Announcements

Diane Futrelle will send an e-mail about how to sign up for the computer lab in the library. It is now open for use by faculty and students. People interested in training on the smart board should contact Russell Robinson.

The faculty council focus group that will consider the 8 o’clock rule will meet on January 24. Any faculty interested in participating should e-mail Victor Pace. Seven to ten people are needed.

Joe Liles reminded the faculty that the Native American Pow-Wow is on February 19. Everyone is invited to attend, and he will post a sign on the bulletin board in Watts with different ways in which faculty and students can volunteer.

Jonathan Keohane suggested that we begin a weekly colloquium series. This might include alumni as well. He would like others interested in this idea to contact him. Steve Warshaw added that the department heads are working on something similar, and he suggested that the two groups could work together.

Jane Shlensky gave out a flyer she prepared that lists opportunities for professional development in the United States and abroad. Many programs are interdisciplinary, and she encouraged all members of the faculty to apply for grants that include exciting opportunities for traveling along with rigorous course work. Jane went on a Fulbright last year to Singapore and Malaysia, and she also highly recommended the Fulbright Memorial trip to Japan.

Joan Barber introduced Marguerite Dingman who has been working to develop study plans for students identified with learning disabilities. Joan encouraged the faculty to attend conferences called to deal with these issues whenever possible. She also reminded faculty that it is important for advisors and the rest of the student’s support team to attend the conferences held for students who have reached Step 5 in the attendance process.

Joan reminded the faculty that we had cut out van loops because of the service being provided by the WEEKENDER which was running specifically for Duke and NCSSM students. Some students reported losing confidence in that system because the buses could be late. The buses ran to Northgate and Southsquare and the school was paying $1,000 a semester for the service. Joan suggested that it would be good to look into canceling this service in order to run van loops again.

Joan stated that she and other administrators are very concerned about the attack on NCSSM students the previous weekend and that they are working on finding better solutions for students who want to be off campus.

Phil confirmed that Ken Horne has identified a driver for the van loops that will run for the first time this weekend.

Phil also related that students showed creativity and good behavior at Friday night’s basketball game that he attended.

Finally, Phil passed on word from Ed McBride that students and staff should be encouraged to make use of the cash machine installed this year because without 1,500 transactions, the cost of having it in the school is very high.

Steve Warshaw spoke to the faculty about our responsibilities regarding the care of the students on our campus. There has been some undesirable student behavior taking place, including hazing in the residence halls and inappropriate cheering at the basketball games. Steve encouraged the faculty members to take advantage of teachable moments and to respond in a personal way to behaviors they find inappropriate and unsafe. He suggested that we continue to explore ways to play positive roles in the community.

Joan Barber announced that on two Mondays during each month this spring, professional development courses are being held for SLI’s as well as other staff to address and discuss strategies for implementing good leadership for adolescents within the residential life area.

The faculty approved the minutes of the 12/3/99 meeting.

Discussion: Plan for the Future

Earlier this year, various groups such as department heads, faculty council, alums, students, and others identified their goals for the school for the next decade. David Stein put the lists together and the combined version of the final document is before the faculty for final revisions. Jon Miller stated that the goals as they are written sound like we are more interested in training students in skills rather than teaching them about the joys and rigors of higher learning. He encouraged the faculty to include statements in the goals that encourage knowledge, thinking, reflecting. Learning by doing is important but we are about more than that. We want students to be able to think about the world and that in itself is an important kind of doing. Phil encouraged Jon to put these ideas in writing so they can be incorporated into the prologue of the document.

On page 4, under Goal 2, some faculty questioned the comprehensive nature of distance learning and suggested a change to say extensive instead of comprehensive.

On the point about staff turnover in Goal 2, faculty questioned which staff is being addressed and wanted to reword the document there to be more specific. Faculty also wanted to state that we should find ways to permanently fund what we are currently doing with soft money.

Also for Goal 2, faculty wanted to reword to say that we raise the level of education across the state in all areas, not just science and math.

In Goal 1 faculty questioned whether we really want to be in the business of offering courses to students in advance of their arrival so that they were better able to succeed in our courses. Some stated it would be better to recruit the better-trained students rather than trying to bring those in who are not up to the speed that they need to be to handle the work load at NCSSM.

Jon Miller reminded the faculty that with the guidelines for admission, we can’t always control who comes in. Overall, the attrition rate is constant each year between 9-11%.

Could we offer programs in the summers to freshman and sophomores to attract qualified students?

Is this less prepared group of students already taking advantage of Summer Ventures or other summer opportunities that are in place?

If current applicants are unable to do the work at NCSSM, Ollie Burrell raised questions about what teachers can do to help students with failing grades be successful here. Do we need to provide more of the extra help that they need? Can we recognize that a student is weak in certain areas and help them early on? Although these students may have had excellent credentials from their home schools, if they are not successful here at Science and Math it is very hard on their self-esteem. Should students be asked to leave if they only fail in one area? Ollie encouraged teachers to talk more to the guidance counselors about these students to help find ways for them to get the help they need.

If we have finite resources, maybe funds should go for having trained adult tutors during the year who would be there to support students who are struggling because they are trying to catch up for what they did not learn at their home school.

Summer programs may be more stressful for some students, and it is also difficult to identify those who may need extra help once they get here.

If our students are different today, not necessarily less talented by less prepared, do we need to do more for them once they get here? Faculty should be aware that students should not be given the impression that they are less talented than other classes, because the test scores do not indicate that.

Dot requested that the faculty forward to her any more revisions of the Plan for the future document so that the work can be wrapped up on this by the end of January.

Phil thanked the faculty for the work they have done on the plan and reiterated that this is a chance for the faculty to be proactive and to say what is important in writing for the next director.