Office of the Chancellor

V. Components of the Multi-Year Plan
     B. Expenditures
          (1) Major Initiatives $7.0 M
              (f): Interdisciplinary Programs - $ 1.0M

The reorganization of Schools and Colleges, which we described in Part (a) will, over time, lead to a reorganization of departments and units. In any University, new interdisciplinary units develop to address teaching, research and outreach needs which do not fit neatly into the traditional departmental boundaries. As the reorganization takes shape, some of the current interdisciplinary activities will coalesce within the new Schools and Colleges (e.g., the College of Life Sciences and Biotechnology). At the same time a new level of transcollegiate and interdisciplinary activities will begin to develop. This cyclical expansion and condensation is a natural facet of a Land Grant-Research University at the forefront of knowledge and societal transformation.

In Strategic Thinking the question was posed as to how a Land Grant-Research University should organize itself today in order to harness its scholarship and expertise generally in the service of society. Some suggestions included possible partnerships in teaching, research and outreach around overarching focal areas, e.g., youth-at-risk, public policy, urban outreach, environment, information technology, public humanities and performing arts, selected centers and institutes, international programs, lifelong learning. From the discussions thus far, the following areas are identified for development and investment.

Center for the Family: this center will be interdisciplinary, involving at a minimum the Colleges of Social and Behavioral Sciences, and of Humanities and Fine Arts, the Schools of Management, Education, Nursing, and Public Health and Health Sciences.

Environmental Sciences: this area will be expanded in response both to growth in student demand and to heightened societal concern.

Center for Public Policy: we already have many strengths in this area and it provides an important opportunity for crossing social science and professional school boundaries and for synergy among research, teaching and outreach.

University Center for the Teaching of Statistics: this Center, USTAT, will promote interdisciplinary approaches to meeting campus needs in areas of overlapping content. Today almost every area of knowledge relies on the study of statistics.

Center for Language Acquisition: we need to enhance our capacity to provide instruction in a variety of languages. To do so means reconfiguring the instructional system and its administration system through efficient deployment of expertise and resources. The learning environment can be redesigned with an increased focus on individualized, modularized computer-aided instruction. At present our ability to respond to shifts in demand for language instruction is cumbersome, with excess capacity in some areas and insufficient capacity in others. Additionally the current system unnecessarily conflates the need to improve and increase language instruction with the need to increase the number of graduate students and departmental faculty in departments of language and literature. The new Center will develop new approaches to language instruction through the collaboration of faculty with expertise in theoretical linguistics, psychology and communication disorders. The Center could also act as an overarching umbrella for other units involved in unique areas of language instruction, e.g., the Foreign Language Resource Center, the Five College Language Resource Center, the ESL Program, and the Translation Center and Interpretation Studies Program. The details of this Center are being worked out by a committee of faculty members from the Language Departments, Comparative Literature, Linguistics and other interested parties.

Center for Computer-Aided Instruction: drawing on our excellent Department of Computer Science, we shall create a Center for forefront development of materials for instruction using advanced computing and other multi-media techniques. Such produced instruction materials will also be important for learning at a distance and lifelong education in the future.

Center for Integrative Studies: while more speculative, there is a need to redesign General Education as Integrative Studies, and to explore new approaches for its delivery. Like the Center for Language Acquisition, the Center could provide a matrix approach with collaboration across different disciplines to design courses that are transdisciplinary and transcollegiate. The Center could also serve as a basis for the study of how an integrative mind set is developed, which is the hallmark of all truly great scholars, and of public intellectuals.

New Structure for Outreach: Outreach will be restructured (see also Section B(11) on Administrative Redesign) to provide greater synergy between the various dimensions of outreach; viz. Continuing Education (to be renamed Lifelong Learning), University Without Walls, International Programs, Cooperative Extension (now University Extension), Economic Development, K-12 Outreach, Urban Outreach, etc. The latter pertains to the new efforts we will focus in Springfield, where we have over 30 departments, units and programs engaged, but there is a need for a more coordinated strategy. This entire constellation of programs should be integrated under a single administrator, a Vice Provost for University Outreach, as called for in the Task Forces on Public Service and Economic Development. (Related components of this reorganization are described in Section B(11) on Administrative Redesign).

The reorganization will enable a new approach to the modern Land Grant-Research University, one in which we can truly say that we are moving towards a Commonwealth of Learning by making the Commonwealth our Campus. But not only is the Commonwealth our Campus. We must extend our outreach to the world. This will call for an enhancement of our International Studies and Programs. All facets need to be examined. How do we give more of our students an experience abroad? How do we draw on the diversity our students from other countries provide here on Campus? The newly enhanced program in Thatcher Residence Hall is a good example.

It is important that we move forward with the implementation of these critical interdisciplinary efforts. Others may emerge as this 5-year planning effort unfolds.

David K. Scott was Chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, 1993-2001. This is an archive of the Chancellor's Web site during his tenure.
V. Components of the Multi-Year Plan B. Expenditures (1) Major Initiatives $7.0 M (f): Interdisciplinary Programs - $ 1.0M The reorganization of Schools and Colleges, which we described in Part (a) will, over time, lead to a reorganization of departments and units. In any University, new interdisciplinary units develop to address teaching, research and outreach needs which do not fit neatly into the traditional departmental boundaries. As the reorganization takes shape, some of the current interdisciplinary activities will coalesce within the new Schools and Colleges (e.g., the College of Life Sciences and Biotechnology). At the same time a new level of transcollegiate and interdisciplinary activities will begin to develop. This cyclical expansion and condensation is a natural facet of a Land Grant-Research University at the forefront of knowledge and societal transformation. In Strategic Thinking the question was posed as to how a Land Grant-Research University should organize itself today in order to harness its scholarship and expertise generally in the service of society. Some suggestions included possible partnerships in teaching, research and outreach around overarching focal areas, e.g., youth-at-risk, public policy, urban outreach, environment, information technology, public humanities and performing arts, selected centers and institutes, international programs, lifelong learning. From the discussions thus far, the following areas are identified for development and investment. Center for the Family: this center will be interdisciplinary, involving at a minimum the Colleges of Social and Behavioral Sciences, and of Humanities and Fine Arts, the Schools of Management, Education, Nursing, and Public Health and Health Sciences. Environmental Sciences: this area will be expanded in response both to growth in student demand and to heightened societal concern. Center for Public Policy: we already have many strengths in this area and it provides an important opportunity for crossing social science and professional school boundaries and for synergy among research, teaching and outreach. University Center for the Teaching of Statistics: this Center, USTAT, will promote interdisciplinary approaches to meeting campus needs in areas of overlapping content. Today almost every area of knowledge relies on the study of statistics. Center for Language Acquisition: we need to enhance our capacity to provide instruction in a variety of languages. To do so means reconfiguring the instructional system and its administration system through efficient deployment of expertise and resources. The learning environment can be redesigned with an increased focus on individualized, modularized computer-aided instruction. At present our ability to respond to shifts in demand for language instruction is cumbersome, with excess capacity in some areas and insufficient capacity in others. Additionally the current system unnecessarily conflates the need to improve and increase language instruction with the need to increase the number of graduate students and departmental faculty in departments of language and literature. The new Center will develop new approaches to language instruction through the collaboration of faculty with expertise in theoretical linguistics, psychology and communication disorders. The Center could also act as an overarching umbrella for other units involved in unique areas of language instruction, e.g., the Foreign Language Resource Center, the Five College Language Resource Center, the ESL Program, and the Translation Center and Interpretation Studies Program. The details of this Center are being worked out by a committee of faculty members from the Language Departments, Comparative Literature, Linguistics and other interested parties. Center for Computer-Aided Instruction: drawing on our excellent Department of Computer Science, we shall create a Center for forefront development of materials for instruction using advanced computing and other multi-media techniques. Such produced instruction materials will also be important for learning at a distance and lifelong education in the future. Center for Integrative Studies: while more speculative, there is a need to redesign General Education as Integrative Studies, and to explore new approaches for its delivery. Like the Center for Language Acquisition, the Center could provide a matrix approach with collaboration across different disciplines to design courses that are transdisciplinary and transcollegiate. The Center could also serve as a basis for the study of how an integrative mind set is developed, which is the hallmark of all truly great scholars, and of public intellectuals. New Structure for Outreach: Outreach will be restructured (see also Section B(11) on Administrative Redesign) to provide greater synergy between the various dimensions of outreach; viz. Continuing Education (to be renamed Lifelong Learning), University Without Walls, International Programs, Cooperative Extension (now University Extension), Economic Development, K-12 Outreach, Urban Outreach, etc. The latter pertains to the new efforts we will focus in Springfield, where we have over 30 departments, units and programs engaged, but there is a need for a more coordinated strategy. This entire constellation of programs should be integrated under a single administrator, a Vice Provost for University Outreach, as called for in the Task Forces on Public Service and Economic Development. (Related components of this reorganization are described in Section B(11) on Administrative Redesign). The reorganization will enable a new approach to the modern Land Grant-Research University, one in which we can truly say that we are moving towards a Commonwealth of Learning by making the Commonwealth our Campus. But not only is the Commonwealth our Campus. We must extend our outreach to the world. This will call for an enhancement of our International Studies and Programs. All facets need to be examined. How do we give more of our students an experience abroad? How do we draw on the diversity our students from other countries provide here on Campus? The newly enhanced program in Thatcher Residence Hall is a good example. It is important that we move forward with the implementation of these critical interdisciplinary efforts. Others may emerge as this 5-year planning effort unfolds. Table of Contents Next \| Scholarships and Financial Aid