Self-Study, Volume I, Chapter V: Institutional Resources and Services

Case Western Reserve is in sound financial condition, having achieved a modest operating surplus in each of the past 22 fiscal years. During this period the university has consolidated its operations, developed improved systems for financial controls, financed growth and improvement in academic and administrative programs, and established reserves against anticipated future expenses.

The university's operating budget for the 1994-95 fiscal year is $356 million. Tuition and support for research and training are the two largest sources of revenue, accounting for 33 percent and 39 percent, respectively, of the total. The use of endowment income contributes about 8.5 percent of total revenue, representing investment income from a university-managed endowment portfolio whose market value is approximately $557 million, and from other funds held in trust with an estimated market value of $174 million (market values as of June 30, 1994). Compensation of full-time faculty members in the School of Medicine that is derived from patient-care programs is not reflected in the budget figures presented here.

In addition to federal funds received in support of research and training and for student financial aid, the university currently receives about $5 million annually from the State of Ohio to help underwrite programs at the School of Medicine.

After a decade when the university's income grew at an average of nearly 8 percent a year, the 1994-95 budget projects an increase of approximately 3 percent. This assumption reflects a consensus that achieving substantial growth in available income to support university programs will be extremely difficult. The projected low rate of inflation, slow growth in real family income, and continuing public concern about the high cost of higher education all indicate that only a modest increase in tuition is feasible. Other factors suggesting a cautious approach include expectations of more modest growth in the university's investment pool and the potential for cuts in federal support for university research and limits on indirect cost recovery.

The university has organized its financial planning and management systems around its academic structure, with operating and capital budgets resting upon the planned program mix and scale for each of the schools and colleges. Under the university's 'management center' system, the deans of the several academic units have significant responsibilities for both the income and expenses generated by their programs.

The annual budgeting cycle, coordinated by the Office of the Vice President for Budgets and Planning, begins with an update of the rolling five-year financial plan for each school and college. Twelve months before the start of a fiscal year, each school develops a preliminary budget based on a set of assumptions about scale (students, faculty, and staff), tuition rates, endowment income, inflation, and other parameters affecting income or expense. Several months later the process is repeated, using newer information and reflecting insights gained from integrating the schools' first submissions into a university-wide draft. The operating budget is submitted for review and approval by the Board of Trustees about four months prior to the beginning of the fiscal year, at a time when staffing plans and other income and expense factors are relatively final but prior to faculty contracts being issued for the new year.

Also advising in the preparation of the budget is the University Budget Committee, whose members include the provost, the vice president for finance and administration, two staff members, three students, and six faculty (the elected members of the Faculty Senate Budget Committee). The president serves as committee chair, and the vice president for budgets and planning is an ex officio member.

Plant Services. The Plant Services Department is a multifaceted service organization which brings together a broad array of skills and experience to anticipate and respond to the current and future facilities requirements of the university community. The major objective of the Plant Services Department is to maximize maintenance, cleaning, landscaping, utility delivery, renovation, and construction services within limited resources, in support of teaching, research, and student life programs.

The university's main physical plant consists of 54 academic buildings covering more than 3.3 million square feet. These buildings contain laboratories, classrooms, offices, and support spaces. Residence halls, fraternities, and dining facilities represent 33 additional buildings, occupying over 770,000 square feet. The combined campus has a replacement value in excess of $900,000,000. Plant Services is responsible for all aspects of the care and condition of all of these buildings, and has staff on duty 24 hours per day, seven days per week.

Plant Services operates through a combination of in-house and contracted services. At present the department employs approximately 220 full-time equivalent staff members: 116 in custodial operations, 75 in maintenance roles, 17 in landscaping, and 15 in administrative functions. The in-house staff perform most routine services required by the university, ranging from daily custodial services and preventive maintenance to minor modifications, construction supervision, and care of the campus grounds. Certain ongoing specialty services are contracted out, such as elevator maintenance, pest control, and custodial services in the health sciences complex. While the total value of contracted work is approximately equal to the in-house payroll, the contractors are primarily used on construction and renovation projects, and to perform irregularly scheduled tasks for which in-house staff are not available.

Examples of the array of services offered to the campus by the Department of Plant Services include:

• The in-house staff performs approximately 30,000 maintenance work orders per year, ranging from the mundane (unblocking sinks), to the labor-intensive (setting up the graduation tent), to the creative (constructing office renovations valued at up to $10,000). Work orders fall into three categories: scheduled repetitive preventive maintenance (changing filters, lubricating, calibrating), non-repetitive repairs, and requests for modifications received from departments. The in-house maintenance staff includes HVAC mechanics, carpenters, electricians, and plumbers.
• Plant Services operates the university's key shop, responsible for all lock systems and for cutting and keeping track of more than 30,000 outstanding door keys.
• The landscaping group keeps the university's 19 miles of sidewalks and private drives free of snow in the winter, and maintains 129 acres of grounds throughout the other three seasons. Their programs include care and preparation of all athletic fields.
• The university initiates, and Plant Services manages, more than 100 new construction and renovation projects per year valued at more than $10,000 each. These range from laboratory modifications and the cyclical replacement of major building components (chillers, roofs) to construction of new buildings. As of July 1, 1994, approximately 145 construction projects, with a combined value of $130,000,000, were in progress.
• Campus utilities consist of electricity, steam, natural gas, compressed air, chilled water, distilled water, domestic water, and sewer services. The university operates a highly sophisticated energy management system, with a central computer reading more than 2,000 data points throughout the campus in order to control heating, cooling, and lighting.

Security. Case Western Reserve provides a variety of security and safety programs to help ensure a safe educational environment. The university's 25-member security force patrols facilities and grounds on a 24-hour-a-day basis throughout the year. The campus is also patrolled 24 hours a day by the University Circle Police Department, a private police agency of 28 officers.

The security office offers a number of awareness and prevention programs to deal with both property and personal crime. Efforts to reduce property crime include a bike lock rental program and etching of identification on autos and other personal property. Security awareness presentations dealing with personal safety and protection of property are held during freshman orientation and throughout the year in the residence halls. Monthly crime awareness reports are distributed to university offices, residence halls, fraternities, and sororities; special advisories are faxed to coordinators across campus if there is a serious incident.

Other efforts include more than 120 security telephones across the campus; security booths at main campus parking lots, with 24-hour attendants in two lots near residence halls; bicycle security patrols (except in winter); a free shuttle bus service that runs until nearly 1:00 a.m.; and 24-hour escort service. All residence halls are locked 24 hours a day and are equipped with a card-access system, so that any lost cards can be immediately invalidated to maintain security. Administrative and classroom buildings are locked each evening and on weekends.

The university's security and safety statement, prepared in compliance with the requirements of the Federal Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act of 1990, is included in the resource materials provided for review by the visiting team. It is published annually in The Observer, the student newspaper; in Campus News, the faculty and staff newspaper; and is distributed widely among campus offices involved in admissions and student services at all levels.

CWRU's full-time staff numbers 2,500. The Office of Human Resources is responsible for all aspects staff employment, compensation, and employee relations, as well as the administration of benefit and retirement programs for both faculty and staff. The Office of Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity works with Human Resources to monitor the university's compliance with its stated affirmative action goals, policies, procedures, and programs. There are currently no employment categories where the university as a whole has not met its goal for employment of women and minorities, although individual departments may not yet have attained their affirmative action objectives. Diversity training workshops have been required of all new staff employees as of May 1994; more than 1,200 faculty, staff, and students have participated in such workshops since 1990.

The Staff Advisory Council was created in 1990 as CWRU's first fully representative staff organization. The council serves as a liaison between staff and the university administration, and meets quarterly to discuss issues that interest and affect staff members. At least one salaried and one hourly employee (more in larger areas) are elected from each management center for two-year terms.

Prior to 1986, virtually all of CWRU's development and alumni relations efforts were done on a school-by-school basis, stressing cooperation among these management centers. Little fund-raising was done for 'university' projects, such as the president's discretionary funds, university facilities, and interdisciplinary priorities. Annual private support had plateaued, in the $30-million range.

With the endorsement of the Board of Trustees' development committee in October 1986, the university began to strengthen and broaden the role of its central development office to help acquire new sources of income that would insure a strong cash flow to the professional schools and undergraduate colleges, and to improve relations with alumni and friends. The Board authorized long-term investments in fund-raising and alumni affairs personnel and infrastructure. The Board also authorized a name change for the department - from the Office of University Development to the Office of University Development and Alumni Affairs - and established a university-wide alumni relations program. At the same time, CWRU initiated planning of an all-university fund-raising campaign to generate $350 million from private sources to support current programs, endowment, and buildings and equipment - initiatives outlined in the Plan for Case Western Reserve University 1990-1995 and the campus master plan. Through these efforts, CWRU sought to increase annual private support to the $50- to $55-million range by 1994.

The central development department has grown from two dozen people in 1987, each performing a variety of tasks, to a staff of 69 today working in specialized offices. These offices include Alumni Relations, Annual Giving, Corporate Relations, Development Programs, Development Services, Development Research, Foundation Relations, Futures, and Major Gifts, as well as the Office of the Vice President.

All central offices from annual giving to major gifts solicit gifts for university projects as well as coordinate these efforts with those of the individual schools and colleges. This is done through prospect clearance procedures and regular meetings and correspondence between central and professional school personnel - procedures that were established through discussion and mutual cooperation. In addition, Development Services, Development Research, and Development Programs provide services to both the central development office and the professional schools.

Alumni Affairs. Before 1986, alumni had opportunities to interact with other alumni from their professional schools or colleges through school-sponsored alumni organizations, reunions, and special events. However, there was no mechanism for alumni to interact as members of the university community. In addition, most alumni activity at all levels was limited to the Cleveland area, even though two-thirds of CWRU's 88,000 graduates now live outside of Ohio. Organized regional activity consisted of one alumni association in New York City, which functioned sporadically with university assistance. The central development office would occasionally host a regional event. Through an all-alumni survey in 1987, alumni voiced their desire to participate in such programs.

The university-wide alumni relations program, now called the Office of University Alumni Affairs, opened in 1986. From that time the number of regional alumni chapters has grown to 18, serving more than 26,000 alumni nationwide. Another 28,000 Cleveland-area alumni have access to alumni relations programs sponsored by the Undergraduate Alumni Association, a joint alumni association for all undergraduate alumni. The Alumni Council was established in 1988-89 to coordinate the university's alumni efforts. Its members consist of one representative from each alumni association and regional alumni chapter as well as representatives from the School of Graduate Studies, the Board of Trustees, and the president's office.

In 1992 the Alumni Council was established and became the governing body for the CWRU Alumni Association (CWRUAA) - a university-wide umbrella alumni organization open to all alumni. The Undergraduate Alumni Association was also established, merging all university-sponsored undergraduate alumni groups. During this time, the Office of University Alumni Affairs also enhanced cooperation with independent alumni groups, particularly the Case Alumni Association. The Case Alumni Association and CWRU hold their undergraduate reunions simultaneously and sponsor joint reunion events to promote interaction between alumni.

Capital Campaign. As the university's development and alumni affairs staff and infrastructure were being put in place, CWRU launched an all-inclusive university campaign. The initial planning or advance fund stage began in 1987 with the arrival of President Agnar Pytte. In 1989 the Campaign for Case Western Reserve University was announced to the public with almost $120 million in advance fund commitments toward its $350 million goal. The campaign was to end on June 30, 1994. The first two and one-half years focused on the cultivation and solicitation of gifts in excess of $100,000. The remaining time was devoted to a broad-based effort to encourage gifts of $10,000 to $100,000, as well as to increase annual fund gifts at the $1,000 level. This was done in part through nine city campaigns that encouraged alumni to participate in the university's life, as well as through many personal visits by university representatives.

The campaign closed on schedule and raised $416,518,332. Alumni and family foundations (which most often have alumni ties) gave more than $150.5 million to the campaign. Of the $416.5 million, $333.6 million, or 80 percent of the commitments, had been received as cash as of the close date. Each year during the campaign, the university attained a new institutional record for giving, with private support rising from $34.1 million in 1988 to $77.0 million in 1994. By objective, the university raised $213.3 million for current support, $69.9 million for buildings and equipment, and $133.4 million for endowment. The endowment attainment includes 31 new professorships and 167 new endowed funds for student support.

In the post-campaign era, the Office of Development and Alumni Affairs will maintain a close working relationship with the professional schools and provide assistance on an as-needed basis. At the same time, it will continue to foster good will for the university as a whole and find new resources for university-wide initiatives. Most notably, the office will conduct a series of mini-campaigns for the College of Arts and Sciences, the Kelvin Smith Library and its surrounding grounds, and for construction of a convocation center. The university will also continue to strengthen the Office of University Alumni Affairs as well as survey alumni regularly. Through these efforts and others the university hopes to maintain the close contact it has established with alumni and friends during the past five years and maintain a private support level of $55 million to $60 million annually.

In keeping with the increasingly competitive nature of institutional marketing, communication, and outreach activities throughout higher education, the university created the Office of Public Affairs in 1987, headed by a vice president. Some of the office's current functions have been added since then. The office provides service in the various aspects of external relations and in other areas as assigned.

Community Relations. A new unit of Public Affairs, the Office of Community Service, was formed in 1993 and is now in its second full year of operation. Serving as an information clearinghouse and as a representative on campus and in the Cleveland area, the staff has begun to help the university define and carry out its role in the community.

Much of the office's initial work has focused on overcoming a lack of information about CWRU's community activities - among groups and individuals in the community, but also among faculty, staff, and students at the university. The staff's principal approach has been to bring people together for discussions of concerns and questions. The office also maintains ties with a variety of external and internal organizations, including local development corporations, area churches and community service organizations, the Cleveland Public Schools, and other City of Cleveland officials.

Events. Established in 1991, the Office of Conferences and Special Events operates as a central service to strengthen the quality and effectiveness of university events ranging in size and complexity from small meetings and receptions to such large projects as the university's annual commencement exercises.

The office has responsibility for three aspects of the university's events program: event scheduling in selected facilities; management of the Manor House at Squire Valleevue Farm; and planning and support for events at the university. In addition, the staff is increasingly called upon by other campus departments for advice in organizing conferences.

Government Relations. As a major research institution with extensive involvements in the public as well as private sector, CWRU operates an Office of Government Relations to monitor issues at the federal, state, and local levels. The office's director maintains close ties with association staff at these levels of government, and works directly with elected and appointed officials and their aides as well. The director is campus-based, but visits Washington and Columbus periodically to maintain presence. In keeping with the university's approach in a variety of matters, the office frequently works in partnership with other universities or related organizations in seeking to provide information about legislative issues.

CWRU Magazine. Created in 1988, CWRU Magazine is a quarterly publication mailed to a readership of more than 90,000, including all known alumni, parents of students, and faculty and staff members. The Office of University Periodicals prepares CWRU as an editorially and graphically sophisticated magazine designed to convey institutional information at a higher level than was possible previously. Response to CWRU from its readers has been overwhelmingly positive, and the magazine is now an important element in the university's overall communication program.

Media Relations. The media relations office, part of the Office of University Communication, works toward the goal of improving recognition and coverage of CWRU by the news media. Last year, for the fifth consecutive year, the cumulative audiences reached by media reports about CWRU increased, with the most dramatic increase taking place in coverage by regional print media. A decade-old television news service has also been effective in obtaining coverage of CWRU nationally and regionally.

For the past several years the staff has focused on linking CWRU to emerging trends, either to illustrate such phenomena as increasing use of electronic information technology in higher education or to provide counter-cyclical examples, such as an institution that is operating on a balanced budget while many other research universities are experiencing severe financial stress.

Publications and Advertising. The Office of Publications and Advertising, part of University Communication, writes, edits, designs, and manages the production of a large number of attractive and informative CWRU publications ranging from small flyers to large, complex books. Undergraduate admission publications receive a high priority in the work of the office, with other major internal clients including various departments of the School of Medicine, the Office of University Development, and the design aspects of CWRU Magazine. The director serves as the university's chief editorial advisor.

The staff is collaborating with programmers in the Library Information Technologies unit of the Office of Information Services to publish in electronic form using Mosaic, an evolving software package that will soon allow the university to issue many of its publications through Free-Net - and will permit campus users to gain access to formatted documents locally or, through the Internet, anywhere in the world.

Internal Communication. Among the staff functions in University Communication is production of Campus News, a weekly newspaper for faculty and staff. CN contains news and features about CWRU programs and people, and timely notices of new policies and other information about employment and fringe benefit programs.

In addition, the CN editor provides support for ActionLine, a mechanism for employees and others to pose questions or concerns about university-related matters, and Administrative Notes, published monthly in hard copy and electronically to circulate updates on a wide range of administrative matters. The office also generates issues of Security Alert, a rapid communication device to inform the campus of safety-related incidents as they occur.

Special Programs. In addition to the functions described above, Public Affairs staff manage several activities of university-wide importance, including executive search (generally at the level of dean, vice president, or higher); international relations, providing a degree of coordination and support for the many international initiatives under way at CWRU, working with a committee of deans and faculty; marketing, with support for market planning for institutional priorities and for assistance to units of the university in pursuing divisional priorities; and strategic planning, for which the office provides staff support and coordination in close consultation with the president, the provost, and other principal officials of the institution.

In light of the university's major commitments in the field of health, faculty and students play important roles in providing medical, dental, and nursing care for the region. Most of this care is provided at the various hospitals with which the university maintains affiliations, including University Hospitals of Cleveland, the MetroHealth System, Mount Sinai Medical Center, the Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and the Henry Ford Health System in Michigan. The university's relationships also include an agreement with the Cleveland Clinic Foundation that governs a set of joint research and graduate teaching programs.

In approving the university's 1992 affiliation agreement with University Hospitals of Cleveland and a subsequent agreement with MetroHealth, the Board of Trustees also endorsed the concept and principles of an academic medical center in Cleveland. The CWRU School of Medicine would be the heart of the center, a consortium dedicated to the task of coordinating development of medical education, research, and patient services among the region's major medical institutions. Creation of such a center represents a considerable challenge: the joint vision statement adopted by CWRU and UHC noted that 'effective collaboration requires joint planning, joint resourcing, and the willingness to sacrifice individual interests.' At the same time, the parties agreed that an academic medical center represents a significant opportunity to enhance the quality and competitive position of all the institutions involved. A Joint Coordinating Committee of CWRU and UHC trustees was formed to work toward advancing the academic medical center, strengthening the relationship between the university and University Hospitals, and seeking participation from other affiliated hospitals.

To provide greater coordination for the university's own programs in the health sciences, the Board of Trustees authorized the creation of the position of Vice President for Health Affairs in December 1993, broadening the concept of an academic medical center to include all three of the university's health science schools. The vice president will have administrative oversight for the School of Medicine and will coordinate activities and academic programs of common interest to the three schools, including affiliations, interdisciplinary initiatives, and fund-raising. The vice president will also represent the university in the development of a community-wide, multi-disciplinary academic health center. While the intent to build a closer relationship between the School of Medicine and its affiliated hospitals remains, an academic health center will encompass the programs and resources of the university's schools of nursing and dentistry as well. A national search for the position was completed in late fall 1994, and the new vice president will join the university some time in early 1995.

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