UC faculty approves
teaching code revisions
University of California faculty members voted on July 30 to
revise the 69-year-old guidelines designed to keep professors from
pushing their personal agendas on students.
The 45-3 vote by the legislative arm of the systemwide Academic
Senate was held in Berkeley. The body advises UC President Richard
Atkinson, who has the final say over the policy.
UC’s existing guidelines, known as the academic freedom
statement, were drafted in 1934, largely to assure lawmakers that
UC was not becoming a haven for Communist professors. It called
teaching a “dispassionate duty” and advised professors
to “stick to the logic of the facts.”
The new policy takes the position that the competence of the
professor is more important than his or her motivations.
The old statement had languished in obscurity for decades but
gained attention last year after a UC Berkeley course catalog
contained a listing for a class called “Politics and Poetics
of Palestinian Resistance.” The graduate student who taught
the class warned in the course description that “conservative
thinkers are encouraged to seek other sections.”
The affair prompted Atkinson to call for an update.
Some faculty objected to the revisions, saying the new policy
took out too many safeguards.
Proponents said the revised wording is stronger than the old
because it spells out students’ rights to academic freedom.
The revised wording also refers to the faculty code of conduct,
which among other things prohibits professors from trying to
“coerce the judgment or conscience” of students.
Atkinson said July 30 that the new policy sets the right
standards.
“If we cannot trust our faculty to make decisions of this
sort,” he said, “we are in real trouble.”
UC San Diego
names interim chancellor
On Aug. 1 Atkinson declared his intention to appoint Marsha
Chandler as acting chancellor of UC San Diego, pending approval by
the Board of Regents at its next meeting.
Chandler’s appointment would be effective Oct. 2,
following current chancellor Dynes’ assumption of
responsibilities as the 18th president of the 10-campus system.
“Marsha Chandler is an outstanding scholar and an
exceptional academic administrator … we know she will do an
excellent job,” said Atkinson, who is retiring Oct. 1, after
eight years as UC president.
Chandler will serve as acting chancellor until a permanent
chancellor is named. A nationwide search for a replacement will be
initiated in the next few weeks, and a panel of regents, faculty,
students, alumni, foundation and staff representatives will be
named to serve as members of the Advisory Committee.
President-designate Dynes will chair the search, which is expected
to take approximately six months.
A renowned scholar of public policy and organizational behavior,
Chandler has served as UCSD’s senior vice chancellor for
academic affairs since August 1997, where she oversees all phases
of academic planning, programs and personnel. If approved by the
regents, Chandler would receive an administrative stipend of
$68,100 to her current annual salary of $212,600 for her service as
acting chancellor.
With reports from Daily Bruin wire services.