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Teaching and Research
In a step away from dependence on government funding, Casper also has committed
$10 million as seed money toward a $200 million endowment that will support up to
300 new graduate fellowships, particularly in the sciences and engineering.
“Together, these two initiatives are intended to put us in position to
sustain
our strength in teaching and research for the coming decade,” Casper told a
special session of the Faculty Senate on May 9, in a speech that drew a standing
ovation.
The two-pronged proposal will be implemented beginning in the 1997-98 academic
year.
On the undergraduate side, Casper outlined a new program of “Stanford
Introductory Studies” aimed at the first two years of college. Within three
years, Casper said, he would like Stanford to “provide to every entering
student
the opportunity to work with a faculty member in a small-class setting.”
Such a program, he said, “would demonstrate to the best students in the
country
our unfaltering commitment to taking their college education seriously from its
inception.
“Students should be challenged and their minds stretched from their first
year
onward. The first year sets the tone,” Casper said.
The program is designed to expand on successful pilot programs such as Sophomore
Seminars, Sophomore Dialogues and Sophomore College, that the university has
established over the past few years. Sophomore Seminars generally have had 10
students per class, and Freshman Seminars probably will accommodate 16 students.
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