Professor Arthur Bienenstock presented a draft of a report sponsored by the Faculty Senate's Policy and Planning Board. Several recommendations say Stanford should examine all policies and do what we can to keep the health of sponsored research, and other recommendations assert that the academic side of the University should be more efficient. Yet, it is critical that Stanford retains the high quality of its faculty. The PPB is worried about strategic planning . The Provost and associated staff are all stretched too thin.
External regulations are now so much greater, while the staff is so much smaller.
Our data system is insufficient. Committee on Research members were particularly concerned with the PPB recommendation regarding the establishment of a policy to keep a certain level of reserves in the schools and departments. It was noted that the faculty's greatest fear is loss of continuous support for their graduate students. The Committee believes that faculty, departmental and school reserves for ensuring uninterrupted support of graduate students are essential for the health of research and scholarship at Stanford. C-Res supported the other recommendations of the report, for the most part.