For Release March 26
Board of Regents Meets at DSU, Discusses System Collaboration
MADISON-The Board of Regents, meeting today at Dakota State University, approved policy measures to establish Discipline Councils and to clarify tuition and fee definitions. The Discipline Council policy was developed by representatives from the universities in response to the Regents' request, made last August, that university leadership enhance opportunities for institutions to collaborate and optimize the use of resources.
Discipline Councils will integrate academic disciplines across the system by providing an opportunity for the institutions to coordinate their activities in instruction, scholarship, and service. Separate councils will be established for different disciplines, such as the sciences, foreign languages, education etc. Each council will be responsible for developing a statewide perspective on needs to be addressed by the discipline in a cooperative manner.
Regents' President Karl H. Wegner explained that, linking discipline delivery across the system is important to serve statewide education and service needs. He said, "First, to ensure an integration of curriculum service to students who may be highly mobile and second, to ensure that system resources are effectively utilized at multiple instruction sites across the state. University programs can be strengthened by approaching academic programs and resource utilization through a system-wide alliance."
Regents Executive Director Robert T. Tad Perry explained that, this alliance through Discipline Councils can enhance course offerings at each instruction site, improve access for students, and maximize faculty expertise and specialization the university system. The Discipline Councils will also allow the universities to focus on recruiting faculty with strengths in specialty areas, rather than seeking generalists who are required to teach a wide range of academic material.
Perry said that, "The development of Discipline Councils will ensure the effective use of resources, as well as permit the universities to address better state needs for service and research." Wegner added that, "The overall system approach of the Discipline Councils represents a focus on cooperative, rather than competitive, relationships between universities."
The Regents also approved a policy change to standardize fee definitions system-wide and to clarify how some fees may be raised. The new policy recognizes the Higher Education Price Index (HEPI) as the inflationary measure that tracks the appropriate broad market basket of costs associated with higher education. HEPI is an inflationary gauge widely used to measure increased costs affecting higher education institutions. The new policy allows HEPI to be used in determining annual increases in tuition and the university support fee. It is Board policy to limit tuition increases to the rate of inflation indicated by HEPI. The policy does not allow non-inflationary fees to be raised according to HEPI. These fees, such as the general activity fee, can be raised only after appropriate justification for the increase.
Also in the policy change is a clarification of how students enrolled in Internet courses will be charged, and the university support fee and the student health fee have been combined and will be assessed on all credit hours.
The Board will meet tomorrow and discuss FY98 tuition and fees as well as elect new officers before adjournment at 11:30 AM (CST).