Despite enrollment declines over the past several years, a new report from the NMU AAUP shows the student to faculty ratio has remained relatively high and is likely to increase. NMU faculty already outpace their peers with regard to the number of students to full-time equivalent faculty, and further cuts proposed in the administration’s realignment plan could push that ratio to new highs. NMU AAUP’s Data Analyst George Wilson has assembled an analysis of student enrollment and faculty levels at NMU based upon data gathered from NMU’s public reports to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the university’s public reports on its Institutional Research website (www.nmu.edu/institutionalresearch/), and data provided by the university to the NMU AAUP. To read Dr. Wilson’s entire report click here.

Mistrust and a lack of clear communication about budget decisions were the main takeaways from the survey results presented at the Transparency Action Steering Committee’s presentation on Thursday, February 11, in Jamrich Hall. Co-Chairs Rhea Dever, Dir. of Human Resources and Jes Thompson, Associate Professor in CAPS presided over the meeting attended by about 30 faculty and staff, ten students and members of the TASC.

The survey involved 975 participants with 846 completing their surveys. Over 670 students participated with just over 300 faculty and staff. Some of the most notable findings show 94 percent of faculty and staff agreed the campus-wide decision-making process mattered to them, and 83 percent of students said it mattered to them as well. Seventy-one percent of faculty/staff and 65 percent of students said decisions having campus-wide impact are not effectively communicated. A vast majority of faculty and staff (83%) did not believe there is a climate of trust on campus while 48 percent of students said they agreed there is a climate of trust.

On specific questions about hiring and input on curriculum, both faculty and students agreed there was sufficient transparency. However, when asked about satisfaction with the level of transparency and involvement in the budget, the numbers fall off dramatically. Seventy-two percent of all respondents disagreed there was adequate transparency concerning budget issues while 70 percent felt the same about the level of involvement. More details and slides from the presentation can be viewed by clicking here. The text of the report can be reviewed by clicking here.

During finals week of the fall 2015 semester, NMU AAUP faculty provided free cookies and coffee to students passing by in the lounge area of the Jamrich Building. The students were also asked to fill out an informal survey about course availability. They were also asked to respond with written comments concerning things that should or should not be cut from the budget.

Of the 187 students who participated in the survey, 25% said they were at least somewhat dissatisfied with their ability to get into classes they wanted for winter 2016. Two out of five students indicated they were unable to get into all the classes they wanted. Of the 78 students who were unable to get all of the classes they wanted, half of them said these courses were necessary to graduate. Nevertheless, 68 % of the respondents said they were at least somewhat confident they would get the courses needed to graduate within their timetable.

Written comments reflected widespread criticism of the extra fee charged for online courses. Another theme was the concern over cutting too many classes out of the schedule. Students also expressed concerns that cuts to the educational offerings at NMU would further impact enrollment in the future. One student wrote, “I used to be very confident and sincere in recommending high school students and friends come to NMU because of all of the amazing opportunities I have had while here (field trips, small classes, ability to do research as an undergraduate, funding to travel to conferences, scholarships for summer internships, scholarships for an education here, leadership development programs, other support for extracurricular activities, etc.). Although none of these programs (funding for the Harden Scholarship, for the honors program, for SLFP, for freshman fellows, from individual departments to travel for research, etc.) have specifically been cut, I seriously fear they will be. These are the things that made NMU stand out for me, and these are the programs that made this university for me. If the programs get cut, I won’t be able to tell people to come here because I know they won’t be able to have the same small school with many opportunities experience I had.”

To view all of the written comments from survey respondents, click here. NMU faculty members Lynne Johnson, Bonnie Betzinger and Jamie Kuehnl contributed to this article through data collection and/or data entry along with our NMU AAUP secretary Andrea Jordan. NMU student Joe Rowles assisted with writing the article and reviewing the data.