Lisa Hoferkamp is president of the University of Alaska Southeast Faculty Senate. She sent a letter to University of Alaska President Jim Johnsen that plainly said faculty have mixed feelings about Strategic Pathways – a cost-saving measure Johnsen launched last year and is spearheading.
Johnsen has billed Strategic Pathways as an attempt to make the university leaner and more efficient. It is part of the University of Alaska’s answer to steep budget cuts from the state Legislature.
Hoferkamp said some UAS faculty understand what Strategic Pathways is supposed to do and they even support it.
“But there’s a sizable faction that are uncomfortable with what they see as intrinsic flaws to the process,” Hoferkamp said.
The UAS senate’s letter sits at the top of a growing pile of complaints against the university system’s cost-saving strategy.
Faculty senates in Anchorage and Fairbanks announced they have no confidence in Johnsen’s leadership.
Hoferkamp said faculty feel left out of a lot of decision making and many are worried that some decisions could hurt the university.
“Faculty believe that the university is built on shared governance,” she said. “It involves a two-way conversation and that the Strategic Pathways started out with almost none of that.”
Hoferkamp said it got a little bit better as Strategic Pathways progressed, but faculty across the university still feel left out.
Fallout from College of Education decision
She said a prime example of the frustration is the Fairbanks Faculty Senate’s reaction to a decision to eliminate the administrative parts of the Anchorage and Fairbanks schools of education per Johnsen’s recommendation.
The decision makes UAS the new headquarters for the College of Education.
The Fairbanks faculty senate felt so strongly that faculty weren’t consulted, they passed a resolution that said they have no confidence in the process for that decision. They also voted to declare no confidence in Johnsen’s leadership and so did the Anchorage senate.
Hoferkamp said originally, Johnsen was going to recommend the headquarters go to Fairbanks.
He changed his mind after multiple Southeast Alaska residents and elected officials asked him to recommend UAS, and the City and Borough of Juneau promised to donate a $1 million to the university.
Johnsen has also said he heard from multiple faculty members.
Hoferkamp said, “UAF and UAA feel like that whole process epitomizes the flaws, the inherent flaws in the Strategic Pathways process.”
She said some UAS faculty also question the way the school of education decision was made, but she stressed that they object to the process, not the final decision.
Johnsen says faculty were involved
Johnsen told the Senate Education Committee today that 250 faculty, staff, students and community members have participated in Strategic Pathways; and 89 faculty members were on the teams that studied the pros and cons of academic programs and administrative services that were identified for potential cuts and changes.
“Going forward there will be two rounds of consultation with every affected organizational unit in phase two,” Johnsen said. “So yours truly is going to be all over the place prior to my even reviewing the options with the Board of Regents in March, I will have had meetings with every faculty (and) staff member affected by the options that are being considered.”
Johnsen said the university is already using some faculty suggestions to improve Strategic Pathways and last year the university held public forums.
“On a couple of our campuses, we had roughly 400 people show up to these public forums,” he said.
He said during the forums in Fairbanks and Anchorage people mostly spoke about sports.
Finally, Johnsen said that change is hard and he can’t wait to make decisions after Legislative budget cuts. He said decisions have to be made quickly.
Faculty want financial analysis
Besides participation, faculty across the state are worried no one has done a financial analysis to find out what should and shouldn’t be cut.
Maren Haavig is an assistant professor of accounting at UAS.
She said, “So many faculty are concerned that the options developed and the decisions that have been made, really don’t account for the cost of these decisions, nor the effects on the student outcomes, or the long-term effects to the university, including faculty morale.”
A University of Alaska spokesperson said a financial analysis will be done after the Strategic Pathways options are presented to university leadership.
Hoferkamp said there are a number of UAS faculty who would also vote to declare no confidence in Johnsen, but they aren’t the majority. She said most want more inclusion, which is what she asked for in her letter.
Editors Note: A University of Alaska spokesperson said members of the public can call into the February 21 Board of Regents call-in session and share their thoughts on Strategic Pathways.
