UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
ACADEMIC PLANNING COUNCIL

Bulletin #38


November 3, 1998


Provost King welcomed new members John Simpson, Executive Vice Chancellor from the Santa Cruz campus and the new chair of CCGA, Chris Calvert.

  1. California Digital Library


University Librarian Richard Lucier shared with the APC a summary of the accomplishments related to the creation of the California Digital Library. An informational website is now available at
www.cdlib.org and a beta test site is available at http://www2.cdlib.org/; in January the CDL will officially open with the Science, Technology, and Industry collection, which includes the full content of several thousand journals and access to abstracts and indexes of several thousand more. The framework established for prioritizing this charter collection will be replicated for other disciplines.


Additional services are being provided, including the expansion of MELVYL to include access to the print holdings of the 23 CSU libraries. Automated patron-initiated requests for materials located on other campuses will be available in January 1999.


The CDL has entered into or is pursuing strategic partnerships for the acquisition of materials, for the extension of access to more organizations and institutions, for the development of fair and affordable licenses and for the creation of better and more economically sustainable systems for distributing new knowledge.


The APC members agreed with the importance and timeliness of the issues that are being raised, and saw themselves as taking an advisory and coordinative role. They supported the idea of a consortium of universities publishing journals in order to reduce library costs, so long as such efforts did not impair the ability of faculty, particularly younger faculty, to publish where they need to publish. They acknowledged the conflict between taking a cautious, evolutionary approach and the pressure to take advantage of the current window of opportunity to respond constructively to a rapidly changing commercial market. Members also advised that it is important to educate the faculty about the issues, to pursue solutions at a discipline-specific level, and to consider carefully the importance of publishing in a faculty member's performance review given the changes in the nature of publishing.

2. Copyright and Scholarly Publication

Associate Vice President Stuart Lynn and Vice Provost Carol Tomlinson-Keasey led a discussion about how to bring faculty into conversations regarding the publication of scholarly research. The recently passed Digital Millenium Copyright Act, which AVP Lynn noted is far more favorable for higher education than once seemed possible, is the framework in which digital publishing will take place. The way faculty write, publish and archive their work will be different in the future. The essential issues include who retains copyright, whether to separate peer review from publication, and whether the University should go into digital publishing.

3. Year-Round Operation

The APC discussed the topic of year-round operation, about which the Legislative Analyst's Office has become interested as one possible solution to the anticipation that there will be insufficient capital funding in the coming decade to support growing higher education enrollments. This is one of several possible options for increasing capacity that campuses are being asked to consider in order for UC to report to the Legislature in March 1999.


Year-round operation is an idea that has been evaluated several times in the past 30 years. The APC suggested that the current discussion provides an opportunity to go beyond previous analyses by examining more thoroughly the appropriate role of a research university during the summer months.


Members described the various activities that take place during the summer at campuses and agreed that data regarding numbers of participants, utilization of facilities and the costs and revenues related to these activities would form an important baseline against which to measure any proposals for change. These activities include Summer Session, outreach programs, "bridge" programs for freshmen entering in the Fall and conferences and conventions. APC members also noted that faculty often do their research and attend professional meetings during the summer and that students often work.


Members suggested that there may be individual programs, similar to the teaching credential programs already being proposed for year-round operation, that have course configurations that could include a summer quarter. If a review of existing activities indicates that there is additional summer capacity, APC members advised that the year-round operation of these individual programs should be explored and evaluated in terms of increased revenues from the State that would come from increased enrollments, loss of fees for current self-supporting activities, and impacts on academic programs, faculty salaries and facilities.

4. Graduate Advocacy Document

Assistant Vice President Sandra Smith discussed with the APC the proposed content of a document that will describe to a public audience the value of UC's graduate education to the State of California, and the need for targeted growth in graduate enrollments. APC members were enthusiastic about the creation of this advocacy document, and offered several suggestions related to its content and organization. They specifically noted the importance of emphasizing the State and nation's needs for well-prepared masters and doctoral recipients, and of describing effectively and persuasively the relationship between high quality graduate education and a high quality research institution, which together are able to draw high quality undergraduates. The document will be presented to The Regents in February, and will also be shared with Legislative staff, the business community and other public groups who will benefit from having a fuller understanding of the University's graduate education program.