TO ACTIVE AND EMERITUS MEMBERS OF THE ACADEMIC COUNCIL

ANNUAL ACADEMIC COUNCIL MEETING, 2003/04

You are cordially invited to attend the 2003-04 Annual Meeting of the Academic Council, on Thursday, April 15, 2004, beginning at

4:15 PM, in Cubberley Auditorium.

AGENDA

A. Call to Order: President of the University presiding

B. Submission of the Minutes of the 2002/03 Annual Academic Council Meeting held on May 1, 2003

C. Report of the Senate of the Academic Council presented by Tom Wasow, Chair of Senate XXXVI

D. John Hennessy, President

President Hennessy will review the events and accomplishments of the last year and lead a panel discussion on Stanford's initiative to address the pressing environmental challenges of our time.

Panel discussion on "Creating a Sustainable Future: "The Stanford Institute for the Environment"

Panelists:

Jeffrey R. Koseff, professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Pamela A. Matson, dean of the School of Earth Sciences

Barton H.Thompson, professor of Law.

E. New Business

F. Adjournment

EDWARD D. HARRIS, JR., M.D.

Academic Secretary to the University

MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE ACADEMIC COUNCIL, MAY 1, 2003

The Articles of Organization of the Academic Council (Section 1[f]) provide as follows:

The Academic Council shall hold one regularly scheduled meeting annually, at which time the Council shall receive reports from the President of the University and reports of discussions of the Senate of the Academic Council.

1. Report of the Chair of the Faculty Senate XXXV

Professor Henry Greely, Chair of the Senate, reported on the activities of the Senate from April 18, 2002 through to the present. The last three meetings of the 34th Senate were marked by several important action items:

A. Approval of the revised policy on sexual harassment and consenual sexual or romatic relationships.

B. Approval of the plan to realign the Committe on Undergraduate Studies by forming two new committees: Committe on Review of Undergraduate Majors (C-RUM) and the Committee on Undergraduate Standards and Policy (C-USP).

C. Abolishing the Committee on Academic Appraisal and Achievement, and transferring its duties to C-USP and C-GS.

The 35th Senate, as of May 1, 2003 has had 12 regular meetings, three informal executive sessions, and one administrative session.

Action items, in addition to receiving reports from seven Academic Council committees and adopting memorial resolutions honoring ten deceased colleagues, were

* To renew two interdisciplinary programs

* To approve an amendment to the Policy on Principal Investigatorship eligibility to grant PI status to Medical Center Line faculty

* To approve an amendment to alter slightly the Judicial Charter for the Board of Judicial Affairs

* To adopt a resolution warning of inadvertent negative effects of the USA PATRIOT Act.

* To adopt a resolution in support of the University's amicus brief supporting the University of Michigan's stance on affirmative action in the Supreme Court of the United States

* To support the Provost's recommendation for a one-year salary freeze for faculty and staff at Stanford

* To confer degrees upon all graduating students, from both undergraduate and graduate programs

Professor Greely gave particular emphasis to the reports (and Senate discussion) in addition to action items on

* Faculty and staff health benefits at Stanford

* Advanced placement credit

* University budget cuts

* Administrative computing

* The state of faculty retirement

* The I-Hum program

* Faculty governance at UC Berkeley

He emphasized that although, on many topics, the Senate has no formal power, the open discussion of issues probably does have an impact upon University policy in the long run. Greely was particularly pleased that the Senate amended its rules to provide for the appointment of a representative to the Senate for the emeriti faculty.

The Chair's remarks concluded with deep thanks to all of the chairs and members of the seven key Senate committees and many University Committees. He added that he believed firmly that"...an open and elected Senate can provide praise, criticism, a 'nudge' or spur to the administration to action," and he emphasized that in order to remain vital, attendance of Senators must remain high, and that Senators must transmit actions and discussions in the Senate to their colleagues in many departments.

2. Report of President John Hennessy.

Achievements

In reviewing some of the highlights of the past year, the President was particularly enthusiastic about the synergistic achievements of multidisciplinary initiatives. They have included:

* The Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law formed by the Institute for International Studies in partnership with the Law School and GSB

* Inauguration of the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center that has been initiated by faculty at SLAC and at many departments in the University to "explore fundamental questions about the origins and evolution of the universe."

* Trustee approval of the creation of the new Bioengineering Department, fusing initiatives and research in Engineering and Medicine. Scott Delp (ME) and Paul Yock (Cardiology) will co-chair this new department.

* The Global Climate and Energy Project (G-CEP), led by Professor Lynn Orr, that will coordinate activities of the University and an "...international group of companies with an anticipated investment up to $225 million over the next ten years."

* Dedication of Wallenberg Hall, which -- after seismic retrofitting -- will house multidisciplinary research initiatives, including Media-X and the Stanford Humanities Laboratory.

The President spoke enthusiastically about the provostial establishment of the Diversity Action Council "...to generate recommendations that would promote continued progress on the important goals... of increasing diversity among staff, undergraduate/graduate students, and faculty."

In a discussion of the university's goal to improve community relations, President Hennessy pointed to the very successful community reading project, "Discovering Dickens" that, exploiting the power of the Internet, reached more than 6000 readers worldwide, and to Community Day on April 6, 2003 that attracted 8,000 local citizens to the campus.

"Greatness comes from Excellence," he emphasized, and a clear example of this has been that the $1 billion Campaign for Undergraduate Education (CUE) has reached the $850 million level, despite the faltering economy.

Challenges

The budget is a gnawing and persistent concern. The President focused upon three specific financial challenges:

* The endowment -- Stanford's endowment is ~$7.6 billion, and endowment funds covered 18% of the fiscal year 2002 expenses. Of interest, Stanford is not even in the 'top ten' considering endowment dollars per student. This requires Stanford to be both selective in choosing programs to support and efficient in execution of them.

* Sources of undergraduate financial aid - With a need to find more than $20 million each year for support of undergraduate scholarship aid in addition to funds from the endowment, the need to raise financial aid through CUE is all the more important.

* Debt capacity of the University - Debt is how Stanford has financed many capital expenditures. The President emphasized that the amount of debt that the University can bear is dependent upon

* The ability to service debt with limited budgets, and

* The ratio of debt to assets. Among six peer universities, Stanford has the second highest ratio of debt to assets, 1.3 times higher than the mean. The trustees have placed an upper limit on the debt to asset ratio and we are rapidly approaching this limit.

Potential...and maximizing it.

Despite the financial challenges, President Hennessy was bullish on prospects of continued success at Stanford. He was particularly complimentary of the committed faculty, expert in research and committed to teaching, and to the outstanding service of the University staff. Because of them, Stanford attracts "...the very best young minds in the world," and evidence suggests that admission to our programs is becoming more competitive in undergraduate and graduate programs. All this coalesces into having superb educational and research programs. "More than seventy-five percent of our departments," said Hennessy, "are ranked among the top 10 in their disciplines based on surveys of our peers."

The next task and challenge, is maximizing potential. The President identified several pathways to continued excellence:

* Having the faculty continue to display a pioneering spirit and an entrepreneurial character with creative grasp of new opportunities

* Making the right choices among competing priorities in a time of limited resources

* Continuing to recognize the contributions of loyal alumni and friends, and making the right choices of programs that will enable us to get philanthropic support for the University.

With clear optimism and confidence, President Hennessy concluded his report to the Academic Council.

Next, the President introduced a panel of three: Dean Kathleen Sullivan (Law), Professor Ewart Thomas (Dean emeritus of H & S), and Michael Keller (University Librarian and director of Academic Information Resources), asking them to share their experience and perspective.

* Dean Sullivan was proud to head a first-rate law school that has less endowment than most of the other great law schools. She drew on Daniel Webster's words as he defended the existence of Dartmouth College as a private institution before the Supreme Court, " It is a small college, sir, but there are those of us who love it!" She was proud of the Law School's aggressive chase of Harvard and Yale, despite the dollar gaps in endowment and our location in the very expensive Silicon Valley. The "brand" of the school is well recognized: giving students a sound training in law with versatility to succeed in other fields, providing the added value of liberal education plus professional training, having "public intellectuals" on the faculty whose visibility and reputations draw applicants, and multiple research colloquia and workshops. Unlike many law schools, Stanford faculty (not hired adjunct teachers) teach the basic courses. The vision of the law school is linked with an obligation of producing social health through its graduates. Stanford Law School continues to convince its graduates to give to the Law School...the alumni are loyal.

* Professor Thomas first spoke to the division of responsibilities between the President (being appropriately idealistic) and the Provost and Deans (being pragmatic) in face of budgetary cut-backs. There are basic principles in H & S that define what the school stands for:

-- Faculty is commitment to teaching and research

-- Enticing superb students

-- Continuing excellent interdisciplinary programs

-- Continuing an emphasis on achieving diversity

-- Enhancing relationship development with alumni

He spoke of the importance of NOT implementing budget cuts 'across the board', a course of action that inhibits 'conversation' among groups in the School. In Professor Thomas' view, all units should expect some cuts and none should be eliminated in a principled yet flexible approach to the challenging budget.

* Michael Keller was constantly reminded that at Stanford University "we are living with giants". His departments and units have several responsibilities. The first is to support teaching and research. A second is to serve as an academic support system for the 1700 faculty (who are individual entrepreneurs) and their exciting students. Keller pointed out that Provost Etchemendy has supported enhanced use and development of technology in departments and seizing opportunities, e.g. founding High Wire Press in the last decade. HWP now serves 120 publishers on line. Keller stressed that he and his staff have their primary focus on faculty and students, and constantly are evaluating programs to decide what could be done better or differently with no increase in expenditures, and their plan is working. The budgetary challenges in the Library, however, are significant. There are hard choices ahead. Should journal subscriptions be cut? Should library hours be cut back. Time will tell.

After a brief, but interesting discussion period, the annual meeting of the Academic Council was adjourned.

EDWARD D. HARRIS, JR., M.D.

Academic Secretary to the University