[Vision2020] Board of Ed meeting 6/16, UI Commons

[Mark Solomon]

The State Board of Education is meeting at the UI Commons this week. 
There will be a very important presentation by members past and 
present of the School of Art and Architecture regarding its imperiled 
future at 8:00 a.m. Thursday in the Whitewater/Clearwater rooms at 
the Commons.

There are two basic interrelated issues:

1) Several years ago the College of Art and Architecture was stripped 
of its designation as a college in the reshuffling of the liberal 
arts side of the UI under somewhat shady and secret circumstances. 
Such program changes are supposed to be reviewed and approved by the 
BOE. That review apparently never occurred. Cost reductions are also 
supposed to be demonstrated to save $250,000. Such demonstration did 
not occur. Supporters of reinstatement of college status are now 
being told by UI administrators they must show income potential to a 
reinstated college of $1 million before reinstatement will be 
considered.

2) Now that the College of Art and Architecture has been demoted to a 
school the dean of the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences is 
moving to eliminate the studio arts program by shifting its location 
to WSU. This shift will effectively make it impossible for studio 
arts to be part of a UI college education, especially for a non-art 
major due to the disconnect between campuses caused by distance and 
schedule differences.

It is highly unlikely that (2) would have occurred if (1) had not 
taken place. As I understand it, Thursday's meeting will focus on 
reinstating the College status. I urge all within our community who 
are concerned with the future of education at the UI and/or the 
presence of a vibrant arts community in Moscow to attend the meeting 
and make our presence visible to the BOE.

Following is Vera White's column on this issue from last Friday's Daily News.

Hope to see a lot of you there!

Mark Solomon
*********
  Last week, the INKster reported that members of the University of 
Idaho College of Art and Architect Foundation are more than 
frustrated in their attempts to restore the UI College of Art and 
Architecture. They also are receiving strong backing from faculty and 
student leadership.

  It has come to light that the dissolution of the CAA, as well as the 
formation of the new College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences, 
the College of Science, and three other major organizational changes 
were approved by State Board of Education Executive Director Gary 
Stivers on June 17, 2002. Until recently, the explanation offered by 
the SBOE and the UI administration was that the bundle of those six 
changes was below the $250,000 "trigger point" and therefore did not 
need SBOE board review and approval. Somehow, these sweeping changes 
also missed the University Curriculum Committee and Faculty Council 
for review and approval, standard procedure as well.

  From information received this week, it appears this board policy 
did not take effect until four months after June 2002 and was based 
on a yet unidentified policy that preceded it. In the audio recording 
of the April 2004 SBOE meeting, past president Blake Hall reflected, 
"It has become apparent to me, though, that there were issues that 
have arisen, that I certainly was never, none of us, involved in 
approving the decision with regard to the CAA. The issue has never 
come before this board."

  Hall further noted that "in light of the high level of interest and 
concern that has been expressed over the last six months (2004) on 
this issue, I would propose that we place on our agenda for our June 
(2004) meeting, which happens to be in Moscow, a full review of the 
decision to terminate, or to fold in, the CAA into the other college."

  As of this writing, the item has yet to appear on a SBOE agenda. The 
CAAF has applied to be on the agenda at Thursday's meeting in Moscow 
but may have to settle for a few minutes during the board's "open 
discussion" forum.

  In detailing the information last week, the INKster referenced a May 
16 e-mail Joe Zeller, dean of the CLASS, sent in response to CAAF's 
request to restore the former college. Zeller wrote it would take 
"one million, money in the bank, not a promissory note, before he 
(President Tim White) would entertain a dialogue about how a college 
might be re-established."

  The INKster added that the $750,000 increase in the intervening 
three years was hard to understand. On Monday, she received an e-mail 
from Zeller offering "clarification."

  "The June 3 INKster indicates a $750,000 increase to run a dean's 
office," Zeller wrote. "The $1 million is to cover costs for four to 
five years. This would assure the university that any return to a 
college structure would be revenue neutral for at least that period 
of time. The funding was a pre-condition before there could be a 
commitment to re-establish the college structure."

  ....the blotter rests.

  INK is penned by Vera White.

  To contribute to INK, call (208) 882-5561,
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