Program 6: Academic Support

Academic Support–Functional Definition:

Funds expended primarily to provide support services for the institution’s primary missions (instruction, research, and public service) including: (1) the retention, preservation, and display of educational materials (e.g., libraries, museums and galleries); (2) the provision of services that directly assist the academic functions of the institution, such as demonstration schools associated with a department, school, or college of education; (3) media such as audiovisual services and technology such as computing support; (4) academic administration (including academic deans but not department chairmen) and personnel development providing administrative support and management direction to the three primary missions; and (5) separately budgeted support for course and curriculum development.

Expenditures charged back to operating units under existing policies (e.g., academic computing support) are not included.

Sub-Programs include:

  • Libraries
  • Museums and Galleries
  • Educational Media Services
  • Academic Computing Support
  • Ancillary Support
  • Academic Administration
  • Academic Advising
  • Academic Personnel Development
  • Course and Curriculum Development

Libraries–

Includes expenditures for organized activities that directly support the operation of a catalogued or otherwise classified collection.

Museums and Galleries–

Includes expenditures for organized activities that provide for the collection, preservation, and exhibition of historical materials, art objects, scientific displays, etc. (Excluding Libraries.)

Educational Media Services–

Includes expenditures for organized activities providing audiovisual and other services that aid in the transmission of information in support of the institution’s instruction, research, and public service program. Also includes textbook rental services.

Academic Computing Support–

Includes expenditures for formally organized and/or separately budgeted activities that provide computing support to the Instructional program, unless charged back to instructional departments under existing institutional policy. As described in Attachment 2, an appropriate charge for the use of academic computing services should be made to the Research and Public Service activities. Excluded from this category is administrative data processing, which is classified as institutional support.

Ancillary Support–

Includes expenditures for organized activities that provide support services to the three primary programs, but that are not appropriately classified in the previous subcategories. Ancillary support activities usually provide a mechanism through which students can gain practical experience. An example of ancillary support is a demonstration school associated with the school of education.

Academic Administration–

Includes expenditures for activities specifically designed and carried out to provide administrative and management support to the academic programs. This subcategory is intended to separately identify only expenditures for activities formally organized and/or separately budgeted for academic administration. It includes the expenditures of academic deans (including deans of research, deans of graduate schools, and college deans), their staff and support costs, but does not include the expenditures of departmental chairpersons (which are included in the appropriate primary activity categories). Expenditures associated with the office of the chief academic officer of the institution are not included in this subcategory, but should be classified as institutional support.

Academic Advising–

Includes expenditures for formally organized and/or separately budgeted academic advising. This sub-program is intended to include academic advising at the School or College level and, if applicable, cross-college advising at the institutional level; it is not intended to capture academic advising at the department level. For program code purposes, academic advising identified by this sub-program includes, but is not limited to: providing accurate and reliable information to assist students in establishing goals and making wise curriculum choices; tying academic majors to careers; monitoring students’ academic progress; communicating among and between academic staff and faculty of the various units; and referring students to other services. This sub-program does not include: formally organized placement, career guidance, and personal counseling for students which is included under Student Services (Program 0).

Academic Personnel Development–

Includes expenditures for activities that provide the faculty with opportunities for personal and professional growth and development to the extent that such activities are formally organized and/or separately budgeted. This subcategory also includes formally organized and/or separately budgeted activities that evaluate and reward professional performance of the faculty. Included in this subcategory are sabbaticals, faculty awards, and organized faculty development programs.

Course and Curriculum Development–

Includes expenditures for activities established either to significantly improve or to add to the institution’s instructional offerings, but only to the extent that such activities are formally organized and/or separately budgeted.

Additional Instructions

Included under Academic Support:

  1. Non-instructional costs of arboreta, conservation areas, teaching clinics and field stations, other than those included under Farm Operations, should be included under Ancillary Support. (Physical plant costs should be charged back in accordance with UW System Administrative Policy 322 (SYS 322), Physical Plant Service Chargebacks.)
  2. Non-material program and support costs of physical education facilities which exist primarily for instructional purposes (except for physical plant costs charged back in accordance with SYS 322, Physical Plant Service Chargebacks) should be included under Ancillary Support. No allocation of expenditures should be made to other activities (e.g., Student Services) if the primary use of these facilities is for instruction.
  3. Expenditures for day care centers that exist primarily to serve an instructional purpose should be included under Ancillary Support. (Day care centers which exist primarily as a student service are identified under a separate Student Services sub-program.)
  4. Continuing education or outreach education directors should be coded to Academic Administration if “dean like.” Such directors who function more like department chairs should be coded to Outreach Education sub-program of Public Service.
  5. Student computer labs that are campus-wide, college-wide or school-wide should be coded to Academic Computing Support. Departmental computing labs should be coded to General Academic Instruction.
  6. Generalized administration of international programs should be included under the Academic Administration. Administration of study abroad programs should be included under General Academic Instruction. Student services provided to international students should be coded to the appropriate Student Services sub-program.
  7. Expenditures funded by the special student technology fee should be included under Academic Computing Support.
  8. Expenditures related to distance education technology should be included under the Educational Media Services sub-program.
  9. Computing related to libraries should be included under Libraries.
  10. Faculty development funds should be included under Academic Personnel Development unless their designated use is for Course and Curriculum Development.
  11. Graduate school admissions at the doctoral institutions need not be separately identified and may be included as Academic Administration.

Excluded from Academic Support:

  1. The institution-wide responsibilities of UW Colleges deans should be recognized by including half of the associated costs under the Executive Management sub-program of Institutional Support.
  2. Amounts budgeted through deans’ offices which will be spent directly for the benefit of Instruction, Research or Public Service should be included under the appropriate program.