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Volume 77 Issue 1
First Year Seminar replaces IDS
By Greg Loughlln
Due to a shift in emphasis allowing
more flexibility, professors are express
ing excitement about the First Year
Seminar (FYS) which has replaced
IDS as Guilford's introduction to col
lege studies.
The new course, which will only be
taught by full-time professors, was
designed to give them freedom to ex
plore depths within areas of individual
expertise that were previously unat
tainable under the IDS program. IDS
originally required a common theme
and a common reading list agreed upon
by all the professors involved.
Beyond the course objective, to ad
dress the developmental needs of the
first-year students with an interactive
classroom dynamic, professors have
"great leeway in subject and style,"
said Academic Dean Kathy Adams.
One goal of the FYS program was
to regain faculty support, since over
the years, fewer and fewer senior fac
ulty had been interested in teaching
IDS. Economics Professor Bob Wil
liams suggested that increased admin
istrative functions and the more time
consuming IDS program may have
made faculty reluctant to take part.
According to education studies Pro
fessor Claire Helgeson, "We had to
make so many compromises [in IDS]
to get a common reading list, nobody
was as excited about it"
Under FYS, the reduced need for
cooperation lessens pressure on the
faculty. Chemistry Professor Dave
Maclnnes, who coordinates FYS, re
ports that all the professors seem to be
having fun.
"The goal to get the faculty back in
CCE bucldes down and survives restructuring
By Matthew Levy
News Editor
While the restructuring left CCE
temporarily in doubt, the office has
made the transition and is still serving
roughly the same number of students.
Reorganization of the Center for Con
tinuing Education has not sharply re
duced services, according to Director
Mary Vick, but merely distributed
many responsibilities around campus.
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L 213 Perspectives 6
Features 7
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Guilford College, Greensboro, N.C.
the course and excited has been met,"
said Maclnnes.
Although professors are excited
about designing their own classes,
some professors noted that the coop
erative learning among teachers in IDS
was also important.
Williams, who has taught IDS and
is currently teaching FYS, suggested
that the shift was necessary in order to
regain the support of senior faculty.
He enjoys his FYS course, though he
realizes, "At some point, I think the
common time spent between faculty
will be seen as valuable."
Religion Professor Mel Keiser en
joyed the shared learning between fac
ulty which occurred in IDS and hopes
it can be incorporated into FYS during
faculty meetings
"It was a kind of liberal arts educa
tion for faculty," he said.
Because the courses are taught by
individual professors without a com
mon theme, some professors ques
tioned what unifies the FYS program
as more than just a required course.
"We are searching for ways of find
ing commonality without using the
same books," said Maclnnes. So far,
all faculty have agreed to teach library
skills and have agreed to work on other
goals during faculty meetings.
"One of the pleasing things about
IDS", commented anthropology/soci
ology Professor Vemie Davis, "was
that there was dissension among the
faculty.... Both were able to see
strengths and benefits of the FYS pro
gram. It seemed to bring together fac
ulty who seemed to be locked into
different positions. It was a way to say,
'Ah, here is a way that we both feel
good about doing this.'"
"The restructuring has made Con
tinuing Education more fully integrated
into the college, and more dependent
on other departments, and so the work
that was done by a larger group all
identified with the center for continu
ing ed., is now being done by a number
of other people," she said.
Preliminaiy statistics show the head
count of CCE students enrolled for
credit dropping from 561 last fall to
540 this semester. Translated to the
equivalent number of full time stu
dents, the number rose from 364 to
383.5. Final statistics will be calcu
lated Oct 1.
CCE Senior Frances Quintis is not
worried about the program.
"I haven't felt any effects of it yet. I
think that's a good crew over there,
and I think they'll keep us afloat," she
said.
Out of the eight staff members last
year, only Secretary Betty Asnip re
tained her job through the restructur
ing, and this led to worries about the
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WQFS was one of several student groups represented
at Wednesday's student organizational fair.
The move to full time faculty
"We wanted to be sure that we
know the professors and that they
know Guilford," commented Adams.
Helgeson sees the use of full-time
professors with first-year students
as a positive move.
"We need to invest our finest
future of CCE.
"All of the positions were elimi
nated except for the secretary. If
people looked at that and thought
that was going to be the new struc
ture, obviously the department was
going to look a litde lean."
However, before the end of aca
demic year, three staff members were
re-hired.
Vick, who was CCE's director of
admissions and community pro
grams, was rehired as CCE director.
Ten Armstrong, formerly an aca
demic adviser, and Julianne Potter,
who was business and industry re
cruiter and admission counselor,
have both been given the title Re
cruiter/Counselor/Adviser. Four
people performed their functions last
year, which have since been consoli
dated.
Two secretaries were not replaced,
leaving only Asnip in that position.
Cathy West, who was the associate
registrar, summer school director and
teaching in the introduction to the col
lege. It is an investment in the future
quality of all our departments," she said.
However, FYS professors teach one
less course in their department. To make
this possible, the assignment of other
classes has been reorganized.
For instance, the anthropology/soci-
CCE academic advisor, is now the regis
trar of the entire school, replacing Floyd
Reynolds, who retired on May 31.
"We are smaller this year, or as ma
rines would say, leaner and meaner,"
commented Vick. "That doesn't mean
that we four are trying to do everything
that eight people did. We are trying to do
a lot, but it would be impossible to do it
all."
In the change, CCE admission has
been absorbed into Admissions. CCE
will still interview students, but the main
campus will handle the paperwork.
Administration of summer school has
followed Cathy West to the registrar's
office. Career services have been inte
grated into the Career Development Cen
ter. The Options program, a faculty
speaker's bureau, has been moved to
peace studies.
In the biggest change from the per*
spective of students, faculty are picking
up the advising of upper class students.
While this was officially the case last
year, a lot of the students stuck with the
September 4, 1992
Photo by BufTy Helbein
ology department had to drop an Afri -
can studies course so Davis could teach
"Social Change," his FYS class.
However, Davis noted the "hard
choices" to be made in any curriculum
change. He is enjoying his FYS course
and says the program is "off to an
auspicious start"
continuing ed. advisers because they
were available at night and easier to
find, according to Vick.
"Probably the biggest challenge is
to get students used to going to see the
faculty [for advising]," she said.'Tech
nically [before the restructuring] we
were not supposed to keep all of them,
but if you are a student who comes
only at night, you are commuting after
work, and your faculty member is here
during the day, you are going to want
to see us. But now our time is more
structured and that can't always hap
pen."
Vick feels the faculty will help curb
the effect on students.
"All in all I don't think the average
continuing ed. student is going to see a
major impact on their lives. If any
thing, the faculty are very aware of
what has happened, and that if they
don't pitch in and help students, there
is going to be a gap.
"The faculty have been absolutely
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