A plan to revive UCA?s Summer Reading Program came under fire during the faculty senate meeting on Tuesday.
A faculty member from the Department of Writing expressed to the senate a ?growing concern among faculty about what processes and/or procedures we have in place for faculty participation in the development of university-wide programs and/or initiatives related to curriculum.?
The faculty member cited, as an example, the proposed revival of the Summer Reading Program in which the member asserted that ?little ? if any ? faculty input has been requested.”
In 1999, the Summer Reading Program began as a voluntary program for incoming freshmen. Funding for books, guest speakers and other program needs was provided by the university. In 2002, the program was discontinued due to budget shortfalls.
UCA Provost Gabriel Esteban said, ?Late this summer we looked at programs that had been cut due to budget issues. Feedback from the past Summer Reading Program was positive, so we decided to try and bring it back.?
According to Esteban, the plan was to change the reading program from a voluntary effort to a curriculum-based program that would be operated out of an academic department.
The Summer Reading Program was costly, and Esteban said he could not justify allotting $20,000 to $25,000 of the university?s academic budget to a program that only served a small number of students and was not curriculum-based.
After much discussion, the senate approved a motion to ?withhold support of the reinstatement of the Summer Reading Program until the senate can review the educational, academic, curricular, procedural and staffing implications of the summer reading program.?
-Jennifer Boyett
