The Faculty Senate's Committee on Planning and Development presented its response regarding the University's Commission on the Future's draft reports to faculty members yesterday.
The Commission on the Future, a group of committees formed by the administration to evaluate and improve the University's standings and programs, has requested a faculty response to its draft reports by Nov. 1, according to Darden Prof. Elizabeth Powell.
The committee began reviewing the commission draft reports in August, Powell noted.
After hearing the committee's response to the commission reports, faculty members were able to voice their thoughts on the commission.
The issue of graduate student funding was brought up several times throughout the presentation.
According to Astronomy Chair John Hawley, the committee felt that the Commission inadequately addressed graduate student programs.
"The grad program was barely scratched upon," he said.
According to Psychology Prof. Dan Willingham, any plans the Commission has to strengthen current academic programs or to initiate new ones will not be successful if graduate student support is not improved.
Hawley noted that graduate students need more competitive funding and need to be considered as "partners in knowledge" rather than as students and teaching assistants.
Funding for the sciences was also brought up as a concern among faculty members.
The committee reported it is pleased with the commission's focus on improving the University's basic science programs; during discussion, however, faculty members said this would not be feasible without increased funding to improve current infrastructures and to support research. Several professors noted that although the University boasts strong humanities programs, attention to core sciences has been lacking in recent years compared to the University's peers.
According to Senate Chair Ricardo Padron, graduate programs and the core sciences have not been focal areas for the University in the past.
"There are aspects of our history that we now need to reevaluate," Padron said.
Other recommendations from the committee include making the faculty's commitment to diversity more apparent within the commission, seeking unrestricted funds for academic programs and improving the faculty-to-student ratio without increasing faculty workload.
Lastly, the committee emphasized that the University needs to create a permanent and sustainable structure for University planning to make the process more transparent.
"I think the time for ad hoc planning is over," Padron said.
According to Powell, faculty responses to the committee's report will be consolidated and included in the committee's final response.
"My guess is that what we have discussed here today will have an impact," Powell said.
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