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Faculty debate admissions criteria for gen ed
undergrads
By Tom Cronin
Members of the General Education
Working Group discussed admissions criteria and housing plans at
an open forum Friday, as part of the planning process for the
new group of four-year undergraduates expected to be
incorporated into the student body effective fall 2006.
The working group is responsible
for developing a new curriculum and a plan for the expansion of
the lower division, according to Karen Moranski, associate
professor of English and director of the Capital Scholars
program. Both tasks must be completed by February 2005.
The university’s fiscal year
2006 operating budget request, which the Board of Trustees
approved last month, would allocate $2 million for the general
education expansion. Moranski said that the funding was
designated primarily to pay for the expansion of the lower
division.
UIS, however, will not receive
the $2 million unless the Illinois Board of Higher Education and
the Legislature approve the budget request, Moranski said.
In their work on the curriculum,
working group members have developed what Moranski said are two
guiding principles: the development of basic skills for lifelong
learning and the fostering of engaged citizenship.
“We have a tricky task because
this curriculum needs to be flexible enough that transfers at
any stage can come into this curriculum and fulfill general
education requirements,” Moranski said. “We also need to make
sure that we prepare a curriculum that is coherent enough and
distinctive enough to attract new four-year students into the
university.”
Terry Bodenhorn, associate
professor of history and associate director of the Capital
Scholars program, said that he thinks the university should
“raise the bar” from the 50th percentile to the 60th
or 65th percentile, which would in turn raise the
quality of the student body.
Admissions decisions, however,
should not be made strictly based on ACT scores, GPAs and class
rank, according to Bodenhorn. The university should also
consider statements of purpose, letters of recommendation,
performance in high school extracurricular activities and other
indicators, he said.
“I don’t think we can be
dogmatic, but I also don’t think we want to set the bar so low
that we perpetuate mediocrity,” Bodenhorn said.
Pat Langley, chairwoman of
Campus Senate and professor of Women’s Studies and Legal
Studies, said that it would be problematic to set higher
standards for general education freshmen while maintaining the
same standards for transfer students.
“There are people who couldn’t
come here as first-year students because they don’t meet the
criteria,” Langley said. “They can go to the junior college, and
then they can come here with a 2.0 when they’re juniors. … My
view is that we can better educate them, and that a four-year
experience is better than a two-year experience.”
According to Langley, she was
attracted to UIS – then known as Sangamon State University – in
part because it was an open-admissions institution. The SSU
faculty educated students regardless of where they were at
academically, which is something to be proud of, she said.
“I think the idea of teaching
better-prepared students is very attractive, but I just worry a
little about that as a public institution,” Langley said.
The university put its plans for
a new residence hall on hold about four weeks ago because the
facility’s specifications were based on inflated Capital
Scholars enrollment projections for fiscal years 2005 through
2008.
John Ringle, director of Housing
and Residential Life, said that a committee launched an RFP
process last year and solicited potential vendors for the
project. The committee selected Texas-based Collegiate
Development Services for the construction, financing and
development of a planned 305-bed residence hall, he said.
The specifications for the
project awarded to CDS were based on what Ringle described as a
“rosy enrollment prediction.” The university’s projections
indicated that the Capital Scholars program would expand by 200
students in fiscal year 2005, 330 students in fiscal year 2006,
430 students in fiscal year 2007, and 512 students in fiscal
year 2008, according to Ringle.
“I can’t tell you exactly where
[those figures] came from,” he said.
Considering that the working
group was still working on a general education curriculum and
had not determined how many students to recruit for it, the
university cancelled the RFP process about four weeks ago,
Ringle said.
The university will most likely
begin a new RFP process once the working group determines
approximately how many four-year general education
undergraduates will be living on campus each year, Ringle said.
The working group plans to hold
another open forum this Friday. The forum’s time and location
were not announced before The Journal went to press.
Neil
Calderon runs for County Auditor
By Gabrielle Wiegand
Neil Calderon, the Democratic
candidate for Sangamon County Auditor, held a press conference
Wednesday, September 29, at UIS to unveil his plan to educate
high school and college students about credit cards and debt.
 Calderon,
a 25-year-old UIS graduate, works as a middle school teacher at
Douglass Alternative School and will be on the ballot Nov. 2 for
Sangamon County Auditor. The County Auditor is responsible for
monitoring the internal financial operations of the county and
keeping the county’s general accounts.
At his Wednesday press
conference, Calderon went before students, UIS faculty and staff
to discuss his concerns about student credit card debt.
“Credit plays a big role in
people’s lives, from buying a home to getting a job,” said
Calderon. “With so many credit opportunities available to young
people its important for them to make wise choices.”
Calderon spoke about his own
personal problems with medical and credit card debt. While he
was completing his undergraduate degree at UIS, a hockey related
shoulder injury caused Calderon to go into severe debt. He said
he had to work extremely hard in order to get out of debt and
just finished paying his bills off this summer.
“I know what it’s like to be a
full time student who is struggling to make ends meet,” said
Calderon. “I have worked my way out of debt, and I would like
to be able to help others do the same. I believe the best way
for me to do that is to use the Auditor’s office to educate our
students about credit and debt.”
Calderon has compiled information
and articles for students to help educate them about credit card
use and debt, from a handout on the 15 key credit terms to the
10 steps for students who want to handle credit wisely. He also
collects news articles that pertain to the subject of credit
card debt.
Calderon said if elected he would
use these materials when he visited high schools to talk to
students. He would also visit PTA meetings to teach parents
about the debt dangers facing students.
Students’ credit is not the only
issue Calderon will address if he is elected County Auditor. He
said he will look to the public to see what they need and what
issues they would like addressed.
Carly Hawkins, a senior political
studies major and president of the UIS College Democrats, said,
“I think that Neil dedicating himself to taxpayer issues outside
the usual auditor duties, shows that he is willing to put more
into the office then just sitting behind a desk.”
Alisabeth Manzoeillo, a senior
political studies/communications double major, also attended the
event. “I think that Neil will make a great auditor because he
wants to bring the office to the people.”
Manzoeillo said, “He learned the
hard way how to manage money, I think his life experiences will
make him even more qualified for the position.”
Calderon is also treasurer of the
Young Democrats of Sangamon County, a former member of the
University of Illinois Board of Trustees, a member of the
Springfield Education Association, and a former member of the
S.E.I.U. Local 880. |
