SACUA shapes agenda for 2004-05

Updated 5:10 PM June 17, 2004

SACUA shapes agenda for 2004-05

By Kevin Bergquist

Grade inflation, residential living and learning, and perceptions of faculty governance at the college and unit levels will be among the issues addressed by the Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs (SACUA) when it reconvenes in August.

The committee held its final meeting of the academic year May 24 to work on forming an agenda for 2004-05. SACUA also met for the final time this year with Provost Paul N. Courant, who presented ideas about an agenda for the Academic Affairs Advisory Committee (AAAC), which advises the provost's office.

"Grade inflation is an issue that many people would like to see addressed," Courant told SACUA. "I don't know where it goes from here, but if AAAC is willing to begin a dialogue on the issue, we will participate."

AAAC began discussing grade inflation during its final meetings of the year.

Courant also said residential living and learning—having students with the same major live together in residence halls where additional learning activities are provided—will be important as the University begins to address its student housing needs.

"What other ways can the residence halls improve the learning environment?" he asked.

Jens Zorn, SACUA member and professor of physics in LSA, noted that he taught in the Residential College for 10 years.

"It is a very demanding kind of teaching," Zorn said. "It can be very rewarding but tough for professors to keep up with their other professional duties. But I think many faculty members would be pleased to do it for a while."

Courant said one idea might be to have more faculty members spend part of their U-M careers in residential learning.

U-M, and any other university of quality, is faculty-led, Courant said, and he asked if there is a way for SACUA and other central faculty governance groups to better engage committees operating at the college or unit levels.

Bruno Giordani, associate professor of psychiatry and psychology, said, "Faculty governance is sometimes very unclear at the college and school levels. In a lot of units, faculty members have no idea what their faculty governance is or what it does."

SACUA recently polled members of the University Senate and Senate Assembly to solicit members' priorities for next year.

As of May 24, respondents from the University Senate targeted faculty evaluation of administrators as the top priority, and the growth, ratio and representation of tenure track and non-tenure track faculty a close second.

Senate Assembly members indicated tenure track and non-tenure track faculty issues were among the most important, but of equal weight was faculty quality of life, including childcare, prescription drug and health benefits, and intellectual property rights.

SACUA shapes agenda for 2004-05

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