UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
ACADEMIC PLANNING COUNCIL

Bulletin #43

September 30, 1999

Several new members joined the Academic Planning Council at its first meeting of 1999-00, including Michael Cowan (UCSC), vice-chair of the Academic Council, Bill Sirignano (UCI), chair of UCPB, Ilene Nagel (UCSB), Executive Vice Chancellor, Judi Smith (UCLA), Undergraduate Dean, and Andy Katz (UCB), undergraduate student representative.

1. Humanities Commission

The APC members continued their discussion from the July meeting (http://www.ucop.edu/planning/apc/apc42.html) about the charge and membership of the Commission on the Humanities. The members debated the merits of focusing specifically on the humanities within UC, as compared to looking at the humanities within a national context. There was general agreement that since a lot of work is already being done nationally, the appropriate place to start was by looking at UC first, recognizing that there could be a second phase to the Commission's work that would broaden the focus to include research universities in general or issues of national scope.

Several members noted that a Commission could be helpful to the UC humanities programs without significant cost implications. For example, the Commission could devise ways to raise the visibility of the humanities and to celebrate the many fine teaching and research programs already in place at each campus. There was also a call for more refined data to distinguish truths from myths about the success of humanities programs, and what the trends in enrollments and majors have been, particularly compared with other disciplines. For example, at at least one campus, even though the number of majors have declined, humanities fields have the largest number of minors.

Members also agreed that the Commission should focus on the future, not past or current problems. In addition to being celebratory, the Commission could make a significant contribution by identifying ways in which the humanities can be part of the solution to many of the issues facing the University. Mentioned, for example, were the role the humanities might play in assisting outreach efforts or in addressing the projected enrollment growth, and the ways a humanities-based education makes prepares a student for employment in a multi-cultural workplace.

Three APC members–Michael Cowan, Simon Williams and Julius Zelmanowitz--will write a draft charge for the APC's review.

2. Graduate Enrollment Growth

The APC considered how to shape its agenda for the coming year with respect to both graduate enrollment growth issues, and undergraduate education. University planning projections show campuses adding 11,000 graduate students in the next decade or so, which will be a considerable challenge to accomplish. The issue for the APC related to this graduate growth is whether there are systemwide efforts that could facilitate what is essentially a local, faculty-based process. After discussing various aspects of the issue–the use of postdocs vs. graduate students in some disciplines, the need for differential growth rates in various fields, and the possibilities of adding masters programs for credentialed teachers and other returning students–the APC agreed that it would be helped by having additional data about enrollment patterns. Understanding various trends will be helpful in establishing a more specific agenda, the intention of which will be to promote successful long-term graduate growth.

3. Undergraduate Education

The APC also discussed an agenda for the coming year that would address certain undergraduate issues. Several groups and commissions across the country have addressed the subject of improving undergraduate education. The APC will spend some time reviewing and assessing how UC's educational experience corresponds to recommendations contained in some of these reports. APC members were pleased to learn that the UC campus administrators who have responsibilities focused on undergraduate academic issues have formed an ongoing group to identify curricular and academic policy issues that affect the undergraduate experience, and to share information about activities and initiatives that are underway to enhance undergraduate education. .

Agreeing also that there is value in informing others outside of UC how undergraduate education fits into a research university, members decided that one important objective would be to raise the visibility of how UC carries out undergraduate education. They discussed the idea of creating a publication similar in format to the one created for graduate education ("Making Discovery Work," http://www.ucop.edu/planning/lrenroll.html) that would illustrate the myriad ways undergraduate education is delivered in a research university. Such a publication could be helpful for legislators, prospective students and their parents, fundraisers who want to understand the University's teaching program better, as well as to faculty within the University who are looking for different approaches to teaching.

4. Updates

Assistant Vice President Sandra Smith advised the APC that an outside consultant has been selected to prepare a workforce analysis that will help advise the University on the question of whether California needs another law school. The Rand Corporation will provide its analysis in early January.

She also announced that a Steering Committee has been formed to identify systemwide issues and policies that affect campus efforts to accommodate the enrollment growth expected to materialize in the next decade or so. The Steering Committee will also advise on the writing of a report to the Legislature about the University's enrollment plans, due April 1, 2000. And, it will coordinate communication among campus and systemwide staff and faculty involved in enrollment planning.