At last Fridays monthly meeting, the USM Faculty Senate voted to reinstate the Entry Year Experience (EYE) requirement for next year’s crop of incoming freshmen. This reverses the decision made by the senate during its Dec 5th meeting, when they agreed to postpone the requirement until 2010.
EYE courses were introduced three years ago, and were conceived as an interdisciplinary introduction to higher education. With topics ranging from “HIV/AIDS: Science, Society, and Politics” to “Shopping: American Consumerism,” EYE classes draw from different areas of study and give freshmen a taste of what college has to offer.
Faculty Senate Chair Tom Parchman called for a second pass at the proposal, which had passed 16-7 in the December.
“The meeting in December did not give adequate notice to members,” said Parchman.
Updated data on the development of EYE courses, presented in a special meeting of the Senate in mid-January, showed that around 60 courses had been developed, or were in the process of being finalized. The Senate decided to allow a second vote on the issue, given the faculty-wide effort in the last month to staff and develop all the necessary EYE sections.
“We proceeded hastily out of a fear we would not be able to meet our commitments at that time” said Carlos Lück of the Engineering Department. “Since then, I have seen substantial effort to make that happen”.
Political Science professor Michael Hamilton proposed delaying the requirement in December’s meeting, citing a lack of resources and a concern that USM’s faculty would be “unable to deliver the number of sections we know we need to fulfill this requirement.”
Faculty Senators spoke out on both sides of the issue, with some favoring the reinstatement of the requirement for the coming fall, and others expressing concern about the cash-strapped USM taking on any more responsibilities.
With USM still looking to cut 21 positions out of a proposed 65, their concern is that a gradually shrinking faculty could not do all that is being asked.
“[There is] no evidence we have adequate faculty to enact this program,” said Sociology professor Ed Collom. ” It’s irresponsible to overhaul the general education [curriculum] when the university is in such economic trouble.”
Even some of those who believe in the benefit of the EYE program are wary of starting anything new in tough economic times.
“There is a certain energy around curriculum development, it’s something we haven’t seen for a while at USM” said Kathleen Ashley of the English Department. “However, I won’t be able to vote to reinstate.I have seen so many innovative programs begin in good faith, and fail because of a lack of resources”.
Classics Professor Jeannine Uzzi admitted that it is “painfully clear we have no money,” but thinks the benefits of the EYE courses are important. ” These courses are proven to increase retention.part of the reason we are in this crisis is because we do not retain students,” she said.
“We should take this optimistic, calculated risk, instead of letting our fear say no,” Uzzi added.
The potential infusion of money into the nation’s college scholarship coiffeurs from President Obama’s economic stimulus package gives USM every reason to move forward as planned with EYE, according to Betty Robinson of Lewiston-Auburn College.
The stimulus package – which has yet to be approved by the House and Senate – would include billions of dollars for higher education. The money would be spent on increased funding for federal student financial aid, as well as emergency funding for states to prevent the kind of drastic budget cuts that have been affecting many public institutions.
More money for financial aid could mean thousands of new potential USM students, an attractive prospect in a time of faltering enrollment. “We must respond to this demand, or we will be left in the dust” Robinson said.
“Every journey starts with a first step.this is a huge one, but one worth taking”, said Luck, quoting a Chinese proverb in his support for the Fall ’09 implementation of the EYE requirement.
The Senate also voted to extend enrollment deadlines for classes.
The current university policy is to cancel classes with 12 or fewer students enrolled, and classes are automatically cancelled if this reserve is not met. The new policy leaves cancellation up to the discretion of a college’s dean, and states that cancellation cannot take place sooner than three weeks before the first class.
The policy change is meant in part, to accommodate students, who, for financial or strategic reasons, delay signing up for classes.
Many classes at USM tend to see a last-minute rush of new enrollments. As economics professor Joe Medley noted, ” I might have five students [signed up] in a section two weeks before, 12 the day before, and 40 show up for class”.