Wednesday, July 22, 1998
The University Daily Kansan
Section A · Page 3
Officials prepare to take financial reins of hospital
By Duane Wagler
Kansan staff writer
Chancellor Robert Hemenway was named chairman of the University of Kansas Medical Center hospital authority board at its first meeting last week.
"That's really appropriate because the hospital is so tied to the University in its mission," said Donald Hagen, board member and executive vice chancellor of the Med Center.
Hemenway:
Named chairman
of Med Center
authority board.
Hagen said that the meeting made it clear that the hospital's mission as a teaching and research institution was to be continued after its projected Oct. 1 transition from a state agency to a public authority.
The transition will allow the University to control purchasing and to invest hospital money without being subject to state regulation.
Irene Cumming, president
and CEO of the hospital, was elected board president. She said that at the meeting, the board learned about the hospital's financial position in the increasingly competitive health-care environment.
The board also discussed employee compensation plans. Cumming said. Health care and retirement benefits will remain the same for hospital authority employees. Additionally, hospital authority employees will be offered a new short-term disability program that would replace part of their pay during an extended illness.
Hemenway said that the board organized itself into five task forces: legal matters, finance issues, personnel matters, medical staff issues and external affairs. Hemenway will serve on the finance task force.
Hemenway expressed optimism about the hospital's financial condition.
"The hospital is a financially stable institution and has had a good year," he said.
The meeting set a strong foundation for the hospital's transition, Hemenway said.
"The board clearly is dedicated to the challenge of making the KU teaching hospital not only a successful public authority but one that really supports the educational mission of the Medical Center and the University," he said.
Hemenway said the board would meet next on Aug. 18.
Positions dwindle in department
Fewer posts for fulltime faculty worries English chairman
By Graham K. Johnson
Kansan staff writer
The English department seems to be shrinking and that has Richard Hardin concerned.
In studying his department after becoming the chairman last year, Hardin discovered evidence of a decline in the number of full-time English faculty positions. Hardin said that according to the 1977-78 University catalog there were 56 full-time, tenure track faculty, as opposed to the 41 there are now. Hardin said that student enrollment has continued to grow, putting pressure on a department with fewer faculty.
After two recent additions, the department still has 13 positions fewer than it had in the late 1970s. Hardin said the problem was that the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences had not hired enough replacements for
He said that the administration had basically told them to pick up the slack.
"We hear: 'Well, if we can let you hire anybody, we'll let you know," Hardin said. "But meantime, try to make do by having your own faculty
retirees.
teach more courses or teach more students in sections."
The consequences are larger class sizes and less effective instruction, Hardin said.
"In the final analysis, it's just too bad that we haven't been able to grow to keep up with the student population and the student demands," Hardin said.
tion in faculty levels, particularly in the late '70s and '80s. Strikwerda said he thought things had been getting better during the last seven to eight years and that it was a goal of the administration to reattain those faculty levels.
Hardin said he did not think that
"In the final analysis,it's just too bad that we haven't been able to grow to keep up with the student population and the student demand."
He said that the problem could get worse because of the number of people reaching retirement age.
Carl Strikwerda, associate dean for the humanities in the college, said that there had been a dramatic reduc-
Richard Hardin
English Department Chair
did not think that there was a solid plan.
Strikwerda said the decrease in faculty levels in the '70s and '80s was because of falling enrollment levels and decreased federal funding. This had affected departments in almost all colleges and universities. Hardin said he knew that it w
happening in other departments, but he thought English was suffering more than others.
Hardin was particularly concerned about relying on non-tenured, part-time instructors in place of full-time faculty.
Mary Burgan, general secretary for the American Association of University Professors, a higher education lobbying group based in Washington D.C., said her organization was concerned about the trend of using part-time instructors. It undermines the stability of faculties and the education provided, she said.
Burgan said that universities seemed to be affected by an ideology of cost reduction and were attempting to cash in by replacing faculty with cheaper temporary employees. Burgan said she did not think it was a conspiracy so much as a form of unconscious downsizing.
"It is much easier to go that way. It is an easy out," Burgan said, "I don't think universities are thinking hard enough about alternative solutions."
Strikwerda said the college was aware of these concerns and that it was college policy not to rely on part-time instructors and teaching assistants.
"We are going to do our best with very limited resources to increase the number of faculty positions, but it is going to depend on the situation from year to year," Strikwerda said.
Exam gets technology upgrade
Time is running out for students to test with pencil and paper
By Julie Sachs
Kansan staff writer
People trying to get accepted into graduate school will see some changes in the entrance exam.
recently took the computerized test and said that she did not like it.
The Graduate Record Exam's format is changing from a pencil-and-paper test into a computerized test.
"I felt it was really limiting," Votaw said.
During the next year, people will have the option of taking either version.
After that time, only the computerbased test will be offered, said Andrew Debicki. Dean of the Graduate School and International Programs
Rochelle Votaw, Lawrence senior.
One of the flaws of the computer test, Votaw said, was that once a question was answered it was impossible to go back and show them.
Debicki said.
back and change an answer.
She said that people who took the pencil-and-paper version were allowed to change their answers during each portion of the test.
The new test will have questions ranging from easy to difficult.
The computerized test is shorter but concentrates more on strengths. Debhicksaid.
A test-taker will receive increasing difficult questions until he answers a question incorrectly, Debicki said. Then he will receive easier questions.
"The math test now doesn't discriminate at the high end of the scale."
Andrew Debicki Graduate School Dean
Previously everyone taking the old version received the same questions. With the new format, each person may receive different sets of questions,
Scoring on the computer-based test will be based on the number of correctly answered questions and their difficulty, Debicki said. Answering difficult question
accurately will result in a better score than answering easy questions, he said.
Votaw said that she felt that the new test's scoring method was deceptive.
"I felt like I was doing fine, but when I got my score I did 100 points worse than
I did on the written practice test," Votaw said.
She blamed her poorer performance on her inability to use test-taking strategies designed for the pencil-and-paper test.
Debicki said that there were other planned changes for the test.
A numerical reasoning section is being created to replace the quantitative section for test-takers seeking to enter graduate programs requiring advanced mathematical knowledge.
"The math test now doesn't discriminate at the high end of the scale," he said.
A composition section will be added in about three years.
There also will be more test centers. One of the closest locations for students to take the test now is the Sylvan Learning Center in Topeka, but the University has been approved to have its own center, Debicki said.
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