Global Campus Task Force offers recommendations, cites concerns
By Sharita Forrest, Assistant Editor 217-244-1072; slforres@illinois.edu Establish the Global Campus Partnership online degree program only if the UI can deliver high-quality programs taught by qualified instructors – and provide better compensation and benefits to those instructors than previously envisioned by the program’s business plan. That is the advice of the Urbana-Champaign Senate to President B. Joseph White when he and Chester Gardner, special assistant to the president, present the latest version of the Global Campus proposal to the UI Board of Trustees for approval at its March 13 meeting in Urbana. White and Gardner initially proposed the Global Campus to the trustees in September, but later suspended the proposal to allow the campus senates to study it and respond. A final report prepared by the Senate Global Campus Task Force that expressed concerns about the for-profit status of the Global Campus, about its reliance upon adjunct instructors and the potential adverse effects on academic quality, and other issues was endorsed at the senate’s Dec. 4 meeting. The proposal was revamped after White and Gardner met with students, faculty members, deans and administrators from the three campuses on Dec. 6 and Jan. 8, and again with Urbana representatives on Jan. 31. Under the current plan, UI faculty members, instead of adjunct instructors, would design and teach courses; program development and support agreements would be negotiated with partnering academic units, who would have final authority over courses and degree programs; and the Global Campus would operate as a “universitywide academic unit” rather than as a limited liability company. The program’s Academic Council also would have greater influence, especially safeguarding academic quality, White told the senate. “We have ended up with a far better plan because of the shared governance process,” White said. “I think we have much better ownership together. This is a ‘we’ proposition.” White said that the priority for the next six to nine months would be developing academic programs. “I think we’ve gone as far as we can in the planning stage and need to move forward with design. I think we need to move from learning by planning to learning by doing.” The senate also advised White and the board to bear in mind that the Global Campus could become a financial drain, and make demands upon resources, campus units and faculty members to the detriment of other university missions and initiatives, although White assured the senate that would not be allowed to happen. “Even with a brightening financial picture, this university really needs another revenue source with a significant surplus,” White said. “And the Global Campus is the single best means of creating that revenue stream.” While supportive of the program’s potential for expanding access and educational opportunities, the senate said that too many components of the program remain undefined for the senate to extend its unqualified support. “It therefore is impossible, as well as inappropriate, for this senate to deliver any definitive verdict with respect to the Global Campus initiative,” the advisory document approved by the senate said. “However, we do want to acknowledge the progress that has been made, and anticipate being able to support the results of future good-faith discussions that might improve the proposal further.” “I think it’s really intended to flag the issues about which we need to be vigilant,” White said about the document. When Joseph Finnerty, finance, asked if contingencies could be specified that would help the senate reach a verdict, Richard Schacht, chair of the General University Policy Committee, said there were too many uncertainties. Senators raised concerns about the possibility of further cuts to the university’s state funding if the Global Campus succeeds, about the lack of specifics on teaching costs and compensation and suggested that the Academic Council be composed entirely of faculty members from the three campuses. In other business, the senate approved academic calendars for AY2011-2012 through 2013-2014. Abbas Aminmansour, chair of the Senate Committee on Educational Policy, said that beginning in AY2008 the fall semester would no longer begin on a Wednesday with Monday class schedules.
Task force formed to advise on racism, free speech and hate crimes policy By Sharita Forrest, Assistant Editor 217-244-1072; slforres@illinois.edu Jorge Chapa, the director of the Center on Democracy in a Multiracial Society, will chair a task force that will advise the Urbana-Champaign Senate and Chancellor Richard Herman on issues related to racism and free speech and help define policy about hate speech and hate crimes. O. Vernon Burton, chair of the Senate Executive Committee, announced plans to form the task force at the Feb. 19 senate meeting. One of the issues not addressed at the Feb. 1 forum “Racism, Power and Privilege at the University of Illinois” was the boundary between free speech and incivility, Herman said. “It is up to all of us to create an environment where we don’t cross over into incivility.” The formation of the task force comes in the wake of a recent incident in which students posted threats against Native Americans and anti-Chief activists on the Web. The threats preceded UI Board of Trustees Chair Lawrence Eppley’s Feb. 16 announcement that Chief Illiniwek would be retired following the Feb. 21 men’s basketball game. Burton congratulated Eppley and the trustees for their “courageous stand to retire the Chief” but also urged compassion for people who would be disappointed by the university’s decision to end the 80-year-old tradition. “The pro-Chief fans have lost a lot, and I think those of us who feel differently need to realize that and try to understand that,” Burton said. “This was not an easy decision for the trustees. It’s very easy on this campus for people like me and faculty to feel comfortable opposing the Chief, but if you step outside the university … across the state of Illinois, people love the Chief … and are upset about this decision.” “When longstanding impasses get resolved, it builds confidence in us as an institution that we can make hard decisions, be constructive, we can face the future and we can move (forward),” said President B. Joseph White about the decision to retire the Chief after more than two decades of controversy. The university has not said what will happen with the Chief trademark. Herman and White said that legal counsel are reviewing the licensing and trademark issues to prevent potential misappropriation and misuse. Al Kagan, library, requested that a copy of the senate’s March 11, 1998, resolution, which called for the retirement of the licensing as well as the Chief, be sent to the trustees as a reminder of the senate’s position. The materials for the senate meeting contained an informational report/letter from A. Belden Fields, the chair of the Senate Equal Opportunity Committee, to U.S. Rep. Tim Johnson and several other legislators that asked them to withdraw the “Protection of University Governance Act of 2006,” a bill that Johnson introduced last year in response to the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s decision to sanction the UI and other universities that use Native American mascots, imagery and team names. The bill, which was the topic of a legislative hearing at Parkland College in Champaign on Dec. 15, seeks to prevent organizations that regulate intercollegiate sports, such as the NCAA, from penalizing or sanctioning the UI and other universities. Fields asked legislators to withdraw the bill, HR 5289, because it contradicts the senate’s resolution calling for the Chief’s retirement. The bill’s passage would perpetuate racial stereotyping and racism and be detrimental to efforts to promote a climate of mutual respect and sensitivity on campus, Fields’ letter of Dec. 14 said. White told the senate that the work environment for faculty members “is an area on which we need to focus. Are we in a position to attract outstanding colleagues to join us? Have we created the conditions for people to do their best work with a minimum of distractions and a maximum of support?”
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