Third Town Meeting focuses on undergraduate education

Five cameras scanned the audience, moving from person to person. But participants at Friday's Town Meeting remained focused on one thing -- undergraduate education. Many audience members heralded the University's third televised Town Meeting, held in the Law School's new Tannenbaum Hall, as a bold first step toward improving the undergraduate experience. The discussion ranged from how well the University has lived up to Ben Franklin's vision since its founding to the quality of undergraduate teaching. Annenberg School for Communication Dean Kathleen Hall Jamieson moderated the 90-minute discussion which began at about 10:00 a.m. Among the 60-person, live studio audience were the deans of the University's four undergraduate schools, Interim President Claire Fagin, Interim Provost Marvin Lazerson, members of the Student Committee on Undergraduate Education and assorted students and faculty who signed up to attend. For members of SCUE, who co-sponsored the Town Meeting with the President's Office, it was their day to shine. And it was a long day at that -- many SCUE members had been up since 5:00 a.m. helping to transform the second floor of the new law library into a makeshift television studio. When the cameras stopped taping, SCUE members said their efforts had paid off. "I'm glad we got to deal with a multitude of issues," SCUE President Matthew Kratter said after the meeting. "And I'm glad we got to keep the focus on undergraduate education and keep it from other issues." The meeting began with a video in which College of Arts and Sciences Dean Matthew Santirocco discussing Franklin's vision in founding the University. In the background, the Glee Club sang the "Red and the Blue." Then, Jamieson asked Santirocco, who was in the audience, to what extent the University lives up to that vision today. Santirocco said the University embodies Franklin's ideal in many ways, but that it still has a distance to go toward completing his vision of "an education that is both useful and ornamental." As each of the four undergraduate deans was given a chance to respond to Jamieson's questions, the discussion moved to whether the "One University" concept, first framed in a 1973 report to the University community, is a reality. Wharton School Vice Dean Janice Bellace said she thinks the University has achieved the One University ideal in many respects, but added that University budgeting procedures may interfere with it to some extent. The discussion then ranged to other topics, including faculty-student interaction and advising in the various schools. The close faculty-student interaction achieved in the School of Nursing was praised by School of Engineering and Applied Science Dean Gregory Farrington as the model to which all the other schools aspire. Santirocco acknowledged that in the past, College sophomores have been poorly advised. "Sophomores have been at a disadvantage," he said. "We talk about the sophomore gap -- that's over." Santirocco added that next year sophomores will be encouraged to continue meeting with their freshman advisors. He said that "maps" for students -- in the form of a comprehensive student handbook -- should be available soon. At one point, a student stood up to voice disapproval with the Commission on Strengthening the Community's recommendation to prevent freshmen from living in living-learning residences. Undergraduate Assembly Chairperson Seth Hamalian seized the opportunity to express his own opposition to the Commission's recommendation on assigned housing, forcing Fagin to respond and threatening to derail the discussion. But College senior and SCUE member Michael Treisman brought the focus back to undergraduate education with a forcefully-worded appeal to the administration, urging them to take action on at least one central issue -- the quality of undergraduate teaching. After the meeting, most audience members praised the televised forum, staying in the studio to continue the discussion in small informal groups for over half an hour after the cameras stopped tapping. "The agenda is sufficiently diffuse that it is difficult to focus in depth on the number of concerns students have," Jamieson said after the meeting. "What we did successfully was talk about what the concerns are. In one hour you can't address all the concerns, but it is a very good start on an important discussion." Fagin expressed concerns that not not enough students will watch the Town Meeting on UTV, which will re-broadcast it several times during the coming weeks. But, she said she hopes students will watch the program. Several group discussions were sponsored by Santirocco following the taping, including a luncheon in McClelland Lounge in the Quadrangle open to all students. Many deans said they walked away from the Town Meeting with ideas on how to improve undergraduate education in their respective schools. "I want every member of the faculty to watch this tape," Farrington said. But Associate Engineering Dean Jacob Abel said he is concerned that the Town Meeting might not lead to decisive action and that faculty members might not articulate course goals to their students.