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President Carol T. Christ is holding small-group
conversations with students, faculty and staff about positioning Smith most successfully
for the future. Here's a summary of one of the discussions.
Sasha Berkoff ’06, president of Tyler House, welcomed and introduced President
Christ, adding that this session was an important opportunity for students to help
shape the goals of the college.
President Christ reported that this was her third student-only
meeting on strategic planning. Her introduction referred to many of the outcomes of
the previous planning exercise ten years ago and the transformational impact they
have had on the college. Now there is a new chance to determine the college’s
priorities for the near future. She identified three key questions in this process:
what is distinctive about Smith? What are the capacities Smith students should develop
in order to be successful? What should Smith’s priorities be?
From the strategic planning conversations on campus and
off-campus with alumnae, the goal is to identify six to 10 goals/issues and begin
to define strategies for pursuing them. The president mentioned themes from her discussions
thus far—the importance
of quantitative skills, public speaking, social engagement, diversity, and career
skills.
The first topic raised was study abroad. There was concern about “budget cuts” in
JYA programs. These options need to be preserved in the curriculum, a student said.
The idea of Smith as a “world college” needs to be defined and pursued.
Based on the experience of some students on the Florence program, it might be possible
to incorporate social engagement and community service into study abroad.
Another thread in the discussion was the importance of quantitative capabilities
(capacities) to Smith students and alumnae. Certainly, the attainment of these skills
needs to be encouraged, perhaps even required. The president reported that a faculty
committee was exploring these issues within the curriculum. The discussion focused
on three strategies – sharing information with students about the successes
of other students in encountering and using these skills, developing courses within
majors that utilize practical and quantitative tools, and allowing quantitatively
oriented courses in other departments to count toward a major (e.g., CHM 100, The
Chemistry of Art Objects).
Students felt that the college should be more encouraging
of community involvement/service, by allocating greater resources to these activities
and perhaps by including more project-based endeavors in the curriculum. Along these
lines, one student suggested that there needed to be more practical applications of
knowledge incorporated into the curriculum, for example, audio technology and film.
Picking up on the technology theme, students argued for doing more to level the playing
field among students with regard to their technology skill base (e.g., PowerPoint,
Photoshop, etc.); possibly by offering one-credit courses.
President Christ reported that, in her conversations with alumnae, they felt they
had needed more preparation to engage effectively in competitive verbal environments,
i.e., in persuasive argumentation. Students picked up on this in the context of a
campus culture of liberalism. They recognized the importance of developing the ability
to discuss (disagree, argue) civilly and express points of view. On-campus discussions
need more tension and argument, one said; there’s often too much agreement.
Students should be able to say what they think. Strategies to effect this capacity
in the curriculum might include more opportunities to do role playing and the deconstruction
of arguments in assigned readings. Logic 100 was mentioned as a vehicle for quantitative
skills and for developing abilities for oral and written argument. Students need
their views to be challenged more.
Several students discussed the constructive use of free time and its relationship
to good health and wellness. Discussants felt there should be less stress and guilt.
A student urged that there be more opportunities in the curriculum for independent
learning—majors, courses and capstone experiences. Make such options more available
to more students, she said, including research activities with professors (especially
in non-science fields). Others suggested enhancing student-faculty interaction as
a goal.
More interaction between students and the Board of Trustees was also targeted as
useful to students’ education at the college. President Christ reiterated her
decision to remove coeducation from the table in this strategic planning process,
and said that the Board concurred. She referred to one other possible direction:
slightly reducing the size of the college. Sustainability was also mentioned as an
important concern and one that the students hoped the trustees took seriously. This
issue can be introduced into the curriculum and infused into all students’ education
as something to take away into the wider world, students noted.
The college’s decline in this year’s U.S. News & World Report rankings
was discussed as a student concern. President Christ explained some of the factors
behind this result (decline in the six-year graduation rate; the percentage of classes
with fewer than 20 students; a decrease in the percentage of alumnae giving; and
a decrease in the selectivity rate). Following this, students suggested ways of increasing
recruiting, improving public awareness of the college, and making the college more
visible, accessible and recognizable. Target good urban, public schools in the Midwest,
one suggested. Another advocated for more admission visits to schools.
Having reached the end of the session, President Christ thanked the students for
their comments, ideas and thoughtfulness.
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