1. Further Development of an APC Statement of Purpose and Priorities for
1995-96
In refining the APC's combined statement of purpose and priorities, members concluded that the APC needed to stimulate
not a static systemwide plan, but a dynamic planning process. As an administration-Senate body, the APC can help
ensure that planning activities scattered among systemwide bodies mesh, and it can effectively address some important
systemwide procedures, for example,
assuring the timely responsiveness of systemwide governance mechanisms;
facilitating "bottom up" discussions of systemwide issues as a means to build a consensus;
keeping one another up-to-date on major planning activities in progress in the COC, COVC, Student Affairs VC group,
and principal Senate committees; and
in general, expanding UC's thinking about future constraints and opportunities.
2. APC Priority Issues
a. Academic Program Planning to Meet State Needs
APC members recognize the need for a clear procedure to identify and address any curricular areas in which UC may
not be serving California as it should. While systemwide review steps for program discontinuances have now been
established, procedures may need to be improved for handling "last survivor" programs that serve California
in special ways and for identifying and encouraging the development of new programs to address important state
needs.
The central questions appear to be how should state needs be defined, who should assess those needs and set priorities,
and where should resources come from to support initiatives like these. Perhaps the most difficult issues arise
when a program is discontinued by a campus in order to reallocate resources to strengthen other campus programs
but an external view of the program's importance to California does not mesh with a campus's internal priority-setting.
It will be important, as discussions of this problem area progress, to be clear about resource issues so that no
campus loses the incentive to strengthen programs during fiscally hard times through reallocation.
The APC will work on a new draft procedure that can be widely discussed.
b. Expanding Part-Time Degree Offerings
APC members had an initial discussion of the possibilities for UC to improve its service to students by expanding
part-time degree programs, through regular-fee liberal arts and professional programs as well as high-fee programs
in selected professional fields. At the present time, campuses can plan and mount part-time programs relatively
quickly in fields in which they are currently authorized to offer programs, if normal fees are charged, since no
further systemwide review is required. A number of regular-fee part-time programs already exist: the Davis campus
offers master's degrees in engineering at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the Irvine and Santa Barbara
campuses offer master's programs for teachers in English and foreign languages that can be completed entirely through
Summer Sessions. As access to distance technologies grows, demand for such programs will also probably grow.
The APC anticipates that this subject will be an important one for its sustained attention in the coming year.
Comments are due December 15 from campuses and the Academic Council on the report of the APC Subcommittee on High-Fee
Part-Time Professional Programs.
c. Planning for Graduate Education
CCGA Chair Norris announced that several Divisional Graduate Councils are exploring whether doctoral programs in
science and engineering should be reshaped in light of transformations in the job market. She will keep the APC
informed as these discussions proceed.
The next meeting of the APC will be held via videoconference on December 7, 1995.