On April 25, the Student Academic Affairs Committee (SAAC) organized a Deans’ Forum, styled after the Town Hall meetings, only “with the deans who can actually implement and push forward the issues that students bring up,” said Valarie Dahan, the president of SAAC. SAAC serves as a liaison, bringing students’ academic concerns to the attention of the administration and helping to effect positive changes.
Around 25 students attended the forum, which was held during Club Hour. Dean Bacon, Dean Orlian, Dean Pava and Dean Strauss from Syms, Diana Benmergui from the Office of the Registrar, Miriam Schechter from Academic Advisement, and Marc Goldman from the Career Development Center were present.
“This is a place committed to maximizing the potential of every student,” said Dean Bacon in her introductory remarks, “but making that happen is a two-way street.” Students who approach the deans with a request intended to challenge themselves academically will find the deans willing to respond, said the dean. Dean Bacon encouraged students to “take the risk of reaching out.”
Students asked questions about academic policies and rules such as double dipping, why SCW does not accept credit from community college credits taken in high school, and whether exit exams, which students on material initially learned years earlier, are realistic (the policy is that one course is allowed to count for both major and general requirements, but some science and math majors work differently; “credits are cheap but education is empowering,” said Dean Bacon, expressing concern over the quality of a high school course; Dean Orlian responded that, in many disciplines, a student does not forget the knowledge gained in her earlier classes but, rather, builds upon it. Dean Bacon added that as SCW is a small school, the exit exams work as a a standardized test to compare our smaller program with those of other universities).
Some students came with ideas of their own. Faygel Beren, SCW ’12, asked if a Friday class could be offered where researchers could teach courses on research techniques. Chana Brauser, SCW ’14 wondered if the Middle Eastern Studies minor would return, and if some of the history courses she wanted to take could be fulfilled at another university.
After questions were asked and answered, students lined up to speak with their deans one-on-one, a sure sign of success in an event intended to facilitate communication between student and administrator.
The SAAC is “relatively new and underused,” said Dahan, but, in its powers of facilitating communication, has already begun to make waves. “As of now we have successfully convinced the administration to hire a new ESL tutor for the writing center,” she said, “work with computer science majors to assure all of their needs are met, and, most recently, allow Stern students to take up to two Syms courses that will count toward the general elective requirements.”
On April 25, the Student Academic Affairs Committee (SAAC) organized a Deans’ Forum, styled after the Town Hall meetings, only “with the deans who can actually implement and push forward the issues that students bring up,” said Valarie Dahan, the president of SAAC. SAAC serves as a liaison, bringing students’ academic concerns to the attention of the administration and helping to effect positive changes.
Around 25 students attended the forum, which was held during Club Hour. Dean Bacon, Dean Orlian, Dean Pava and Dean Strauss from Syms, Diana Benmergui from the Office of the Registrar, Miriam Schechter from Academic Advisement, and Marc Goldman from the Career Development Center were present.
“This is a place committed to maximizing the potential of every student,” said Dean Bacon in her introductory remarks, “but making that happen is a two-way street.” Students who approach the deans with a request intended to challenge themselves academically will find the deans willing to respond, said the dean. Dean Bacon encouraged students to “take the risk of reaching out.”
Students asked questions about academic policies and rules such as double dipping, why SCW does not accept credit from community college credits taken in high school, and whether exit exams, which students on material initially learned years earlier, are realistic (the policy is that one course is allowed to count for both major and general requirements, but some science and math majors work differently; “credits are cheap but education is empowering,” said Dean Bacon, expressing concern over the quality of a high school course; Dean Orlian responded that, in many disciplines, a student does not forget the knowledge gained in her earlier classes but, rather, builds upon it. Dean Bacon added that as SCW is a small school, the exit exams work as a a standardized test to compare our smaller program with those of other universities).
Some students came with ideas of their own. Faygel Beren, SCW ’12, asked if a Friday class could be offered where researchers could teach courses on research techniques. Chana Brauser, SCW ’14 wondered if the Middle Eastern Studies minor would return, and if some of the history courses she wanted to take could be fulfilled at another university.
After questions were asked and answered, students lined up to speak with their deans one-on-one, a sure sign of success in an event intended to facilitate communication between student and administrator.
The SAAC is “relatively new and underused,” said Dahan, but, in its powers of facilitating communication, has already begun to make waves. “As of now we have successfully convinced the administration to hire a new ESL tutor for the writing center,” she said, “work with computer science majors to assure all of their needs are met, and, most recently, allow Stern students to take up to two Syms courses that will count toward the general elective requirements.”