Pace Paw Print

Media Credit: pace.edu Interim Provost Geoff Brackett was one of the Administrators present at the meeting On Dec. 7, where faculty and staff requested better communication throughout the Pace Community.

Four administrators headed a discussion session Friday morning, where communication issues between administrators and faculty and staff were discussed. Other topics such as retention rates, faculty evaluations, the existence of an emergency loan fund for students, and dorm conditions were also discussed on a smaller scale.

The meeting took place in the Gottesman Room from ten to around half past noon. Steven Johnson, University Director of the Office of Student Accounts (OSA), Patrick Love, Associate Provost, Robina Schepp, Interim Vice President and Lisa Bardill-Moscaritolo, Dean for Students were the four administrators present, as well as Geoff Brackett, Interim Provost and Executive Vice President for Student Affairs, who came later due to a conference call. The meeting was open to all faculty and staff as well as all students. Approximately 30 faculty and staff members and approximately two students came.

The issue of staff members not being as informed as faculty members was brought up by Bernice Houle, Associate Dean of the School of Computer Science and Information Systems.

"Things seem to be going to faculty and not to staff," she said.

Johnson said that a lot of information can be found on the Pace Portal.

Schepp added that another source of information is the Pace Pulse, a weekly news letter distributed to Pace students, faculty and staff.

The reason the Pulse was created, Schepp said, was to cut down on emails that would flood inboxes with all the news for one week.

However, she also acknowledged the need to "prioritize what we see" by separating "what we need to read versus what we are pushing."

Faculty and staff also stated that they did not receive information, such as Pace's NSSE's scores and the audit report.

One staff member asked for more transparency from the current administration after the previous one, which she said was "secretive and manipulative" by not instituting any pay increases, announcing a budget deficit, and placing a hiring freeze.

"We want the good news as well as the bad news," she said.

"I think there is an appropriate way to share all kinds of information," Schepp said. "Some things would not be good for everyone outside Pace to know about."

Love said the current administration is recovering from a "culture of not sharing information," such as NSSE scores.

He mentioned that faculty and staff can send any questions or comments to the email: success@pace.edu. According to Love, the email represents an effort to reach out more to faculty and staff, who know what the students' needs are.

Another issue was the telephone system at OSA, which was also brought up at the community meeting in November when both students and staff reported that no one picked up the phone when they called.

Johnson said that OSA is in the process of installing a new phone system that will monitor the number of dropped and received calls.

Love acknowledged that communication within the university was still a work in progress.

"We're by no means stating that the communication here is just fine," he said.

"The communications issue is tied to the efficiency issue," Brackett added. He stated that the administration is "comprehensively going through the system to increase efficiency."

Another issue addressed was retention rates.

Love stated that the top reasons for students to transfer from Pace included price, the cost versus the value (in other words: what students are getting for their money), customer service, and academic rigor and quality.

"Very few students leave for a single issue," he said. "It's usually an accumulation of things."

Love said that the administration was addressing the problem based on collecting data from students who are thinking about leaving.

"The purpose is not to convince them to stay…If that was an outcome, that'd be great…. but to show them that faculty is concerned."

Barbara Pennipede, the Assistant Vice President for Planning Assessment and Research, said that Pace's NSSE scores also provided insight as to why students leave.

Pennipede said that 62 percent of seniors who were asked if they could do it over would they return to Pace answered "definitely" or "probably."

"We're not doing as well as we think we could in faculty-staff interaction," she said, though she did state that there has been an improvement in this area since 2002, when Pace first participated in NSSE.

However, she also added that in the category of learning enrichment, which includes areas such as co-ops, internships and study-abroad, Pace is in the top 10 percent.

Another faculty member also asked if there was an emergency loan fund for Pace students, which would provide about one to two thousand dollars in aid for students in financial crisis.

Johnson replied that to his knowledge there wasn't one, but there might be one that isn't advertised.

"We can always work with the student government to see if that's something we want to do," he said.

Another faculty member inquired about what exactly was done with faculty evaluations.

Houle replied that the faculty member getting evaluated, as well as their chair and dean, each get a copy of the evaluation. She said that the faculty is "urged" to review them and if there is an issue the faculty member is called into the chair and/or dean's office.

The challenge of the evaluations, Houle said, is "getting students to fill them out and do it thoughtfully."

Another faculty member inquired about how well student dorm life is being monitored, saying that one student she spoke with had a poor experience.

"To be honest the facilities are not in good condition," said Bardill-Moscaritolo. She also acknowledged the need to communicate with faculty advisors to make sure complaints are heard.

Brackett said a list of improvements for the dorm facilities was compiled by the student government this year.

"Trouble in the dorm is an early warning sign of dissatisfaction," he added.

After running approximately thirty minutes over the scheduled time, the meeting ended.

"We're going to take back some of the issues here," said Love. "If you've got a question and don't know where to turn? Ask us."

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