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Sunday, January 24, 2010

Round Table Two Step

The UT Board of Trustees meets tomorrow, Monday, January 25, at 1:00 p.m. in Student Union (Room 2592). Concerned A&S College faculty, students, staff and alumni might want to be on hand when Item 6(b) on the agenda arrives. The BOT Academic and Student Affairs Committee will then be discussing:

1) College of Arts & Sciences ‘Roundtable’ Update

2) Strategic Balance between Open Enrollment and Elevated Admission Standards.

The pairing up of these two topics on the BOT agenda emphasizes the significance of their relationship, but inexplicably places the cart before the horse. Any feasibility of The Round Table Report as an implementation document rests on the degree to which it is possible to strike some sort of strategic balance between A&S College’s open enrollments and its quest to achieve a “top-tier” academic ranking in the future.

The Monday timing of the BOT discussion of the Round Table Report is worse than unfortunate. BOT members at the time of their meeting will have no knowledge of how A&S Council members, who meet on Tuesday to discuss the Round Table Report, articulate their own reactions to the document and its relation to open enrollments.

The BOT and A&S Council are admittedly an odd couple, but they need to partner up soon and synchronize their discussions of open admissions and the Round Table Report. Right now they are dancing too far apart.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Yeah, well if the members of the BOT and A&S faculty are dancing too far apart, that is because the Jacobs Administration inserts itself between them so they cannot communicate directly, informally and productively. Control. Control. Control. This administration talks up "transparency" but how about some "full disclosure" for a change? Then we might be able to route the clowns and turn this joint around!