The Academic Planning Committee met on December 12, 2000 at 9:30am in room 481 McHenry Library.
Present: George Brown (Chair), Ed Houghton, Frank Talamantes, Allison Galloway (CPB), Wlad Godzich, Carol Freeman (CEP), Lynda Goff, Dave Kliger, Martin Chemers, Pat Mantey, Kathleen Dettman (staff), Betsy Moses (staff).
Absent: Phokion Kolaitis (GC)
Guests: Michael Tanner, Galen Jarvinen, and Max Ritchie
1. Chair’s Announcements.
a) Master of Advanced Study planning grants
UCOP has issued a call for Master of Advanced Study (MAS) planning
grants, targeted to professional education and to advanced liberal studies.
The call and guidelines were distributed to deans, and proposals are due
to Vice Provost Brown no later than January 24, 2001. A formal request
will follow shortly. A UCOP web site listing successfully funded planning
grants is located at: http://www.ucop.edu/acadinit/mas.html.
b) Call for the establishment of Professional Programs
Members were advised of the September 19, 2000 letter from President
Atkinson to Provost Jud King urging systemwide growth in professional schools.
The letter is posted on the APC resource documents page: http://planning.ucsc.edu/pac/MtgNotes/apc-reading.htm.
c) Growth and Stewardship Retreat
The retreat is scheduled for December 19, 2000. As a result of APC
recommendations, the invitee list has been expanded and the agenda has
been re-ordered. Deans are asked to present their vision of divisional
space needs in a panel format, five minutes per presentation. Director
Fran Owens will also present a summary of campus wide space planning.
2. Approval of November 28 Minutes. The Draft minutes of November 28 were approved without amendment.
3. Silicon Valley Regional Center (SVRC) academic planning – Interim Director Michael Tanner. Director Tanner presented a summary update of physical and academic planning for the evolving SVRC. The total NASA/AMES site is 213 acres, and 40 acres will be set aside for a University reserve. UCSC has been committed a minimum of 25 acres including a 600,000 square foot structure. The land is owned by NASA; an environmental impact statement (EIS) is in progress. Preliminary academic planning will be necessary to serve as the basis for the EIS and site development. Schematic concepts under consideration for the sake of the EIS include (but are not limited to) engineering, social sciences, economics, biotechnology, and visual and digital media.
UCSC will benefit from free use of NASA land. NASA is seeking links with current research in astrobiology and biotechnology and information technology fields, with outreach targeted to improving the educational level of the general workforce. The campus letter of intent states that academic programs will be developed that fit the general academic mission, but no specific focus was identified in the LOI.
Discussion followed on the benefits and challenges presented by extending campus programs to an external site; partnership with NASA; and logistical complexities. Housing for faculty, staff and students will be a critical issue and plans include seven acres set aside specifically for housing at least 700 residents. Transportation and a potential new access bridge linking the site to Mountain View are also under consideration.
Identifying intellectual themes that will be successful at the unique site is the next step. The center will not likely be a full service college campus; success is most likely if programs focus on upper division and graduate education. Initial links with Foothill and DeAnza community colleges are underway to promote a student transfer process. Other ideas include visiting faculty who teach for one term or less and UC systemwide students who enroll for specialized quarters. The challenge inherent in an intermittent instructional program is sustaining coherent offerings. Collaboration with Extension is also under consideration, especially the feasibility of shared classroom space. Faculty recruited explicitly for SVRC programs will expand the faculty of programs embedded within UCSC’s main campus. By the same token, instructional space at SVRC is an expansion of instructional space allocated at the main campus.
In order to plan successful programs, UCSC faculty must be informed of the preliminary vision of the academic mission of the Regional Center. Realistic expectations regarding timing, space, housing and the NASA partnership expanding research capability are necessary. Director Tanner agreed to meet again with APC at the January 9, 2001 meeting and will provide a SVRC vision statement. APC will review the statement and following committee approval, it will be distributed to departments as a planning guideline. Chair Brown will also distribute the statement to CPB, CEP, and GC for their consideration.
APC agreed that programs in business management and in urban and regional policy and planning are two themes worth pursuing at once. The business graduate program could focus on the training of management executives from a liberal arts perspective. An urban planning program could focus on interdisciplinary connections between architecture, environmental studies, and general urban and regional development policy and practice. These areas share common ground with current faculty interests, but at present are not embedded in existing departmental visions. The committee recommends Provost Simpson establish advisory groups to pursue program feasibility and develop preliminary plans for APC review. Advisory group membership should include people both internal and external to the campus.
4. Members Items. No items were presented.
Attest:
George Brown, Chair