RESOLUTION ON

NEW INDEPENDENT DOCTORAL PROGRAMS IN THE CSU

RS01-183

At its meeting of May 8, 2001, the Academic Senate approved the Resolution on New Independent Doctoral Programs in the CSU.

WHEREAS, at its meeting of April 2-3, 2001, the Education Policy and Programs Committee of the California Post-Secondary Education Commission took up the current state of graduate study in California’s public institutions of higher education by reviewing a report that, among other things, states, “[t]he Commission believes that a major effort in this decade should be devoted to strengthening graduate education”; and that notes that nearly all CSU campuses have smaller graduate programs, proportionately, than do comparable institutions in other states; and that ties success in the strengthening of graduate programs to the strengthening of the state’s economy; and

WHEREAS, the objective of strengthening graduate programs comes at a time when many important academic programs in the CSU are seriously underfunded; and

WHEREAS, in particular, masters degree programs in the CSU have been underfunded for many years; and

WHEREAS, CSU masters degree programs serve an important need for California in providing a crucial source of California’s school and community college faculty; and

WHEREAS, CSU masters degree programs serve an important need for California in providing training in many professional fields that contribute valuable services to California’s urban and rural communities; and

WHEREAS, CSU masters degree programs serve an important need for California in providing training in many technical fields that contribute to the continued prosperity of California’s technology companies; and

WHEREAS, a high quality doctoral program of any kind is extremely expensive; and

WHEREAS, for more than a decade efforts have been made to define a full-time equivalent graduate student in the CSU as one carrying 12 student credit units per semester rather than the current definition of 15 units per semester, a change that would have had the effect of increasing funding for graduate education, but when those efforts were recommended by the Trustees they have been consistently rejected by the Legislature; and

WHEREAS, in the absence of additional funding, resources would be transferred from existing undergraduate and graduate programs in order to support new doctoral programs in the CSU; and

WHEREAS, any such transfer of resources from existing undergraduate and graduate programs would adversely affect the quality of these existing programs and thereby work against the objective of strengthening graduate programs more generally; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that the Academic Senate of San Francisco State University oppose the implementation of new independent doctoral programs in the CSU until the underfunding of current undergraduate and graduate programs is remedied and substantial additional funding is provided for the support of doctoral programs; and be it further

RESOLVED, that the Academic Senate of San Francisco State University urge its representatives to the Academic Senate CSU to oppose the implementation of any new independent doctoral programs in the CSU until there is funding for existing graduate programs based on the definition of a graduate full-time equivalent student (FTES) being 12 student credit units per semester and supplemental funding for doctoral programs; and be it further

RESOLVED, that a copy of this Resolution be sent to the Governor of the State of California, the Speaker of the Assembly, the State Senate President pro tem, the Chancellor of the CSU, the President of the Board of Trustees of the CSU, the Chair of the Academic Senate, CSU, and to all campus senate chairs in the CSU.

***APPROVED MAY 8, 2001***