THE PENDULUM
NEWS
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21. 2011 // PAGE 3
Plans advance for University Higli Scliool
Grace Elkus
Senior Reporter
The Alamance-Burlington School
System and Elon University are joining
together to create a non-traditional
high school for academically talented
students. The school will be called
University High School, and will be run
from ninth to 12th grade.
“If you look at the Elon Commitment,
there is material in there that talks
about a growing relationship between
the Alamance-Burlington School
System and Elon University, and how
we can help each other grow,” said
Gerry Francis, executive vice president
at Elon. “We’ve got a vested interest,
because we think if we can help
the school system make itself even
stronger, we help ourselves.”
Students will participate in a liberal
arts curriculum for their freshmen and
sophomore years, and then will take
college-level courses at Elon during
their junior and senior years. These
courses will be a combination of regular
Elon courses and cohort courses, which
are classes such as college writing that
would count as both a high school and
university course.
“The students would, with
guidance, be able to choose their own
courses,” said Peter Felten, assistant
provost and director of the Center
for the Advancement of Teaching
and Learning. “There's a little bit of
flexibility there.”
University High School will
be similar to the Early College at
Guilford in terms of size and student
performance. The idea is to have 30
students in each grade, with students
coming from all six of the Alamance
County high schools. The application
process will be selective, assuming the
demand is high.
“We’re talking about students who
have mostly A’s in their coursework,”
Francis said. “Students that are scoring
high in standardized tests. Folks who
may have some talent that could come
through in the interviews.”
Because the school will be considered
a public high school, there is no tuition
fee. Additionally, all of the students’
books will be paid for. Funding
will come from three sources: the
Alamance-Burlington School System,
Elon University and fundraising.
The coursework will be liberal arts
based in order to appeal to a variety of
students. If students are interested in
specific topics, they can take electives
in that area their junior and senior
years. But because the focus is solely
on academics, certain social aspects
of a typical high school will not be
incorporated.
“There’s a huge sacrifice in this,”
Francis said. “You’re not going to be in
the band. If you play soccer, you’re not
going to have a soccer team at this high
school, but you can go back to play with
your sender school. I know people who
have talented students who would not
send them to this school. It’s the social
aspects that are going to keep people
from making the decision.”
Although Francis recognizes the
downside, he knows the need for a
school of this nature will fill a hole in
the current school system. Right now,
students are looking for more choices
in the system, and this will potentially
motivate students to work harder
in their classes so they can attend
University High School.
“If there are middle schoolers
that are interested in the school, they
are going to take a more rigorous
curriculum,” Felten said. “If they are
inclined to take rigorous academics in
middle school, they will be prepared
for high school no matter where they
end up.”
The Alamance-Burlington Board of
Education will vote on the school Sept.
26, and the hope is that the hiring
process will begin by the end of the
month.
“We’ve looked at the curriculum
pieces of it, what it means to finish
high school and to take college
credits,” Francis said. “We looked at
the administration pieces of it. We
looked at the student life component.
So now the admissions has to get
rolling, and the hiring of people. The
main player in this is the principal of
the high school.”
Ideally, the school will open
somewhere on Elon’s campus in fall
2012. Francis knows there are a lot of
details that still need to be worked out,
but he is certain the school will have a
positive impact on the community.
“There might be some inequities
running this way and that, but we've got
to keep in mind is it worth it,” Francis
said. “And there are individuals who
think that it’s worth it. If this is done,
it could hopefully make a significant
difference in lots of folks’ lives.”
Controversial parking policy revised after student complaint
Parking policies in The Crest
Former Policy
Students were given a $50 parking
fee for parking an unregistered
vehicle. The fee was w'aived if they
purchased a S160 parking decal,
mandatory for all residents.
Revised Policy
By Sept. 26, residents must
register their car under one of
two decals.
A CR decal, for $160, will allow
students to park in Koury
Business Center lots (behind
Colonnades) from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.,
Monday through Friday.
A EW decal, available for free, will
allow students to park on campus
after 5 p.m. on weekdays.
Students who purchased a CR
pass under the former policy can
switch to the EW decal and have
their money refunded.
Caitlin O’Donnell
News Editor
Resolution of a miscommunication
betweenElon University administration
and students has resulted in a revised
parking policy for residents of The
Crest Apartments. Students can pay
$160 for a parking pass that will allow
them to park on campus during the
day, or they can receive a free pass that
will allow for parking on campus only
after 5 p.m.
This change comes as a result
of student feedback when about 25
people were given a $50 ticket last
week for parking in The Crest without
a parking pass. Originally reported as
a $100 ticket. Sue Johnson, assistant
to Campus Safety and Police, said two
infractions were circled, but students
were technically only charged for one.
They were then notified they would be
required to purchase a $160 pass.
Under the new policy, students who
purchased a $160 pass but wish to
switch to the free pass will be refunded.
The $50 ticket has been waived.
The complex was formerly
considered off-campus housing
available through B.C. Parker Real
Estate. The university acquired
the apartments through the Preiss
Company last semester, meaning on-
campus policies, including parking,
went into effect.
Juniors Rachel Stanley and David
Brown and senior Kileigh Browning
were three students who voiced their
opposition to the policy, contacting
administration and representatives
from Campus Safety and Police and
Residence Life. Their main concern is
the lack of communication between
residents and administration
regarding the policy change.
“It’s unprofessional to assume a fee
and not tell people who are affected
and then let them know by penalizing
them,” Stanley said in a previous
interview. “If it was two business
entities conducting business, they
would have to lay all the conditions out
on the table ahead of time.”
Smith Jackson, vice president and
dean of Student Life, was instrumental
in constructing the revised policy and
admits the university could have done
a better job of making the students
aware.
While the parking regulation was
included in summer preregistration
materials, Jackson said the students
were obviously still not expecting it.
He praised the students who came
forward with their concerns.
“When the students brought it forth,
it created awareness,” he said. “It’s
Phi Beta Kappa report identifies area of concern
Kassondra Cloos
News Editor
A report recently issued by the
Eta chapter of Phi Beta Kappa at Elon
University compares the current status
of the liberal arts program at Elon with
the status of the program at the time
of application to PBK in 2007. Two areas
of concern were identified by faculty
compling the report.
“What we want of course is to have a
nice bunch of students inducted into PBK
every year,” said Russell Gill, president of
the Eta chapter and an English professor.
“But PBK has just emphasized language
requirements for induction. When you
look at what they require versus what
Elon graduating students have, there’s a
big difference. In other words, we’re not
coming up to the standards that PBK is
asking inductees to have.”
In order to maintain membership
in PBK, there are certain standards
which must be upheld by participating
universities. While Elon is in no danger
of losing its chapter, there are areas
of improvement Elon should address,
according to Gill. Foreign language
proficiency and the number of full-time
faculty are at the top of the list.
The number of Elon students who
graduated with language proficiency at
the 200-level or higher has decreased
since 2007 from 27.6 percent to 25.1
percent in the Class of 2011. A committee
appointed to revise the General Studies
program has proposed to amend the
language requirement so students will
graduate with proficiency, and the vote
will take place near the end of October.
“We want to be a full-fledged
participating member in the national
organization and we want to be doing
what other schools are doing,” Gill said. “I
think a lot of people, in fact, most people
at Elon, think if we’re going to emphasize
study abroad and international study
and engagement and all of that, you’ve
got to have a higher percentage of people
who have at least an intermediate level of
language proficiency.”
The second area of concern cited in the
report is the decrease in the percentage
of classes taught by full-time faculty
members. The number of sabbaticals
granted to faculty has almost doubled
since 2007, but undergraduate research
projects, which require faculty-student
partnership, can be inhibited by large
numbers of sabbaticals, according to
the report. The university should strive
to maximize the number of full-time
faculty, Gill said.
But the decrease represents a
positive move for faculty to pursue more
opportunities for scholarship, according
to Steven House, provost and vice
president for Academic Affairs.
“When we started the PBK initiative.
one of the things we wanted to do was
to give faculty more time to interact with
students,” House said. “Whether that
would be on study abroad or mentoring
or doing undergraduate research or
service. One of the things we wanted to
do, therefore, was reduce the amount
of classroom teaching so faculty could
interact with students in all of those
other things that go on outside of the
classroom.”
Lightening the load for faculty
members was a significant financial
investment for the university. House said,
and consisted of lessening the number of
classes they are required to teach to be
considered full-time. As a result, more
full- and part-time faculty members were
hired.
"If you’re going to have those full-time
professors be on top of their field, be
abreast of scholarship, be leaders in the
field, they’ve got to do scholarship,” Gill
said. “There’s just no question.”
Gill said he hopes the report will
encourage Elon to continue working to
improve in the areas of concern.
“PBK, as an organization with some
prestige, wants to use its influence to
emphasize certain worthwhile goals,” he
said. “These worthwhile goals would be
pursued if there were no PBK. We’ve got
a good administration and a good faculty
and they're going to do high quality
things."
a good thing when students petition
to do things like that. I saw it was a
real concern, not an isolated student
concern. In this case, it worked out
where everybody was happy. I wish it
was always that way.”
Brown said he was pleased to
see student concerns taken into
consideration.
“I have received positive feedback
from all students in regards to the
outcome, and we were able to meet the
needs and wants of (the) residents at
The Crest,” he said. “I am excited that
1 was able to make a change in the
decision.”
While Stanley is glad a resolution
was possible, she said the lack of
communication between residents
and university administration has
continued.
“All of the information I have
received is from students, and I feel
that we only obtained these options
because of student pressure,” she said.
But there continues to be a
disconnect between Residence Life and
residents of The Crest, according to
Stanley.
“Even though this confusion has
resolved in favor of the students, it is
still disheartening to see that major
communication problems have not
been resolved,” she said.
BY THE NUMBERS;
In 2006, 74.2% of
classes were taught by full
time faculty members.
70.3% in 2007.
68.7% in 2008.
67.6% in 2009.
68.4% in 2010.
In 2007, 27.6% of
students graduated with
credit for 200-level foreign
language or higher.
24.2% in 2008.
22.8% in 2009.
22.0% in 2010.
25.1% in 2011.
Information courtesy of the Eta
North Carolina Chapter of Phi
Beta Kappa.