TC Communique Issue 1, Number 6

Setting financial priorities at Teachers College, Columbia University

A review of recommendations from students, alumni, faculty and staff members confirmed a message that resonated throughout the Financial Priorities Committee hearings: improving the physical plant and increasing the amount of financial aid should be among the top priorities at Teachers College. At its February 25 meeting, the panel reviewed recommendations on financial priorities from the Alumni Council, Faculty Executive Committee, Department Chairs, Student Representatives, the Professional Staff Executive Committee and the Management Network.

March 25 Vote on Priorities, Followed by a Series of Open Forums

During the next few weeks, members of the Financial Priorities Committee will review the materials they have received since the first discussion of physical plant needs in the Fall. On March 25, the committee will vote on which programs they recommend be funded through a Capital Campaign and how much money each program should receive.

After that vote, the FPC is going to schedule a series of open forums with the various constituencies of the TC community. Those meetings will be an opportunity for individual members of the TC community to personally voice their concerns and hopes. Several members of the committee, including FPC chairman Joseph Brosnan, Vice President for Development and External Affairs, will attend the sessions.

On April 29, the committee will have one last change to incorporate feedback from the open forums before it takes the final vote and sends its recommendation to the Teachers College President and Board of Trustees.

You Can File Comments with the Committee Via the Internet

The committee wants and needs your feedback. The TC community can give feedback at any time to FPC members or by sending electronic mail to fpc@columbia.edu. There is also a newsgroup on Usenet (accessible via Pine, Netscape or other browsers), columbia.tc.fpc, where faculty, students and staff can discuss the strategic planning process and the committee's tentative recommendations. Back issues of the TC Communique are posted on the TC Web site, http://www.tc.columbia.edu/~newsbureau/, and to the columbia.tc.fpc newsgroup.

Tough Choices, Limited Funds

The College organizations solicited for their recommendations now understand the difficult task facing the members of the Financial Priorities Committee. David Gomez, President of the Alumni Council, said: "The difficulty is not in agreeing on the importance of these priorities but, rather, deciding on the emphasis that should be placed on any of these proposals."

"While many view the deterioration of the physical plant as a pressing issue, others fear that not addressing the issues of technology will compromise the College's position as a leader in the educational community. Still others expressed concern over what could be broadly referred to as 'quality of life' issues."

Department Chairs: Questions About Spending Within Categories

Department Chairs supported spending a substantial portion on repairing the physical plant. The true "heart and soul" of Teachers College is the classroom, they said. After major structural repairs like the roofs, classrooms--particularly those used for conferences and other revenue-generating activities--should be renovated. Then the College should consider public areas like the entrance to Main Hall, Horace Mann Auditorium and Milbank Chapel.

The Chairs support doctoral research fellowships, but they disagreed about what would be the most strategic use of financial aid for master's students. There was some concern that a proposed $8,000 package would be insufficient to support master's students on a full-time basis. Others felt financial aid should be offered to in-service students as well.

While the Chairs voiced their general support for distance learning, they expressed concern about how the program would be implemented and said that the proposal for distance learning "does not take into consideration the range of ways in which knowledge is constructed and used."

Faculty's Top Priorities: Renovations, Student Aid, and Professional Development

First and foremost, the Faculty Executive Committee recommended that the College invest in critical repairs to the roof, plumbing and wiring of the College. After that, the committee said that student aid should be at the top of the list.

It recommended that an endowment be established for financial aid. For the first five years, however, the faculty recommended that extra funds be drawn from the new endowment "to stimulate an upgrading of the quality of student experiences at TC." Instructional space renovation--including classrooms and faculty offices--should also be a high priority, the FEC said. The faculty also want to commit additional funds for endowed chairs and for faculty professional development, which would include money for research and travel to conferences, and for improving teaching techniques. The FEC also said that money should be earmarked for the child care center.

Management Network and Professional Staff Exec. Committee Recommendations

Michelle Brown-Nevers, who chairs the Management Network, conducted a survey of the 29 administrators who are part of the organization. The Management Network consists of administrators who report to Cabinet-level leadership at the College. Like the faculty and the department chairs, members of the Management Network suggested that the physical plant and student aid should receive a substantial portion of any money raised in a capital campaign.

The Professional Staff Executive Committee said the best use of capital campaign funds would be to renovate large meeting spaces, like the Horace Mann Auditorium and Milbank Chapel. Those spaces are used to generate revenue and would lessen the use of outside rented space. The Professional Staff Executive Committee, which represents 285 full-time professionals at the College, also recommended that classrooms, office spaces and the library be given priority. The committee also supports funds for an expanded childcare facility.

"As individuals and as a group, the Professional Staff Executive Committee found much to support within each of the proposals," said Marion Boultbee, chair of the PSEC. But the committee also had questions about some of the proposals presented to the FPC. For example, it supports student recruitment and retention as a high priority but could not agree on whether the proposal to establish a $50 million endowment for scholarships would accomplish that goal.

Students Call for More Financial Aid and Renovated Facilities

Tamara Webb, a student representative on the FPC, told the committee that "the quality of student life cannot be separated from issues dealing with financial aid, facilities and equipment, academic program support or technology." There is a critical need for more financial aid, according to Webb.

"The reality is that students have more indebtedness after one year at TC than during their entire four years as an undergraduate," she said. The pressure to find part-time jobs to fund their education limits students' ability to fully participate in learning experiences outside the classroom.

Improving the physical plant is another top priority for students. The improvements they called for range from major structural repairs and renovating classrooms and restrooms to constructing comfortable lounge areas for commuter students. Academic initiatives, such as the Center for Excellence in Teaching, also have student support because improving the academic environment for faculty will also improve the learning environment for students.