06/17/91

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Committee on Stanford's future to toil long and hard

STANFORD -- The framework for regular faculty input into the university's upcoming budgetary restructuring was constructed Thursday, May 13 when the Faculty Senate drafted a charge to its new ad hoc Committee on Education and Scholarship at Stanford.

The committee, whose eight members have yet to be named, will have considerable leeway in setting its agenda and timeline for completion of an in-depth study of the "research and educational goals that should guide the processes of reform and renewal of the university necessitated by budget restructuring," the charge states. (The full text of the charge is attached.)

However, the full Senate gave the committee a number of reporting deadlines that will mean a heavy workload beginning this summer. Summer committee work is not common for the Senate but is necessary in this case, the Senate charge indicates, if the committee's deliberations and findings are to have maximum influence on the plan for long-range budget stability that the provost must present to the Stanford Board of Trustees next spring. The university will draw down approximately $70 million of its reserves over the next few years but also must substantially reduce its operating budget to cope with an anticipated reduced revenue flow.

Drafting a long-range budget stability plan is the responsibility of the University Cabinet Committee for Budget and Strategic Planning. It is chaired by Provost James N. Rosse and is not directly accountable to the Faculty Senate. Rosse did, however, consult the Senate's steering committee in making faculty appointments to the administration-based committee. Both Rosse and President Donald Kennedy said they welcomed an independent faculty committee, as well.

The Senate's charge tells committee members that their work won't be over once a budget plan has been adopted. The committee is expected to work at least through the 1992-93 academic year in order to "monitor implementation of budget reductions and the consequences on the various components and activities of the university."

The charge also specifies that the committee must:

Committee appointments are being made jointly by the Committee on Committees of the 23rd Senate, whose work was to have ended on June 13, and the newly elected 24th Senate. They are expected to be completed in about a week and announced to the campus in the next issue of Campus Report on July 3.

-kpo-

This is the text of the charge to the ad hoc Committee on Education and Scholarship at Stanford. It was adopted by the Faculty Senate on June 13.

The purpose of this committee is to lead a comprehensive study of the research and educational goals that should guide the processes of reform and renewal of the university necessitated by budget restructuring. The committee should examine all aspects of structure, procedure and policy that are essential for guaranteeing the strength of Stanford as a leading institution for education, scholarship and research.

GENERAL CHARGE

The ad hoc Senate Committee on Education and Scholarship at Stanford (SC-ESS) is charged with designing and conducting a comprehensive study of the research and educational goals that should be given primary consideration in the budgetary restructuring of Stanford University. Furthermore, the committee should examine the current structures, procedures and policies that administer and support the research and educational missions of the university. The committee should make recommendations about how these operations could be reorganized to provide necessary services more efficiently so that the stature of Stanford as one of the world's great institutions of research, teaching and learning is not compromised. The committee will work in close communication with 1) the University Cabinet, 2) the Cabinet Committee for Budget and Strategic Planning, 3) the trustees' ad hoc Budget Advisory Committee. In the near term, as budget restructuring proceeds, the committee should complement, advise and challenge these other units as well as the president and provost, to ensure that priorities are established that will do the most to protect the university's excellence in education, scholarship and research. In the longer term, the committee will prepare for the Senate a set of recommendations, principles and procedures to serve as guidelines for shaping the future of the university that emerges from the process of budget restructuring. The committee will construct its own agenda. It will consult as necessary with other Senate committees, and it will create and charge its own task forces as it deems necessary. The committee will report to the Senate of the Academic Council as instructed below.

SPECIFIC DUTIES

A. The committee will determine the scope of the study, state the specific questions to be answered and establish a timeline for the study that will enable the deliberations of the committee to be used to inform and assess the plan for long-range budget stability that will go before the Board of Trustees in the spring of 1992.

B. The committee will create and charge task forces as it deems necessary to accomplish its mission. The committee should give consideration to task forces created by the Cabinet Committee for Budget and Strategic Planning. SC-ESS task forces and charges may include but not be limited to the following:

1. Task Force on Undergraduate Education to determine what should characterize and constitute an excellent undergraduate education in a research university.

2. Task Force on Graduate and Professional Education to determine what constitutes excellence in this area and how we should build on the unique combination of basic disciplines and professional schools found at Stanford.

3. Task Force on Research and Scholarship to determine what structures, procedures and policies are vital to the maintenance of excellence of research and scholarship at Stanford.

4. Task Force on Administrative and Support Services to determine what is the most efficient configuration of administrative, academic and student support services for a reorganized and renewed university.

C. The committee must work in communication and collaboration with the University Cabinet, the Cabinet Committee on Budget and Strategic Planning, and the trustees' ad hoc Budget Advisory Committee so that each unit is informed about the activities of the others.

D. The committee must integrate the contributions of its task forces and report its deliberations and conclusions to the Senate of the Academic Council as instructed below or as requested by the Steering Committee of the Senate.

E. The committee should continue to exist during the academic year 1992-93 or longer if requested by the Senate to monitor implementation of budget reductions and the consequences on the various components and activities of the university.

MEMBERSHIP

The committee shall consist of eight members of the Academic Council, including the chair. The task forces should include -- besides members of the Academic Council, students, members of the research staff, lecturers and members of the administrative staff as deemed advisable by the committee.

MEETINGS AND REPORTS

The committee must meet as necessary throughout the summer quarter of 1991 so that it can make an initial report to the Senate of the Academic Council at its first meeting in the fall quarter of 1991-92. Interim reports of the deliberations, conclusions and recommendations of the committee shall be reported to the Senate of the Academic Council at the ends of fall and winter quarters 1991-92.

STAFF SUPPORT

The Office of the Provost shall provide staff support to the committee and to the task forces.

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