Members Present: Co-Chairs Padilla and Porter, Barbara Davis, Catherine Koshland, Christina Maslach, Ellen Meltzer, Kwong-Loi Shun, Mark Tanouye, Gregg Thomson, and Ling-Chi Wang

Guest: Acting AVC Richard Black

Staff: Gail Kaufman, Cynthia Schrager, Alix Schwartz

Unable to Attend: Alice Agogino, Erin Bardin, Robert Brentano, Jen Chang, Aisha Knowles, Michael Mascuch, Angy Stacy, Karen Warren

 The first agenda item concerned implementing the survey instrument CUE developed with the help of Gregg Thomson. A formal letter from CUE Co-chairs Padilla and Porter will be emailed to the students before the survey instrument, as a preview. The survey will include a number of closed questions and open-ended questions. It was decided that we would ask students only a few of the open/broad questions instead of asking everyone every open question. Director Thomson was confident that he would be able to do a good random sample for each category of questions in which CUE had an interest. He will use students who responded to the Undergraduate Experience Survey this year and last year, and respondents to the New Study Survey in order to have benchmark data on each student. Co-chairs Padilla and Porter promised to come up with the resources to offer a cash incentive of $150 to be awarded in a drawing to a few students who complete the survey.

Director Thomson will draft a cover letter and do a pilot to 50 students by the end of the week of April 3 to make sure the format works. The survey should go out no later than mid-April.

The next agenda item concerned expanded enrollment and the campus planning process. VC Padilla asked Acting AVC Richard Black to present an update on how the campus is responding to the expanded enrollment issue.

Acting AVC Black described the activities for summer 2000. Summer session is expanding its student base in the following ways: expanding the low-income grant program by including students with parent contributions of up to $3,000; target marketing to spring admits; and awarding $500 to graduating seniors who take all the credits they need to graduate by the end of the summer. It is expected that these promotions will generate another 1,200 students in summer 2000 alone.

Provost Christ has been sitting on a systemwide expanded enrollment committee that decided that growth is a campus issue and there is no "one size fits all" solution. The committee is no longer meeting and each campus is developing its own plan.

There are many issues that make the question of expanded enrollment very complex: UCB and other campuses are working within a LRDP plan; the Office of the President believes that state money will be available but we do not know how much; and state money coming to summer session will impact the issues of whether and how much summer session can give back to units and departments, and how fees will be charged.

On the issue of faculty compensation, Acting AVC Black reported that eleven- month appointments had been ruled out. Other ideas being discussed include faculty taking an overload, trading a summer for a fall or spring or hiring temporary faculty.

Acting AVC Black then explained how by a combination of increasing the number of students in the following programs-- summer session, Teacher and Principal programs, new degree programs, Education Abroad, UCDC, and fall extension–the campus developed a working scenario for how it could expand the UCB student population by 4,000 by 2010-2011.

CUE then discussed how this expanded enrollment would affect the campus. Acting AVC Black described the concerns of Undergraduate Affairs and how there are real costs such as the need for more services for students during the summer as well as implicit costs such as dealing with vacation, staff on eleven month contracts, planning time etc. Housing is concerned about maintenance and repair of its buildings that is often done during the summer, and the Registrar has concerns about increased record keeping and its systems capacity.

Ellen Meltzer expressed her concerns about the impact on the library. She described problems such as: the cost of training more students during the summer; the cost of licensing agreements that are based on FTE, ensuring equitable access to information; new degree programs mean the need to develop new collections; and the issue of staff vacations during the summer, especially for staff that are parents.

Director Thomson talked about the issues of "time to degree" and graduation rates. He said that time to degree is down and graduate rates are up. Probation rates are down, as is the drop out rate for first and second year students. VC Padilla asked that we continue to talk about the quality of the educational experience and not just "though put."

Dean Porter noted that we should be asking if it is ethical to take more students. Professor Maslach commented on the political realities in Sacramento and the issue of accessibility for more students. Professor Wang mentioned that the legislative analyst who recently visited Berkeley stated that the campus was underutilized; although we would not agree, the analyst’s remarks suggest the kind of pressure the campus–and the UC system–is under from the legislature.

The Commission then discussed the creative strategies for expanding enrollment it could support such as off-site extension, some distance education, and increasing Education Abroad opportunities and how it should state its principles in its final report to the Chancellor.

The final agenda item concerned whether CUE would want to apply for a President’s Chair initiative in undergraduate education for the communications course proposal. The Commission discussed the actual commitment needed by a faculty member and how this would possibly work in connection with College Writing. Alix Schwartz volunteered to coordinate this effort and find out more information.

Meeting Adjouned.

Minutes Submitted by Gail Kaufman