Note: This story originally appeared in the Texan on Oct. 1, 2004.
All of the University's academic programs not ranked in the top 20 nationally should be eliminated if not significantly improved, according to a Sept. 30 final report by the Commission of 125.
"I think the commission realizes we can't be all things to all people - 'we' being The University of Texas," said commission Chairman Kenneth Jastrow.
Limited resources make being the best in all academic areas unlikely, according to the commission's report, and the University must be selective about which programs to emphasize to bridge the gap. The commission was specifically vague about how to improve poorly performing academic programs and how to implement other recommendations made, said Jastrow, who is also CEO of Austin-based Temple-Inland Inc.
UT President Larry Faulkner lauded efforts of the commission but stopped short of responding to specific recommendations. Faulkner said curriculum review will take a year-and-a-half to two years to complete, and he has already investigated ways to implement the commission's recommendations.
"The process will begin next week, when much of my address on the state of the University will be devoted to the commission and the implementation of its recommendations," Faulkner said. "That will be the next big step we started two years ago."
Other recommendations include changing part of the University's mandatory curriculum, holding academic leaders, department chairs and college deans liable for student performance and reducing student-faculty ratio by 24 percent.
Last spring, the Task Force on Enrollment Strategy suggested the University pare down the ratio by requiring all students to graduate in five years, taking a minimum of 14 hours per semester.
The Commission of 125 report also recommended creating a new student center on the east side of campus and requiring all students to take ethics and leadership courses.
To commemorate the commission, the University will build a fountain on the East Mall, Jastrow said. The University already has a park to honor the commission's predecessor, the Centennial Commission.
The group drafted two main strategies and included 16 recommendations to support its vision.
"This is a very ambitious report, and I think the goals of the commission members are that we take the issues seriously and look hard at what we're doing," Faulkner said.
Faulkner organized the commission to scrutinize all aspects of the University and develop a plan to make it one of the top five public universities in the next 20 years. Two hundred and eighteen volunteers were selected to form the commission.
Most members of the commission were alumni and were from Texas, Faulkner said. Most members also donated to the President's Endowed Excellence Fund, which bankrolled the commission.
"The commission believes that while the current system offers students myriad courses of study, it fails to equip undergraduates with a core body of knowledge essential to a well-balanced education," the report said. "For too many degree plans, the current curriculum resembles a vast a la carte menu.
"While this makes for great flexibility and variety, course-selection decisions are frequently driven by class availability, convenience and whim rather than by a well-conceived plan of instruction," it continues.
Undergraduates have too many choices in the current curriculum, and more mandatory courses should be added, the report said. The group also said course requirements should not be easily satisfied by Advance Placement tests, and students earning credit with tests or transfer credit should be required to take more advanced courses. Jastrow asked Faulkner to form a committee to reassess University curriculum as recommended in the report.
More power and resources need to be given to leadership, the report said. This will reduce teaching loads and put more scrutiny on deans and department chairs for negative results, the report said.
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