Provost King welcomed incoming undergraduate student representative Ronald
Taw, from the Santa Barbara campus, to membership on the Academic Planning Council. He also welcomed UCEP Chair
Alden Mosshammer, a Senate representative to the Council.
1. Expanding Delivery of Academic Programs
a. Update on Copyright and Information Technology
Provost King, joined by OP Coordinator Martha Winnacker, briefed the APC on OP's cooperative work with the Association
of American Universities to frame a statement of guidance for higher education on intellectual property ownership
and dissemination in the digital age. Both AAU and the National Association of Land Grant Universities and Colleges
have adopted UC's evolving Working Draft "University of California Copyright Legislation and Scholarly Communication--Basic
Principles" for distribution and discussion among member institutions. Provost King asked APC members to transmit
the Working Draft to interested constituencies throughout UC for comment. He also noted that it can be accessed
through the following WWW address:
http://www.ucop.edu/irc/wp/wp_Docs/wpd006.html
The Working Draft recognizes that as use of the electronic media expands, existing intellectual property rules
are not automatically transferrable to information distributed electronically. During the last session of Congress,
universities found themselves aligned with telephone companies and in opposition to the entertainment industry
over proposed legislation that would greatly limit fair use of digital works. Fortunately, the legislation did
not pass, but the pressures that generated it remain in play, and it is inevitable that UC will be involved in
continuing legislative activity. The issues are complex and are likely to require new institutional policies and
an extended period of internal education. UC's goal is to create policy that will respect academic users as both
owners and consumers of information with an onus for the responsible handling of published material.
APC members focused on development and marketing of electronic courseware, the area most likely to require new
approaches. Faculty who develop courseware need to be sensitive to the use of copyrighted material in, for example,
CD-ROMs. Because of the need for access to special technological support, the University can consider assuming
a new partnership role with faculty in courseware development. This is territory that UC has yet to chart.
The APC also continued its discussion of possible ways to address the high cost of professional journals through
new electronic approaches.
b. Part-Time or Alternatively Scheduled Master's Programs
The APC reviewed an inventory of current and planned programs, developed by OP in cooperation with the COVC. Although
the number of programs listed is impressive, members noted that this is only a first assessment of UC's activities
to offer and expand such programs and may not capture all existing programs because of rapid developments in this
area.
c. All-University Conference on Teaching, Learning and the New Technologies
This invitational conference is scheduled for March 25-26 at the Los Angeles campus. Its purpose is to reflect
on past traditions of transmitting knowledge as a context for projecting how information and communications technology
will affect ways in which knowledge is defined and conveyed in the future. Interest in this conference is very
high throughout UC, with about 120-130 invited faculty and others expected to attend. Many campuses are offering
local conferences or consultative meetings in conjunction with the All-University Conference in order to expand
participation. The plenary sessions will be broadcast to the wider University community. The conference will emphasize
the use of digital media in carrying out UC's mission and also tackle such institutional issues as cost of developing
mediated courseware and the implications of new activities for our traditional academic mission.
More information concerning the conference is available at the following WWW address:
http://www.ucop.edu/ucophome/auc
2. Enrollment Planning: Criteria and Process for Planning Graduate Enrollment Growth
Reflecting advice gleaned in a series of campus visits, Assistant Vice President Smith presented for discussion
several approaches to setting criteria for allocation of graduate enrollment growth resources among the campuses.
She cited the State's insistence that UC update its graduate enrollment plan as a prelude to receiving any further
State resources for graduate growth. In this preliminary discussion, APC members highlighted the importance of
considering resource constraints, support for graduate students, job markets, and campus development. The APC agreed
that campuses should be asked to propose graduate enrollment levels for the future taking these concerns into account.
3. Other Items
a. Update on RAND Study
A year ago, the California Education Round Table commissioned the RAND Corporation to do an independent projection
of future enrollment demand in California for higher education, with supporting studies that included an assessment
of the impact of financial aid and an environmental scan. RAND's initial drafts have been received and the Round
Table members will be considering what recommendations they may wish to make. APC members offered a number of suggestions
about how to secure additional analytical input. The February 4-5 COC/COVC/Academic Council Retreat will discuss
developing a White Paper that sets out UC's own vision of its future under the Master Plan.
b. Reports from Administrative Groups and Senate Committees
Academic Council Chair Mellichamp plans to publish in Notice a salary graph developed by OP that shows UC faculty
salary trends compared to those of UC's public and private comparison universities. In reviewing the graph, APC
members expressed concern at the growing divergence that it shows between UC salaries and those of the private
comparison universities.
The next meeting of the APC is scheduled for February 21.