Faculty Senate postpones ResLife proposal decision
by Jennifer Hayes
Issue date: 5/6/08 Section: News
After a lengthy discussion about the proposed Residence Life curriculum on Monday, the Faculty Senate decided to postpone voting on the issue until its meeting next week.
University President Patrick Harker suspended the former program in November after controversy arose about the diversity-training initiatives, which were implemented in the residence halls throughout campus.
Professor Alan Fox, Faculty Senate president, said the Residence Education Advisory Committee was formed to advise the Residence Life staff on producing a report that outlined the problems of the previous program. REAC, along with the Faculty Senate's Student Life committee and Residence Life officials collaborated to produce the current proposal.
During the Faculty Senate meeting, which took place in 104 Gore Hall, debate arose regarding the content of the proposal.
Matt Robinson, chairman of the Faculty Senate's Student Life committee, told attendees he wanted to bring up a number of points about the proposal. He said the new program being put forth is completely voluntary. All students have the opportunity to opt out of the events being held.
Second, Robinson said the program will be administered by trained faculty and/or professionals. The role of the resident assistant is to facilitate in identifying potential speakers and directing students to the appropriate professionals.
"If there is an event in the dorm complex, the role of the RA is to encourage students to attend and inform students that those opportunities are available," he said.
Robinson said the new program will include extensive assessment and oversight.
"In our recommendations and our observations of the past program, we thought that there wasn't faculty input," he said. "There was faculty input in developing this program. Several components of the new program were direct recommendations from faculty members."
During the course of the program, there will be an independent assessment conducted by the Office of Educational Assessment, Robinson said.
University President Patrick Harker suspended the former program in November after controversy arose about the diversity-training initiatives, which were implemented in the residence halls throughout campus.
Professor Alan Fox, Faculty Senate president, said the Residence Education Advisory Committee was formed to advise the Residence Life staff on producing a report that outlined the problems of the previous program. REAC, along with the Faculty Senate's Student Life committee and Residence Life officials collaborated to produce the current proposal.
During the Faculty Senate meeting, which took place in 104 Gore Hall, debate arose regarding the content of the proposal.
Matt Robinson, chairman of the Faculty Senate's Student Life committee, told attendees he wanted to bring up a number of points about the proposal. He said the new program being put forth is completely voluntary. All students have the opportunity to opt out of the events being held.
Second, Robinson said the program will be administered by trained faculty and/or professionals. The role of the resident assistant is to facilitate in identifying potential speakers and directing students to the appropriate professionals.
"If there is an event in the dorm complex, the role of the RA is to encourage students to attend and inform students that those opportunities are available," he said.
Robinson said the new program will include extensive assessment and oversight.
"In our recommendations and our observations of the past program, we thought that there wasn't faculty input," he said. "There was faculty input in developing this program. Several components of the new program were direct recommendations from faculty members."
During the course of the program, there will be an independent assessment conducted by the Office of Educational Assessment, Robinson said.
Be the first to comment on this story