Tuesday, September 14, 2010

The Senate Council has Spoken, but will the Administration Listen: A Rejection of the Commission of the Future’s Recommendations

Last week, I discussed how the senate faculty members of the Post-Employment Benefits Task Force wrote an effective criticism of the plan to restructure UC’s retirement benefits. I would now like to examine the senate’s “MEMORANDUM TO THE UC COMMISSION ON THE FUTURE FROM THE UC ACADEMIC COUNCIL: Senate Response to the Second Round of the Working Group Recommendations.” Much of the council’s response relates to the expanded recommendations that were added by senior administrators after the working groups had submitted their recommendations: “Council observed that many recommendations are similar to prior recommendations and felt that the Working Group recommendations address issues in a far more thoughtful, detailed and comprehensive manner than the Expanded Recommendations or the recommendations from the Council of Vice Chancellors. Several Senate agencies expressed discomfort with the lack of information about the provenance of the Expanded Recommendations. UCSD notes that this ‘makes the process look secretive and could imply some hidden agenda by the Commission or by the administration.’” The senate faculty members are politely pointing out here that they did not expect the administration to rewrite the working groups’ recommendation at the last minute.

The way that the expanded recommendations were introduced challenges the concept of shared governance and makes it seem that senior administrators ask faculty members to contribute, but if the administration does not like the outcomes of the faculty’s input, senior management feels free to make changes without consultation. Moreover, many of the new recommendations replace shared governance with central control: “Respondents were concerned that many of the proposals would undermine ordinary processes of University governance (UCB). The proposals often imply establishing systemwide structures and reporting, which can threaten local autonomy and can become inflexible unfunded mandates, straining diminishing administrative resources (UCB, UCSD). Council is wary of excessive centralization, and asks that specific plans for systemwide initiatives be reviewed once they are developed.” Here we see senate faculty pushing back against the desire of some people from the Office of the President to replace campus autonomy with a more centralized decision-making system.

Not only does the council reject this process of centralization, but they also question the entire outlook of the administration: “Finally, UCFW expressed disappointment at the scope of the recommendations. UCFW notes, ‘Rather than focus on the real fiscal problems that need to be fixed, the Commission deals largely with simple problems that can be fixed administratively.’ They argue that UC needs to ‘tackle issues that impact the future existence of the University.’ UCB concurs that the recommendations should focus on ‘transformative (as opposed to incremental) change.’” By translating most fiscal problems into administrative problems, the new recommendations push the solutions into the hands of the central administration.

One clear example of this attempt to extend the reach of the central administration is in Recommendation 6, where we find the call for “Strategic academic planning in a systemwide context” and “easier cross-campus enrollment and curricular collaboration.” In response to Expanded Recommendation 1, the faculty clearly question the need to “Collect information on effectiveness of academic program reviews including (1) the elimination of unnecessary program duplication, (2) intra-and inter-campus program consolidation, and (3) programs discontinued due to low enrollment, low degree production, and/or quality concerns, and those not responsive to state need or student demand.” The senate faculty members also disagree with Expanded Recommendation 2, which calls for the central administration to, “Collect information on policies to ensure effective curricular design and planning, including curricular offerings, and alignment of faculty course assignments with workload policies.” In their criticism of these new recommendations, the council questions the authority of the administration to make these changes: “All three of these recommendations address issues in the purview of the Academic Senate. Moreover, many respondents noted that the Senate has in place very effective, regular, and thorough procedures for academic program and course reviews (UCI, UCM, UCSD, UCEP, AdvGrp).”


Many of the faculty senates question the need or ability for the central administration to involve itself in campus curricular decisions: “ Some members were offended that the recommendations assume that academic units are not meeting core teaching requirements. Others felt that this information already is available and an extra layer of reporting is unnecessary (UCI, UCLA, AdvGrp). However, they would support a mechanism to collect existing information, as long as it does not increase the burden of reporting requirements (UCSB, AdvGrp). Some took issue with the notion that homogenizing the curriculum is desirable, arguing that curricular diversity across the system is a strength (UCB, UCSD). Requiring cross-campus collaboration (especially extending automatically granting course credit beyond the scope of SR477 and SR544) would stymie innovative curricula and ignore different approaches to disciplines and course content. They particularly questioned the meaning of the phrase ‘unnecessary program duplication.’ Who determines this, using what criteria? (UCSB, UCEP, AdvGrp). We note that each campus must maintain a core academic program and be allowed to develop a full range of disciplines (UCM, UCSB) and that programmatic funding priorities should not be made based on a short-term assessment of labor market demand or student interest (UCSD). Finally, low enrollment or degree production are not sufficient criteria for disestablishment, and decisions regarding program elimination should be determined by those qualified to render such judgments, that is, the Academic Senate (UCSD, AdvGrp). Council prefers the approach in Size & Shape 6 and Education & Curriculum 4. The Regents have delegated authority over the curricula to the Senate, and Senate bylaws clearly assign power to the divisions to approve and supervise all courses and curricula (UCLA, UCEP).” The senate faculty groups clearly reject the central administration’s desire to usurp the authority of the faculty in order to eliminate programs and transform curricular content.

The senates also resist the need to move all of the campuses to the semester system: “Senate agencies strongly disagreed with this recommendation. Respondents argued: 1) the financial benefits have not been demonstrated via a cost/benefit analysis (UCI, UCSD, UCEP, AdvGrp); 2) no information was presented showing the ways in which transfer is impeded by the calendar (UCEP, AdvGrp); and 3) this project should not proceed or be allocated funds at a time of constrained resources (UCD, UCI, UCLA, UCSF, UCEP, AdvGrp). Moreover, the increased burden on faculty workload would negatively affect faculty morale. Some noted that since eight campuses are on the quarter system, synergies already exist (UCSD, UCEP, AdvGrp).” Many of the campuses have already voted against this change, so it is strange that it would be recommended by the administration.

Another area of concern for the senate faculty is the recommendation to increase nonresident admissions to meet campus capacity, reaffirm the 60:40 ratio of upper division to lower division, and move towards a 1:2 ratio of community college transfers to freshmen: “Council conditionally agrees to most elements of Size & Shape 8. Council supports the Master Plan, but notes that the University’s commitment to the Master Plan should be contingent on the availability of state funds, as well as on the strength of the transfer pool (UCB, UCI, UCSB, AdvGrp). UCI questions whether a 60:40 upper to lower division ratio allows for a 1:2 ratio of transfers to freshmen. UCM comments that some community colleges are not adequately preparing students, and UCEP notes that more information on the progress of transfers is needed. Finally, the state should provide greater funding for upper division students before UC increases the number of transfers.” The council correctly stresses here that someone has to actually crunch the numbers to see what happens if the university expands the number of upper-division students through transfer as it reduces the number of freshman enrollments.

The council also strongly disagreed with Expanded Recommendation 3: although some faculty members do support the targeted expansion of self-supporting terminal Master’s degrees. Some concerns include: “1) Use of University resources. Council cautions that self-supporting programs usurp campus resources and should not be built on existing courses and infrastructure (UCD, UCSB). An analysis of potential competition between self-supporting and state-supported programs must be part of the approval process of any self-supporting program (UCD).” Many senate faculty committees have questioned the financial and academic soundness of promoting self-supporting programs that often end up drawing funding away from the core mission: “As with online education, the proposal would divert resources to new endeavors that are outside the core of the University based on the sometimes dubious assumptions that they will generate revenue. But the revenue goal is unrealistic, as it is based on high- cost MBA programs. The University is unlikely to generate ten times the annual net revenue by expanding to other areas. Choosing an arbitrary revenue target is not good academic planning (UCI, UCLA, UCEP).” The faculty have rightly concluded that many of the new proposed money-making schemes may actually cost money, while they function to undermine educational quality.

This criticism of the central administration’s push for privatization is also present in the senate faculty’s resistance to online education: “We reiterate that before proceeding beyond the pilot project, the University must evaluate course quality and cost effectiveness (UCLA, UCSD, UCSF). The proposed timetable and scale in this recommendation are unrealistic and incompatible with a rigorous process of evaluation (UCB, UCI, UCEP, AdvGrp). Similarly, while we restate our opposition to undergraduate online degrees pending evaluation of the pilot project and further consideration by the Senate, we will not restate our concerns about the appropriateness of online instruction in the UC context.” The council wants the university to slow down and first test online courses before it decides to increase the number of these classes.

In the coming months, we shall see if the administration is really taking the senate faculty’s views into account. If not, faculty should join with student groups and unions to fight this move to centralize and privative the University of California.

22 comments:

  1. What more evidence do you need? No more waiting; the time to fight is now.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yeah, good luck getting apathetic UC faculty to realize what is going on. They are like the proverbial frog in the proverbial pot of boiling water.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I was very encouraged to find this site. I wanted to thank you for this special read. I definitely savored every little bit of it and I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff you post. www.positiveimagebank.co.uk |

    www.bestweddingphotography.co.uk |

    www.pauljamesconsulting.co.uk |

    www.careers-at-benefit.co.uk |

    www.tibrainvestmentmanagement.co.uk |

    www.lucy-kent.co.uk |

    www.cbd-research.co.uk |

    www.savesolihullhospital.co.uk |

    www.envirotrack.co.uk |

    www.trackingtourism.co.uk |

    ReplyDelete

  4. I was very encouraged to find this site. I wanted to thank you for this special read. I definitely savored every little bit of it and I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff you post.

    Visit Us

    xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
    http://annemearadeadmotherofbenstiller.blogspot.com/2015/05/serum-korea-asli-produkkecantikangrosir.html Serum Korea Asli Produkkecantikangrosir.com Black New Formula Original

    xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
    Serum Korea Asli Produkkecantikangrosir.com Black New Formula Original

    xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
    Serum Korea Asli Produkkecantikangrosir.com Black New Formula Original http://annemearadeadmotherofbenstiller1.blogspot.com/2015/05/serum-korea-asli-produkkecantikangrosir.html

    xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
    Serum Korea Asli Produkkecantikangrosir.com Black New Formula Original http://annemearadeadsmotherofbenstiller.blogspot.com/2015/05/serum-korea-asli-produkkecantikangrosir.html

    xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
    Serum Korea Asli Produkkecantikangrosir.com Black New Formula Original Visit Us

    xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
    http://annemearadeadmotherofbenstilleri.blogspot.com/2015/05/serum-korea-asli-produkkecantikangrosir.html Serum Korea Asli Produkkecantikangrosir.com Black New Formula Original

    xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
    http://annemearadeadsmotherofbenstiller.blogspot.com/2015/05/serum-korea-asli-produkkecantikangrosir_25.html Serum Korea Asli Produkkecantikangrosir.com Black New Formula Original

    xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



    ReplyDelete
  5. Everything they need is your auto and they will give you the measure of cash you require. On the other hand, it is vital for you to comprehend that the measure of cash you get will rely on upon the estimation of your vehicle. auto title loans fresno online

    ReplyDelete
  6. Yet at the same time between the two the online application is acknowledged and handled faster.You are constantly late for your classes and never reach on time? Does open transport devours a considerable measure of time? Tired of going through transports. Payday Loans Chicago

    ReplyDelete
  7. Contract directors, banks, credit unions, dealers, protection gathers all offer an apparently perpetual decision of advance alternatives - basic rates, standard variable rates, settled rates, redraw offices, credit extensions advances and premium just advances, the rundown goes on. Be that as it may, with decision comes disarray. How would you figure out what the best kind of home credit is for you? https://www.usacheckcashingstore.com/san-diego

    ReplyDelete
  8. You furthermore need to make positive that you don't tumble to far into obligation taking after college. Thus, you should examination college understudy loaning items. College understudy monetary credit union is 1 of the best strategies to spare money since you are just expected to pay out your budgetary advances back in little augmentations. cash advance

    ReplyDelete
  9. On account of rented gear, the benefit does not show up on the monetary record, and the related lease installments don't show up as obligation yet rather, a cost in the wage proclamation. Renting is regularly alluded to as shaky sheet financing, and thusly positively affects a portion of the money related proportions, for example, obligation to value. payday loans

    ReplyDelete
  10. McAfee MTP Retailcard – To Install and Activate McAfee MIS Retailcard Total Protection you always require a 25 digit keycode. So activate product online or call or live chat with Experts.
    mcafee.com/activate |
    office.com/setup |
    McAfee.com/activate |
    office.com/setup |
    www.mcafee.com/activate|
    McAfee Retail Card.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Such a great blog with an interesting topic. I really get amazed after reading this article. It’s really informative information for us.

    Sports Betting App Development

    ReplyDelete
  12. luminar torrent
    Luminar Serial Key is the system’s first photo desk to suit your technique and skill. It has flexible ways to support different types of photos and photos. Sophisticated image editing should be easy and fun. With the Luminar Mac, you no longer need to take photos, for example, to correct stereo images without stereo.

    ReplyDelete
  13. days gone pc download
    Days Gone PC Gameplay is settled in a 3D fictitious world. These elements the horror journey missions. And also, points to the 3D visible prospect. That tells that the game player can pass at a 360-degree angle. It additionally can see in three-dimensional directions. The missions in-game consist of combats through weapons and hands.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Very good content. I learn new information from your article, the way you have clearly explained is really fantastic. Thanks a lot for this blog.

    Cryptocurrency Development Company

    ReplyDelete
  15. Wow, what a knowledgeable and meaningful post! You cover all the basic information which I needed. It's really helpful for me. Thanks a lot for sharing such a helpful blog related to NFT Marketplace Development Company.

    ReplyDelete
  16. hop over to here a4q19t7o36 replica ysl replica bags near me official site t3g61b3p39 Louis Vuitton replica Bags replica bags online uae replica bags in uk gucci replica p9w12t2a44 replica bags toronto

    ReplyDelete