Here are some things that have been happening:
FAH Chairs met Sept 2 -- I met with the chairs of our eight departments: Leah, David (Mycoff), Warren, Sally, Ron, and Gary--Dongping sat in for Phil Otterness, and Angela couldn't make it. The one item on the agenda was how and whether to use the list of departmental needs generated at our earlier FAH Division meeting to influence the strategic planning process (big community meeting planned for the following day). We agreed to draft a statement intended to signal the need for appropriate teaching/learning spaces across all departments to replace the "Build a new building" item in the draft Strategic Plan. That evening, I drafted a statement to submit to PAC and sent it to the chairs for revision. Ron offered revisions and Gary drafted a wonderfully pithy version, which I subsequently emailed to Paula and PAC on behalf of FAH.
Further Strategic Plan developments -- Following the very successful community-wide strategic planning day, PAC released a much revised draft of the plan. I was gratified to see our proposed change adopted almost word-for-word. Following the faculty meeting on Sept. 8 (our "affinity group"), Paula released another much-revised version to present to the community last Thursday (Sept. 17). At first, I was dismayed, thinking that our concern for upgrading teaching/learning spaces had disappeared or become too vague, but, looking more closely, I found the statement moved under Priority #1 and rephrased to include all areas of the college. I think our efforts to create a more inclusive call for improving our facilities have paid off (although Ron pointed out to me afterward that it places resources for academic facilities in a wider competitive field). Now, of course, comes the nitty gritty: Developing the Acting Plan.
Other news and developments:
Regarding the ongoing General Education revision discussion, Jeff Holmes announced in an Academic Council meeting (Sept. 2) that the results of his survey at faculty retreat regarding opinions on the need to change the program--and in what ways--indicate that the faculty is "all over the place" with this exception: There is almost universal agreement on the need for a foreign language requirement of some kind. A discussion of what such a requirement would look like and what it would intend should be interesting, with major consequences for the Modern Languages Department.
I've continued trying to help move a few facilities-improvement projects along: Art (clay mixing room air quality issue, 3-D sculpture/metalworking studio) and Music (the decade-long-delayed conversion of a storage area to a band practice room). Dealing with FMTS continues to be frustrating, although I honestly think they are trying harder to communicate where things stand--but I'm not sure things are actually moving any faster. Maybe. Steve Williams finally had to threaten to lock down the Music Wing in order to get a lock replaced (and the repair is still temporary). The system is still very, very broken, something that I think PAC realizes. My plan is to help the process as much as I can so that things actually get done--but not to replace direct communication between departments and FMTS! If anyone has problems in this area, please let me know.
Writing Department adjuncts are now ensconced in half of Mitchell House (the stone duplex between the amphitheatre and the health center). During this year, plans will be laid to renovate the entire building for office space--and FAH has priority (I believe!).
Speaking of Modern Languages, I was much involved in a last-minute attempt--successful--to find an adjuct to teach Spanish I & II in the wake of Luis's departure. Thanks to Leslie Bradshaw's assistance, we found D.D. Swift, who is a welcome addition to the program.
Warren Gaughin has arranged for a consultant to visit the Music Department next month to help in their process to significantly beef up the Appalachian music part of the program, particularly with the upgrading of a part-time position to full-time status (delayed from last year). As part of the same process, Phil Jamison is already teaching half-time in the Music Department (thanks, Mathematics).
Bette Bates and Don Baker are going to serve on the Sustainability Task Force. I was bothered by the fact that Margo Flood had no one from FAH on this possibly influential group--now there are two!
I've been involved in two other areas that are not exclusively FAH-related (although both could be):
1) I'm officially Chair of Integrative Studies. There are now only three people on that committee: Lucy Lawrence, John Casey, and me (Mallory McDuff is helping). There's general agreement that the program much change if it is to continue. I'll be organizing a conversation to that end. Meanwhile, students keep talking to us about proposing an Integrative Studies Major. The program is currently under the Social Sciences Division, but Ben Feinberg and I are talking about bringing it under FAH.
2) I'm becoming more and more involved in an effort to support service learning and the SLO by promoting community-based research, even to the point of brainstorming about a Center for Community Based Learning, perhaps in partnership with UNCA (my immediate connection is through an interest in the community-based arts movement--particularly regarding performance). Some of us will be going to a workshop at Maryville College next month--they've got what could be a good model for us. Recent developments in the Natural Sciences regarding this kind of thing (there are two orphan programs that deal with water quality and lead poisoning issues in the area--and the college might help) could result in interdepartmental initiatives. I'm an advocate for even greater involvement by faculty and students in helping solve problems in the area, as long as the needs are coming out of the communities themselves--which is what community-based research is all about. This is something that Franklin Tate--to whom we bid farewell on Friday (though he'll still be in the area)--has been advocating for years. If anyone in FAH is interested and wants to know more, let me know.
That's all for now. Too long as it is. Must make more posts more frequently--and shorter!
Graham
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Re: Integrative Studies: given that we have a broad Gen Ed program, I think the need for an IS major should be specific and clearly elucidated. One thing we don't want it to be, obviously, is a catch all for students who may not want to fulfill the requirements for another major. It may also be that we identify areas in which an IS major makes up for gaps in the existing set of majors by looking at other schools with more areas of studies (e.g., Africana Studies). The goal should be not simply for a student to combine existing areas of study into a hybrid, but rather define a rich but specific area that draws on existing courses and original research. It may seem like a subtle difference but it's not, so that "Theatre/Spanish" would not be acceptable, but "Latin American Theatre" might be...
ReplyDeleteGood comment, Ron! Your idea falls within but clarifies and enriches the current IS approach. Students are currently asked to justify why they can't do what they want with an existing major, major/minor combo, or double major. Sometimes we suggest that they formulate a central question they are asking which requires an integrative approach. I think the distinction between creating a hybrid and pinpointing a genuine and productive area of study (with reference to other schools, possibly) is a good one. Maybe, following your idea, we should generate a list of programs from other schools as prompts to their thinking or actual possibilities. I think the initial impulse and question should come from the student, though.
ReplyDeleteI think that the IS option should be a prompt to prompt the right students, so to speak.
ReplyDeleteI was poking around the Internet. I find it interesting that Jeff said we are all over the map on liberal arts/gen ed. But I did find the following from the interesting New College of Florida:
Four Principles
Throughout the history of New College, four principles have defined the College's educational philosophy:
1. Each student is responsible in the last analysis for his or her own education.
2. The best education demands a joint search for learning by exciting teachers and able students.
3. Students’ progress should be based on demonstrated competence and real mastery rather than on the accumulation of credits and grades.
4. Students should have from the outset opportunities to explore areas of deep interest to them.
Faculty & Academics
New College’s unique academic program allows students the freedom to pursue their own special areas of academic interest. In addition to formalized classes, students meet individually with faculty mentors to develop seminars, tutorials, independent research and off-campus study experiences to further each student’s academic goals.
All classes are taught by faculty. New College emphasizes collaborative learning and faculty-guided student research. In addition to highly interactive classes and seminars, students work one-on-one with faculty or as part of small tutorial teams to design specialized research or study in their areas of academic interest.
Because New College believes that learning should be a highly personalized and individual experience, students receive detailed narrative evaluations rather than grades from their professors at the end of every course. Students also work one-on-one with faculty to research and write a senior thesis, the culmination of their academic program.