Members Present: Carolyn Porter (Co-chair), Alice Agogino, Alexei Filippenko, Yvette Flores (student representative), Catherine Koshland, Robert Middlekauff, Mark Tanouye. Staff: Gail Kaufman, Cynthia Schrager, Alix Schwartz.

Summary of Discussion: The goal of the meeting was to hone down a list of eleven issues and topics that were suggested by Commission members as possibly worthy of further analysis, to a short list of key concerns for the Commission to address.

The eleven key issues summarized by Co-chair Porter covered areas such as advising, ultimate goals of an undergraduate education at UCB, budget allocations, general education/core curriculum, first-year experience, teaching excellence, increasing the number of courses, residential vs. non-residential students, innovative pedagogies, improving reading and writing, and enrichment programs.

After much discussion, the Commission developed the following list of key areas for further analysis.

• What are the ultimate goals of an undergraduate education at UCB? Some issues suggested for discussion included liberal vs. professional education, and teaching vs. research.
• Advising/Mentoring. This topic was identified as one of the primary areas of concern for students and faculty. Therefore, the Commission believes it is one of the most important problems to address. Many ideas were discussed, from creating small advising groups to peer advising to the yearning by students for personal contact with faculty.
• Pedagogical innovations and excellence in teaching, including issues such as enrichment, inquiry-based teaching, research-based teaching, increasing the number of seminars, rewarding teaching, work-load, distance learning, space/facilities, small classes, and studio classes.
• Community building, including the student housing crisis, southside issues and commuter student concerns.
• General education, including the pre-major years, improved communication skills, and the sequencing of courses over four years.
• First-year experience, i.e. the transition process for freshman and transfer students.

Actions Items:

Co-chair Porter addressed some suggestions brought up by Professor Robert Knapp, on behalf of the Committee on Educational Policy:

1. Bringing knowledgeable staff onto the commission. The general consensus was that such staff would be brought in to advise and inform the commission on specific issues relevant to their areas of expertise.

2. Becoming informed on the principles (goals, intentions, teleology) which drive administrative decisions regarding the present allocation of resources for undergraduate education. It was decided that the Commission should ask EVC Christ's office for an analysis.

It was decided that at the next meeting the Commission would take a prescribed amount of time to talk about the ultimate goals of an undergraduate education at UCB, as a way to put general value issues on the table and create a context for the discussion of specifics. The Commission would then turn its attention to advising for the remainder of the meeting. We will do a short survey of departments to get some specific information to present to the Commission on February 19, and invite some advisors to the meeting.

Last updated on 2/17/99 by CS.