Senate Agenda Item 2.2 Nov 98
Report by the Process for Change Task Force
on the transformation of undergraduate education
The Process for Change is an effort to position the UO for leadership in the
21st century. As a leader, the UO should command the highest respect for the
excellence of its educational programs, the research accomplishments of its
faculty, and the quality of the students who earn its degrees. To ensure that
this happens, it is essential that the University, as a community, think
critically about its goals and about what steps must be taken to achieve
them. We must do this within the context of the current re-examination of the place
of higher education in American society. Our decisions must be based on sound
academic principles and be in the long term interests of our students and the
University.
Background
Our President and Provost initiated the Process for Change last year, starting
with an idea-gathering phase whose goal was to give free rein to the creative
energies on campus, unfettered by the need to respond to imminent financial
crisis. Given recent history, this effort required healthy, even Quixotic,
imagination. Nonetheless, a large number of people generated original and
practical ideas, and some common themes emerged.
Detailed
reports are available and a
summary is available
First, it was clear that the University's standing as a major comprehensive
research university is key to its long range vigor and national reputation,
and
should be recognized and enhanced. It was also evident that although research
universities, generally, have been criticized for short-changing their
undergraduates, the UO does a remarkable job of using what is best about a
strong research environment to enrich undergraduate education. We strongly
believe in "inquiry based learning," where undergraduates participate directly
in the research and professional activities of the faculty. Moreover, the
research environment fosters an intensity and excitement in the classroom that
is otherwise hard to achieve. By nature, research faculty approach nearly any
subject in the spirit of inquiry -- and that spirit is contagious.
Still, there is much work to be done, and setting it in motion is the goal of
the implementation phase of the Process for Change. There are notable
challenges to be met in the area of undergraduate education. Specifically,
the
coherence of our lower division curriculum has been criticized (see
Accreditation Team Report, April, 1997, available in hard copy in Room 203,
Johnson Hall). In addition, there is concern nationally about whether college
and university graduates will be adequately equipped to meet the challenges of
the fast-paced information age in which they will live. Will they be able to
distinguish sense from nonsense in a world where technological change is
accelerating and reporting is instantaneous? It is our intent that UO
graduates be among the best prepared in the world to meet these challenges.
The Task Force on the Transformation of Undergraduate Education is the
Implementation team that will tackle this enterprise.
Organization of the Task Force
The work of the Task Force is divided among four committees. Because a strong
lower division program that hones both quantitative skills and qualitative
reasoning ability is essential, one committee will focus on part of the
undergraduate program. The primary objectives will be to increase the
coherence of general education and to devise measurements of its
effectiveness. The "University College" concept of an integrated, purposeful
lower division education experience was one of the major ideas to emerge from
the initial phase of the Process for Change. The concept provides an
attractive ideal for this committee. Although the logistical challenge of the
ideal is apparent, implementation of parts of it appears feasible.
Another committee will examine upper division programs with the idea of
maximizing the educational benefit of local research and professional
activities, and removing artificial barriers between disciplines. For
instance, undergraduate involvement in various participatory learning
experiences (such as laboratory or library research, or internships in the
private sector), some of which could be inter-disciplinary, could be
increased,
and better coordinated. Since upper- and lower-division educational issues
are
intertwined, and since the analytical skills acquired in the lower division
can
be applied and reinforced in the upper division, these two committees will
keep
in close touch.
In addition, because the success of our undergraduate program is closely tied
to the quality of students we attract, and to how well we guide their
intellectual journeys at the University, the full Task Force includes two
committees charged with improving our recruitment and advising efforts, and
with making sure that these contribute to academic excellence.
Goal
Our goal is to have definite proposals by March, 1999, and we anticipate
offering embryonic ideas for discussion and criticism before that time. We
want to emphasize that although we will be crafting plans, the idea phase of
this effort is not closed. We welcome contributions at any time, and we will
depend heavily on our colleagues throughout the University community for
critical evaluation and deliberate judgment. You are welcome to communicate
with us in person, or through the
Task Force Web Page
or directly from the UO Home Page--just click on "Process for Change."
Although we cannot yet provide even an outline of our proposals, we want to
make it clear that our work will be guided by the following principles:
- 1. We will use the criterion of long term educational value to students when
considering the merits of various plans. We think that an emphasis on rigor
and academic quality is essential to attracting the quality and number of
students we would like to have at the University. If we succeed in this, we
will also succeed financially with the new student-driven model of University
financing. The market forces currently at play in higher education can have
both positive and negative effects on the academic standing of the University,
and we appreciate the urgency of assuring that we respond to these forces in
ways that both succeed financially and enhance the University's academic
standing.
- 2. Our goal is to focus on changes that achieve overall excellence -- not
simply to institute change for its own sake. Therefore, we envision proposals
that build on existing quality, and that enhance our current strengths in
research and teaching.
- 3. We believe that learning in the University involves a partnership in which
both faculty and students have obligations faculty to create effective routes
for intellectual journeys; students to prepare adequately for these journeys,
and to undertake them seriously. Our overall objective for our students is
that they leave here with a true love for learning, having discovered the
enduring satisfaction of achieving real understanding.
Senate Webmaster
Peter Gilkey
email: gilkey@math.uoregon.edu
Senate Secretary Gwen Steigelman email:
gwens@oregon.uoregon.edu
Senate President Jeff Hurwit
email: jhurwit@darkwing.uoregon.edu
Last changed 10 November 1998