New plans, position address budget needs

Given the financial troubles the university has experienced due to the economic downturn, Saint Joseph’s University has been forced to adjust the initiatives of “Plan 2010: The Path to Preeminence.”

In a Jan. 6 a message to the members of the St. Joe’s faculty and staff, University President Timothy Lannon, S.J., outlined changes to the structure of the university and the plans for the upcoming decade, known as the “Bridge Plan.”

The most prominent change presented in Lannon’s message to the university is in the restructuring of the administration’s hierarchy. John Smithson, ’68, will return to Hawk Hill once again to fill the newly proposed position of Interim Senior Vice President, created by Lannon at the suggestion of the Board of Trustees. As his new title suggests, Smithson is being hired on an interim basis until the fundraising goal has been met, according to Harriet Goodheart, assistant vice president of university communications.

According to the message, the new post will oversee the departments of Financial Affairs, External Affairs, Administrative Services, Planning, Internal Audit, and Development and Alumni Relations. Smithson, as well as University Provost Brice Wachterhauser, General Counsel Marianne Schimelfenig, and Vice President for Mission and Identity Springs Steele will all answer directly to Lannon, according to the email.

Smithson is a former member of the Board of Trustees at Saint Joseph’s, and served as the chair of the board from 2003-07.  Since then, he has been employed by Towers Perrin Reinsurance as its senior vice president in Philadelphia.

In his message to faculty and staff, Lannon claimed that the creation of a new position in the administration would allow him to dedicate more time to fundraising efforts.  Fundraising has become a key issue as the university attempts to reach its goal of $150 million by May 2011. This means that the university has 17 months to come up with the remaining $20.8 million needed for its fundraising goal.

The position that Smithson will fill beginning Feb. 1 enables Lannon to pursue fundraising opportunities abroad, meaning that the president will have a lessened presence on Hawk Hill during the next few months. According to the Jan. 6 email, Lannon was “encouraged” by the Board of Trustees to spend more time helping to locate funds to reach the Bridge Plan’s goals.

The fundraising efforts led by Lannon will go towards completing the Bridge Plan, an initiative by the university to align the goals of Plan 2010 with those of the new “Plan 2020,” which has not yet been completely pieced together, according to the president’s message. 

The Bridge Plan will consist of four major goals.  The first will be to hire 30 new faculty members to aid in the implementation of the new General Education Program (GEP). These new hires would account for the president’s projection of an undergraduate student growth of up to 50 students per year, according to the Jan. 6 message. 

The second is the renovation of Merion Hall on Maguire Campus. This renovation will create classroom and office spaces used to implement the GEP and new academic programs and majors, the message states. This building is scheduled to be renovated by Nov. 2010.

The third goal is to build new housing for freshmen. Though the message did not state specifically where a new residence hall for freshmen students would be located, it did indicate that the construction of such a building is considered important in improving “student retention, success, and satisfaction.” 

The fourth and final goal of the Bridge Plan is to complete the Learning Commons  expansion to the Drexel Library. This addition to the Drexel Library is slated to provide more study space for students on campus and will be located on the lawn between Barbelin and the library. Construction on the addition is slated to begin in 2011.

Each of these proposed changes comes on the heels of an extremely difficult fiscal year for St. Joe’s and the rest of the country.

“Is this possible? Sure,” said Dennis McNally, S.J., president of the Faculty Senate.  “Can we do it? Who knows. I imagine the administration is pretty confident because they don’t usually jump into things.”

The Faculty Senate was scheduled to discuss the restructuring and the new plan at its Jan. 26 meeting, which is closed to the public. 

“It does not look like Smithson is dealing directly with the faculty at all,” McNally said.  “The provost will still be dealing with the deans.  Smithson will basically just be dealing with money.”

Lannon, Provost Brice Wachterhauser, and Associate Provost Paul DeVito were all unable to be reached for comment prior to publication deadline.

Editor's Note: A correction was made on Feb. 4. Projected growth of "200 students per year" was corrected to "50 students per year."