Fall term partly was a reaction to the fact that it looked for a while like the economy was uncertain, not enough people were going to come,” he said.
“Maybe they ought to admit more people, and then they admitted more people and everybody they admitted said ‘Oh, yeah, here are our deposits. We were just slow paying them.’ And all of a sudden [the administration] wound up with a mess.”
Mikey Angelo Rumore can be reached at michealangelorumore@gmail.com.
Rich Solomon can be reached at richard.solomon@spartans.ut.edu.
It saddens me to see what UT has become. I came to this place full of hopes and dreams which were all shattered along my career there. I saw professors who were great get fired for speankng their minds, as some grew mean and bitter just because they were overworked and overwhelmed. Quality diminished with every incoming class as groups grew and space shrank. It is an absolute shame that I walked with bitterness instead of honor in my graduation and forget about the ridiculous tuition that keeps raising to ensure we get better palm trees instead of microscopes or computers. How about helping student organizations other than student government? The UT of now is a sorry excuse and I wish the city of Tampa sees what is happening to their historic building and how little we are doing to protect it because we need bigger and bettter palm trees from Africa to make it prettier instead of using the money for what we should. Let’s later complain that we are degraded to an associates level while we spend money on landscaping instead of real education. Good going in making it pretty to attract rich parents to your web while blinding their eyes to the reality of poor management, and even better job at attracting medium class students that will require loans and have inmense hope, to crush them. Thank you!
As a senior at UT, I have had some wonderful course experiences. People such as Dr. Morse are truly gifted people that express there concern for the future of myself and fellow students through the caliber of their teaching. The unfortunate side of this is the blatant investment of our administration in the aesthetics of our campus instead of the academics. Basically things that a visiting college prospect will key onto and make a commitment before he/she ever realizes the academic disaster they have been locked in to. Individuals of the faculty have shaped the future of my hopeful success more than just a book or performance objectives could ever imagine. How do you only have 4 quiet rooms in the 1970’s book museum you call our library? And how is it never open? Do me a favor tear that place down, sell the scrap metal and asbestos for a quiet coffee lounge in its place and staff it with our librarians (who once again are amazing people who will go out of their way to ensure your success). President Vaughn, i know its your job to raise money, BUT STOP SPENDING IT ON F***ING PALM TREES. Spend more money on the individuals that have made me who I am.
This is exactly the reason I transferred out of UT. The ONLY thing this school cares about is money. President Vaughn needs to be impeached/fired whatever you can all do to get him and all of those greedy assholes out of that school.. and take all of the dumb, snotty rich kids you accepted to meet the quota with you.
LOL… do it John. It needs to come out
As a UT alum, the concerns raised in this article are spot on. It saddens me to see how the university has changed in the last few years..probably because the administration made these changes without consulting the faculty. What made UT great was the small classes, the caring faculty (e.g. Fred Punzo) (who were actually published and nationally known). It was such a thrill for me as a student to have professors who actually were well known and published. I would not attend the UT of today; why attend UT at the exorbitant price as a “comprehensive medium size university”–when you could attend a good state school at a fraction of the price? Also, following on a comment below, how does one become a full professor of anything–let alone the “leader” of the faculty at UT–without having a single book. The campus and buildings are certainly attractive now–but its not the same place.
It’s a known fact the if you apply to UT early enough in the year, you will get in automatically so that UT can make sure that it reaches it’s quota for the Freshman class. UT is 97% tuition driven and wants more students to pay for new buildings (and Vaughn’s 900K salary). Enough already! Let’s get some QUALITY students and not just put butts in seats to make the numbers work. Filling the HoJo is utterly ridiculous and Vaughn’s agenda and mismanagement are showing loud and clear.
…”a very lucky provost”…no kidding. Rumor is that this horse’s rear end makes more than many college presidents (seriously, I’ve heard in excess of a quarter million a year)–but, from what I’ve heard, does little except to arrogantly alienate the faculty and students; I’d say “a very unlucky” bunch of students and faculty when self-proclaimed “lucky” McNew came on board.
Also, only at UT do we have a “chief academic officer” that has actually never even published a single book…only at UT, where mediocrity is a superlative. UT will never get another cent from me…not another cent…talk about poorly spent money.
How about the students write a letter too with the same grievances? We are on the same page here. I would rather have my tuition money spent on the purchase or construction of a new dorm/academic building. Buy the freaking HoJo, we already use the whole thing (plus another hotel). Does anybody see how ludicrous this is?!?! If you only have x room to house new students don’t accept 2ox that! How about parking, did anyone notice its now actually impossible to park in Thomas this year. Before it was bad but now there is literally not one space left after 10am… Am I the only one who could care less about new courtyards and trees? This school is going to shit fast and our president slash committees must be smoking the same dope students get busted with because it seems students and faculty have had about enough of their idiocy. Anyone notice the Bentley parked in the presidents office parking? I want to be proud of my school and President Vaughn, you should look onwards from here, I wish we could impeach you! Actually is that an option?
Dr. Janet McNew is so far up the rear end of Dr. Vaughn that she should be a Doctor not of English but Proctology.