U. delays master academic plan

Some parts of the 21st CenturySome parts of the 21st CenturyProject need further planning,Some parts of the 21st CenturyProject need further planning,Rodin said this week. Although plans for the administration's 21st Century Project on Undergraduate Life are currently underway, the full project will not be implemented by the original 1997 target date, University President Judith Rodin said earlier this week. When Rodin and Provost Stanley Chodorow announced the undergraduate education reforms in fall 1994, the project was slated to affect members of the Class of 2001 in their freshman year. Rodin said certain aspects of the plan need more detailed planning then originally anticipated, causing the delay. "The idea is to get it right," Rodin added. Chodorow said he will form an Undergraduate Advisory Board to advise the administration on the 21st Century Project. The members of the new UAB will be announced next week, Chodorow said. In Tuesday's Almanac, Chodorow released a report on the project's progress. The report highlights new interdisciplinary programs and ways to enhance faculty-student relationships. For example, the School of Nursing is negotiating with the College of Arts and Sciences, and may establish a dual-degree International Studies and Nursing program, Chodorow said. The School of Engineering and Applied Science is also discussing dual-degree possibilities with the other undergraduate schools. Since each dual-degree program requires administrative staff, personnel considerations limit the number of programs the University can offer, Chodorow added. The report also focused on advising and computing support for students. In an effort to improve interaction between professors and their students, faculty members will receive digitized PennCard pictures of their students with class lists at the beginning of each semester. The University is drafting a policy regarding the confidentiality of those photos, Chodorow said. "We need to be sure the faculty understand" the pictures are to be used for teaching purposes only, he added. The 21st Century Project will also establish a research center, similar to the Writers House, Chodorow said. "It would be a center where you could grant funds to undergraduate research," he said. According to the report, the center will provide information on research opportunities to students and faculty as well as establish a World Wide Web site on research at the University. Chodorow hopes the center would sponsor small, focused research conferences for undergraduates. No specific site has been designated for the research center, he added. The report also announced the development of three inter-school courses -- "Creating, Managing and Presenting the Arts," "Cognitive Neuroscience" and "Technology and Engineering in America." The courses will be funded by a Pew Grant monitored by the Council of Undergraduate Deans. Funding for similar inter-school courses will be awarded throughout the year, Chodorow said. Progress reports similar to the one released Tuesday will come out at least once or twice a year or whenever significant work has been completed on a 21st Century Project initiative.

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