1. Introductions and Welcome
Provost King welcomed new APC members Charles Perrin, incoming chair of CCGA,
David Dooley, incoming chair of UCEP, Michael Gottfredson, Executive Vice
Chancellor (UCI), Christina Maslach, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education
(UCB), and George Blumenthal, Division Chair (UCSC).
2. Planning for Professional Schools
The Academic Planning Council discussed the advisability of systemwide planning
for new professional schools versus the current campus-generated approach. The
advantage to a systemwide approach, according to some members, is that campuses
can do better planning in a context that takes into account statewide needs and
campus strengths, and they can avoid creating duplicative proposals or ones
that have little chance of approval. However, members generally agreed that the
campus-generated approach produces better proposals. They advised that given
the competition for resources, campuses would be best served by having
available to them clear criteria that can guide both the development and
evaluation of proposals. The establishment of such systemwide guidelines would
also assure The Regents, who have authority for approving new schools, that the
best academic choices are being made and that UC as a whole is doing everything
it should for California in terms of providing sufficient numbers of high
quality professionals.
The members advised that the criteria should require a close connection between
the proposed school and the campus's larger academic vision, a detailed budget
plan that shows how the school will be supported, analysis of the financial
implications for other campus programs, and evidence of need for these
additional professionals. Members urged recognition of the need for campuses
that are still growing to develop more complex program arrays and to
differentiate themselves academically from other campuses in the system.
The APC will review draft criteria at a later meeting, in preparation for consultation
with a wider academic audience in the University.
3. Subject A
University Undergraduate Deans and Vice Provosts, in a recent letter to Provost
King, expressed their concerns about the University's Subject A requirement,
requesting consideration of ways to improve the process related to meeting the
requirement. Their concerns focus on a felt need for greater clarity about the
University's goals in this area and whether or not the current Subject A exam
and process are meeting those goals. They believe improvements are needed
particularly in the timing of the exam so that students can make use of
expanded summer instruction to meet the requirement, but also want to engender
discussion about the larger educational goals and whether the Subject A requirement
achieves them.
The Undergraduate Deans and Vice Provosts have requested an external review of
the exam, and some APC members also suggested a wider review of how student
learning needs are best met. The APC decided that the first step should be to
refer the issue to the Academic Council for review by the systemwide Senate in
the coming academic year. At the request of APC members, staff will also
inquire about what other comparable universities do to assess and improve
student preparedness, since the Subject A requirement is unique to the
University of California.
4. International Education
John Marcum, Director of the Education Abroad Program (EAP) and Special Advisor
on International Education, presented to the APC a description of new areas into
which EAP is expanding. By offering more short-term (i.e., quarter/semester)
programs, by providing programs that appeal to new audiences (e.g., students in
specific majors, sophomores, summer students, students with a 2.5 GPA) EAP
believes it will be able to increase to 3,000 participants next year. EAP will
also begin offering large-enrollment programs designed by UC faculty for UC
students only in a number of cities around the world.
Director Marcum pointed out that there are other aspects to international
education in addition to the more traditional study abroad programs. For
example, the University's international hubs (California Houses in London and
soon in Mexico City) provide sites and presence for UC activities. EAP also
offers programs that provide internship possibilities, is initiating
intersegmental collaboration with CSU and the community colleges to promote
student preparation for study abroad by means of language and other instruction
and advising in the high schools, is exploring ways of providing online
language learning and facilitates faculty exchange and research collaboratives
through reciprocity agreements.
APC members were interested in and supportive of efforts to expand
international programs, particularly those that allow students to fulfill
general education requirements. They also urged that departments rethink what
courses are acceptable for the major, and find ways to incorporate, where
appropriate, requirements for some type of international experience since our
students' futures will require much greater global understanding. There was
also support expressed for participation in non-EAP sponsored programs, and a
question about whether we can do more to remove barriers to participation. The
members of the Academic Council present at this meeting expressed a desire to
raise these issues at the campus level, to improve academic communication about
how to expand opportunities.
5. Graduate Commission Recommendations
The Commission on the Growth and Support of Graduate Education has issued its
report and recommendations in the form of a Regents item and brochure called
"Innovation and Prosperity at Risk: Investing in Graduate Education to
Sustain California's Future" http://www.ucop.edu/services/gradeduc.html.
The APC discussed the Commission's 10 recommendations related to various ways
of raising the $215 million needed to ensure the University's competitiveness
for the best applicants and to support the proposed increase of 11,000 graduate
students in the coming decade. The Commission's recommendations as a whole form
an integrated strategy that matches funding sources, the types of funding
required, and the disciplines to which the funding would be directed. Of the
$215 million needed, $150 million is expected to come from traditional sources
such as State funding for teaching assistants and Federal research grants. The
remaining $65 million requires new efforts. Six of the Commission's
recommendations relate to that new external funding; four refer to things UC
can do to help itself attract and retain the highest quality graduate students.
Members acknowledged the difficulty of achieving all the objectives given the
problems with State funding, in particular. However, it was pointed out that
the recommendations suggest approaches of various kinds, many of which can be
pursued separately from State funding, with some moving ahead quickly while
others may have to wait for more a stable funding environment.