A new format focusing on a specific topic helped spur a variety of perspectives and a record turnout for the first "Campus Conversations" event of 2015, held on Tuesday, Feb. 10, in the Joe Crowley Student Union.

More than 100 members of the campus community attended the gathering, sponsored by the Faculty Senate and featuring a question-and-answer format involving University President Marc Johnson and Provost Kevin Carman, with Faculty Senate Chair Chuck Price serving in a facilitator's role. 

The Feb. 10 event emphasized questions, thoughts and concerns related solely to the University's aspiration to reach the classification of a "Research University/Very High" ("RU/VH") by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Johnson, in his opening remarks, noted that the University will have to show growth in a number of key areas in order to achieve the Carnegie Classification in the six years.

"We're really going to have to ramp up the number of research faculty, the number of tenure-track faculty, on campus," he said. "We're going to have ramp up our research expenditures and everything else, such as post-doctoral students and research professors, which come from grant activity.

"This will be a major attempt to marshal our resources in such a way to enhance our teaching, and our research."

In the future, the University will have to add at least 250 tenure-track faculty, "graduate a substantial amount of graduate students" and double the institution's research expenditures, Johnson said.

"So it's a significant growth," he said. Johnson, who earlier in his career was a professor of agricultural economics, then added with a smile, "I would call it a 'non-marginal' growth."

Longtime faculty member James Richardson, a professor of sociology, asked both Johnson and Carman about any plans to increase the number of Ph.D. programs at the University. The number of Ph.D. program graduates, among several other metrics, are used in the Carnegie classification's formula.

Carman said there were plans to increase graduate offerings. He cited a proposal from the Department of Mathematics and Statistics for a new Ph.D. program. He added that, "I think it makes sense for us to look at interdisciplinary graduate programs as well." With new programs, Carman emphasized, would have to come an investment in graduate assistant teaching lines.

"We are looking at adding 250 graduate teaching assistant lines," Carman said. "That alone won't get us there. But we do need the top graduate students."

Kent Sanders, a professor of physiology and cell biology, questioned Johnson and Carman about the "competitiveness" of the University in the marketplace of potential faculty. He said the "missing piece" in the University's effort to attain RU/VH status was "start-up money" for investigators who would look to the University as a potential environment to do important work. He suggested looking at fund-raising as a way to help the University entice valuable new research faculty to campus.

Johnson replied that the University has a start-up financial plan based on first-year salary savings to invest "100 percent in startups that are so central to the University. The University can pay 100 percent of startups for the new positions."

Art Professor Peter Goin commented that he wished the University would make "at least a minority allocation of resources so (Liberal Arts faculty) can participate in the University."

Johnson responded by assuring Goin that the push for RU/VH was one of several growth goals for the University, with benefits for faculty in many disciplines.

"It's appropriate for all areas to request faculty positions and administrative positions and the like," Johnson said. "RU/VH is a goal, but it's not the only goal. It's not the only way we're going."

Sudeep Chandra, an associate professor for Biology who for several years has helped spearhead the University's research effort at Lake Tahoe, praised the effort to reach RU/VH.

"It's pretty exciting to dream and to look forward," Chandra said. He said he was particularly excited that the goal would need a mobilization of people and resources from throughout the institution. "(RU/VH) takes a village."

Chandra asked if there were initiatives to entice donors to help with the push, particularly in the creation of endowed research professorships.

"Donors really get inspired by what happens with their gifts," Carman said. "If they can meet the faculty who are bringing their investment to life, that's always a big plus. Faculty can be huge and important assets in interfacing with donors. The 'village' analogy is a good one.

"We all need to be a part of this."

Chemistry Professor Ben King wondered about research space and if there were plans to expand laboratories and classrooms.

"Laboratory and office space are our two most critical shortages as we move forward," Johnson said. He said that the University has already set in motion a space allocation plan, including re-purposing of existing space, renovating lab and offices in Scrugham and Palmer Engineering Buildings, and creating space for faculty in the Applied Research Facility and in the Valley Road complex, which saw its occupancy dwindle following budget reductions of years past.

"We know we need new lab and office facilities to meet this goal," Carman said. "Yes, this is a heavy lift. And yes, this is a plan we can make progress on."

The next Campus Conversations is scheduled for Monday, March 9, at 4 p.m., in the Joe Crowley Student Union. The theme of the Conversations will be "University Growth."