Although not in time to advise new admits, the new university catalog (2012-14) is finally online. The description of the university's organization on page 13 reads: “The university is organized into four major divisions, each administered by a vice president: Academic Affairs, Enrollment Management and Student Affairs; Administration and Finance; Labor and Legal Affairs; and Budget and Resource Planning.” The catalog lists a number of administrators from the various "major divisions." Notable by its absence is a listing of the highly-placed persons who currently reside in Enrollment Management and Student Affairs. Neither Angela Henderson nor Cheri Sidney's names appear anywhere in the catalog. Why?
Although the catalog provides educational information for only a handful of administrators, neither of the top two persons in Enrollment Management, Henderson or Sidney, are even listed. Again, why? You would think that a portion of the university operation that is steadily growing would be prominently featured in any university publication. The university should be particularly proud of an Associate Vice President--earning a six-figure salary--who was hired with no previous university administrative experience and educational qualifications equivalent to an on-line Bachelor's degree from the Board of Governors program.
Are these omissions just mistakes or simple oversights? I'll leave that question for you to decide. However, prior to the Board's imposition of Wayne Watson on our school, the university catalog listed educational qualifications for everyone in the publication. Interesting that the practice no longer obtains.
Just for information, according to Institutional Research, the university's enrollment has sunk to 6158 as of August 24. This is down from 6684 on August 24, 2011, which represented a decline from 7242 (reported in Provost Council on September 22, 2010). For those of you who are counting, that's a fifteen percent drop in two years. Given that one of Wayne Watson's charges from the Board is to increase Chicago State's enrollment, this is quite a dazzling performance.
The academic side of the catalog was completed for publication in mid-April. All units, including non-academic units were to have completed their review of catalog updates by mid-March. Enrollment Management did not comply with numerous requests for review of their sections of the catalog, including requests for the correct information about educational credentials about any new hires. Apparently, the information was never provided, though publication was clearly held up until the last possible date. There was plenty of time to update any information regarding the organization of the university. So in addition to driving enrollment down, it is obvious that Enrollment Management cannot comply with even simple requests for accurate information or be bothered to check that the information published is correct. And they get six figures for that? Jeeze.
ReplyDeleteHow’s that mock HLC visit going?
The acolytes and apologists for this administration must acknowledge that this is what they are defending: Crony hires who are unfit for their positions produce results that demonstrate their unfitness. To wit, declining enrollment. To those complaining about things like this blog and its critiques of the administration, ask yourself how much the blog really contributes to the school's negative public image or whether the incompetence and excesses of some of our administrators are the root of our "image" problems.
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