1. Issues in Graduate Education
Graduate Deans Cerny (UCB) and Attkisson (UCSF) met with the APC to discuss "Excellence at Risk: The Future
of Graduate Academic Education in the University of California," a document the Council of Graduate Deans
(COGD) has prepared as a framework for considering some of the key issues facing graduate education. The Deans
noted that one of the primary purposes of the paper is to encourage more public advocacy of graduate education,
a subject that has been overshadowed by the attention being given to the undergraduate issues related to Tidal
Wave II. The paper presents fourteen recommendations which COGD will refine as their consultation moves forward.
The COGD paper emphasizes that growth in graduate enrollments should be tied to a set of indices that demonstrate
the quality of the program and its ability to support students. To make this type of selective planning possible,
it will be necessary to collect considerably more data than are currently available, and to share those data among
campuses. COGD believes academic planners would be better served by having information about student selectivity,
prospects for federal, state and private support, student support by programs and campuses, attrition, job placement
and student satisfaction. The paper also addresses specific recommendations related to graduate support.
The APC members discussed the dilemma of how to balance local campus academic planning decisions with the concept
of a UC-wide "one-university" approach to the graduate program, noting that within an organizational
structure of decentralized budgeting and planning, there are few incentives to plan for university-wide graduate
education.
COGD will be distributing copies of their paper to COVC, CCGA and UCPB for their comments, following which they
will return to the APC for additional discussion.
2. Tenth Campus Planning
Davis Professor Dan Simmons, chair of the academic planning committee for the 10th campus, presented the preliminary
academic planning outline which the committee hopes to have completed for University-wide consultation by September.
Some of the key principles on which their planning is based include the fact that this will be a residential research
campus, built around an interdisciplinary and collaborative structure, using the Central Valley as a research resource.
Several members noted the unique characteristics of the Valley, including a population with a rich history, representing
cultures that span the globe. As presently conceived, there will be three broad divisions: Social and Public Policy,
Science and Technology, and Arts and Cultures.
The planning committee is proposing a process that would take planning funds recently approved by the Legislature
to create a "think tank" of University faculty whose work includes research in the Valley, and to fund
a grant program to expand the opportunities for research. These funded researchers may form a core group that could
eventually be called upon to recruit faculty and program chairs who would do the detailed academic planning for
the campus.
At the earliest, this campus would open in 2005, although many years of preparation and development will be required.
3. California Virtual University
Vice Provost Carol Tomlinson-Keasey presented an update on the California Virtual University, which is the Governor
Wilson's response to the Western Governor's University. Unlike the WGU, the CVU is not intended to be a degree-granting
organization, but one that will be a "portal" leading interested learners to on-line courses that are
being provided by California colleges and universities. For example, UC's participation will likely center on extension
courses, certificate programs, teacher training, K-12 modules, and continuing education. Some of the possible markets
for courses are Pacific Rim countries which need access to post-baccalaureate courses for professionals, California
students wanting to pursue certificate programs, and teachers in a variety of settings who could have access to
specific instructional materials for use in developing their own courses. Both CSU and the community colleges are
considering the possibilities of undergraduate instruction.
The future of the CVU is uncertain; the State has not appropriated funds directly to support it. There is some
expectation that potential vendors and consumers would find it worthy of their financial support. APC members,
however, were skeptical that the CVU would ever develop into the profit-making enterprises that some believe to
be possible, particularly given the high development costs, and the oft-overlooked time investment required of
faculty.
Vice Provost Tomlinson-Keasey is asking that campuses convene committees to help advise on their possible involvement
in the CVU, noting that such groups would be useful to each campus's planning concerning technological instruction.
4. White Paper: "University of California: Approaching the 21st Century"
The APC members offered their comments on a revised draft of a White Paper currently being circulated for discussion,
which notes some of the directions the University is taking as it approaches the challenges of the 21st century.
There was agreement that the paper has been improved significantly. In light of the presentation by the Graduate
Deans, the members suggested that there be more explicit mention of the role and central importance of graduate
education to the University's future. There were also recommendations that if the document is to be used publicly,
rather than for an internal audience, it should be written in a way that will generate enthusiasm about UC from
readers and potential critics.
The next meeting of the Academic Planning Council is June 17, 1997.