Summer school, gender equity, admissions, academic outreach and the development of UC Merced were discussed at Tuesday’s Representative Assembly meeting, held at the Garren Auditorium in the Basic Science Building.
Senior Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs Marsha Chandler addressed the assembly concerning summer school and gender equity at UCSD.
Chandler reported that the Bureau of State Audits has recommended that the UC Office of the President undertake an increase in the hiring of women at the assistant professor level. The audit found that there is a dearth of female faculty at all UC campuses.
The bureau also found that more women applied for positions as assistant professors, rather than as associate or full professors.
Chandler also addressed administrative responses to the need for the expansion of summer session. In anticipation of the new wave of students that will be coming to the university, officials have attempted to raise summer session offerings to the caliber that typifies the regular school year.
Summer session at UCSD has always been entirely campus supported. Recently, UC Berkeley, UCLA and UC Santa Barbara have received funds from UCOP to improve the quality of education during the summer. UCSD, UC Irvine and UC Davis also expect to receive funds by summer 2002 to increase summer school offerings.
Chandler joked about the meager funds given to the other campuses.
“”We are next on the list for not receiving the money,”” she said.
Chandler appeared hopeful about the proposed summer program. She also felt that the work done at UC Berkeley, UCLA and UCSB will help set a precedent so that UCSD can achieve a strong summer program.
Chandler also requested the creation of a new position, associate vice chancellor of undergraduate education.
“”We want to make sure we take care of the undergraduates with all the new students coming,”” she said.
Chemistry professor Barbara Sawrey spoke about the controversy regarding UC admissions procedures. Sawrey discussed the new Dual Admissions Program and the proposed abandonment of the SAT I.
The DAP, set to take effect in 2003, will require that the top 12.5 percent of California high school seniors be accepted automatically to the University of California. As of now, only the top 4 percent of every graduating high school class in California is guaranteed admission to a UC campus.
Under the DAP, students would complete their general education at a community college. The DAP diverges from the already functioning transfer program in that the DAP will accept students directly from a junior college to a specific UC campus. Sawrey reported that high schools and colleges are currently working on implementing this plan.
Sawrey also informed those in attendance about recent talks of forsaking the SAT I as a criterion for admission to the University of California. Sawrey mentioned UC President Richard Atkinson’s speech in February to the American Council on Education in Washington, D.C., in which he suggested that standardized tests are not an accurate method of testing academic ability at the collegiate level.
“”We don’t intend to make a precipitous decision,”” Sawrey said. “”We have to re-examine the question: ‘How do we measure the success of UC students?'””
Chemistry professor Katja Lindenberg also updated the representative assembly on the status of UC Merced. The school is scheduled to open in the year 2004 with 1,000 students and 100 faculty members. Professor Hugh Mehan and Marshall College Provost Cecil Lytle each spoke about academic outreach at UCSD. Mehan discussed UCSD’s dedication to the recruitment of underrepresented minorities.
The Academic Senate has posted the meeting’s minutes on its Web site, located at http://www-senate.ucsd.edu
