By Noah Grand
Daily Bruin Reporter
Students are the real victims in a university system that does
not adequately train its teachers.
This is what happens when doctoral programs across the nation do
not emphasize preparation for teaching ““ the “core
responsibility” of California universities ““ according
to a recent state report.
Additionally, teaching expertise and experience must be
considered in hiring decisions and be reinforced throughout a
faculty member’s career, the report said.
University of California spokesman Paul Schwartz defended the
UC’s doctoral programs as providing adequate instruction in
teaching.
“The quality of our doctoral programs and the kind of
recognition they receive speak to that,” Schwartz said.
But Jeremy Elkins, president of the University Council-American
Federation of Teachers, the union which represents UC lecturers in
collective bargaining, said UC graduate students are not adequately
prepared for teaching.
“The university will claim that teaching is part of their
apprenticeship, but in fact the university does very little to
apprentice graduate students to make them better teachers,”
Elkins said.
The report by the Professional Personnel Development Working
Group comes after a year of research into what is necessary to
ensure students will have a sufficient supply of quality
teachers.
The working group is part of a joiCont committee of the
California state legislature and Senate trying to develop a new
master plan for kindergarten through college education by
August.
The original master plan, created in 1960, designated the roles
of the UC, California State University and California Community
College systems. It did not mention K-12 education.
Sen. Dede Alpert, D”“San Diego, formed the committee with
Senate Concurrent Resolution 29 in May 1999. She is now chair of
the committee, which is authorized to last until June 2002.
Along with the Professional Personnel Development Working Group,
the master plan committee has six other groups making
recommendations in other areas.
The governance working group released its report two weeks ago,
recommending that the state public education system be centralized
through the governor’s office.
Other working groups, including student learning and school
readiness, will release their final reports over the next four
weeks.
Although the report on Professional Personnel Development
highlighted teaching, that is not the only responsibility of UC
faculty.
The UC’s mission is three-pronged: excellence in research,
teaching and public service, with each having equal importance,
Schwartz said.
Elkins, however, questioned whether teaching was given as much
weight as research at the UC.
“There’s a lot of talk of good teaching at UC, but
the university really doesn’t support it,” Elkins
said.
Recent programs have changed teaching somewhat, the report said,
but they have not resulted in any systematic, campus-wide changes,
which is what the committee would prefer.
The report also said it will be difficult to hire the 35,000
faculty California needs to hire between 2000 and 2010 because
California faculty salaries are lower than those of similar
institutions nationwide.
The UC plans to hire 7,000 new tenure-track faculty over this
period, Schwartz said.
“It’s a very competitive marketplace right
now,” Schwartz said. “We definitely have ground to make
up on the staff side, which is part of why increasing funding for
salaries is the top budget priority.”
The UC requested a 5.5 percent salary increase for faculty and
staff, which would include a merit increase, a Cost of Living
Adjustment and other increases.
Gov. Gray Davis’ proposed budget for the 2002-03 year did
not include a COLA, which is intended to adjust salaries for
inflation.
The proposed budget only provides a 1.5 percent merit increase
for UC faculty and staff, based on merit reviews and performance
evaluations.