Creation of General Education Committee
A new subset of the Academic Senate is being created. The proposed General Education Committee will address concerns with classes that don’t satisfy a major requirement for a specific major but may still enrich a student’s experience and fill the electives he or she might need for graduation. The GEC must first be created and there must be a revision of current policies to make room for the GEC’s new duties.
Destler on Calendar Changes
President William Destler opened the discussion on the calendar changes stating, “There seems to be an undercurrent that there’s a possibility that this decision has already been made.” Destler wanted to take the time to emphasize that, although he did have the final say, the debate and discussion, the opinion of each college, and the general feeling amongst the student body are all factors that he would like to take into consideration. “The input really does matter to me,” he said.
To conclude, Destler also stated that any conversion would
be expensive.
Colleges Vote for Semesters
To get a better idea of which colleges supported which calendar, a vote was held. Although many voted, others opted to abstain and discuss the issue further with their staff. The Saunders College of Business, Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences, College of Liberal Arts, College of Science and National Technical Institute of the Deaf were the dominant voices in the discussion and showed favor for semesters. The Kate Gleason College of Engineering, on the other hand, expressed a preference for the current, unchanged quarter system with a staff vote of 47 to 18. The remaining colleges are scheduled to discuss the issue further at the next Senate meeting.
In the event that RIT sticks to quarters, SCOB showed a preference for either the split winter or late start. GCCIS, on the other hand, disagreed and expressed a definite dislike for both aforementioned options. However, there is one thing that every speaker seemed to agree upon: how little information was given about the changes. Most speakers also had similar concerns about how the conversion would impact the co-op program and studying abroad.
A final decision will be made in February, and if the Institute moves to semesters, it will take three years to completely transition.
