Discovery Magazine

Discovery Magazine Dedicated to Research and Scholarship at The University of Texas at Austin
Volume 14, Number 4, 1997

Around the time this article was written, undergraduate teaching had fallen on hard times at The University of Texas. The emphasis on graduate research and graduate teaching had consumed the undergraduate program. Very small graduate classes were taught while undergraduate classes had grown in size and fallen in the number available. Students complained, justifiably so, that they could not get classes required for graduation. Student discontent reached the point that they sought intervention by their legislators. The legislature threatened to impose teaching requirements. Fortunately, the University hired Robert Berdahl as President, he along with Provost Mark Yudof, quickly assessed the situation and immediately focused on correcting the imbalance. They did this with little loss in graduate research and teaching. They deserve much credit for rebalancing teaching and research at UT.

The articles in this issue are focused on undergraduate education and clearly demonstrate the new found enthusiasm which many faculty felt about this change in direction.