Clarion 1987-03-13 Vol. 62 No. 15

              The Clarion
Vol. 62 No. 15:
ST. PAUL MINNESOTA
13 March 1987
Reduction in force tailored to future enrollment decline
by Doug France
Bethel College and Seminary
will undergo a reduction in
work force to match declining
student enrollment. The 1987-
1988 budget has a gap of
$420,000 between income and
expense that will be bridged by
eliminating approximately
twenty faculty, staff, and administrative positions. "Wherever
possible, this will be done by
natural attrition using existing
vacancies, resignations, and retirements to achieve the needed
downsizing with a minimum of
discomfort," stated President
Brushaber in a communique
directed to College and Seminary personnel.
"Nobody wants to lose a position," said Dean Jessup. A task
force comprised of faculty and
administrative members from
Outstanding
faculty will
be honored
by Laurie Port
The faculty approved a proposal at their March 10 meeting
establishing Faculty Excellence
Awards. Beginning this spring,
two awards will be given annually to honor outstanding
faculty: a Distinguished Teaching Award and a Distinguished
Service Award.
Each award will be accompanied by $500 from a fund
provided by the Dean. In addition, the recipient of the Distinguished Teaching Award
will give the address at the
initial convocation chapel in
the fall, and the winner of the
Distinguished Service Award
will speak at a chapel later in
the year which focuses on
Christian service and social
justice.
The proposal was initiated by
the Priorities Committee, who
will be responsible for this
year's selection. Jim Johnson,
Professor of History and chair
of the committee, said "We took
it upon ourselves to establish
the awards. I've been here
twenty-five years, and I felt it
was long overdue."
"The Priorities Committee
sat down to try and decide what
would be a way to honor our
colleagues," said Johnson, "to
say to them 'You have done
something special, and we want
to recognize that.'"
After a year-and-a-half and
the college and seminary has
been appointed to examine all
program areas to implement a
reduction in work force without handicapping a student or a
department.
Several methods will be used
to try to eliminate outright firings to reach budget projections. The college and seminary
share seven faculty, staff, and
administrative vacancies that
will not be filled. A retiring
senior faculty member can be
replaced by a junior member,
realizing a savings in dollars.
Three faculty members of the
college are resigning and their
positions may be filled by part-
time employees. A professor on
sabbatical may not be replaced
but his or her classes will be
offered the following year.
Classes with a historically low
enrollment rate may be eliminated or offered every other
year. Fewer sections of a given
class may be offered.
However, methods used to
reduce the work force are contingent upon the recommendations of the task force. The task
force is related to the Program
Review Process, which is
designed to determine the
strengths and weaknesses of all
faculty and administrative program areas in the college and
seminary. The PRC will also
give insight into opportunities
for new programs and program
improvements. The PRC is a
component of the Strategic
Planning Process which is a series of eight goals to guide the
allocation of Bethel's resources.
The reduction in work force
will not be completed until at
least September of 1987. It is
part of a long term plan to keep
the college and seminary
healthy and to manage the affairs of the institution better for
the future. "Bethel is not in
debt," said President Brushaber.
"Anticipating the fact that enrollment  depends  on   high
school graduation, we're positioning ourselves to accommodate the shrinking student
pool."
The shrinking student pool is
plaguing colleges across the
nation. Between 1982 and 1992
the number of graduating high
school students will drop by
38%. In small town Minnesota,
where Bethel draws the bulk of
its students, the figures are
higher. To effectively meet the
decline in enrollment, a reduction in the work force is, in
Dean Jessup's words, "A realistic adjustment that needs to be
made."
hi }-'-'i A.     -;*'!-  ■ ■
Students take advantage of the unseasonably warm weather last Friday in Kresge courtyard.
photo by George Wessman
Student Senate officers prepare for upcoming elections
Faculty see p. 2
by Brad Best
Student Senate met on Wednesday, March 6, deciding on
the times and places for class
forums and establishing an election board. Al Lazar, Connie
Jensen, Scott Nelson, Kim Swanson and Jess Elmquist volunteered to be on the election
board.
The Junior senators will meet
with their class on March 16 at
5:30 p.m. to find out the needs
of those students. The other
class forums occurred earlier in
the week. With elections coming up soon, Student Associa
tion President, Rod Schlauger
emphasized, "We are the official Senate for this year and we
will meet up until May 15."
Old Business consisted of R &
F chairperson Brian Carrington
reading Bill 28-21-1 and opening it up for discussion.
Schlauger views MAPCS as "a
wonderful opportunity for
Bethel to gel involved in Minnesota" and as "a very organized operation." An opposing
view came from Lisa Potocki
who said, "I have not been
impressed that MAPCS is the
most useful vehicle to bring
about these changes. I've seen
them as chaotic." The bill passed
with a 10-5 margin in favor of
allocating $200 to MAPCS.
One of the major concerns of
the previous week's meeting
was recently dismissed. Although the Nursing Department
is still in need of room, Beth
Ferrin said, "they are not in
favor of the move" to the library.
The Public Action Committee wrote Bill 28-22-1 and have
planned an informative forum
on abortion which doesn't lake
a side on the issue. Kathy
Feverda added, "The forum will
include  alternatives,  support
groups and a question/answer
time." Chairperson Steve Bona-
sera concluded, "This is going to
be in conjunction with the Student Faculty Social Issue Committee." It is scheduled for the
second week in April. The bill
was not discussed because it
had not gone through R & F.
Senators also discussed the
on-campus parking situation.
Potocki suggested, "We should
have a forum, showing the
administration that we're serious and have numbers to back
it up." Kim Swanson of SPC said
they would handle it.