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Show ~ 0 JFCOXCUJ§g CCCO>IL1l1E<GJJE (O)JF IHIUJOOA~/§CDXC)I&IL §CCIOE~CCJE§ 'Il-lE UNIVERSITY JOURNAL. SOUTHERN UTAH UNIVERSITY. THURSDAY, OCTOBER I , 1998 Faculty of SUU speak on behalf of their college By KAMI EGAN JOURi'\AL STAFF WRITER The Collcgc of Humanities and Social Sciences " seems co add a heart to the school ," said German Professor Terry M. filodgett. The College of Humanities and Social Sci ences includes dcpanmcnts of language and literature (Spanish, German, French, Russian, and English), psychology and social scicnccs (sociology, political science, and history). Until this year, the College of Humanities and Social Sciences was known as the College of Arcs Leners and Humanities; a substantiall y large college that included, not on ly the aforementioned departments, but also what is now the College of Performing and Visual Arts (art, theatre.:, music, and dance). Kay K. Cook, associate professor of English, said that as of ye t, tile effects of the recent change arc difficult to distinguish. ·Thc split was a long time coming. The College of Pcrforming and Visual Arts nccdcd its own budget and has requirements chat arc different from what the College.: of Humanities has,'' said Cook. Cook, a native of Texas, added that as a rcsulc of the division, the College of Humanities and Social Sciences feels more unified. .. !3ut we miss the people who were part of the college hefore, .. she said. In spit<.: of the division, the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, .. r emains one o f the largest colleges on campus. " said Leon E. Chidester. professor of Spanish. As a whole. the strcngch of the College of Humanities and Social Scien ces r esides in its diversity and quality of faculty and students. ·· 1 s;1spcc1 chat (the College of Humanities and Social Sciences) has more diverse faculty than any of the other colleges. That is one of the great values of a college education: being exposed co a variety of perspectives and viewpoints:· said Oak ley E. Gordon, associate professor of psychology. "Some advantages about the college stem from having these groups of disciplines together. I have found particular strength, from my experience, in llie foreign language and English combination. !The two departments') interests are similar in many ways. The approaches we use arc similar. We can support one another and share insights. The college has a ver y natural grouping of deparments, .. said Chidester. However, weaknesses sometimes accompany strengths. Gordon referred to the College of Humanities and Social Sciences as a "hodgepodge college: a collection o f departments that didn't fit any where dse ... !not having) much of a sense.: of cohesion ... While.: thcrc concerning the structure of the collq::e. its instuctors arc generally held in high coolZ tzct)' "The professors in 1hc College of Humanities a~c some of the best profcssors on campus, .. said Gordon. "As a teacher, I want co challenge students co chink for themselves, read more critically, and communicate more effectively, .. said Earl F. M'i1ldcrink, assistant professor of history. Muldcrink, educated in Australia, Chicago. Ill. and Madison, Wis., is currently trying to ·' implement more technology" in his cour ses and said he would '" like co sec seeps taken toward an honors program which would enrich the c urriculum and challenge the students more: In spite of how much he said he loves his joh, however, Mulderink said 1ha1 there is liule opportunit y for students seeking academic p ositions in higher education. " It is greatl y competitive and is cxpericnccing difficulties,'' he said. "The choices arc limited in academics, especially in humanities/ said Muldcrink. Advancement in technology seemed co be of gr eat concern among the ins1ruc1ors. " I received a grant to create humanities classes and from that grant I was able co get up·tO·dacc cquipmem ," said Cook. " Now, not only do I have access to technology in the cl assroom, hut my students do as well. They prepare presentations with Power Point, bring in their own disks, put them in my computer, and they show up on the widc·scrccn ." "Students who major or minor in a foreign language arc a ' plus· co businesses and the world-wide cconomy because they can he sent abroad. They c:.111 interac t on a one-on-one basis with a diverse many people.: in business, .. said Ch idcscer. " Most p eople who gr aduate with a degree in history go into teaching. People w ith degrees can go co law school or graduate programs, coo: it prepares students wi1h the skills co succeed in anything," he said . "About half of the· [German majors] gel jobs teaching German in secondar y education; 15 of the 18 German teachers in southern Utah were educated at SUU, .. said Blodgcll. "Others go co graduate school, but many get jobs in business ... "Some students strategically major in English for the purpose of going into law school, " sa id Cook. Gordon, who obtained his Ph.D. from the Universit y of Utah and caught there for cwo years before moving to SUU, says that a surprising number of graduates arc going co gr aduate school, more than when he started his teaching car eer. JF(O)CCTIJ§g CC(Q)IL1lJE<GJJE (Q)IFLIlffiUOOANITmr/§COXCTIAIL §CC~CCJE§ 13y JANELLE PHILLIPS JOURNAL STAFF WRITER Random intervi ews on campus have r evealed that students of the Humanities and Social Sciences College have few complaints about it. Nearly all students interviewed agreed that professors in the college, which includes many areas of stud y such as, psychology, English , and political science, arc r eally concerned about the students and what they accomplish. Sarah Sorenson , a senior English major fro m South Jordan, Utah, said that she really likes the professors of English because they ar c so talented and have experience in writing that helps her learn more. A my Oakcy, ~1 senior English major from Ephraim , Utah, agreed with Sorensen and also said chat the diversity of the professors adds to the department. Oakey rclatt:d the exa111ple of Professor S.S. Moorty. a native of India , who ccachcs a course in Eastern l iteratur e. " I chink that we have a lot of great professors in the arcas of both English and history. We have !Dept. Chai r David] Lcc. who is the poet laureate for the state of Utah, and [Associate Professor Kay] Cook and [Assistant Professor Rohcrll lkhunin arc great as well. We also h avc a lot of great professors who teach hiswry like, !Assistant Professor Curtis] Bostick , fAssociate Professor Larry L.J Ping, and !Dept. Chair Wayne K.J Hinton," said I.aura Foacz, a senior English major from Albuquerque, N.M. "The psychology department is ou1s1:111ding and I r eally like how they' re concerned with the students, .. said Monte Marshall , a senior psychology major from Riverton. Utah . By KAMI BISHOP JOURNAL STAFF WRITER ~ 5 ;;;~ \ \ ~ - - - - - - - -- ---------------:-:----:-:---;-::--;-:--:-----;--;-----:-:-::-:-:-=--z:~;:-:::::-:--:-:=;:-;::~~::-;-::-:7.=:;;;~ College of /Ju numities and Social Science senators nritf11ey J:."sjJ/i11 mu/ Jodi Lee discuss mauers for this ll'eek 's senate meeti11g ~ ~ Survey says: no real change ·'They're in it for the students, not for themselves. They've r ea lly worked with n1c." Many students said that, for the most part , they were pleased with the college and what is offer ed, and that there were few problc111s with the college as a wholc. ·· 1 personally b elieve ch:tt diversity is an important criteria in hiring thc professors, and that the department and administration needs to look more outside of Utah for hiring candidates, hut ye t at the same time not discriminate against Utah candidates, "said Chris !3eins, a senior political science m ajor from Summit, Utah. He continued to say that he believes ther e is not a balance of conservatism in the social science department. Kell}' Boyer, a senior English major from Cheyenne, Wash., sa id the onl y thing she could scc that needs to be fixed is the scudcnt-to·tcachcr ratio. "The biggest problem is they have so many classcs chat they don't have enough ti me co do chei r own research and writing, " said Foacz. "The individual teachers arc teaching so many classes and, at the same time, not as m an y of each section. Now they on ly have two instead of three quarters to,teach each class on the sem ester system. If a student misses a certain class one year because they do not teach a lo t of sections, you have to wait one or two ycars to take ii, and that could mess up your graduating schedule." Chet Hansen, a soph omor e from Kanah majoring in psychology, said, "my only gripe w ould he there is no communication bet ween the departments." Although som e students had complaints about the college, for the most part, students agreed that everything was going well. Senators speak about concerns i" o department ch airs chis year and utilizing their expertise. When the topic of student concern s within her college is brought up, Lee doesn't feel there arc a1iy significant issues Student government is working wward improving the to solve. school chis year, esp ecially each of the "As of now, we have no m ajor problems colleges elected scnawrs. Many long or concerns, " said Lee. Talking about the h ours arc spent striving for improvement recent divsion of the college, Lee said, the within each of their specified colleges. visual and performing arcs formed their The College of Humanities and Social own college this year and that h as helped Sciences is represented this year by a lot co foc us on their own areas. 13rillany Esplin, Jodi Lee and Justin The se nators arc also striving Loward McEwen , who arc all serving as senato rs helping students write or improve 1hcir of the collcge . resum es, helping chem find jobs and All three arc working together LO gelling swdents into graduate school benefit all students i1n-olved in their on ce they graduate.: from SUU. college. The college incorporates all "' Most m:1jors within our college require psychology, hi:;cory. social ,;dcnce and continued schoolin g after they arc done political scic1Kl' majors. here, so wc arc looki ng rcally closel y at The scnators rcprcst:nl a large numhcr that and how we can case the students· of stu<kncs and have a big responsibility burden ,·· said Lee. regarding ma tters that affect their colltgc The Collcgc of Humanities and Social "The m:i in Lhi ng we arc focusing 0 11 Scicnccs wi ll h ave a week during the rear r ight no,v is ,vork ing to,va rds dc,·cloping co gee students invo lved with their in1crnshi()S within the college.::· says I.cc. ' - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - ' partic ular college, hut n o sct plans have a junior p sych ology major. b een made as of yet, nor has a spcci fie Dcvcloping internships was a main aspect in th ei r d:uc been set. campaign plat forms bst year. They arc working hard 10wards " We ar c r eally excited co gee going this year anti ar c always achicving what they set ou t to do anti what they sa id they wi lling co help," says Lee. " We ' re always l ooking fo r new ideas studc111s may have anti arc :1lso willing Lo work with would <lo. According co I.cc , the senators arc working closel y with the students· frus1 ra1ions and complain ts,·· said lxc . 'As of now, we have no major problems or concerns,' said Sen. Jodi Lee of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. I Rodney D. Decke1; dea11 of the College of Hu manilies and Social Sciences, wcmts student.s to remember to balance homework w ith a healthy social life at SUV. Decker relishes role 13y KEL LUKEN & VALERI STUCKI OF THE JOURNAL STAFF As you walk down the hallway of faculty offices in CN 225 you may notice chat one door stands open. This door belongs co Dean Rodney Decker of the College of Humanities and Social Sci ences. The door illustrates the open door policy Dec ker has for students. D ean Decker said h e has seen a number of changes at SUU . He started his carecr at SUU as a student some 40 years ago, hut at chat time the college was known as the College of Southern Utah (CSU). After r eccivi ng his master's degree at the college, h e decided to stay for "a liulc while longer. " He has worked at SUU for 33 years, the last 14 of which Decker has worked as a dean. Decker said that when he began his career in education that he never envisioned himself as a dean. In high school , Decker didn't have any solid career plans, but he said that he knew he would auend college. . Decker said lh:tt he w amcd a career in which h e would i nteract, help, teach and le:lrn from people. Thc road to hccoming dean was not an easy o ne. Like many students, Ocekcr did not find happiness in this fi rst m ajor, physical scien ce. Ot"cker eventually majored in pol itical science bec ause h e liked " the discussion of ideas." It was a decision that worried his parents. AL thc ti me, physical science was "what made money and the hoc topic," he said . Decker said that no major problems had h cen brought him and that the rec ent spilt in the college has been a " win-win sit uation, allowing more focus." Regarding the efforts of the College of Humanities and Socia l Scien ce senators to develop a better internship program, lJc said employees and graduate-level universities want to know if students have job experience. ul want to encourage students to gain job experience in their particular career field before leaving SUU, said Decker. 13y way of advice, D ean Decker said he wanted to remind students to balance their lives between academics and social activities. Concerned with what the campus can do to improve itsel f, he wants to work on at l east two different areas. "Scholarsh ip availability and assessment need co be improved, " he said. "The availability of schol arships co worthy students who have 3.5 and 3.6 G.P.A.s , not just 3.9s , should h e in creased. Scuclcncs shouldn't just have their noses to the grind stone, hut should also be socially active . \'\ic haven' t done enough assessmcnc of the college, fa c ulty, students, and university. We need to con tinuall y i mprove.: anti check to sec if what wc ·re ISUUJ doing is working.·· Speaking about the students. h e said st udents :ire ll valued asscl at Sll U. .. We lthc faculty] tcnd co for get wh y we arc here. We don ·1 l isten lO students or involve students cnou!?h . We arc supposed LO assist students and help them with their ca re er choices. There arc many opporc unities for the facu lt y 10 incorpor":ltc student ideas, .. Decker said . tt ., |