COUNCIL

Summary of 2004-2005 University Council
Resolutions and Recommendations
and Administrative Actions Taken on Them

“RESOLVED, that at the first fall meeting of the Council, the Secretary shall distribute to the Council the actions of Council passed during the previous academic year, including a list of all recommendations and resolutions, the implementation of which would require administrative action.  The president or the provost shall indicate what action they have taken or plan to take with respect to each recommendation and resolution.”  (University Council: May 8, 1974)

Resolutions from the 2004-2005 Academic Year

1. University Council unanimously passed the following resolution:

WHEREAS, Council is indebted to, commends, and thanks the students who created the USCAR proposal (“Proposal”) and the Committee on Pluralism for its work in considering and making recommendations concerning the Proposal; and

WHEREAS, we applaud the stated goals of the Proposal:

1. To provide students with a language for discussing issues such as diversity in a multicultural society;

2. To inspire students to think critically about the role of underrepresented voices in many aspects of society, including their own chosen disciplines;

3. To make Penn attractive to underrepresented groups by demonstrating Penn’s commitment to diversity in a multicultural society; and

4. To reward faculty who incorporate underrepresented voices in courses within the curriculum.

NOW, THEREFORE:

1. Council supports the spirit of the Proposal and recommends that each school take all necessary steps to ensure that the goals of the Proposal are addressed in the undergraduate and graduate academic programs through appropriate mechanisms.

2. Council recommends that each school report to the Penn community annually its progress in addressing the goals of the Proposal.

As excerpted from the minutes of the March 16, 2005 University Council meeting, recommendations on how to embrace the ideals of the proposal without mandating a specific requirement included the following:

“One suggestion was to designate courses on students’ transcripts as fulfilling a cultural analysis certification. Another suggestion was to have a cluster, perhaps a group of three courses, which would not be so significant as a minor or a major, but would enable students to do concentrated work, providing recognition from the University that participating students had in fact received a good grounding in such matters.  Another idea was that the completion of a cultural analysis course should be a prerequisite for graduating from Penn cum laude or magna cum laude.  Yet another idea was to require students to take two or three Preceptorials in cultural analysis prior to graduation.”

                                                                  —Leslie Laird Kruhly,

                                                      Secretary to University Council