Updated April 22, 2022
Dashboards for net operating and unit-based cost dashbards were released to the campus on April 20. The following Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) have been prepared to provide additional information.
Q: Are program-level data being utilized to guide the faculty exigency committee’s review process?
A: Yes, the dashboards produced and communicated to campus on April 20 provide a summary at the department level. The academic portfolio data being utilized for the faculty exigency committee and HSU leadership’s work and decision-making provides department, discipline, program, and individual instructional line data.
Q: How are shifts in instructional allocations over the past several years reflected in the data?
A: The dashboards provide tenure and tenure-line instructional data from the most recent completed academic year (2020-2021). Reducing adjuncts provided some immediate cost savings but HSU’s structural financial deficits and low retention and graduation rates resulted in the need to identify further reductions through the financial exigency process. This public-facing data is meant to provide context for the fact that tenured and tenure-line instructors comprise the majority of the current instructional expense, so these positions will be included in the review and recommendations provided to the Board of Trustees. Where possible, the academic portfolio data provided to the faculty exigency committee and HSU leadership has been adjusted for cost containment measures and departures identified during the current fiscal year or are known for the coming year.
Q: What is the relevance of the data regarding tenured and tenure-track faculty?
A: The academic portfolio data used by the financial exigency committee and HSU leadership includes instructor-line data for all instructors, including tenured and tenure-track. The faculty exigency committee and HSU leadership is considering program and discipline alignment with future enrollment and curricular needs, and in the event of a reduction in the number of faculty in a given department or division, but not the elimination of that unit, the HSU Faculty Handbook provides for priority of retention on the basis of the following criteria, stated in general order of importance: (a) tenure, (b) length of demonstrated professional excellence, and (c) rank.
Q: What factors are included in the net operating unit cost calculation for an academic program?
A: Actual revenues (e.g., tuition, department-, program-, and course-level fees) and expenses (e.g., instructional salary, overhead, reductions based on institutional grant/scholarship aid) from the institution’s general ledger are utilized to calculate operating costs. To maintain consistency, fairness, and an accurate representation of HSU’s actual current state, the faculty exigency committee and HSU leadership are not using information from the budget or other sources. These numbers are the real dollars we brought in and spent, reflecting our persistent cash-flow challenges.