Approved Minutes
Berkeley Division of the Academic Senate
November 21, 2013, 3:00 to 5:00 p.m.
Sibley Auditorium, Bechtel Engineering Center
APPROVED
MINUTES OF MEETING1
BERKELEY DIVISION OF THE ACADEMIC SENATE
Thursday, November 21, 2013
The fall meeting of the Berkeley Division was called to order at 3:10 p.m. on Thursday,
November 21, 2013, in Sibley Auditorium, Bechtel Engineering Center, pursuant to call.
Professor Elizabeth Deakin, chair of the Berkeley Division, presided. There were over 50
Senate members in attendance to make a quorum.
I.
Minutes (Enclosures 1-3)
ACTION: The minutes of three Division meetings (May 2, 2012, November 7,
2012, and April 23, 2013) were approved without objection.
II.
Announcements by the President
UC President Janet Napolitano was unable to attend this meeting. She has been
invited to the Spring Division meeting in April 2014. A campus visit is also
planned.
III.
Other Announcements
A.
Chancellor Nicholas Dirks
Chancellor Dirks was welcomed to his first Senate address as Berkeley’s
10th chancellor. He considers Berkeley’s shared governance a model for all
institutions of higher education. He believes it is crucial to engage the
faculty and that shared governance is a key component in the successful
management and growth of the University.
The Chancellor described his priorities and initiatives for Berkeley, which
will build on on-going activities.
•
•
•
Undergraduate education – Undergraduate teaching is one of the
most important functions of the University and will be given
careful attention. He emphasized the importance of alumni to the
University.
Fundraising – Berkeley’s $3B fundraising campaign has been
successfully concluded ahead of schedule. The Chancellor
commended the University’s leadership and the Senate for steering
the University through the financial crisis. A new fundraising
campaign is planned for 2014.
Strategic planning – An academic strategic planning process will be
undertaken, involving all levels of the campus community.
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Recordings of Divisional Meetings are available online at http://academic-senate.berkeley.edu/division-meetings,
or by appointment at the Academic Senate Office. Contact <acad_sen@berkeley.edu> for more information.
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Approved Minutes
Berkeley Division of the Academic Senate
November 21, 2013, 3:00 to 5:00 p.m.
Sibley Auditorium, Bechtel Engineering Center
Other priorities include:
•
•
•
•
Global university – Berkeley will strengthen and expand its
international collaborations, bringing greater opportunity and
networking.
Innovation – New interdisciplinary research collaborations and
funding opportunities will be pursued.
Funding – President Napolitano will not ask for a tuition increase
next year, although she is not freezing tuition as reported by the
media. She is seeking a commitment from the State for
reinvestment in higher education although the Governor has
indicated that no new funding will be provided.
Academics – The Chancellor supports the proposed new vision for
the arts and humanities, and development of online and
technology-assisted education. Promoting diversity and providing
students with greater opportunities to become involved in research
are also important endeavors for the campus.
The Chancellor is optimistic that President Napolitano will be influential
in gaining stronger state support for UC.
B.
Berkeley Division Chair Elizabeth Deakin
Division Chair Deakin highlighted some critical issues for the Senate this
year:
•
Intercollegiate athletics – The Senate has appointed the Senate
Athletics Council to advise the Senate of faculty issues and
concerns about intercollegiate athletics (IA). The council is
comprised of several key Senate committee chairs, as well as atlarge faculty members.
•
Library – Division Chair Deakin commended Professor James
Midgley for his service as the faculty co-chair of the Commission on
the Future of the UC Berkeley Library. Division Chair Deakin is
working with Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost (EVCP)
George Breslauer on implementation of the commission’s
recommendations.
•
Accreditation – An accreditation review by the Western Association
of Schools and Colleges (WASC) is in process, with very positive
feedback for the campus so far. The Chancellor thanked those who
have worked very hard to make this review successful. The reports
produced provide a wealth of information about Berkeley.
Division Chair Deakin congratulated Professor Randy Schekman
(Molecular and Cell Biology), the recently-announced co-recipient of the
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
EVCP Breslauer was commended for his service. He will retire after 42
years at Berkeley as a professor of political science, including eight years
as ECVP. He is a past recipient of the Distinguished Teaching Award.
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Approved Minutes
Berkeley Division of the Academic Senate
November 21, 2013, 3:00 to 5:00 p.m.
Sibley Auditorium, Bechtel Engineering Center
During his tenure as provost, he faced the financial crisis and various
challenges relating to academics and physical infrastructure.
C.
IV.
John Ready, Graduate Assembly (GA) Campus Affairs Vice President
GA Vice President Ready is a fourth-year graduate student in Nuclear
Engineering. He reported the top priority issues for graduate students:
improving information about professional opportunities and career
development; and improving campus safety and bicycle planning. Vice
President Ready encouraged faculty to engage with graduate students
beyond research as faculty have much to offer students that will help to
prepare them for life beyond academia, and to broaden their educational
experience.
Special Orders-Consent Calendar
For proposed legislative amendments, additions to the current text are noted by an
underline; deletions to the current text are noted by a strikethrough line
A.
Proposed amendment to Berkeley Division Bylaw 22.A (Membership of
the Committee on Memorial Resolutions)
The Committee on Memorial Resolutions has proposed an amendment to
the bylaw governing its membership to reflect the workload associated
with, and disciplinary breadth needed for, the effective management of
the committee. Both the Committee on Rules and Elections and Divisional
Council approved the amendment.
22. MEMORIAL RESOLUTIONS (Am. 12.87, 9.91)
A. Membership!
This Committee has at least three five members.
B. Duties
• This Committee is responsible, on behalf of the Division, for
preparation and publication of commemorative statements
concerning the lives and services to the University of deceased
members of the Division, and other members of the University
community whom the Committee, at its discretion, may choose
to memorialize.
• It may appoint such subcommittees as may in each case be
appropriate.
B.
Proposed amendments to Berkeley Division Regulation 2001.A (Options
for Ph.D. Foreign Language Requirement)
The amendments to Berkeley Division Regulation 2001.A are proposed in
order to bring the regulations into alignment with Graduate Council (GC)
policy. Berkeley Division Regulations currently define two options for
satisfying this requirement. Option 1 requires a student to “demonstrate a
reading knowledge of two languages by passing an examination in each.”
Option 2 requires that a student demonstrate “an exceptionally thorough
reading knowledge and an adequate knowledge of the grammatical
structure of a single language.” Since 2007, the GC has approved requests
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Approved Minutes
Berkeley Division of the Academic Senate
November 21, 2013, 3:00 to 5:00 p.m.
Sibley Auditorium, Bechtel Engineering Center
from four Ph.D. degree programs to require reading proficiency in one
foreign language as described in Option 1. Each request presented a
persuasive argument that the contemporary practice of research and
scholarship in that field required an elementary reading knowledge of one
foreign language. The GC approved all four requests. On the advice of the
associate dean of Graduate Division, the GC approved the creation of a
third option, which is like Option 1 but only requires one language. Both
the Committee on Rules and Elections, and Divisional Council approved
the proposed amendments.
2001. FOREIGN LANGUAGE REQUIREMENT
A.
Options
Unless a blanket exemption has been approved by the
Graduate Council at the request of the doctoral program, a
prospective candidate for the Ph.D. degree must satisfy the
foreign language requirement by one of the following
options before the student is admitted to the qualifying
examination. The choice is to be determined, in the case of
each student, by the department or program primarily
concerned with the student’s proposed field of study.
1.
The student must demonstrate a reading knowledge
of two languages by passing an examination in each,
set by the department or program concerned.
•
The department or program determines
whether a dictionary may be used; the length
of the passage, and the time allotted are subject
to regulation by the Graduate Council.
•
For one of the examinations, the student may,
subject to approval of the department or
program concerned, substitute a four-semester
(or equivalent) sequence of courses in that
language of university level, passed with an
average grade of C or better.
•
The Graduate Council establishes general
policies respecting such sequences, including
time limits beyond which they no longer carry
credit, and authorizes the Dean, upon
recommendation of the department or
program concerned, to accept language courses
taken at another institution.
(Am. 3.83)
2.
The student may elect to satisfy the requirement by
demonstrating an exceptionally thorough reading
knowledge and an adequate knowledge of the
grammatical structure of a single language. Such
command is tested as the Graduate Council directs.
3.
The student must demonstrate a reading knowledge
of one language by passing an examination set by the
department or program concerned.
•
The conditions governing this examination or
substitution of coursework for it and Graduate
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Approved Minutes
Berkeley Division of the Academic Senate
November 21, 2013, 3:00 to 5:00 p.m.
Sibley Auditorium, Bechtel Engineering Center
Council oversight are the same as those
outlined in paragraph A.1.
ACTION: The consent calendar was approved as noticed.
V.
Reports of Special Committees (None)
VI.
Reports of Standing Committees
A.
VII.
Committee on Rules and Elections (Written report only – Enclosure 4)
The Committee on Rules and Elections (R&E) reported updates to the
Berkeley Division Manual made this year as conforming changes: B.D.
Regulation 610 (Master of Urban Design [M.U.D.]); B.D. Reg. 566
(Translational Medicine Degree); and B.D. Reg. 852 (Master of Information
and Data Science Degree).
Petitions of Students (None)
VIII. Unfinished Business (None)
IX.
University and Faculty Welfare
A.
Update on health care benefits
Professor Calvin Moore, chair of the Committee on Faculty Welfare
(FWEL), provided an update on new health care benefits. Some health
plans will be discontinued this year and a new plan, UC Care, is being
offered. The changes have created very serious financial and medical
challenges for some, such as out-of-state retirees and individuals with
serious health issues and treatment plans. Division Chair Deakin added
that Academic Council has written to President Napolitano about the lack
of consultation in the development of the benefit options, and has
requested more information about the new plans to aid employees in
decision-making. FWEL Chair Moore invited faculty comments and
questions.
B.
“Right-sizing” the UC Berkeley faculty
The appropriate size of the faculty has not been reviewed recently and
should be updated in this changed environment with a growing student
body, new modalities of teaching and learning, budget constraints, and
increased demands on faculty workload. The Senate should lead this
effort and work in collaboration with the administration.
Division Chair Deakin moderated a panel of three faculty members on the
topic: Panos Papadopoulos (Mechanical Engineering), Division vice chair;
Eric Talley (Law), chair of the Committee on Budget and
Interdepartmental Relations (BIR); and Alexis Bell (Chemical and
Biomolecular Engineering), co-chair of the Committee on Academic
Planning and Resource Allocation (CAPRA).
Division Vice Chair Papadopoulos presented data on faculty size (with the
caveat that faculty counts may vary depending on the context), the
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Approved Minutes
Berkeley Division of the Academic Senate
November 21, 2013, 3:00 to 5:00 p.m.
Sibley Auditorium, Bechtel Engineering Center
student-to-faculty ratio, teaching workload, and faculty salaries.
Berkeley’s student-to-faculty ratio is currently at a high. The average 9month salary at Berkeley seems comparable to our closest public
competitor until adjusted for the high cost of living in the Bay Area. Data
shows the undergraduate teaching workload of permanent faculty has
slightly decreased over the last decade.
BIR Chair Talley described the full-time equivalent (FTE) allocation
process for faculty in both regular and non-state funded positions.
Reallocation is conducted annually for all units by BIR in conjunction with
the vice provost for the faculty and the EVCP. He commented that omega
numbers were determined over a decade ago.
CAPRA Co-chair Bell conveyed the committee’s recommendation for an
on-going strategic academic planning process, with annual reviews and
funding identified. The campus needs to better meet the demand for
courses, and to balance the undergraduate teaching workload among
faculty, graduate student instructors, and teaching assistants. The
committee recommends that faculty salaries be maintained at competitive
levels.
In the open discussion, many spoke in favor of the academic strategic
planning process. Some believed that adjuncts and postdocs should be
included in faculty counts. Janet Broughton, vice provost for the faculty,
informed the assembly that a faculty salary equity study is planned.
No action was taken on this item.
X.
New Business
A.
Intercollegiate athletics
Professor Michael O’Hare (Public Policy) raised an item of New Business
at the meeting. He protested the use of UC Berkeley’s brand on a highway
billboard advertising beer, citing problems with alcohol abuse on campus.
He plans to raise this issue with the Senate Athletics Council. No further
action was taken on this item.
The meeting was adjourned at 5:08 p.m.
Gary Holland
Secretary, Berkeley Division
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