Admin. picks provost's committee

After over a week of delays, Executive Assistant to the Provost Linda Koons released the names of those selected to serve on the expanded Provost's Committee on Undergraduate Education this week. But Koons refused to announce the final two members of the expanded PCUE because she had not contacted them yet. The expanded PCUE will develop ideas and models for the 21st Century Undergraduate Education initiative announced by the administration in October. PCUE in its original form includes the deans and associate deans of each undergraduate school. Acting Vice Provost for University Life Valarie Swain-Cade McCoullum and College senior Matthew Kratter, the chairperson of the Student Committee on Undergraduate Education, also serve on the committee. PCUE is lead by Provost Stanley Chodorow. English Professor Robert Lucid and Vice Provost Kim Morrisson will co-direct the expanded PCUE. Besides Lucid and Morrisson, the expanded PCUE includes four other students, three undergraduate and two professional school faculty members. The Nominations and Elections Committee chose the student representatives on the expanded committee. Engineering junior Jeremy Morrison, Nursing junior Cedar Lalime and College senior Jordana Horn will form the committee, along with a Wharton student yet to be announced. Horn said she will not work on the committee until her term as Executive Editor of The Daily Pennsylvanian ends in January. The Faculty Senate appointed Chemical Engineering Professor Warren Seider, Operations and Information Management Professor James Laing and Medical School Professor Harvey Rubin to the extended PCUE. Koons also appointed Communications Professor Oscar Gandy to the group. Lucid will serve as the faculty representative for the College of Arts and Sciences. Koons said she has not finalized appointments for a Nursing School professor. She added that staff members and administrators are forming a library of all past recommendations, reports and ideas dealing with the issues involved. "We are almost finished going through all the reports we have but we need to find any additional reports as well," Koons said. Administrators and committee members said they were looking forward to working on the new initiative. "I am excited because there's a lot of stuff going on," Koons said. The extended PCUE's first meeting is set for next week, Koons said. Koons added that the administration will eventually go back to the NEC and Faculty Senate to choose members of the various subcommittees that will work on individual issues.

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