Faculty Council Minutes

April 24, 2001

Announcements:

1.      If you are interested in giving blood on May 10 from 1-6:30, please consider signing up for an appointment with Kristin Drum outside of the cafeteria.  Last year, NCSSM led all area high schools in giving blood.

2.      Books concerning ethics and study skills are in at the Regulator.  Volunteer readers are still welcome and needed to give input.

3.      Next year, students earning all As at the end of a quarter will be recognized with a card signed by various faculty and administration (Faculty Council President, Director of Resident Life, Director of Academic Programs, and Director of NCSSM).

4.      Emily Gallagher is expecting a baby due October 1, 2001.

Discussion Items:

Tutors:

Faculty discussed the issues concerning the request for tutors by students and their parents at NCSSM.  Focal questions included:

§         Should faculty at NCSSM recommend tutors? 

§         If we suggest certain tutors, what, if any, is our responsibility for the tutor’s ability and the student’s subsequent class performance?

§         Should faculty be involved in the practice of facilitating the practice of using tutors when students have access to instructors via tutorials?

§         Should NCSSM students be allowed to tutor other NCSSM students for pay?

Generally, faculty felt uncomfortable with being intimately connected with paid tutoring, and being asked to suggest particular individuals to tutor.  Most felt that office hours, and tutorials were sufficient.  As a partial solution, many agreed that the Office of Academic Programs could offer a list of tutors from local universities available in the fall, and then leave it to parents to pursue paid help.  Faculty also did not support the idea of students paying fellow students for pay.  Students are not supposed to hold regular jobs, and it was feared that student tutors could become quickly overburdened. 

Miniterm:

The Miniterm Committee was mandated to solicit faculty input and make recommendations concerning Miniterm and its calendar placement.  Questions the faculty was asked to consider included:

§         Is Miniterm worthwhile?

Faculty felt that, yes, Miniterm was worthwhile and worth keeping.

§         Is the current placement after 3^rd quarter and duration of Miniterm appropriate?

While placement is an issue, it seems that most faculty felt that Miniterm was three days too long.  In other words, one week away from classes concentrating on a topic seems very positive; however, the last days of Miniterm are extremely difficult.  Students and faculty are tired, and the return to regular classes after such a break is challenging.  Students have difficulty recalling skills and knowledge, while faculty are exhausted from teaching several weeks worth of material over two weeks.  Some faculty felt that moving Miniterm to begin right before the spring break ought to be explored.  If Miniterm was held in winter, trips and outdoor explorations become nearly impossible.  Moving Miniterm later (i.e. after AP exams) creates potential difficulties for the SLIs.

§         Should more/fewer courses be offered?  Should it be more project oriented?

Generally, faculty felt that the balance between individual research projects and planned courses was fine.  More weeknight activities might be considered.

§         Should sharing be required?  Should Miniterm be a graduation requirement?

No observations were voiced regarding required sharing.  However, many faculty would like to make Miniterm itself a graduation requirement.  The faculty would like to more officially recognize student involvement in this wonderful program; now, it is not mentioned unless a student writes about it or a teacher mentions it during the application process.  Faculty felt, for the most part, uneasy with the prospect of grading students on anything other than a pass/fail basis.  Faculty want the students to feel empowered to take risks; grading A,B,C,D would inhibit this freedom of exploration.  It also would potentially create additional stress for teachers to assess students adequately in such a short time frame, as well as significantly change the nature of the programs teachers have initiated.

§         Should trips be more limited?  What value is in travel?

While some faculty felt that travel discriminated against those students who do not come from high socio-economic families, many faculty felt that there is, indeed, great value in travel.  Several faculty members who sponsored trips this year and last added that trips are not vacations; rather, trips are significant learning experiences because of preparation that often involves meetings, discussions, readings, and journals.  Nevertheless, faculty would like to explore the idea of garnering scholarships/funds from outside sources given that travel costs can be burdensome.