Standard 6.2

Unit Budgetary Allocations
Each spring the deans of  the academic units meet with the university’s administrators for budget hearings. Each college dean makes a presentation tying budgetary needs to the college’s strategic goals, mission, vision, conceptual framework model, and programming. The administrators then probe the content of each presentation, asking questions such as “Why?” and “What if?”  From this process, each college’s budgetary allocation for the year is determined.

The College of Education’s budget budget for instructional operations is in excess of $6.6 million for the 2006-2007 academic year.  These funds support the teaching, research, and service activities of 48 full-time faculty and department chairpersons.  The total budget has increased by a little over $2.3 million since the 2002-2003 academic year. This was an increase of 53% over the four-year period, which more than compensated for inflation. Overall, the college has made significant gains in funding since the last NCATE visit (See the university budget volumes for 2002-2003 to 2006-2007), both in inflation-adjusted dollars and as a percentage of the overall university budget. Table 6.1 present the budget patterns over this time period. Comparison of the budget of the College of Education, per full time faculty and staff, with the other units on campus reveals that although its budget falls somewhat behind the College of Business and the College of Health Sciences, the College of Education’s budget is greater than those for the College of Arts and Sciences, University College, and the School of Music. Similarly, when the College of Education’s travel and supplies budget per faculty member is compared to the other colleges, it trailed only the College of Health Sciences and the College of Business Administration. Data reflecting information about the College’s budget are available for review online and in exhibit room documents.  (budget comparison charts )

Table 6.1:  College of Education Unrestricted Four-Year Budget, as a Percentage of the University Budget

College funding  has provided a stable faculty base. From 2002 to the present, the number of faculty and administrators in the college has ranged from 42 to 48 (not including unfilled faculty lines or clinical faculty).  In  fall 2006, the semester of record for this NCATE report,  there were 48 full-time professionals in the college, with 11 additional positions unfilled  (see the Alabama State University budget books for 2002-2003 to present, on display in the exhibit room). The dean’s office budget for academic year 2006-2007 is $430,506.71, with a total personnel budget of $404,936.71, a materials and services budget of $10,130.15, and a travel budget of $15,439.85.

Candidate enrollments have also been relatively stable over this time period. Between fall semester 2003 and fall semester 2004, undergraduate credit hours rose by 17%; they fell 14% between fall semester 2004 and fall semester 2005, but rose 14% between fall semester 2005 and fall semester 2006. Graduate credit hour enrollments followed a similar pattern, rising 24% in the first time period, falling 7% in the second, and rising 9% for the current semester. However, these variations were in large part a consequence of a rapid rise in tuition costs between fall semester 2004 and fall semester 2005; this diminished the number of hours candidates took per semester that year. The number of full-time equivalent undergraduate candidates   in the College of Education rose from 678 in fall semester 2003 to 793 in fall semester 2004, dropping to 685 in fall semester 2005, but rising again to 782 in fall semester 2006.  Similar variations existed among full-time equivalent graduate school enrollments in the College of Education during this time period; there were 438 enrolled in fall semester 2003, a number which rose to 542 in fall semester2004; this dropped slightly to 504 full-time equivalent graduate candidates in fall semester 2005, but rose to 548 in all semester 2006. Throughout this time period, candidate credit hour production has been highest in the spring semester and lowest during the summer semester.

Funding available to the college has allowed the extension of teaching, scholarship, and service to the P-12 sector. An example is the provision, on a permanent basis, of laptop computers and $1,000 for software given to each of 35 public school teachers. The college also has been a provider of both National Board Certification training and in-service training for teachers. The faculty workload analysis documents that resources are adequate in allowing high quality work within the unit and its school partners. The summary statistics since the last NCATE visit show that the budget has supported faculty in producing 62 refereed publications and 11 other publications, making 113 presentations, providing 54 service activities, participating in 59 professional organizations, and teaching course loads well within the NCATE guidelines. (See faculty two-page vitae and faculty data sheets on display with the Standard 5 documentation in the exhibit room.)

• Standard  6
  
  
• Standard 6.1
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• Standard 6.2
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• Standard 6.3
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• Standard 6.4
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• Standard 6.5
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