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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.
President Christ welcomed the group and noted that this
round of strategic planning conversations is nearing completion. She recounted some
of the major initiatives of the last such process -- the Brown Fine Arts Center, the
Olin Fitness Center, the Lyman Plant House renovation, the Campus Center, the Poetry
Center, the Kahn Institute, the Center for Women’s Financial Independence, Praxis
and the Picker Engineering Program -- and then opened discussion to the group by
posing several questions: What are the capacities we should develop in our students?
What are the challenges facing Smith? What are the important issues we should be talking
about?
A major theme of the ensuing conversation was environmental
literacy and sustainability. It was strongly suggested that environmental literacy
be offered throughout the curriculum and that sustainability be adopted as part of
the mission of the college. Another suggestion was to create a center for the environment,
possibly modeled on the landscape studies and environmental science programs. Such
a center, it was felt, would be pioneering, would make Smith a leader, and is urgently
needed, not an initiative to be deferred. A participant pointed out that infusing
the curriculum with environmental literacy would require the addition of faculty positions
in environmental science and policy, landscape studies, architecture and biological
sciences.
Discussion turned to the issue of how Smith organizes itself academically and whether
that model will serve students and the college well in the future. Should the college
be looking at creating centers? The president observed that centers created through
the last planning process, such as the Poetry Center and the Center for Women and
Financial Independence, seem to be working very well.
President Christ asked if the only way to put forward
environmental issues was a major. It was noted that environmental science and landscape
studies are doing it as a minor, as a lens to look at one’s major field of study.
It was noted that Faculty Council is urging the faculty and the college as a whole
us to think about this as creatively as possible, not simply to fall back on the way
things have always been. Reducing existing barriers to team teaching was offered as
one way to accomplish a meeting of minds without the need to create new physical spaces.
President Christ asked about the major in general. Is it alive and healthy? Is the
major still compelling as a form of organization? She noted that participants in a
recent Teagle Foundation-sponsored conference asserted that in order for a major to
be useful it must be sequential and lead to a capstone experience, something many
Smith majors do not currently do. Some asserted that a capstone experience wasn’t
necessarily the sign of a “good” major and that staffing such an experience
can be a challenge, especially in departments with large enrollments, such as government.
Conversation turned to the topic of self-designed majors
and independent study opportunities. Some students find it difficult to design their
own major and have expressed a desire for ‘menus’ of courses for those
with particular interests, such as “interest
in Western civilization” or “the environment.” A participant expressed
concern about conversations about majors not being grounded in learning theory and
suggested more of these types of conversations.
President Christ reported some sophomores have expressed
concern about the advising they had received. Some say they have little sense of the
level of a course and have found themselves in over their heads. Others complain of
too broad a spread of preparation, leading to a course that teaches down to the lowest
level. One participant noted we have a broad range of students at Smith and an egalitarian
culture, a culture that seems unwilling to designate a course an "honors course."
President Christ acknowledged she has heard complaints from students about large classes
and she has observed that students are open to the idea of enrollment restrictions,
even if it means they won’t always get all the courses they want.
Having reached the end of the allotted time, President Christ thanked those in attendance
for participating in the discussion.
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