tl19710226-000 " Towerlight Vol. XXIII,No.18 Towson State College,Baltimore Maryland 21204 February 26, 1971 Council passes ad-hoc report by George Mattingly In passing the Ad-Hoc Committee's report on Faculty Evaluation Monday afternoon, the Academic Council of Towson State College, took a major step towards shedding the College's second rate teachers' college image. The Committee's proposals, now a part of the body of regulations governing the College, represents a radical departure from the former regulations, written in the 40's when the College was still in the backwaters of academie. In a Towerlight interview, Dr. Michael Grossman, chairman of the Ad-Hoc Committee, stated that the report ""clarified the College's position promotions, tenure and increments."" Dr. Grossman said that the old regulations were ""vague as to who controlled the process of evaluation"", and that, ""they were better suited to a smaller school."" He went on to state that the document will ""rationalize the process of evaluation,"" and that the new regulations will ""encourage scholarship among the faculty."" Dr. Grossman also said that in adopting the document, the Academic Council recognized that ""the goal of the College is to promote the academic growth of both students and faculty."" In tying promotions and tenure to academic growth, the Academic Council is encouraging the faculty to pursue their education beyond their present degree. The committee's report stated that ""the good teacher should give evidence that he is growing as a scholar and exercising his discipline's methodology."" The report took pains to point out however that this growth and continuing education may be fulfilled in several ways; original research or expression, critical analysis, or synthetic communication."" The report also suggested that community relations be considered as a channel where a faculty member could make a contribution that would be of ""benefit to himself, the community, and the College as a whole."" At the same time however, Dr. Patricia Plante. chairman of the photo by Hansen Dr. Patricia Plante, chairman of the Academic Council Academic Council pointed out that, the aim of the would develop upon the Council is not to turn TSC into a research facility, a possibility that some feared tne implementation of the report. Speaking to a Towerlight interviewer, Dr. Plante sought to ally the fears of some of the members of the academic community that this indeed would be the case. Dr. Plante stated that ""Individual research projects by the students necessitates that the professor advising the student be fully acquainted with the methodology of research."" Another of the major tenets of the document gives the students of the College a major voice in the evaluation of the faculty. Under present policies, it is up to the discretion of the department whether or not to provide for student evaluation. Several of the department's on campus fail to provide for this type of evaluation, making decisions on the promotion and tenure of their members with little outside consultation. For the first time in the history of the College, the Academic Council has made student evaluation a mandatory element of the promotions and tenure cycle. ""Some formal mechanism for seeking student opinion must be sought as part of the evaluation of the faculty. � Other methods of obtaining the advice and assistance of students in the evaluating process should be encouraged. In this regard the opinions of students who have had several courses with an instructor may be particulary helpful when the instructor is considered for tenure, as the tenureth faculty whose responsibility it is to make that decision should draw on as wide a range of revelevant information as possible."" The transition of the College's regulations was not an easy one however. Several members of the 4,61 photo by Mattingly Academic Council in session. committee managed to stall the document for an entire month. In commenting on the -delaying tactics, SGA President Richard Neidig stated that ""I can see their fears, but I don't appreciate constantly hearing their point of view."" Voting in favor of the report were: Andrews, Barkley, Castelli, Chen, Coleman, Corkran, Corwaithe, Falco, Fitzgerald, Jones, Kahl, Murphy, Neidig, Newman, Pelham, and Williamson. Opposed: Haste, Haupt and Pollack, with Zipp abstaining. Liberal Arts Major. Proposed In addition to approving the Ad-Hoc Committee's report on Faculty Evaluation, the Academic Council also acted upon a proposal that will, if approved by the Board of Trustees, set up a Liberal Arts major at TSC. In recommending that the College offer such a major the Academic Council took another major step towards transforming TSC from a teacher's college to a liberal arts college. The liberal arts major was proposed to enable to the student to acquire a general overview of the Arts and Sciences, and at the same time provide an opportunity for the student to gain an in-depth knowledge of selected topics in the various Arts and Sciences. The details of the Major are below. Major B: The General Studies Major in the Arts and Sciences constructed around a ""core"" discipline in General Studies, which incorporates all of the Arts and Sciences. A. The Student must satisfy General Education Requirements. B. To declare the major, the student must he a sophomore or junior with a 2.0 CPA. C. From the Arts and Sciences, which are construed to be the following - Art, Biology, Chemistry, Economics, English, Geography, History, Modern Languages, Mathematics, Music, Philosophy, Physics, Political Science, Psychology, and Sociology - the student must take a minimum of 54 semester hours of upper division course work. With the approval of the student's advisor and the appropriate associate dean, courses in departments not listed above may be allowed if these courses are needed to complement the studen program. D. At least 18, but no more than 24, of the 54 upper division hours must come from one discipline which shall serve as the ""co discipline in the student's program. Major A: The Liberal Arts and Sciences Major constructed around a ""core"" discipline in the traditinal Arts and Sciences fields. A. The student must satisfy General Education Requirements. B. To declare the major, the student must be a sophomore or junior with a 2.0 CPA. C. From the Liberal Arts and Sciences - Art, Biology, Chemistry, English, History, Modern Languages, Mathematics, Music, Philosophy, and Physics - the student must take a minimum of 54 semester hours of upper division course work. These 54 hours must include work from a minimum of 4 different departments. Eighteen credits must be from the Arts and 18 credits from the Sciences (Mathematics being considered a Science). D. At least 18, but no more than 24, of the 54 upper division hours must come from one discipline which shall serve as the ""core"" discipline in the student's program. Correction : Last week's TOWERLIGHT erroneously stated that CALS. sponsors the Miss TSC Pagent. The Senior the event. "
