Students: new class a waste

For Wharton freshman Ariff Alidina, Wharton 101 was nothing but "forced community service." He said yesterday, as the course concluded, that he didn't learn anything in the class. "It was a waste of time," he said. "If the course's point was to teach you something . . . we learned nothing." For freshmen, like Alidina, Wharton 101 is over, but for the faculty and administration, the work has just begun. Most students said they gained little or nothing from the newly implemented, required course which ended this week. But, a few defended Wharton 101 on the basis that in the future changes could improve the educational value. "I didn't really learn anything," Wharton freshman Gregg Verbin said. "It wasn't what I expected." But Wharton freshman Abby Silverman said that when looking back she got a lot out of it. "People got what they wanted to get," she noted. Among the complaints received about the course, a few were echoed. The biggest complaint was that the course was not graded since it was not for credit. Students were marked pass or fail. Wharton freshman Andy Will said that not having to worry about receiving a grade led to a lack of motivation by all the students. "No one did his job," he said. "And there were no consequences for not doing it. No grade, no credit, nobody cares." Another complaint was that students had no input in the project that they worked on. According to course co-coordinator Janice Bellace, this is due to the fact that the course was not approved by the faculty until last April. "We had from April of last year until the summer to secure positions and train our staff," Bellace, Wharton vice dean and director of the undergraduate division, said. "We are starting [the planning] now for next year." "In the future, we are thinking of giving students more choice in having their team select a project," Bellace added. She also said that considering that the project is in its first year, it was successful. "It went extremely well considering it was the first effort to deliver the course and there was such a short lead time to prepare for the course," she said. Stewart Friedman, director of the Wharton Leadership Project and another co-coordinator of Wharton 101, the first year is always the hardest. "Some things went well," Friedman said. "Others need to change." Over the next few weeks, he said, the coordinators will meet with instuctors to see what did and did not work and review student evaluation forms. "The concerns the students had were valid," Friedman said. "We learned a lot from them." Friedman cited this learning process as a reason why the program was "not a great experience for everyone." "It is part of a learning project for us. And learning always involves pain or discomfort" Bellace said two things have become clear to her. The first was that the projects that worked best were straightforward, simple and able to be completed within the time frame, which is 10 weeks. "Students can see they've accomplished something completely by November," she said. "A good example is the Halloween party." The second thing that Bellace said she noticed was that a problem existed in the organization. "Students felt very disorganized and felt they wasted a lot of time," she said. "They were dissatisfied with what occurred." Bellace said the coordinators had to devise a solution where students and advisors shared responsibility for the organization. "In real life, people don't organize you," she said. "You have to do it yourself. Not everyone will do his or her share of the work. At the same time, the students are 18 years old, are brand new to the University and are brand new to Philadelphia." Bellace was surprised that students were upset that the course was not for credit. "It will surprise the faculty," she said. "They thought that it was the first semester for these students, and they didn't want to burden them with a credit course for a grade. Students want it. They want recognition for who put in the work and who didn't." She said that after students have a chance to look back on their experience, they will not be so critical. "As students were going through it, they were critical," she said. "It is only once the course is over, reflecting on the experience, that they realize what they learned about leadership and teamwork." Wharton freshman Yolanda Friedman thinks the glitches in the class can be worked out, with time. "The project is a good idea, but there isn't enough structure as far as setting goals," she said. "The basic premise is good, but they need to change a lot in it." Will said that there needs to be something that makes people attend the classes. Currently, students are required only to attend 60 percent, or six of the ten classes. "A lot of changes are needed," he said. "There needs to be something that makes people go other than an empty threat that you might fail." Wharton freshman Steve Pena-Sy said a lot of the students complaints lack merit. "A lot of the complaints are bullshit," he said. "Once the projects are sorted and the problems are hammered out, everything will be better. This year was luckier than last year, but the students in five years will be even luckier." Stewart Friedman, the program's co-coordinator, said changes are in store, but said the class, as a learning experience, was a great success.