In this area we will discuss many of our institutional resources. For an update on Financial Resources, see Response to NEASC Area of Special Emphasis – Financial Resources.
Human Resources
Wesleyan’s Human Resources department reviews its policies yearly–receiving feedback from the HR Advisory Board (a 12- to 15-person group representing larger staff units on campus), the Budget Working Group (a smaller group of high-level staff that approves new staff postings), and the Compensation and Benefits Committee (a standing faculty committee that meets regularly with the Provost, HR, and the VP for Finance and Administration). These regular reviews have led to some significant investments in Wesleyan’s human resources over the past few years. As discussed in the 2012 self-study, Wesleyan faculty salaries at the time had fallen behind those at other schools so that we no longer met our goal of salaries falling in the middle of our peer group. This shortfall has been addressed by increasing the salaries of our tenured and tenure-track faculty over a three-year period beginning in 2012-2013. This was achieved through annual one-time lump sum increases in addition to the regular across-the-board and merit increases, and our comparison data now shows us at or above the middle of our peer group for full professors, associate professors, and assistant professors. With our goal met, we have returned to the use of our regular across-the-board and merit increase process; we will, of course, continue to annually monitor salaries relative to those of our peer schools. Human Resources also regularly conducts salary reviews for staff to ensure that staff positions are appropriately compensated, as well.
In addition to investing in faculty and staff salaries, in 2016-2017 Wesleyan demonstrated our commitment to using innovative hiring and retention strategies in order to diversify our faculty and staff by developing an explicit Opportunity Hire Policy (https://www.wesleyan.edu/inclusion/equity/opphire_FacutyandStaff.pdf). This policy facilitates the hiring of faculty and staff from underrepresented groups in situations when there is no current open position but the individual has excellent qualifications and would make a positive impact on a program or the University. We have already hired a few faculty under this policy; we have received a few applications from departments for staff opportunity hires, but as of yet none have met the policy guidelines.
Another Human Resources policy that Wesleyan recently clarified after requesting community feedback is the link between the rubric of our framework for planning–Wesleyan 2020–and the three to five goals that all staff must set for themselves as part of the annual performance review process. In the past, the policy stated that all staff goals must be tied to one of the overall University goals as stated in Wesleyan 2020. In 2016-2017, President Roth asked Human Resources to conduct a review of the employee goal setting process. The feedback from staff consistently emphasized the importance and relevance of annual goal setting and performance reviews. However, the feedback also showed that the request to tie individual employee goals to the overarching goals of Wesleyan 2020 occasionally felt forced. President Roth clarified that it is acceptable for staff to submit individual goals for the year without indicating the connection to one of the overarching themes as long as there is a discussion about it during the goal setting process. All of these examples demonstrate the ongoing, regular consideration Wesleyan pays to our human resources.
Information, Physical, and Technological Resources
In the area of information resources, Wesleyan’s library is currently going through a period of significant change. In order to make more effective use of space, the Art Library moved into Olin Library — leaving us with a total of two library facilities, Olin and the Science Library, rather than three. The 2014 departure of the University Librarian led to an extensive self-study of the library as well as an external review. These reviews revealed significant assets but also significant challenges, particularly with respect to student engagement with library resources and the need to better manage those resources. After a national search, a new Caleb T. Winchester University Librarian was hired and began in July 2016. We expect significant changes ahead, likely first in the internal organization of the library staff, and subsequently in the use of space within the library facilities.
There are also many changes ongoing in the area of physical resources. Since 2012, Wesleyan’s facilities work has continued to focus on annual maintenance and renovation projects, some quite significant. The most significant change was in the nature of the attention given to planning for the future. In 2014-2015, we worked with Sasaki Associates and Eastley+Partners to develop a set of principles to guide campus development over the next twenty years. (See Standard 2). A tremendously successful project influenced by these principles was the introduction of informal learning spaces in the Exley Science Center lobby. An austere marble hallway system that students hurried through has been transformed into an expansive area where students hang out, converse, and study, with a coffeehouse area nearby and additional outdoor seating on the previously unutilized patio area. This area is adjacent to another space improved since 2012: a 24/7 classroom and study space where tables, chairs, and computer equipment are easily movable. Designed with project-based learning in mind, this space receives extensive use for classes and for student study.
The work with Sasaki and Eastley involved consultation with all campus stakeholders, most especially students. A survey showed that Fisk Hall, one of the most heavily used classroom buildings on campus, was one of the least welcoming for students. It was dark and forbidding, and access to the bathrooms on the ground floor was through a dark and unwelcoming corridor. The first two floors of Fisk were renovated in summer 2016. Now bright, airy, and welcoming, they are home to two nascent programs: the Center for Pedagogical Innovation and the Center for Global Studies.
The Fisk renovation reminded us that while exterior appearance is important, we cannot neglect the guts of our buildings — from plumbing to the mechanicals and the air handling. A number of our buildings create significant challenges. One, Wesleyan’s Alsop House, is on the national register of historic places, but it has seen very little use for many years because the floor in some areas is unsafe. We also have a science building, Hall-Atwater, that is at the end of its useful life, and the envelope of Olin Library needs major work, which we will begin this summer.
In response to these challenges, we have begun to think about larger-scale projects, the kind that we have not undertaken since the renovation of the squash building referred to in our 2012 report. (That building, re-dedicated as Boger Hall in May 2016, received the Platinum LEED designation in Connecticut under the new standards.) These projects require a longer timeline, with several years of planning and resource development. In addition, we plan to add one million dollars annually, phased in over a few years, to our major maintenance budget to address some of the mechanical and envelope issues in our buildings.
As discussed in Standard 2, in all of our facilities planning Wesleyan has continued its focus on sustainability, as well as energy efficiency, and environmentally conscious energy projects. The University’s microgrid was completed in 2014, and in fall 2016 we completed the installation of a new 750 kW-AC solar farm that is expected to produce about five percent of Wesleyan’s annual electric consumption. Other examples include the photovoltaic systems at Freeman Athletic Center, Senior Houses, Admission and now Long Lane, which came on line in October 2016; geothermal systems at two Senior Houses; and a 676 kW cogeneration unit at the Freeman Athletic Center. Finally, a rebuild of the cogeneration engine at the Central Power Plant, completed in February 2017, has added efficiency, reliability, and enhanced business continuity to the entire campus.
With respect to technological resources, the University has made major changes over the past few years. Upgrades to existing infrastructure (e.g. campus data center, wireless network, and classrooms) and adoption of cloud solutions for some critical services (e.g. Slate for Admissions, Brightcove for video, Microsoft Office 365 for productivity) has standardized and improved these systems while increasing efficiency and capacity. In addition to optimizing core systems and services, we are now applying information technology personnel and systems to strategic institutional initiatives. An example is the implementation of data analytics to integrate academic data (including student data from courses, admission and financial aid) with financial and human resources data to assess how we are serving our students in all departments and programs. (See Standard 2 for more information). Like our peer institutions, we are discovering that this is a multi-year endeavor, replete with challenges of combining data from disparate systems and changing the culture of data sharing between business units.
Of course, there are still software applications that must be written internally — the most important of which is our “electronic portfolio,” which serves as a portal through which Wesleyan faculty, staff, and students access much of the information and services needed to support their campus activities. While the e-portfolio served us well for many years, its underlying code had become insecure and too cumbersome to maintain or upgrade. A complete re-write of this system during 2016-2017 resulted in the launch of a new system, called WesPortal, is much more secure and easier to use. The staff version was completed in fall 2016, while the student and faculty versions launched in summer 2017.
ITS has also recently been reorganized to better meet the needs of the University. As part of this restructuring, the web development team, which had been part of ITS, now reports to University Communications, which better reflects their role of technical expertise in support of communications and marketing. There is a new position of Deputy CIO, and the Director of Academic Technology now reports to this position. Our Academic Technologists, who in the past had each been assigned to a particular academic division, are no longer divisionally assigned; instead they share expertise and work across divisional boundaries to align the most knowledgeable support person with the faculty member, regardless of the latter’s home department. We hope that these organizational changes will lead to more positive “customer service” experiences for the faculty and staff who need technological support.