Undergraduate Programs

• In response to the recommendation to consider increased utilization of ‘instructors’

• If implemented, the hiring of instructors needs to be planned and evaluated carefully
• There are some potential problems with the establishment of a ‘two-tier’ faculty:

1) It would result in the establishment of a ‘second-class’ instructor
2) It could be perceived as an attack on tenure.
• Why are some courses not ‘appropriate’ for tenure-track faculty to teach?
• What would distinguish UNM’s lower division courses offerings from those of TVI or other institutions if they are largely taught by ‘instructors’ instead of tenure-track faculty?

1) Perhaps there would be no difference as far as the student population is concerned.
2) Perhaps we can leverage the quality of our faculty in differentiating UNM’s lower division course offerings from those of other institutions.

• Some departments are stretched to their limits in their ability to teach undergraduate courses.
• Greater use of Graduate Student instructors might help meet increasing lower division instructional requirements while also providing valuable teaching experience for Graduate Student instructors.
• Questions raised:

• 1) What is the relationship between the core curriculum and the distribution of instructors?
• 2) What is the core curriculum accomplishing? This question was answered through reference to an ongoing analysis being conducted by the Faculty Senate.

• Because of perceived problems in the current process of recourse allocation and evaluation, it was suggested that successful researchers/scholars participate in the evaluation of proposed University projects and the determination of resources to be allocated to those projects.

• Interdisciplinary programs will be most successful when implemented from the ground up instead of being dictated from the top-down.
• There is the potential for invigorating UNM’s faculty through encouraging interdisciplinary work

• There is a need for a coordinating office for international studies – particularly for administrative coordination.
• Increasing the percentage of international students (both through modifying target percentages and streamlining the admissions process) could lead to a beneficial improvement in campus diversity
• The learning experience could be substantially improved through the implementation programs that provide international study opportunities for UNM students
• How can international opportunities be funded without a substantial infusion of additional monies?
• An ‘incubator’ model might be appropriate for the development of international programs.

• How are we going to organize or do we need additional administrators in support of identified programs?
• Would the creation of additional administrative positions reinforce the sense that the planning process produces more administrators without yielding other meaningful results?
• How can we accomplish coordination without building additional bureaucracy?
• The problems and solutions presented in the forum highlight the tension between the decentralized nature of the campus organization and an increasingly acknowledged need for coordination between programs.
• Centralized functions must be accomplished effectively. There is a strong resistance to centralization at OGS due to perceived organizational and managerial problems.
• Greater use of faculty input (both individual and through advisory committees) is needed in administrative decision-making. The use of advisory committees might reduce the administrative requirements of some of the proposals presented in the forum.