UAPC Co-chairs Michael Smyer (left) and Robert Newton.(Photo by Gary Gilbert)
In its draft report on Boston College's long-term academic goals, the University Academic Planning Council has proposed initiatives to strengthen support for professional and graduate education and uphold research as central to the University's mission.
The council's recommendations also emphasize the University's Jesuit liberal education tradition; stress rigorous intellectual development and personal formation as characteristic of its undergraduate education; and enhance institutional features such as diversity, technology and productivity.
The draft report, the culmination of over a year of work by the 24-member council of administrators and faculty appointed by University President J. Donald Monan, SJ, is now available to the University community, said UAPC Co-chair Robert Newton, the associate academic vice president. The UAPC will accept comments about the document until March 1, Newton said, and review them prior to writing its final report for Fr. Monan and the Board of Trustees.
UAPC Co-chairs Michael Smyer (left) and Robert Newton.
(Photo by Gary Gilbert)
In a letter accompanying copies of the draft, Fr. Monan invited recipients to review the document and offer comments "you judge will make it a stronger plan." Calling the plan "an ambitious academic agenda," Fr. Monan said it "should make Boston College a markedly different and more distinguished center of learning."
He added, however, that implementation of the UAPC recommendations will take place gradually and only through the cooperative efforts of the University's academic and administrative divisions.
"Clearly, widespread support of the plan will be important to its ultimate success in advancing the mission of the University," Fr. Monan concluded.
Newton said the draft drew selectively from reports by five UAPC task forces studying specific aspects of the University, as well as from individual schools and departments, and is not meant to summarize them - those documents are also available for review, the draft report notes. The total additional annual operating costs of the initiatives as proposed by the five task forces would be approximately $30 million, he said, some of which would be realized through new funding and others through cost reductions or reallocations of existing resources.
The five recommendations each contain several strategies to achieve the goal and a rationale for their inclusion in the report. Among the recommendations for undergraduate education are an emphasis on full-time faculty responsibility for undergraduate teaching, including the core curriculum, more effective measurement of teaching effectiveness and more explicit assessment of learning outcomes.
To strengthen infrastructure support for graduate and professional education, the UAPC report proposes a review of existing graduate programs to determine which offer "the greatest opportunity for success." The review would be based on the criteria of quality, need and cost. The report also suggests establishing a council focused on interdisciplinary cooperation and on the special support needed for research and graduate education.
The University should acknowledge and support research as "central to the mission of Boston College," through such means as adjusting teaching loads as necessary for research faculty, and hiring and granting tenure to faculty most likely to be "excellent teachers," prominent researchers, and future full professors.
The report also calls for providing "additional flexible research support" and initiating a small number of multi-disciplinary policy, research and service centers for scholarship that "benefits society, enriches culture and addresses important social issues."
Emphasizing the University's Jesuit liberal education tradition "of intellectual engagement between religious faith and contemporary culture," the report recommends Boston College establish itself as a pre-eminent center for Catholic theology, develop institutional structures that strengthen scholarly dialogue between religion and culture, and ensure that residential life "supports the development of positive lifestyle and community values."
The council also identified five characteristics which should be enhanced so they will be distinctive institutional qualities: the "special sense of community"; increased diversity; greater internationalization; technology as a competitive advantage; and improved productivity. These qualities can be fostered through a variety of avenues, the report says, such as orientation programs, interdisciplinary collaborations, increased opportunities in foreign studies and technology training programs.
The UAPC also briefly discusses the planning and use of resources necessary to achieve its five recommendations. It proposes that within six months of approval of the final report by Fr. Monan and the Board of Trustees, the University's academic leadership develop an implementation plan with specific target dates and cost scenarios.
Newton and other UAPC members said they had been pleased with the level of discourse between the council and the University community, and hoped for it to continue in the coming weeks.
"We expect the report will receive a lot of attention and reaction," Newton said, "We look forward to revising and substantially strengthening the document."
"This process has been successful in a number of ways," said UAPC Co-chair Michael Smyer, the associate vice president for research and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences dean. "Perhaps the most significant is that it gauged people from all over the University as to where BC is headed, and how we should get there. This has produced a multitude of information for the UAPC members, and they have done a remarkable job of sifting and reflecting on it."
"Bob and Mick have taken great care to ensure that virtually every facet of the University spoke its voice in this process," said Prof. Anthony Annunziato (Biology), who praised the usefulness of the public forums held last year to discuss the council's work. "These were very instructive events, both for the council and the faculty. It helped us all to see the issues through a lot of different eyes."
"I was impressed by the variety and types of responses we got from the University community," added Assoc. Prof. Suzanne Matson (English). "It was a little daunting at first, but the more we met, the more patterns we found. I don't think the document would have been as comprehensive as it is without those discussions."