COLUMN: Getting A Good Education

From Jordana Horn's "in Possibility," Fall '94 ·What should this committee focus on in terms of issues that affect students the most? What are your opinions on these issues? Getting a good education at this University is by no means a given. It depends on having professors who are equally engaged in their students' learning and their own personal research. It depends on having advisors who are accessible and well-informed about the potential choices that lie before their students. It depends on students themselves being actively encouraged by professors and administrators to become more involved in their own education, and on structures being created that would serve as vehicles to allow them to do so. I believe all of these are possible, and only require a fine-tuning of the well-built institutional instrument already at our disposal. Without such an adjustment, however, there is an inevitable dissonance present. Faculty members cannot retreat from the battles to be fought in the classroom by seeking refuge in their research. But my experience in the College and at the DP has made me believe that the current tenure system at the University rewards those who would proficiently publish, rather than those who would burn the proverbial midnight oil to explain a concept to a student, to advise a student, or to focus their attention on making each class worthwhile. And such a system has a frightening ripple effect, fostering an academic environment in which students are detached from their academic experience and are encouraged to improvise, writing last minute papers that are glanced over and earn the inevitable B+. We learn to "get by," rather than to be challenged and surpass such challenges. I believe such dissonances can be resolved by students taking an active role in their education -- and while the delegation of this role to SCUE has yielded great gains, I believe that the voice of undergraduates has yet to be heard, either questioning in the classroom or shaping our education. Dialogue between students and professors concerning both the structure and the content of the academic experience must be encouraged through the establishment of various forums, electronic and personal alike, that would facilitate such interaction. The University is a big place, and it is easy to get lost in it -- but we must not lose sight of undergraduate education as it affects undergraduates themselves. ·How do you view the role of undergraduate students in structuring the Undergraduate Education Initiative? If undergraduate involvement is to be a priority in the new 21st century education, the actual construction of the initiative is certainly the first place students should make themselves heard. Student representatives should be anything but ornamental on this council. They should act in their dual capacities as individuals who have personal experience with education at the University, and as representatives of a far larger constituency. As individuals, it is their responsibility to highlight the best of professors and advising and the worst of professors and advising. Their classroom experience, from intense debates to insipid wallowings in the DP crossword puzzle, can only provide the council with more depth perception of the current state of undergraduate education. As representatives, it is incumbent upon them to go out into the student community -- as many of its outer reaches as possible -- and to canvass people for their opinions on their own experiences at the University. ·Describe ways you achieve consensus when working in groups of people with differing viewpoints. In my experience, I have found that the most productive consensus is achieved through profound disagreement. In any group, a certain amount of disagreement is unavoidable. The most productive way to approach disagreement is by confronting it head-on, allowing people to articulate their views so that other people can consider them. I have found that any diversity of views can be brought together much more effectively when every person involved in a discussion has a thorough understanding of where the others are coming from. After all, the two important values of diversity and freedom of expression are never really in conflict? ·What qualifications and/or experience do you have that could enhance your performance on this committee? Please mention any current or previously-held leadership positions. As Executive Editor of The Daily Pennsylvanian, I have had the opportunity to lead an independently funded corporation and an independently minded paper for one year. This experience has taught me what it means to work hard with a tremendously dedicated staff of peers -- I have learned about working with people for whom I have an unending amount of respect and appreciation. It has also shown me an in-depth view of the University from the objective stance of the journalist. While I have loved this role of objective journalist and, as editor, impassioned outside critic, it is my wish to become directly involved in the workings of the University -- to, if you will, stop talking the talk and start walking the walk. Jordana Horn is a senior English and Communications major from Short Hills, New Jersey, and Executive Editor of The Daily Pennsylvanian. in Possibility appeared alternate Tuesdays.