Carnesale shares with Academic Senate need to focus on values

Wednesday, November 19, 1997

Carnesale shares with Academic Senate need to focus on
values

FACULTY:

‘Excellence attracts excellence,’ says chancellor at meetingBy
George Sweeney

Daily Bruin Contributor

For the first time in his tenure as chancellor, Albert Carnesale
addressed the Academic Senate ­ the body which sets curriculum
and advises policy-making ­ on shared governance, diversity
and refocusing UCLA’s curriculum.

Carnesale emphasized the excellence of the faculty and the
continuing attempt to improve UCLA’s standing in the world of
academia and higher education, saying that "excellence attracts
excellence."

Part of his agenda was to continue shared governance with the
faculty of UCLA.

Through shared governance, the faculty can consult on all
administrative issues, including hiring and promotion of faculty,
the implementation of programs that affect academics, and other
academic or administrative concerns.

After addressing his support of shared governance, Carnesale
expressed his continued support of diversity at UCLA.

Carnesale’s strategies for maintaining and increasing diversity
centered around getting UC eligible minority students to enroll and
attend UCLA.

These policies included increased outreach to minority
communities and an added emphasis on providing minority students
with the tools necessary to gain admission.

In order to take advantage of the multiplicity of UC campuses,
Carnesale hoped to create a more focused curriculum.

"He outlined a very general but significant statement … to
move forward to bring the emphasis more on quality," said Susan
Kinder-Haake, assistant professor in the School of Dentistry. But
this may sacrifice curricular coverage at the UCLA campus, she
said.

Carnesale spoke on specializing the university in order to
strengthen existing segments of the university.

Carnesale continued by saying he hoped that focusing the scope
of UCLA’s educational curriculum would allow for greater quality in
those programs that remained.

He emphasized that "this is a strategy for focusing, not
reducing," the scope of UCLA curriculum.

Following his speech, representatives from other groups who had
specific interest in the academic senate got the chance to address
the assembly.

Ramon Velarde, academic affairs officer for the Graduate
Students Association, emphasized the diversity issue, the value of
international perspectives, collective bargaining and accessibility
to new technologies.

Max Espinoza, academic affairs commissioner for the
undergraduate students association, addressed the senate on three
specific concerns.

For one, Espinoza said, the new changes in general education
must allow students to be more proactive in their education, with
programs such as service learning, and that the general education
requirements need to be expanded to include ethnic and gender
studies. Second, he argued that students would benefit from more
faculty-student mentorship. Third, Espinoza said, technology must
be made accessible and affordable to all students.

He also pushed the need for more student representation on the
boards and committees of the Academic Senate, recommending a change
in the bylaws concerning student representation. Students now sit
on certain Academic Senate committees, such as the Academic Freedom
committee.

Reemphasizing the need for faculty participation in the lives of
undergraduates, Allen Hansen, director of the office of Residential
Life praised these programs. He recommended that more professors
and lecturers join the faculty in residence, faculty fellow and
faculty associates programs, which all encourage student-faculty
bonding.

The senate focused on some new advisory committees, formed to
build shared governance between the faculty and administration.
Those new committees are the Service Advisory Boards and the
Academic Information Technology Board.

The Service Advisory Boards were created to evaluate the variety
of support services that the university offers to its instructors,
such as campus safety, and commuter services.

The Academic Information Technology Board will establish
policies and direction for the usage of new technology on
campus.

Overall, the first meeting of the chancellor with the Academic
Senate was a beneficial experience, said Chand Viswanathan, chair
of the Academic Senate.

With reports from Brian Fishman, Daily Bruin Contributor