UNIVERSITY PLANNING AND POLICY
COUNCIL
2004-05 Chair:� Marjorie Pryse
Meeting Minutes
Present:��������� J. Bartow, R Baum,
G. Kamberelis, S.B. Kim, J. Langer, C. MacDonald, D. McCaffrey,
J. Mumpower, K. Murray, G. Paul, M. Pryse, S. Stern, E. Wulfert
Guest: ����������� R. Farrell
Chair�s Report � presented by Professor Marjorie Pryse:�
Senate Bill Number 0405-01:�� Additional
Membership on Councils and Committees, proposing that the elected representative
of the Council of Deans become an ex officio
member of
UPC Committee
Reports:
University Facilities Committee (UFC), Frank Hauser, Chair:� No report.
Resource Analysis and Planning Committee (RAPC),
Professor Pryse distributed Student Satisfaction Survey
results for the past ten years along with the 1992 University at Albany Mission
Statement for
Professor McCaffrey reported that in the RAPC review of MR II, the members found it difficult to identify clearly three or four priorities in the document.� He indicated that the responses to the 2002-03 survey are very unsettling, and he hopes that the MR II document will address issues that did not fare well in the surveys.
Professor MacDonald distributed a document identifying a few priority areas and including key text suggestions for the beginning of the MR II document.
Funding to the core programs was discussed, specifically,
that the charts show a pattern of below the mean ratings that appear to address
the quality of instruction.� Professor
Hauser mentioned that there was a report distributed by the Task Force on the
Quality of Undergraduate Academic Life and Student Retention in 1998 that studied
issues of retention and recommended improvements.� He noted that there were very useful recommendations
in that report that could be incorporated into the MR II.� Interim Provost Mumpower indicated that some
of the language in the honors initiative stemmed from that document.� Professor MacDonald pointed out that a number
of issues which require governance discussion are discussed in the document
also.� The document will be distributed
to all
There was discussion on the student satisfaction survey results with regard to how much time the faculty spends with students. �The results were not very favorable.� Some members agreed that it is difficult to spend a lot of time with individual students when teaching groups of 100 at a time.� Interim Provost Mumpower said that the surveys are conducted every few years and in general, there is a higher level of satisfaction now than ten years ago.�
Professor Wulfert raised questions about an �armchair
approach� to the solution of problems, such as constituting a previous task
force on student retention and hiring external consultants. She stated that if
this campus wants to find out why the students are so dissatisfied, it should conduct
a study with a stratified random sample of students, pay them for
participating, and find out in carefully constructed interviews what the
sources of dissatisfaction might be. It was moved that
It was also suggested that the MR II should address bringing residential life into podium or academic life, linking one to the other.�
Graduate Certificate
in Public Health Genetics Proposal:
Professor Hoff introduced the certificate program proposal.� The certificate is a twelve credit, four course certificate that will be available for a wide variety of people, i.e., health care professionals, doctors, lawyers, media, etc.� The resources are already committed.� The proposal will go to GAC this week.� It was moved that the proposal be approved.� The proposal was seconded and approved unanimously.
Respectfully submitted,