An understanding of social-science issues is a fundamental attribute of well-educated students no matter what their academic discipline -- hence their relevance and importance to any top-rated large university, according to the Division of Social Sciences' new academic plan. Based on that premise, along with high demand for majors in core social-science departments, the division is requesting 43 new faculty positions over the next six years. The request reflects a slightly larger percentage of new positions than the division could expect on a straight, pro rata basis, says Dean Steven M. Sheffrin, who drafted the plan. Reasons for the growth, in addition to these broad intellectual concerns, include the campus's past underinvestment in social sciences, Sheffrin says. "My primary focus is to make the case that progress in raising the stature of the university rests on strong social-science departments -- building core departments -- and this cannot be underemphasized," Sheffrin said last week in an interview. "Currently we are undersized in social sciences relative to comparable universities, based on a Provost's Advisory Committee on the Social Sciences report." Additionally, Sheffrin says, in looking across the nation at social-science departments, universities of the size to which "we are aspiring often have between 40 and 50 faculty members, whereas ours have 20 to 30." "UC Davis needs to invest more heavily in the social sciences if it wants to be a top-tier university," Sheffrin says. Sheffrin points out that a significant number of the campus's initiatives will have a "dramatic impact on faculty hiring and program development in the social sciences." Such initiatives include those for the mind sciences, hemispheric studies, quantitative social science and environment. These are "exciting new developments that will change the intellectual terrain of the campus," he said. Some of the specific areas of concern highlighted in the division include: o Core departments including economics, sociology and psychology are experiencing higher demand for majors than the division can accommodate. Economics alone is adding 500 enrollments annually. o The anticipated move of the exercise science department to the Division of Biological Sciences is expected to put more enrollment pressure on the social sciences. The plan notes that, as exercise science shifts toward a more rigorous life sciences approach, it is likely a significant number of students who might previously have majored in exercise science will instead seek related disciplines such as psychology and sociology. o New programs such as mind sciences, East Asian studies and an eventual major in history and philosophy of science will contribute to burgeoning enrollment growth in the division. o The campus needs to provide more balance across its academic programs to attract high-quality students. "In order to strengthen our ability to attract top-quality students, we need to position our image as a campus endowed with broad strengths across a wide array of socially relevant disciplines. "If we are not perceived as a campus with strong social-science programs, the quality of our applicant pool will continue to erode," Sheffrin said. Other issues addressed in Sheffrin's report include availability of adequate classroom and faculty office space. Many social science classes require large lecture halls "if we are to realize economies of scale in teaching the social sciences," the report says. Already, the campus is constrained in large classroom availability. If the campus has fewer large classroom resources than many other UC campuses, this situation needs to be remedied, the report concludes.