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education program to include a diversity intensive course requirement failed to pass the
general faculty vote by a very small margin. As the chair of faculty council I take full
responsibility for not successfully creating and presenting a proposal that all MU faculty
could understand, appreciate and support. This vote in no way diminishes the
commitment of MU faculty to diversity as part of the MU student educational
experience. Mizzou faculty are extremely supportive of diversity as evidenced by the
large numbers of courses already in existence that address diversity issues and by their
support for the student led “One Mizzou” initiative. Rather I believe the vote reflects the
serious commitment faculty have for quality education and their insistence that the
proposal for a diversity course requirement be complete, detailed and thorough. Faculty
Council, and myself specifically, will assume this responsibility and spend the summer
working on a revision of this proposal and bring that back to the general faculty as early
as possible in the fall.
An important component of any curricular change at MU is outstanding communication
between Council and the general faculty. It is important that Council members hear the
concerns of the general faculty on all issues and equally important that Council
members find mechanisms to distribute information and educate the membership at
large on issues. We are a large institution and faculty members have many
responsibilities that at times make such two‐way communication less than ideal. We can
and will do better! Council will facilitate even greater communication opportunities with
the faculty at large through use of a survey instrument to assess the views and opinion
of faculty members regarding their understanding of and concerns about the proposal
submitted by Faculty Council. This information will be valuable as we move to the next
step in this process; curriculum revision is a challenging process for everyone. We were
overly optimistic that we could achieve this curriculum revision in one year, but we will
get it done and it will be a quality product for both faculty and students.
Thank you for your patience. It will be rewarded, I assure you.
Leona
Leona J. Rubin, Ph.D.
Chair, MU Faculty Council
Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine
E102 Veterinary Medicine
(573) 882-5903