Trustees hear plan for undergrad education

University Trustees met last Friday to discuss research opportunities for undergraduates, the tenure process and the Speaking Across the University program at the Board of Trustees' Academic Policy Committee meeting. The meeting began with a presentation of the Student Committee on Undergraduate Education's 1995 White Paper, which included the plan for implementing SATU. SATU is designed to improve speaking skills among undergraduates, along the lines of the Writing Across the University program, according to SCUE Vice Chairperson Sharna Goldseker, a College senior. In the program's first semester, 30 teaching assistants from six different courses participated. Several trustees said they were hesitant to fully support the program because of the amount of time it will take to integrate into the University community. But committee Chairperson Donald Langenberg, a trustee, said the committee strongly supported Provost Stanley Chodorow and SCUE in their efforts to implement the SATU program. SCUE also proposed a restructuring of the current foreign language requirement in the College of Arts and Sciences. "The way we think about teaching foreign language should be revisited," Goldseker said. Chodorow said he agreed with SCUE's evaluation of the program, adding that it is an issue that will not be ignored. Also at the meeting, trustees discussed the concept of service learning in academic programs, which is part of the administration's proposal for the 21st Century Undergraduate Experience. "The idea is that what the student learns in lectures and seminars is seen again in the service to the community," Bioengineering Professor Daniel Bogen said. And Chemistry Professor Ponzy Lu presented the committee with possible ways to increase undergraduate participation in University research. "We are trying to find a way to get freshmen and sophomores to understand the breadth of the University early on in their careers at Penn," Lu said. Lu added that the current lack of undergraduate participation can be partly attributed to the fact that research is not prominently publicized in brochures that the University sends to its incoming freshmen. To solve the problem, it was suggested that a pamphlet that includes a description of each department's research possibilities be sent to all freshmen. At the conclusion of the meeting, Chodorow asked the trustees to become more involved in the tenure process. Starting in March, the Office of the Provost will provide trustees with information about the tenure applicants -- including their curriculum vitae. Additional questions about the process may be discussed at the next trustees meeting, according to Chodorow. "This is not a means to improve the rigor of the process, but a means to get the trustees to know the faculty," Langenberg said.