| | |

Some things are so obvious they need to be said

Byuclafaculty

UC faculty leader warns of more exits if research loses ground

The systemwide leader of the University of California’s faculty said Friday that he hoped that the announced move of prominent neuroscience researchers from UCLA to USC reminds government leaders in Sacramento of the importance of research at UC. Robert Powell, chairman of the system Academic Senate, said that much of recent proposed legislation and rules from state lawmakers and the governor stress undergraduate graduation rates, online education and upping teaching loads without recognizing UC’s strong international role in scientific and academic research.
While it is important to improve undergraduate education and make UC more efficient, he said, he wants to ensure that change does not come at the expense of graduate school training and the pursuit of new inventions and medical discoveries…
Full story from the LA Times at http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-uc-faculty-20130510,0,7070977.story
We posted about this matter yesterday http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2013/05/lessons-to-be-learned.html and repeat our questions.  Are we going to have a frank discussion at the upcoming Regents meeting on this issue?  Will President Yudof – whose imminent departure should give him the freedom to speak frankly – say what is obvious but (obviously) needs to be said at that meeting?

Similar Posts

|

Spotlight on Speech Codes, 2022

Byadmin

Fire (Foundation for Individual Rights in Education) has just released its yearly summary of the state of free speech at 481 public and private colleges and universities in the United States. FIRE defines free speech as “the overwhelming majority of speech protected by the First Amendment.” Few exceptions exist. The survey addresses a wide variety of issues with relevance to free speech, including: Free Speech Zone PoliciesPrior RestraintsSecurity Fee PoliciesPolicies Governing Speakers, Demonstrations, and RalliesPolicies on Bias and Hate SpeechInternet Usage PoliciesPolicies on Tolerance, Respect, and CivilityBullying PoliciesThreats and IntimidationHarassmentPolicies on Bias and Hate SpeechObscenityIncitement The report is both disappointing…

| |

College Diversity Requirement Gathers Support

Byuclafaculty

The following statement has been circulating among faculty today and has about 80 co-signers as of Wednesday afternoon. We Support the College Diversity Requirement We, the undersigned faculty of the University of California, Los Angeles, express our enthusiastic support for a College Diversity Requirement for students within the College of Letters and Science. Our signatures reflect our confidence in the process, proposal, and the expected benefits of such a requirement for our students and our campus more generally. We recognize fully that for over 30 years, generations of students have worked hard alongside faculty in achieving this goal and now…

| |

College of Letters and Science Faculty Vote on Diversity Requirement

Byuclafaculty

UCLA faculty with appointments in the College of Letters and Science are voting this week on a proposed Diversity Requirement for undergraduate students  in the College. The vote is open between October 24th and October 31st. The Academic Senate has an extensive informational site (votediversity.ucla.edu) that includes documentation on the requirement, a frequently asked questions section, and a forum for faculty to share information and views on the requirement. The forum includes six separate faculty statements in support of the requirement, and one statement in opposition. An additional statement in support circulating on Wednesday has garnered about 80 co-signers. The…

| | |

Jerry Brown Looks for an Online Course that Requires No Human Interaction

Byuclafaculty

At the Regents meeting of January 22, 2014, Gov. Brown seems to be searching for an online course that requires no human interaction.  Such a course, he reasons, could have unlimited enrollment because it is completely self-contained.  He gets some pushback from UC Provost Dorr, who thinks courses should have such interaction.  You can hear this excerpt at the link below.  The entire meeting of the Committee on Educational Policy of the Regents was posted yesterday.[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tYFLJvrE3g?feature=player_detailpage]