April 2004

NOTES FROM THE ACADEMIC SENATE CHAIR

LAWRENCE PITTS

Dear UC Faculty Member –

 

This spring the Council is working on three significant “fast-track” matters. First, the university-wide survey of faculty opinion on the labs is coming soon to your email inbox (see details at right). PLEASE VOTE WHEN YOU GET YOUR EMAIL INVITATION.

 

Second, the California budget process is moving apace, and because there is so much at stake for UC, it is urgent that the Senate and all friends of the University take action. The Academic Council has adopted a resolution on the budget crisis, which will be sent to the Assembly for approval in May. We hope faculty will use it to remind their friends in business and technology, and anyone they know who has benefited from UC's outstanding healthcare facilities, how valuable UC is to the wellbeing of California, and to encourage them in turn to pass a strong message of support on to their friends or contacts in the government. The Governor's budget, subject to a "May revise," will be before the Legislature in late May. It will be very important for friends of UC from all sectors to speak on our behalf in these difficult budget times. HELP WIDEN THE CIRCLE OF INFLUENCE AND LET OTHERS KNOW HOW CRUCIAL UC IS TO CALIFORNIA'S FUTURE.

 

Third, the California Postsecondary Education Commission (CPEC) analysis of the state’s recent high school graduates will be released soon. Current estimates are that UC is admitting from a pool larger than the top 12.5% of high school graduates called for in 1960 Master Plan for Higher Education. The Board of Admissions and Relations with Schools (BOARS) will review the report, and in conjunction with UC administration, will consider different criteria that would bring UC’s admissions to the proper Master Plan level. BOARS’ recommendations for UC admissions policies, once approved by the Academic Council and the Assembly, will be forwarded to the Regents in July. BOARS will continue to be very busy in the coming year as they consider the recommendations referred to them by the President's Study Group on Eligibility and Admissions, whose report will be released soon.

 

I’ll mention two other current, but more moderately paced, activities on which I invite your input. The Academic Council is preparing a recommendation that President Dynes initiate a substantial review of UC's Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources (DANR), which shepherds UC efforts in agricultural and natural resources teaching, research, community education, and consulting. This is such a large and prominent program, which also has been adversely affected by California's budget woes, that the Senate feels a careful consideration of DANR's current and future plans is needed to ensure that UC and the State have the most effective programs in these vital arenas. If you have any suggestions for topics or questions that should be considered by a review panel, please let me know (lawrence.pitts@ucop.edu).

 

Also, the Academic Council's Special Committee on Scholarly Communication (SCSC) will begin deliberations shortly. I'd very much like to hear from those journal editors and editorial board members among you as we try to formulate UC's future in journal and monograph publishing. I'm sure there will be questions that arise that can be best answered after consultations with faculty who have experience in this arena and who have good ideas as to how we should change in the next few years.

 

Finally, on the occasion of his retirement, the Academic Council formally commended Jud King for his long and excellent career service to UC. We are pleased to publish his farewell remarks (see above).