In 2010 the Outreach School hired Wainhouse Research to examine the financial and programmatic models currently utilized by the UW Outreach School, compare UW models with other institutions, and provide recommendations for improvement. The Wainhouse report can be found at http://www.uwyo.edu/outreach/progress-report/index.html. The report focuses on the need for the UW Outreach School to move toward more consistency, transparency, and scalability in its interactions with academic partners and in the operations of the School. Some of the Wainhouse Research report recommendations are relatively simple, but others are difficult, even painful, to implement. The change in the financial model is the most difficult of these changes and it is the foundation for other changes recommended in the Wainhouse study.
Some foundational principles were necessary as the implementation process began and is carried through to completion:
No. The Outreach School tuition revenue-sharing financial model is a proposal currently under consideration by college deans, Academic Affairs, and the University administration. The Outreach School welcomes all questions, comments, and suggestions as the institution considers this proposal and the path the university will take to revise the Outreach School financial model.
The Outreach School has proposed that any new tuition revenue-sharing model take effect for the academic year that begins in Fall 2012.
Laramie campus Summer Session will continue to be funded and shared as in past years. The Outreach School tuition revenue-share model will not apply to the Laramie campus Summer Session. The Outreach School's tuition revenue-share will begin Summer 2013. For the Summer 2012 semester, the Outreach School will provide some funding to start the new tuition revenue-share model.
No. The Outreach School will continue to be a partner to academic colleges and departments in the development and delivery of academic courses delivered through the Outreach School. Thus, the Outreach School will continue to work with colleges and departments to determine each semester’s schedule of courses to be delivered through the Outreach School, provide instructional support for faculty, provide essential communication with and support for UW students enrolled in courses delivered through Outreach, and provide the technological infrastructure to deliver courses at a distance – among other support services. See page 7 of the Outreach School proposal for additional details.
More specifically, if the University adopts the proposed Outreach School tuition revenue-sharing plan, the Outreach School will work with colleges and departments to provide training and communication on a regular basis in order to ensure an effective implementation of the plan in both the short- and long-term.
No. A foundational principle underlying the Outreach School proposal is that there will no longer be any “special deals.” Thus, all programs delivered through Outreach will be included as part of the consistent revenue-sharing proposal and current agreements will be discontinued. In return, colleges will receive 50% of tuition revenue, per student credit hour delivered through Outreach, to support their academic programs delivered through the Outreach School. In general, most colleges will receive more revenue than they have previously received under old agreements. Because of the substantial negative impact on the College of Business under this proposal, the Outreach School has suggested a 3-year ramp down for the college (see the Outreach School proposal, page 5, for more detail). However, the Outreach School will continue to pay for some essential costs, including instructional design support, faculty stipends for course development for distance delivery, technology delivery costs (e.g., video conferencing), test proctors, and travel for course teaching, among others. See the Outreach School proposal, page 7 for more detail.
The Outreach School tuition revenue-sharing proposal suggests that the most effective way for colleges to receive their tuition revenue share is through a “pay as collected process” based in the Banner system, to enable immediate sharing of the percentage of actual tuition revenues and professional development registration fees collected. This method of sharing tuition and professional development registration revenues would utilize Banner and Pistol to charge, capture, and split, by percentage, tuition funds and professional development registration fees as they are received. As each course offered through the Outreach School is programmed into Banner, appropriate tuition codes would be set to enable the appropriate percentage of share to flow to college Outreach tuition-share accounts. When the number of student credit hours and/or tuition increases, income increases. Refunds and uncollected tuition will be reflected automatically under this system, with both the Outreach School and the colleges sharing in the responsibility for refunds and uncollected tuition.
The Outreach School used data from the UW Office of Institutional Analysis (OIA) for its calculations. Some special reports were generated from OIA data and records within Banner, while other data were taken from the OIA website under the Academic Planning Data Set, which allows reports to be run by college. For the number of student credit hours generated by colleges, the Outreach School utilized data set #8 from the Academic Planning Data Set, "Student Credit Hours by Level," which includes Laramie Campus and Off-Campus sections.
The Outreach School proposed tuition revenue-sharing model is consistent for all semesters, fall, spring, and summer. In fact, Summer Session student credit hours are included in data supporting the proposed plan. As explained by OIA, the total student credit hours generated by site (UW-Laramie or off-campus) include the student credit hours listed for Summer Session, found just below the total student credit hours. Thus, for example, in 2009-2010 the total A&S student credit hours delivered off-campus was 19,159; listed just below are the Summer Session credit hours (summer 2010), a total of 4,241. However, the 4,241 student credit hours for Summer Session are included in the total 19,159 A&S student credit hours generated off-campus. This is simply the way that OIA reports the data.
In addition to this total, however, is the total number of student credit hours for professional development courses, found just below the off-campus section in data set #8. The A&S 2009-2010 total is 1,163 (the summer session numbers are included in this number). Thus, to calculate the total student credit hours generated in the 2009-2010 A&S example, the fall, summer, spring total of 19,159 student credit hours was added to the 1,163 student credit hours offered in professional development courses, for a total of 20,322. This total is reflected in the Impact of Proposed Financial Model by College table found on page 5 of the Outreach School proposed financial model document. Note that, until 2007-2008, professional development student credit hours were included in college totals. They were separated out following this time period as a result of federal reporting requirements.
Courses delivered through the Outreach School are the only courses for which the Outreach School receives tuition revenues, and thus the only courses for which tuition revenue can be shared. In partnership with the International Programs Office (IPO), the Outreach School is responsible for the UW-Laramie Summer Session as well as all courses delivered in the summer through Outreach. However, the UW-Laramie campus Summer Session classes produce revenue that is collected by the University and then shared according to Summer Session practices. Currently the President takes $100,000; IPO takes a share to pay for costs for international courses and student support; and the Outreach School takes a percentage share to cover the costs of running the UW-Laramie campus Summer Session, including innovative and international course support and funds to support a Summer Session Director (assigned .50 to Summer Session). In current UW-Laramie Summer Session practice, OIA determines the number of student credit hours taken in each department, then Academic Affairs finalizes the revenue-sharing for all colleges, International Programs, and the Outreach School after the President's share is deducted.
The proposed change applies to all courses delivered through the Outreach School, including UW/CC, which is a division of the Outreach School.
The OIA data utilized to determine student credit hours generated by colleges in classes delivered through Outreach are determined by delivery site and not by faculty member. Thus, it does not matter if the student credit hours are generated by tenure-track faculty, extended term APLs, or part-time lecturers. The same is true whether the instructors are at the UW-Laramie campus, the UW/CC Center, or some other location (e.g., in the case of online classes).
Again, it is important to emphasize that the OIA data utilized to determine student credit hours for the tuition revenue-sharing proposal are determined by delivery site and not by faculty member.
Any courses taught on the UW-Laramie campus produce tuition revenue that goes into the UW General Fund, not to the Outreach School. Therefore, the Outreach School would not receive any revenue from these courses to share with colleges. The same applies to Correspondence Study classes. For some reason in the distant past someone decided that Correspondence Study tuition would go into the UW General Fund and would not be part of the revenue supporting the Outreach School. Therefore, the Outreach School does not receive revenue to share from Correspondence Study courses, either, though only a small number of student credit hours delivered through the Outreach School are in Correspondence Study.
If a UW/CC instructor (full-time faculty or APL or part-time lecturer) teaches a course offered through Outreach that includes Laramie students, the tuition revenue from all students does go to the Outreach School and would be shared under the proposal.
Here is a helpful hint: the course section numbers reflect whether the tuition from courses will come to the Outreach School and will therefore be shared with colleges under the Outreach School proposal. Here is how the course section numbers are divided:
No. The delivery method utilized for any course offered through Outreach should be determined by faculty and departments on the basis of what delivery best helps students learn the material in the course. Therefore, no distinction is made in the proposed tuition revenue-sharing plan on the basis of delivery methods.
No, the proposed model is based on student credit hours generated. Therefore, the initial 50% share proposed under the Outreach School plan is the same regardless of the tuition charged for each credit hour. Thus, for standard undergraduate resident tuition (Fall 2011) charged at $104 per credit hour, a college would receive 50% of $104 or $52. For Fall 2011 tuition charged at the resident Executive MBA rate of $600 per credit hour, the college would receive 50% of $600 or $300.
All UW courses offered outside the UW-Laramie campus will still continue to be run through the Outreach School. The University has chosen this model to ensure that the institution fully understands its academic outreach program commitments, fully supports UW students enrolled through Outreach programs, and avoids duplication of costs incurred for outreach delivery technologies.
The Outreach School will be responsible for loading all courses. This is critical to allow coding for the accurate sharing of revenue. The contacts will be: Lora Steele Hicks for Outreach Credit Programs and Renee Woodward for UW/CC Center.
The appropriate deparment heads should work with the academic deans to resolve these issues.
Generally, no. This is because of the articulation agreements with Wyoming community colleges. Any such requests should be discussed with the college dean and the Outreach School.
Some colleges have special entrepreneurial tuition rates for specific programs delivered through Outreach. The general reasoning is that the programs are unique and appeal to niche markets. Thus, they may continue to be delivered or, if demand for the program does not continue, the program will be phased out. However, most programs delivered through Outreach are deemed to be core programs, that is, programs that the University will continue to operate because the institution has a responsibility to the citizens of the state (Academic Plan I, Action Item 156 and related Action Items 155 and 158 AND Academic Plan II, Action Item 122). Thus, a college could request entrepreneurial tuition rates for one or more of its programs. The approval process is this: (1) The college and the Outreach School agree to a proposal for entrepreneurial tuition rates and develop a rationale for such a proposal. (2) The proposal is sent to Academic Affairs for approval. (3) The proposal is sent to the President for approval. (4) The UW Board of Trustees must approve the entrepreneurial tuition proposal.
Tuition waivers are not unique to or granted by the Outreach School. Tuition waivers are created and honored on the basis of University policy (See the UW Fee Book, page 3, and University Regulation 4-175, Section 2). Colleges and the Outreach School will know when a waiver is granted when enrollment and payment information becomes available about students' tuition payments for individual classes.
Note that University policy and practice regarding tuition waivers differs between the academic year (Fall and Spring) and Summer Session. For Fall and Spring, i.e., academic year classes, the University has an account that funds tuition waivers. Thus, when a tuition waiver is used, there is real money that comes from the University fund to the account receiving the tuition. Thus, a college would receive its percentage of tuition revenue for Fall and Spring courses when a tuition waiver is utilized. However, there is no such tuition waiver fund for Summer Session, when the colleges (not the UW General Fund) receive tuition revenues for Summer Session classes. The practice for Summer Session payments is that, rather than each college or department bearing the cost of tuition waivers in individual classes, the aggregate amount of the tuition waivers is taken off the top of the available tuition from Summer Session. Then colleges receive tuition income for all student credit hours taken in that college. That is, the total tuition revenue available for sharing in Summer Session is reduced by the amount of tuition waivers so no college or department suffers the full impact of waivers in individual classes; the loss of revenue from the use of tuition waivers is shared across the institution.
Under the proposed Outreach School tuition revenue-sharing plan, each college would decide not only who will teach (as is the current practice), but also what the instructors will be paid, if anything, in addition to their regular UW salary. The college and department would also decide the salaries of any non-UW instructors hired to teach. Thus, colleges and departments might determine that teaching through Outreach will be on load, or that Outreach teaching will be paid for as overload — and what the salary would be for teaching as overload. The current faculty and APL salary schedule for Outreach teaching for academic program courses, mandated by University Regulation 5-40, will no longer be in effect, as the Outreach School proposes the elimination of this university regulation.
Salaries for part-time, temporary lecturers, will be determined by colleges and departments in the same way, whether the courses are taught on the UW-Laramie campus or through the Outreach School: the salary will be determined by the college or department. The determination of whether benefits are paid is based in federal law and state regulations requiring benefits for those hired for work for a certain period of time. Refer to the Academic Affairs website dedicated to Hiring Academic Personnel (see http://www.uwyo.edu/acadaffairs/hiring/index.html) for guidance in hiring part-time academic personnel. The Office of General Counsel and the Division of Human Resources can provide information concerning federal regulations regarding the payment of benefits. When benefits are required, the Payroll Office can provide the best information about the cost of the benefits. However, because of its experience with part-time lecturers hired to teach courses delivered through Outreach, the Outreach School is always happy to provide guidance to departments if needed.
Yes, upon approval of the academic deparmtent head and the dean.
The University of Wyoming Fee Book defines "Outside Agency Sponsored Courses," or professional development courses, as those for which UW incurs no expense, thus, there should not be a UW salary paid to UW personnel for professional development teaching. See the University of Wyoming Fee Book. On page 15 the Fee Book notes:
Outside Agency Sponsored Course and Continuous Registration Course Registration Fee
Courses offered for University credit but for which the University incurs no instructional or delivery costs will be assessed a registration fee to cover administrative costs. These courses include:
Not included are courses (other than Continuous Registration) in which the instructors are UW employees, regardless of the sources of remuneration for the instruction. Exceptions are possible only in cases where there is a compelling rationale, such as external funding that (a) is sufficient to cover the instructors’ salary and benefits and (b) explicitly requires the delivery of credit-bearing curriculum for an administrative fee. Authorization for such exceptions is not automatic, and it requires prior written approval by the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.
No, all inquiring faculty should be referred to the appropriate academic department.
As noted above, University policy is that UW will incur no instructional or delivery costs for "Outside Agency Sponsored" or professional development courses. Thus, UW should not incur travel costs for professional development courses.
