Relationship ban OK'd
UC regents on July 17 approved an amendment to the Faculty Code of Conduct that will effectively prohibit faculty from entering into consensual romantic or sexual relationships with any student for whom the faculty member has, or is likely to have, academic responsibility.
A faculty member found in violation of the new policy may face discipline ranging from a letter of censure to dismissal from the university.
The faculty passed a resolution in 1983 that strongly discouraged faculty-student relationships and certain UC campuses already have policies that prohibit dating between students and their professors. The regents' action is meant to set a clear and enforceable standard for faculty conduct on all UC campuses.
The Faculty Code of Conduct only indirectly discouraged such relationships by instructing faculty to "avoid any exploitation, harassment or discriminatory treatment of students."
The Academic Assembly voted to approve the policy change on May 28.
See: http://www.ucop.edu/acadadv/acadpers/apm/rev-apm-015-all.html.
Testing changes slated
With a policy change approved by regents July 17, admissions tests taken by freshmen entering UC in 2006 will be more closely aligned to the high school curriculum than ever before.
Instead of taking the ACT or SAT I plus three SAT IIs as they do now, students who enter the university in 2006 will take a new SAT I that includes a writing exam or the ACT along with a new writing component, plus two SAT IIs in areas such as history/social science, English, mathematics, laboratory science, or a language other than English.
The change was OK'd by UC faculty.
UC adopts landmark green building policy
Establishing one of the first policies of its kind in the nation, UC regents approved a universitywide policy for the design of "green" buildings and a standard for the use of "clean" energy July 17.
The "Green Building Policy and Clean Energy Standard" calls for UC to adopt energy efficiency and sustainability principles in its capital projects to the best extent possible, taking into account budgetary constraints and regulatory and programmatic requirements.
It also calls for UC to minimize its impact on the environment and reduce non-renewable energy use by purchasing green power from the electrical grid, promoting energy efficiency, and creating local renewable power sources.
For details, see http://www.ucop.edu/news/factsheets/greenbuildings.pdf.