At the University Senate meeting Feb. 23, the Provost consulted with a University-wide body on the proposed plan to enhance and enlarge Columbia College. Two Senate committees responded with broad endorsements of the plan, though each drew attention to aspects that raised minor concerns.

The Education Committee found the plan well-reasoned and deemed the expansion academically beneficial to the University in the long term. It considered watchfulness over several factors during the phase-in years important in guaranteeing the success of the plan. It recommended that the administration develop ways of assessing developments and administrative actions to take if expectations fall short. The Committee also warned that optimizing the use of existing classroom space may not be enough to meet the new demand.

Looking at the matter from the financial angle, the Budget Review Committee also endorsed the overall plan for enlargement but doubted some of the projections of costs and revenues found in the report. The Committee thought that added instructional costs would exceed the estimates in the report and doubted the realism of an indefinite future with 2 percent-above-inflation tuition increases. They concluded it may take longer than predicted to realize the full benefits of the plan.

A member of a student group advocating a new department of ethnic studies addressed the Senate and passed its proposal to the Education Committee for study. The group argues that separate institutes or departments for Asian-, African-American, and Latino studies would marginalize these fields of study. A dialogue is under way with the administration.

Two resolutions, one renaming the department of geological sciences to "the department of earth and environmental sciences," and another establishing a dual degree program in earth and environmental science journalism, were passed unanimously.

Marsha Wagner, the University ombuds officer, reported a total of more than 3,000 contacts since the founding of her office in 1991. Describing her purpose as helping people to help themselves, by working out interpersonal conflicts or finding the resources they need for a particular problem, she said she also serves as a neutral mediator in appropriate situations.

The next Senate meeting will be Mar. 29 at 1:15 P.M. in the auditorium of the Schapiro Engineering Building. Tickets may be obtained by presenting a valid CUID at the Senate office, 406 Low, or at 3-411 P & S, by 11:00 A.M. on the day of the meeting.

Columbia University Record -- March 8, 1996 -- Vol. 21, No. 19