UA report card: Four areas need improvement

"It must be recognized that the areas listed are those that our faculty also feel strongly about, and that faculty have stepped up to do," said Paul Sypherd in an interview via electronic mail. "But at the same time, our budgets have continued to be a challenge."

The Arizona Board of Regents, which approved the report card Feb. 13, rated 20 system-wide areas in categories such as undergraduate education and quality of instruction as superior, satisfactory or needs improvement.

Regent Kurt Davis said the document, created to be a succinct, goal-related source of information, provides a communication link from the board to the legislators and general public.

"A student or a citizen can now sit down and see a strategic plan," he said.

A grade of superior was given to areas that have met or exceeded goals; areas labeled needs improvement did not change, were below standard performance or did not have a plan for improvement.

Four areas were rated as needing improvement. They are :

• The rates at which students stay in school and graduate

• Access to core faculty by undergraduate students

• Progress toward implementing online academic programs

• Privatization of university functions - the state's goal to shift in-house services and functions to private-sector businesses when practical.

While the report card assessed the university system as a whole, Tony Seese-Bieda, the regents' assistant executive director for public affairs, said the university presidents would be held accountable for individual progress.

Sypherd said these areas will be addressed by improving the University of Arizona undergraduate experience.

"Enormous progress has been made in improving the undergraduate experience, from the classroom improvement project, to more class availability to improvements in the curriculum," he said. "The faculty are committed to UA being 'student centered.'"

Regent Judy Gignac said that Arizona's three universities have been working on student retention, higher graduation rates and the time spent between students and faculty.

"There have been shifts in class schedules and in getting core faculty into the classrooms," Davis said. "The U of A has improved pretty well."

The universities are also working together to improve technology-delivered instruction, Gignac said.

UA offered about 50 courses this year in departments such as electrical and computer engineering and library science via the Internet, live television and tape.

Gignac also said that privatizing university functions strengthens the relationship between university and community.

"The U of A will be able to do more of this with the (Memorial) Student Union renovation," she said.

In the past couple of months, the regents have been discussing renovation of the Student Union.

About 300 copies of the report card were distributed to legislators, constituent groups, such as the Arizona Chamber of Commerce, and were made available to the public.

Seese-Bieda said that only a half-dozen citizens have requested a copy of the report.

"If we had the financial means, we would send copies to all students and parents," Davis said.

He said the document could help incoming freshmen decide whether to attend an Arizona university.

"It would be nice to see how a college is rated," said Katie Oswald, a psychology freshman. "It would help me decide which college to chose if I were an incoming freshman."

Oswald picked the UA because of the Psychology Department and the location.

"If you look at what a student has to pay for an education, Arizona is doing an absolutely outstanding job," Davis said. "We are recognized nationally for our education and research institutions."

A tuition raise of 2.5 percent for in-state students and 4 percent for out-of-state students was approved last month by the regents, which will make in-state tuition cost $1,989 and out-of-state cost $8,640.

An in-state resident attending a public university in the United States pays an average of about $3,300 in tuition and fees.

"You want to have great access to faculty, hold up standards and keep tuition reasonable," Davis said. "It is difficult to meet all of these goals."

The regents agreed that minor adjustments to the report card will have to be made, but there are no specific plans to change it.

"As an informal follow up, the universities will look at what needs improvement," Seese-Bieda said. "I anticipate this will happen by mid-summer or so."