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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 16, 1991)
Legislature releases plan to study workloads! *~By Sean Green i Staff Reporter_ A Nebraska legislative panel re leased its plan Friday to examine faculty workloads at UNL, including an intent to study how much time faculty teach, research and perform public service. Legislative Resolution 148, spon sored by members of the Education and Appropriations committees, will examine the workload of University of Nebraska faculty members to see if they are working to their fullest po tential. In outlining the study, Kathy Teno pir, program analyst, listed eight items that will be included. The university .wilt' provide infor mation on each of the items, based on the 1991 fall semester. Those items include the balance between instruction, research and public service at each campus, fac ulty instructional workloads, use of fuftl- and part-time faculty, class size, use of undergraduate assistants, travel reimbursement policies, faculty-out side income and English fluency. Tenopir said the university should have the information available by March 1, 1992. I But during the time allowed for public comment, Craig Reisser of Omaha said the problem with the educational system is not faculty workloads, but a matter of having too much administration. “In American education, there is too much bureaucracy,” said Reisser, a geography professor who said he was turned down for a teaching posi tion at the University of Nebraska. “Let’s look first to see how we can streamline the administration before we cut the muscle.” Reisser said the growth of admini stration at universities is the root of the problem and suggested that the panel look into what he said was an excess of administration. As an example, he asked if the University of Nebraska at Omaha really needed a vice chancellor of affirma tive action. Reisser also said university fac ulty are divided between the “haves and have-nots.” “We have a lot of these have-nots — people who don’t have the oppor tunity for meaningful full-time em ployment,” Reisser said. “How do we decide who gets to be one of the privileged few?” Sen. Ron Withem of Papillion, chairman of the Legislaturc’&Educa tion Committee, said the study was not based on the assumption that fac ulty members don’t work hard enough. Instead, Withem said, the question is whether the university focuses enough on academic instruction and makes classroom instruction a prior ity in the university system. Sen. Scott Moore of Seward, the Appropriations Committee chairman, said his intention was to analyze fac ulty workload at UNL, not to change it. “Some people are concerned that this is a witch hunt,” Moore said. But what the Legislature is doing, he said, is not unusual. Lee Jones, provost of the Univer sity of Nebraska, said the university had proposed to focus on representa tive departments in order to reflect different teaching methods. “We must keep in mind that differ ent colleges will have different roles and missions,” Jones said. He said the study should also con sider the time professors spend pre paring exams, advising students and talking to students about their exams. Of therepresentativedepartments, those selected for the study represent one out of five departments through out the university, he said. Nader Continued from Page 1 hire a professional, full-time staff of organizers, writers, lawyers, ecolo gists or other consumer advocates to take on the problems of the commu nity.' Nader said 23 states, not including Nebraska, had student-run public-inter est groups. In .New York, one such group has 12 offices and a $3.5 million budget, Nader said. Its projects deal with energy policy, ecology, utility plants, gov ernment abuse, fraud and waste re search. “The interesting thing is that all it takes is S6 per student per year — hardly the amount spent on beer on Saturday night,” Nader said. Nader also criticized school sys tems that emphasize multiple-choice standardized tests, which test only.a small part of a person’s “multiple — 44 What are multiple-choice, standardized tests testing? Is life a multiple-chioce, standardized test? Would you go to a multiple-choice lawyer? Nader consumer advocate . intelligences,” he said. These tests, he said, are used in all levels of education and include the SAT, ACT and LSAT college en trance exams. ‘‘What are multiple-choice, stan dardized tests testing?” Nader asked. ‘‘Is life a multiple-choice, standard ized lest? Would you go to a mul tiple-choice lawyer?” However, he added, multiple-choice tests with an option of ‘‘none of the above” were an advancement over election ballots. Other problems with education, Nader said, are that schools today have become job training centers in ww terested in leaching only vocational skills. Businesses also are gelling too in volved, he said. “We arc growing up corporate, and after a while you don’t know you’re growing up corporate,” Nader said. For example, Nader said that one appointment to speak at a high school had been cancelled because school officials had been afraid that he would insult the insurance industry. Other projects that Nader is work ing on include a campaign-finance reform and his own presidential write in campaign. business is b(u)y tne booK By Sean Green Senior Reporter Students can now buy or sell their books without having to stand in line at the bookstores as part of a UNL student’s new business. “What I really am is a book bro ker,” said Sandra Fournier, a junior food science and technology major. “People call and let me know what book they want to sell, and I try to find a buyer.” Fournier, who operates the busi ness out of her home, said she would make a list of books that students were trying to sell, including the title, author and class the book was for. HU S k G r Complete Line of Sportswear & Accessories V * Custom Lettering | • Racquet Restringing I I Lied's -f Campus Racrsation Cantor Monday • Saturday 10:00 am - 6:00 pm Holiday 0°UP°n bale Tyr Marika GEAR InSport Ektelon Russell Woolrich Pro Kennex Champion 10 -25% Oh Coupons available at Husker Red's Sartor Hamann Jewelers Diamonds Put The Sparkle In Her Eyes 7 Engagement rings priced from $195 “For the price, quality, and selection ” . *» Er- -.y\. ' \ A * [Downtown Gateway 12th & “O” Street jewelers j 1 Special student financing nvailahlc ■ " ■ , 7 : if' * ' ■1 • - 'v - .. ■ ■' : . .j. I. When a student who wants to buy a certain book calls, Fournier said, she will check the list to sec if anyone is trying to sell that book. ‘‘A lot of students don’t sell their books to other students because it’s too time consuming,” she said. Fournier said she would take 10 percent of the sales, but if she could not sell a book, she would not charge for the service. 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