Dialogues with the Chancellor

Spring Dialogue with the Chancellor: a campus-wide exchange

• Monday, May 1, 4-6pm, King Lounge, MU (snacks provided)
• be there to hear the Chancellor comment on your concerns and questions

for more info see http://sac.ucdavis.edu

CALLING ALL STUDENTS:

post your ONE QUESTION to ask the Chancellor HERE: Submissions must be posted by midnight, Tuesday, April 25!

Example: Why does the university care if we graduate in 4 years?

Anyone care to start?

Thanks Angelina, for your wonderful example question. I think I'll take it from here: Mr. Chancellor, the University has been pushing to have students graduate in four years or less, but I don't understand why this is good for the University. Sure, we could "admit more students", but I don't see how this policy would make a change. I would think students taking 15 units of classes take up 20% more resources than those taking 12 units, so the same amount of campus resources would be in use anyway. Class size, professor time, and staff workload all seem to scale with how many units we students are taking. In my major, Atmospheric Science, 180 units are required for graduation, most of which are required for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration certification as a meteorologist. The policy of pushing for faster graduation reduces the amount of learning that can be accomplished in engineering and physical science majors, and appears to be biased towards Letters and Science. So my question is: is this policy of pushing for four year graduations, along with reducing the funding for the College of Ag, an attempt to move the University towards more of a Letters and Science emphasis? —BrentLaabs

2006-04-25 16:53:02   What efforts is the administration making to reduce the prevalence of sexual assault and other forms of gendered violence on and around the UC Davis campus —Mark Sittig

2006-04-25 16:54:22   Mr. Chancellor, are you aware that you're one of the most popular members of the Facebook? Your profile on the site readily identified as a joke to many who see it — but why is this? I believe it is because it's nearly unheard of for a person in your position to be in touch with the student body in the same ways that students are in touch with each other. It may seem juvenile or silly for the Chancellor to sign up for a social networking website, but when you look at the figures — likely 30,000+ undergrads on the site — it's not silly at all. —PhilipNeustrom

2006-04-25 22:14:10   Mr. Chancellor, would you favor having a textbook rental program on campus, that is run by student government and organizations, and that would lower costs to students? And if a group of students were to try and create such a resource for students, would you be willing to help? —ConstanteFirme

2006-04-25 23:03:31   Chancellor, the Governor's buyout will provide the UC with additional revenue equivalent to the Regent's approved increases in registration, education, and professional fees. However, OP has made it very clear in recent months that it will not allocate the funds intended to go towards the registration fee, but rather, leave it at each individual Chancellor's discretion. My question: How do you plan to allocate these funds? —DavidAmbrose

2006-04-26 02:08:22   Does the University plan on doing anything about the dismal enrollment, persistence, and graduation rates of several under privileged communities? There needs to be equal access to higher education, and currently there is not. With more financial aid being cut and more outreaching programs being cut, there are fewer and fewer opportunities for specific groups to reach higher education. The recent push for graduating in four years will definitely have an impact on these groups, and I think that needs to be taken into consideration. —MandeepDhaliwal

I actually have a couple of concerns...what does the university plan to do about the lack of diversity in the faculty members on campus. I know that there is diversity within the AAS and other cultural departments...but what about in the science department, psychology department and other areas? Minorities don't just go to college and study AAS or Chicano studies, etc. it is really discouraging for students in the sciences to go through their whole academic career and not see a professor or even a TA of color...Another question is why is it that most of the black faculty and staff on this campus hold jobs that are "fire at will"? This keeps their mouths closed as to issues facing people of color on this campus and at any time YOU can just fire them without an explanation...why is that? I also believe that something needs to be done about the lack of students of color being enrolled and retained at this university...what are your plans for this? - I-Esha Scott

2006-04-30 21:09:24   What course of study would you recommend for the student whose goal is to become chancellor of a major university? —SteveDavison

2006-05-02 01:44:58   So how'd it go team? I had class )= —KrisFricke