Town Meeting to focus on education

Pres. will co-sponsor with SCUE The University's third televised Town Meeting, which will focus on undergraduate education, will be held on the morning of February 18, Town Meeting Producer Leah Binder said. The President's Office is co-sponsoring the meeting with the Student Committee on Undergraduate Education. The President's Office was the sole coordinator of previous Town Meetings. This Town Meeting will differ in format from previous ones. Instead of having Interim President Claire Fagin and Interim Provost Marvin Lazerson sitting on a stage answering questions and moderating discussion, this meeting will be moderated by a facilitator, who will not take an active role in the discussion, Binder said. "It's going to be moderated by somebody cool," Binder said, adding that the moderator had not yet been selected. While location is another missing element, the audience for the show is already in place. Binder said the deans of the four undergraduate schools, as well as Fagin, Lazerson and faculty members will join SCUE members and other concerned students to discuss the topic at hand. "We're aiming to create a University-wide dialogue between students, faculty and administrators all talking about undergraduate education," said College sophomore Sharna Goldseker, who is co-coordinating the Town Meeting for SCUE. Students who wish to be a part of the audience can sign up in the President's Office, she added. The meeting will be televised live on UTV and replayed several times. To follow up on the topics discussed at the Town Meeting, Binder said SCUE and the President's Office are trying to come up with study groups or other ways which will allow students to watch the live meeting and discuss the issues being raised. During the two first Town Hall meetings held last year, Fagin and Lazerson discussed campus problems ranging from the lack of communication on campus to the University's racial harassment policy.