University Business - January 2010 - (Page 16)

Behind the news P E O P L E W AT C H Having been involved in efforts tHat generated more than $500 million in grants and gifts for institutions he has served, thomas W. Keefe knows how to cultivate donors. His expertise will aid him when he becomes president of the University of Dallas in March. since 2005, Keefe has been vice president of advancement at Saint Louis University (Mo.), where he led fundraising efforts for a new building and sports arena and a $300 million capital campaign and restructured alumni, development, and university relations. … Florida State University alumnus and scientist eric J. barron will take over for retiring president t.K. Wetherell. in his first year as director of the national Center for atmospheric research (nCar) in 2008, barron developed a plan to address budget challenges. this year, nCar had its greatest annual budget increase in nearly a Eric J. Barron decade. before leading the center, barron was dean of the Jackson school of geosciences at The University of Texas at Austin. the school is now executing his strategic plan to expand the faculty and transform student recruitment and services. … two higher ed leaders will serve on a commission to advise President obama on bioethical issues. James W. Wagner of Emory University (ga.) will be vice chair and the University of Pennsylvania’s amy gutmann will serve as chair. … Community College of Rhode Island President ray di Pasquale is now also the state’s acting commissioner of higher education. … Sacred Heart University (Conn.) President anthony J. Cernera has been re-elected as president of the international federation of Catholic Universities. … george r. boggs plans to retire at the end of 2010 from his presidency of the american association of Community Colleges, which he has led since 2000. a search is underway for the next aaCC president. … Marilee Jones, former dean of admissions at MIT, has opened Marilee Jones Consulting, a college admissions firm. she resigned from Mit in 2007 after admitting she fabricated her credentials when hired. —Michele Herrmann U success Pool Pay-off at Kent state Kent State’s Lester A. Lefton (left), president, and Robert Frank, provost and senior vice president, ceremoniously present a check to AAUP President Kara L. Robinson. On December 1, 819 faculty in the tenureD/tenure track collective bargaining unit at Kent State University (Ohio) were paid $2,855 each, before taxes, as a result of an incentive program built into a three-year agreement that took effect in august 2008. it’s the first program of its type in higher education, according to university officials. the success pool provides these faculty members of the aauP-kSu with annual bonuses based upon the university’s ability to achieve certain goals related to funded research, student retention, and funds raised in institutional development. “We wanted to encourage them to recognize that they could influence those things,” says robert frank, provost and senior vice president of the university. in a statement, President lester a. lefton describes the program as taking “a large step with faculty toward keeping the focus on our shared desire of enhancing faculty scholarship, advancing innovation and excellence in teaching, and improving the student experience.” frank says the idea came up two summers ago in contract negotiations. “my recollection is that [the faculty] didn’t see it as important as we did at the beginning of the conversation.” eventually, they were convinced “it was something with credible advantages and no disadvantages,” he adds. the goals fit well with President lefton’s values, which faculty know well because “every time the president speaks retention and improving our science position comes up.” also, there have been a lot of discussions with faculty about how they know who is interested in the institution and how they might bring in the development team on what they know. this was the first of two opportunities for faculty to earn the incentive over the course of the three-year contract. Departments budgeted for the potential payment in advance, although “retention was staggeringly higher than we thought it would be,” frank says, so more than originally thought had to be budgeted for. because the economy was in a much better place than it is now when the deal was made, some faculty have suggested that the bonus be given back, frank says. While it’s just a suggestion, aauP President kara l. robinson formally encouraged faculty to donate it to a student scholarship fund or the broader community. Still, it’s a program that frank believes others in higher ed might emulate. he says, “i think any university that’s trying to move quickly and focus attention on critical issues might consider this approach.” —Melissa Ezarik universitybusiness.com 16 | January 2010 http://www.universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - January 2010

University Business - January 2010
Contents
Editor's Note
Company Index
College Index
Advisory Board
Behind the News
Community Colleges
Sense of Place
Viewpoint
Human Resources
Money Matters
Endowments 2010: Risk Management, Liquidity, Stewardship
Donor 3.0
Reporting for Duty
End Note

University Business - January 2010