Faculty Council discusses Mizzou Advantage

Other subjects included faculty e-mail and a syllabus statement change.

By Rachel Allred

Published Oct. 16, 2009

Faculty Council discussed plans and expectations for Mizzou Advantage during their meeting Thursday. They also discussed a new policy for surveillance of faculty e-mails, a syllabus statement change and revising bylaw guidelines.

Provost Brian Foster was a guest speaker at the meeting and explained the progression of Mizzou Advantage, a set of five initiatives to make MU more competitive with peer universities. Foster said the project is a plan to build upon MU's existing assets.

"The name of the game is really impact," Foster said. "In science, in therapies, in whatever we do we want to have a big impact."

Foster said the five strategic initiatives and the focuses of the program are food for the future, comparative medicine, media for the future, sustainable energy and how to manage disruptive information technology.

Foster said the units will bring more people to the campus and will broaden the university's reach.

"The organization will not be new institutes or new centers," Foster said. "They will be networks and they will be dynamic networks that will bring people together. The networks will include not just things on campus but also collaborators off campus."

The networks will work together to plan big projects, sponsor conferences on major topics and carry out other activities that people from around the world will be invited to, Foster said.

Foster said Mizzou Advantage has a budget of $4 million a year, but he said it will have a return on its investment.

"We will have increased grants, increased grant revenues, increased philanthropic giving," Foster said. "We get at least $4 million a year in these areas, and we ought to be able to increase that at least double in the next six or seven years."

As part of Mizzou Advantage, MU will also create 40 new course programs, which will be 13 to 15 hour courses, to bring students up to date on new media.

"The idea of the certificates was to give people a very broad understanding of the dynamics of the media world and where it's going so they have a leg up on their colleagues," Foster said.

At a Faculty Council meeting in September, members raised questions about the acceptable use policy, which allows the university to check faculty members' and students' e-mail accounts. Faculty Council Chairwoman Leona Rubin said specific guidelines have been established regarding the accessibility of e-mail accounts.

"IT personnel can access an e-mail account if the individual who owns that account is not available due to death, or they're traveling or they leave the institution," Rubin said.

Before an e-mail account can be accessed, a request has to be signed by multiple people, Rubin said. This creates a checks and balances system, but that doesn't apply when legal allegations are involved. Rubin said the policy isn't as imposing as the council originally thought.

"What seemed like something invasive turned out to be not very invasive," Rubin said.

Executive Board Member Leah Cohn discussed a change in the syllabus statement. She said the Missouri Students Association asked for a revision last year on the statement regarding intellectual diversity and who could be approached if someone feels discriminated against in class. Cohn said a new proposal would be discussed during the next meeting.

Cohn said the revision will include that the university community welcomes intellectual diversity, and students who have questions or concerns regarding atmosphere in class, including respect for diverse opinions, can contact one of various offices, including the departmental chairperson or the Equity Office.