Dean Koker's Opening Day Remarks

I am not sure I know what luck is. Some say it’s a combination of circumstances or events operating by chance to bring good or ill to a person. Others say it is success or failure apparently brought by chance rather than through one’s own actions.

I remember that good luck is something my Mother claimed she never had. It’s something she was sure her “bingo partner,” Alma, always had. As I learned more about probability — the branch of mathematics concerned with describing the likelihood of random events occurring — I would try to explain to Mom that she shouldn’t take Alma’s good fortune personally, and furthermore, if the two of them kept playing bingo for a long time, they would win — or more likely lose — the same amount. While I knew what I was talking about, she would have none of it.

Our conversations about probability went something like this:
J: So Mom, if I roll this six-sided die, what is the probability that it will come up a 2?
M: 1 out of 6.
J: Good. Another question, Mom. (I roll the die and it comes up a 5. I pick up the die and hold it) Now, Mom, what is the probability that I roll a 5?
M: Oh, you’ll never get a 5; you just got one.
J: No, Mom, it’s 1 out of 6.
M: No! You’ll never get another 5.
J: No, Mom, you see, the die doesn’t have a memory.
M: Roll the die.
J: Mom, that’s not the point.
M: Just roll the die.
J: Mom, look...
M: Roll it!
(The obedient son, I roll the die and it comes up a 3)
M: See I told you you wouldn’t get a 5!

My mom had this “luck thing” figured out.

I bring up the ideas of luck and randomness because, as we begin the new academic year, it seems we continually deal with issues that are apparently brought on by chance or by external forces, rather than through our own actions. Sometimes it feels as if we continually have bad luck.

We are in the midst of continued budget cuts, rescinded pay raises and furloughs. We may feel as if I we are being asked to do more with less.

We begin the year hoping our new students will be prepared, serious students who are eager to learn.

We worry about the flu.

We think about expectations — what are we going to be asked to do this year? What is valued? As we juggle the demands of teaching, professional work and service and our personal lives, we wonder if we are doing a good job, and perhaps, hope others think we are.

We feel as if our traditional values and ideals and the importance of a liberal arts education are under attack by alternative and vocational programs. We feel pressure to become more accommodating, perhaps at the expense of quality and tradition.

We are sometimes uncertain how to proceed. How do we know?

I remember a time when I was in the grocery store. I was checking out and among my items were six cups of Dannon yogurt. On the top of each cup, printed in bold, was “1 Out of 4 WINS!”

The clerk said to me, “You should have gotten two more yogurts.”

I replied, “Why’s that?”

She said, “Because it says right here that ‘1 Out of 4 WINS!’ so if you would have bought two more you would will win twice.”

A little baffled, I said, “Are you sure?”

She went on to explain that “1 out of 4” and “2 out of 8” are essentially the same thing and, thus, if I had 8 cups I would win twice.

Again, I said, “Are you sure?”

She said, “Yes!”

I then said, “What if I told you I picked 6 winners and left 18 losers back on the shelf?”

She thought for a moment, and then smiled and said, “You can’t do that!”

The clerk “knew” what was fair, and she was sure that I couldn’t make my own luck.

Last week, on September 2, the College of Letters and Science held a day-long Strategic Planning Retreat. The planning process officially began on April 2, 2009 at an all College meeting organized by the College Faculty Committee. Following that meeting, the Faculty Committee formed a Strategic Planning Steering Committee that worked over the summer to organize the planning process. The retreat involved approximately 70 faculty, staff and students who spent the day visioning and brainstorming.

About 90 people from across the college volunteered to participate in the planning day. Because of space limitations, about 20 of these volunteers were not able to participate. I felt bad that I could not invite them, but there will be opportunity for all to participate in the coming year.

At the end of the retreat, six (what are currently called) emerging priorities were described. These emerging priorities are just the beginning and will need to be fully discussed. A full report of the retreat, including a summary of the emerging priorities, will be given at an all College meeting on the afternoon of September 24. The exact time and location will be announced soon. The next steps of the process will be outlined at that time, and there will be an opportunity for discussion and questions. Volunteers will be needed as we identify and refine priorities and develop the plan.

As we continue this process, we must recognize that most faculty and staff identify strongly with their department, program or unit. I believe we can build on the work of the individual units across the College to develop effective leadership and intentional collaboration among faculty and staff. At the same time we can achieve specific goals and objectives that are consistent with the University’s goals, the important work of departments and non-departmental programs, and the University Student Learning Outcomes that support a Liberal Arts Education.

Ultimately the goals and strategies outlined in our plan will guide the College leadership. Our plan will guide us in good times and provide stability when we feel threatened or victimized by circumstances beyond our control.

We at UW Oshkosh are facing a $13.6 million 2009-2011 biennium budget shortfall (which includes furloughs and the rescinded pay raise) – the biggest shortfall that has been faced in recent years. What does this mean for the College?

Because of on the UW Oshkosh “rainy day fund” — a fund that that many in COLS have helped build — and the UW System tuition increase, we needed to cut 2.5% from our GPR budget. Given that salaries account for almost 97% of our budget, a 2.5% cut doesn’t leave much after that.

Despite this, I believe the College can get by this year with a 2.5% base budget cut. The College leadership including chairs and program directors began work last winter on measures for meeting expenses in the coming years. We will leave some vacant positions unfilled, we are scaling back some on faculty recruitment, we minimized computer and equipment purchases, and we carefully reviewed courses that were under enrolled. These proactive actions resulted in savings that have put the College in the position to meet the current financial crisis and will allow us to move forward. In addition, the college has received some new resources due the UW System Growth Agenda. The College received Growth Agenda funds to add nine new tenure-track faculty positions and we have received $150,000 of new funds to support additional gateway and general education courses to support enrollment growth rather than raising class size. Finally, we were asked to do more with more!

The College will continue to fund travel at $1200 per person (and additional funds are available for international trips). I fully expect to fund computer replacement and permanent property cycles this year. The College will receive slightly over $150,000 in the Student Titan Employment Program of which the Chancellor spoke this morning. Guidelines for the use of these funds will be released soon.

While the cuts, the loss of pay raises and the furloughs are tough, we are well positioned to weather this storm. But further planning is needed. Our strategic plan can be a blueprint for the College to define in a significant way how we will respond and react to future economic strife. The goals and strategies outlined in the plan will guide the College leadership in its decision-making and resource allocation. We need to develop a strategic communication plan to showcase what we do, to raise awareness among the community, business leaders and state legislatures about the value we add, to create drive, to build relationships with alumni and to secure a strong donor base. Some day we may get lucky and the state will increase our GPR. In the meantime, let’s continue to press the state to do so while we also work to grow additional means of support.

Last spring I talked about some distressing data: of our new students who began their studies in Fall 2008, 19.4% (351 of 1813) finished their first semester with a GPA below 2.0. The number increases to 58.5% (31 of 53) for African American Students.

From 2003-2007, the average was about 12%. The profile of incoming students (including high school rank, high school GPA and ACT scores) has remained relatively unchanged for the past five years.

Since the incoming student almost entirely enrolls in courses offered by COLS, this is a huge issue that we need to address – a first semester GPA below 2.0 is an indicator of whether or not a student will return to college the following semester or year.

Some students will fail. But many who shouldn’t do. Are we leaving this to chance? I hope not. We need to think about ways to engage students. While some of our students may come across as ones who don’t care much about their own success, most of our students do care and do want to succeed. They just don’t know how. We need to challenge and nurture students. And we need to find ways to help them succeed without compromising quality.

This fall, COLS will participate in piloting the Early Alert System. By October 9, instructors of certain math, English and communication classes will report, via Titan Web, academic and attendance concerns. A student who receives an alert indicating a concern will be contacted by an adviser to discuss the matter. Of course, instructors are encouraged to intervene as well. Based on the results of the pilot, the Early Alert System may be implemented University-wide within the next year. While we continue the strategic planning, let’s discuss workload, class size, student preparation, and admission standards. Let’s also take some responsibility for poor student performance and implement strategies to improve student learning.

Do we want a comprehensive First Year Experience for students? How can we help students answer such questions such as: “Why am I here?”; “Why am I willing to invest four years or more of my time and a great deal of money in seeking a college degree?”; and, “How do I want to be different at the end of my time in college?”

We need to continue to work to implement the UW Oshkosh Essential Learning Outcomes for a Liberal Arts Education, developed by the Liberal Education Reform Team (LERT) with broad campus input and approved unanimously through the governance process. We need to be more intentional and we need to help our students understand our goals and objectives. In addition to helping them reach their career goals we want our students to study broadly, to consider their place in a diverse democratic society and world community, to have a greater appreciation for the fine and performing arts, and to develop their ethical and moral sensibility. Students need to hear that our goal in COLS is for all students to develop the skills and knowledge to succeed professionally, to participate in communities, and to enhance their whole-life experience.

The third and final phase of the current UW Oshkosh capitol campaign — pride. purpose. promise. — will focus on High-Impact Educational Initiatives. High-Impact Educational Practices are teaching and learning practices that have been widely tested and have been shown to be beneficial for college students from many backgrounds. Many of these practices, as well as evidence of their success, are described in George Kuh’s work High Impact Educational Practices published in 2008 by AAC&U. While COLS already employs many of these practices, we can do more.

On October 16, 2009 I will be making a presentation to the UW Oshkosh Foundation Board proposing a partnership with COLS to work to secure increased resources so that we can make additional learning opportunities available to all students. Specifically, I will submit a request that the board works to raise funds to support:

• Diversity and global learning initiatives so we can increase the offerings of courses and programs that help students explore cultures, life experiences, and worldviews different from their own;

• Student/faculty collaborative research and creative and professional work to involve more students with actively contested questions, empirical observation, cutting-edge technologies, and the creative process so that they can experience the sense of excitement that comes from contributing to original works; and,
  

• Service and community-based learning and civic engagement to give students direct experience with issues they are studying in the curriculum and with ongoing efforts to analyze and solve problems in the community.

While the College has a strong curriculum and programs, our strategic plan can describe ways to employ teaching and learning strategies, mentoring, advising, and technology that cause a powerful student experience and make obvious our commitment to a Liberal Arts Education. Our plan can help us to further impart the traditional aspects of the liberal arts — knowledge of human cultures and the physical and natural world through study in fine and performing arts, humanities, mathematics, science and social science. And through focused engagement with big questions, both contemporary and enduring , we can teach our students intellectual and practical skills, and how to become adept learners and responsible individuals.

As part of our strategic plan we will address faculty/staff workload as well. While it should be our common goal to grow as teachers, scholars, artists, performers, professionals and university citizens, we also need to keep in mind that this job can become consuming too easily. Please, find time for your family, your friends and yourself. Building strong relationships in your department, across the College and University is key.

Stay actively involved in professional development activities. I am interested in providing opportunities for us to discuss teaching and learning — from practical issues such as class size, student motivation, and classroom management, to pedagogical issues involving the study of best practices and engagement in the scholarship of teaching and learning. Please, take advantage of the UW Oshkosh Center for Scholarly Teaching and the UW System Office of Professional and Instructional Development.

I am impressed by the quality and quantity of the professional, creative and scholarly work of our faculty and staff as well as the amount of collaborative work done with students. Please, make time for the many opportunities the College and other units provide for the sharing of research and scholarship. Work with me so we can find ways to provide more professional development opportunities for faculty and staff. While this work is significant in its own right, it ultimately benefits the work that we do in the classroom.

I appreciate and value the work many of you have accomplished in the areas of departmental, college, university, professional and community service, and we need to make the rewards for this work explicit and meaningful. While I greatly value my teaching and scholarship, it has been through my service that I feel I have made a strong connection to the university and to mathematical and local communities.

We in COLS need to move the work of LERT forward. National research has shown that students, on one hand, think that they attend college to get credentials for a job, and many think general education courses are irrelevant. Faculty, on the other hand, often believe they are teaching what matters in their discipline and that they are engaging students inside and outside the classroom. We need to bridge the gap in how students and faculty view general education requirements and the significance of a college degree.

As you begin the semester, spend some time thinking about how you can help students understand and appreciate what we mean by a higher education experience that is grounded in the liberal arts and sciences. Find ways to communicate to students that a liberal arts education transcends preparation for specific careers and that it prepares them to be responsible citizens who understand and contribute to the changing world in which they live. It offers the opportunity for a good quality of life.

Many of us already have course objectives that coincide with the outcomes. But, we need to make that connection more obvious.

Our students need to receive positive messages about the value of a liberal arts education and need to hear them frequently. Find ways to weave these messages in your course material and share your ideas with each other. Throughout the Odyssey events I have encouraged our students to ask you, “Why do I have to take this class?” because I know you will prepare great answers!

Planning will assist us as we look at tough data — results of The National Survey on Student Engagement (the NSSE), the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (the FSSE), the DFW reports, the Campus Climate Survey, and reports on graduation/retention/credits to degree. We can learn what we do well and address areas of concern. We can understand why certain things happen and we can respond to change that is precipitated by urgent contingencies such as diversity, environmental factors and technology.

Toward the end of the retreat last week, participants were asked what they would say to those could not attend. In other words, what message would they like to send about the day and the planning process? I summarize the comments:

We can achieve a sense of unified direction as we paint the big picture. Through open involvement and broad representation, and while respecting our values and history, we will increase faculty, staff and student engagement — we will bring them “back to the University.”

Preparing and implementing a strategic plan will give us the opportunity and power to share our lives’ work with students and with the community.

In the 1940 film, My Little Chickadee, W.C. Fields was asked (while playing cards), “Is this a game of chance?” He replied, “No, not the way I play it."

I feel quite fortunate to have the privilege to work with all of you. I look forward to the development of our College Plan and I look forward to our increased success — success that I know will be caused by our direct actions, not by luck!

I wish you well. Have a great year!