Provost Barchi addressed several topics requested by Senate Chair John Keene. SMU will award graduate and undergraduate degrees. SMU's initial funding will be from the Singapore government. A SEC member asked whether SMU would operate under University of Pennsylvania guidelines covering conflict of interest and freedom of research and publication. On the matter of English fluency, Provost Barchi noted that he regularly meets with student groups and routinely hears that students cannot understand teaching assistants and teaching assistants cannot understand them.
State law requires teacher fluency.
Deputy Provost Peter Conn will study this matter along with the Council of Deans. A SEC member inquired about the status of implementation of the alcohol policy. The Provost said there have been fewer registered parties and no serious alcohol abuse cases this semester. There are concerns regarding off-campus parties. An inquiry was raised about bicycle and skateboard problems.