SUMMARY
- St. Francis University was a medium-sized private University, located in a major port city in Visayas. The University is well known for its Engineering and Science degree courses and was one of the better private universities in the city. The College of Commerce was distributed among the four major fields, namely: Banking and Finance, Accounting, Marketing and Business Management.
- Mr. Santos assumed the position of Dean of the College of Commerce following the retirement of the incumbent who previously occupied the position of Vice Dean for Administration, was eager to improve further the enrolment of the college. The College of Commerce had experience one of the more rapid growth in enrolment in the University during the past ten years.
- Dean Santos proposed to the Rector a reorganization of College which would reduce the existing number of departments from 6 to 3. Dean Santos considered the cost increase in running the college and difficulty in raising the tuition fee. The financial benefits would be the basis of the savings of the stated cost. The department heads are against proposal. Many believe that the merging would create a loss of academic identity in the departments.
PROBLEM
What would be the administrative changes and/or concerns for improvement to uplift the college’s performance in terms of the number of enrollees? To increase the number of enrollees in the College of Commerce.
AREAS OF CONSIDERATIONS
- The College. St. Francis is a medium sized private University with total enrolment of 26,000 students. The College of Commerce is a major unit of the University but was far second in enrolment with only 3,000 students compared to College of Engineering with more than a third of University’s enrolment. The College has 55 full time faculty and over 100 lecturers.
- The Dean. Dean Santos was eager to improve further the enrolment of the college and believed that gains in enrolment can be continued through combination of curricular improvements and administrative changes.
- The Organization. Reporting directly to the Dean were six heads of academic departments who directly supervised the full time faculty and lecturers. The department heads were senior faculty who were academically/professionally most prepared in the department. The six departments had become closely knit groups of teachers congenial in their dealings with each other and somewhat jealous of their department’s academic reputation.
- The Proposed Reorganization. Dean Santos proposed reorganization of the college which would reduce the six departments to three. The estimated savings from the reorganization is 65,000 pesos per year. The heads of department currently receive special allowance ranging from 800 to 1,200 pesos per month in addition to regular salaries. The department heads were unanimously against the proposal and many of the regular faculty supported their stand. Dean Santos believed the advantage of the proposal is that people can cross fertilize each other.
ALTERNATIVE COURSE OF ACTIONS
To recommend to the Board of Trustees the reorganization, in which the departments will be reduced to 3, as proposed by Dean Santos.
Advantages:
- The cost of running the College will be reduced to estimated amount of 65,000 pesos. Fewer departments would mean decrease also in the allotted budget per department.
- The faculty will be able to cross fertilize each other. This will be a venue for the faculty to handle courses and subjects that may not be of their discipline that might also enhance them in one way or another.
Disadvantages:
- Faculty members might lose their job. Cost reduction could also entail manpower reduction and so, the college may decide to let the faculties multi-task.
- It may lose the support of the faculty to the academic plans and other related activities. Since the department has been reduced, some of the faculty might not be encouraged to be cooperative to the laid plans of the organization.
To accept the proposal of Dean Santos; at the same time recommend to the Board of Trustees or revisit and make adjustments on its admission standards.
Advantages:
- Merging the department may increase its population size. This will let the departments feel more alive having a big support group.
- Lowering the standards may increase the number of enrolees. Since more students would qualify to be enrolled in some courses, there will be a rise in the population.
Disadvantages:
- There may be students who won’t be able to meet with the required maintaining grades and would have to shift to another course.
- There may be students who won’t be able to meet with the required maintaining grades and would have to shift to another university.
To support the proposed reorganization & recommend to the Board of Trustees to improve it by revisiting the distribution of load between faculty & lecturers (Refer to Fig. 3).
Advantages:
- The college can maximize the salaries paid to regular faculty. Since they are being paid well, the college could make use of their faculties’ time.
- Reduce the number of lecturers, thus, reducing the amount of salaries being paid to them.
- The college can offer the majority of the courses during day time.
Disadvantage: Full time faculty and department heads may oppose the proposed realignment of unit loads since not all people are adaptable to change.
RECOMMENDATION
Among the presented alternative solutions, the best to implement is the third alternative solution: “To support the proposed reorganization & recommend to the Board of Trustees to improve it by revising the distribution of load between faculty & lecturers”. This can harmoniously resolved the concerns of the members of the College and significantly motivate the faculty members to teach better because of the increase in salary yet the university saves 24,760 per month.
Classes during off-hours are lessened. Hence, the students will enjoy their classes in the day. Because of the monthly savings, the university may not increase its tuition fee to sustain its expenses. Because there is no tuition fee increase, there will be more students who will enroll in the university. Moreover, teacher can extend consultation services to the students to uplift their academic performance.
