The Rice Thresher, Vol. 90, No. 21, Ed. 1 Friday, February 28, 2003 Page: 4 of 24
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7®
FRIDAY FEBRUARY 28,2003
Distribution rules still unknown
fay Mark Bere&soc
. iZ.VJ
The University Standing Com-
mittee on dbe- Undergraduate Cor-
riciiom voted Feb. 19 to recom-
mend so dw Faculty CooacS that
the dtsmbtztioc retjasremetK ajr
ai students be 12 hours in each of
the groops. bai the recommenda-
tion. which iadudes die process
of designatEg distribution. courses
may be revised before a final ver-
sion. is sebrrksed.
The CL'C also proposed that
they, rather ±an she deans. deser-
mine which courses count as dtstrv
boskc courses. Currendythe deans
respoosibie for each groap desig-
nee distribution courses — the
Dean of Hmnacfiies for Group L the
Deal of Social Sciences for G«TMp II
and the Deass of Natural Sciences
aid Engineering for Group HI
proved, the distribution requwe-
naeoc w2 revert to the requirement
as it was sated in the Gen-
eral .Vrjwacaaats. Changes to
this vear's General Announcements
redaced rcqtzrernea^trrnussc so
desss to ai boors in each -if the
three groups and an arkfi&«tf sx
hoorsiBaiygroup Tbefacu&ywoted
a: dies' October needing that the
"hawgy aiJfti -arss made by the
proros acd deans wttboot appcwa
frora the fealty was r^jpropra-e
23d therefore wc*i
Under the proposal, the CL'C
wycld act on the reeoenEsetdatioc
of the dear. responsible for a group
in determsomg vaEd distribution
courses tor thai gr ---p
CL'C Cnair James Pomerantz
said this par" of the proposal is
beirir debated
"There is widespread agree-
merit that we will end up recom-
mending that the CUC be the end
of the fine." Pomerantz. a psychol-
ogy professor, said '"What is in
debate are what bodies will make
original proposals about what
courses should be certified "
One possible revision to the pro-
posal which was suggested by Pro-
vost Eugene Levy, would allow any
dean to recommend courses for any
group, meaning the deans of the
Schools of Music and Ardntecture
could participate in distribution
course designation. Pomerantz said
Levy said he hat recommended
the CUC take foil respoosfisfity
for distribution retpiremest to
avoid problems See the one in this
year s General Announcements.
■Thedfeagreetaeiasowerthe^
arftrtani requirement arose direcTJy
as a result of die dhreacn or" authori-
ties and responsSbSoes. with the
ctarknkan cmrrirree setting the
poScy that the deans and .:<her ac-
uity comnacees were ks so inrer-
pm axi snpktnenL* Levy sad
Levy said such a system would
give facufey their proper oversight
of the currkruiuri and eliminate
the possibility of mrsmterpretaiiDC
and misjmpfetn.entaaon.
Pomerantz said the CUC has a
larger perspective than the deans,
and the committee would look at
the courses from a university-wide
standpoint
'Each dean is charged with look-
ing out for their own schooi wh3e
the CUC is charged with bokmg
out for the university. though what
is good for a school is good for the
entire nnrwersiy."' he said
It is highly
problematic to put
through a curriculum
to which the deans
and the provost have
registered serious
objections.'
— Jack Zammito
Speaker of the Faculty
Speaker of the Faculty Jack
Zammito said his impression is
that the CUCs recommendation
is not in accordance with the
provost's and deans* wishes.
"Right now there is at least some
reason to believe that there is dis-
tance between the CUC and the
position that some of the deans and
the provost have taken." Zammito.
the history department chair, said.
"What it does suggest is that it wili
take time and deliberation to reach
a generally acceptable;
Zammico said although only the
acuity, and aoc the deans, aeed to
approve of the retjoanemenc. cob-
secsus s preferable.
*!t is highly probiem«inc to put
through a aaricokasi so which the
deans and the provost have regss-
tered serious objectaocs and con-
cerns." Zammito said
interim Dean of the Shepherd
School of Masic Anne
Schooebeien said she hopes that
music students wfll be able to rui-
31 some distribution courses with
courses requked for their major,
if the CUCs final recocnmenda-
tioc involves a2 students taking 12
hours in each of the three groups
— a plan she does not support.
"My hope is that our students
would be allowed to count up to
three or four required courses in
their major as distribution courses,
as other Rice students can.*
Sdmoebeien said-
Several of the courses required
for the music major meet the defi-
nition of a distribution course, she
said. Distribution courses are de-
fined in the General Announce-
ments as courses that are broad-
based. accessible to non-majors
and representative of a discipline.
Zammito said he is not sure if
such an agreement could be
reached in time to be included in
next year's General Announce-
ments, If an agreement cannot be
reached, the distribution require-
ments will provisionally revert
hack to the 2001-02 Genera: An-
nouncements, and the deans will
ckv Ve which courses are desig-
nated distribution courses
One possible long-term change
in the distribution requirements
would be the creation of a per-
forming arts group, giving the
music and architecture schools
their own group. Pomerantz said.
"Many people feel that the per-
forming. creative and studio arts
are an important part of the liberal
arts education, and they really
should be considered for certifica-
tion, but not necessarily in the
existing groups," Pomerantz said.
Several logistical problems, in-
cluding a lack of suitable perform-
ing arts classes or peaces to teach
such courses, would need to be
worked out before a fourth group
can be considered. Pomerantz said
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After 9 p.m.
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One two liter Coke'
$9.99
Wright: Total student
body will not increase
FRESHMEN', from Page 1
'Looking back over a number of
years, the number has increased a
kx. so given that we have set the
enrollment number, we don't want to
lose sight of geographic diversity,"
Collins said. "If we are accepting
employees'kids, they are local-based,
and part of our enrollment goals are
to have a geographic diversity."
Wright added that the financial
implications of additional faculty and
staff dependents who have tuition
waived also was a factor in the policy
to allow additional students in the
next years' class.
The 720 freshmen have also been
allocated to the colleges based on
the proportional number of beds at
each coDege; the number of fresh-
men assigned to each college ranges
from 72 for Baker College to 85 for
Brown College.
Wright said because the 2,700 num-
ber was an annual average, there are
more than 2.700 students first semesr
ter and fewer second semester.
"We need to start in the fall with
around 2,760, and then we lose about
65 to 70 in the January- undergraduate
graduation, and with study abroad they
come and go, and people quit and are
suspended, so we end up in the spring
with around 2,650," Wright said.
Wright said the target of 775 stu-
dents matriculating counted all stu-
dents. including athletes, faculty and
staff dependents and any student ad-
mitted under special circumstances.
However, Wright said meeting
the target required an accurate esti-
mated yield of enrolled students,
which would be more difficult than
in most years.
"This is a very unusual year be-
cause we have a big increase in out-
of-state students coming from far
away, and we don't know how they
are going to feel about traveling,"
Wright said. "On the other hand, the
cost is so much more attractive [than]
we may have an increase in yield."
Wright said her plan was to aim
the target at less than 720 and then
add students from the wait-list if nec-
essary, however, it was possible that
there will be more than 720 freshmen
matriculating in the fall.
This is all very imprecise, so if we
come in with 730, then we will have to
pray for attrition over the summer in
order to have the right number on
Sept. 1," Wright said.
Some students said they thought
the increase was part of an overall
increase in the undergraduate popu-
lation.
"The administration has been
promising since my freshman year
that the construction projects were
only occurring to allow more stu-
dents to live on campus — it seems
like they've been King to us the
whole time," Jones College senior
Lyda Smayling said.
However, Wright said the over-
all population at Rice had not in-
creased.
"1 know that there are always
people who think we are trying to
slip in students, but that is not the
case," Wright said.
STUDENT ASSOCIATION
Tr-e Student Association met Monday. The following were discussed.
■ Ejections Chair Alan Pham discussed an election committee ruling
on a possible violation of the prohibition on electronic campaigning.
The committee determined that no violation had occurred but
clarified tnat candidates are not allowed to send unsolicited e-mails
related to the election. (See Story, Page 1.)
■ SA President Matt Haynie discussed the involvement of the SA in the
approval process of changes to the Honor Council constitution.
Haynie. a Will Rice College senior, said the President's Office had
requested input from the SA based on student opinion. Haynie,
however, said he feels the Honor Council and SA are separate bodies
based on the SA constitution. Haynie suggested the ad hoc commit-
tee on the honor sy stem, rather than the SA, could be used to gather
student opinion. The senate voted 20-0-1 to approve this. (See Story,
Page 7.)
■ Haynie presented a draft of a letter to the University Standing
Committee on the Undergraduate Curriculum on possible changes to
LPAP. The letter, which will be voted on next week, recommends that
LPAP remain required for all students and that the courses be graded
pass/fail.
■ Haynie toid the senate that the undergraduate representative to the
President s Search Committee would be selected by March 5 and be
approved by the senate March 17. Senatois will gather student
opinion in the colleges about what characteristics undergraduates
want in a new president, and the senate will compile the list of
characteristics ar d give the list to the undergraduate representative.
■ The senate adjourned to a closed meeting to discuss the SA Mentor
Award, which goes to a faculty or staff member who has significantly
contributed to the quality of student life at Rice University and is
awarded at convocation.
The next meeting will be Monday at 10 p.m. in Farnsworth Pavilion.
consider it
[a liberal baptist congregation]
We support Rice athletics.
covenant
distinctly • different • church
4949 Caroline
Sunday worship 9:30 a.m.
education 11 a.m.
713.668.8830
vvww.covenanthouston.org
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Rustin, Rachel. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 90, No. 21, Ed. 1 Friday, February 28, 2003, newspaper, February 28, 2003; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443200/m1/4/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.