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Show Continued from Page 1 The Rebuttals Origins of May Term Trips Cost: Haslam, a professor who was expecting to travel with students this year, doesnt use travel agencies when embarking on May Term Study Experience trips. He does most the booking himself, which he said, saves money and fees reflected in the cost of his trips." Newell said, Of the four that were rejected, two were the most ex- The 10 trips will break down to, five trips from the school of Arts and Sciences, two trips from business, one trip from nursing, one trip from education and one trip for a trip which can be assigned to any school which provides evidence how the trip will benefit student learning. Initial May Term Study Experience proposals are due 13 months before anticipated departure. Now die process for May Term Study Experiences is: May Term Study Experience trip (short) proposals are due April 30 to respective schools. Individual schools select the best candidate. Selection is the schools discretion. The school may choose to vote or use any other way they see fit to select a trip. Once a trip has been selected by the school, the council of deans reviews applicants in June. At this point, faculty members have the opportunity to present evidence why their trip should be approved. A detailed description of the course, course objectives, itineraries and anticipated budgets are due. Advertising can begin once a trip has been approved. Faculty members can present their trips to students at the May Term fair, put on in October, by Sara Demko, Director of Student International Services. Professors can also promote their trips to students byword of mouth or pensive proposed" of the 14. Timely proposal submission from faculty: Haslam said that Professor David Baddley and he were planning trips together. He said Baddley mistakenly did not turn in a proposal. Haslam said he didnt turn one in because he thought the classes were tied together. Baddley allegedly thought separate proposals were not necessary. They were. Their trips were canceled. The process seemed whimsical and arbitrary, said Haslam. Why disappoint 40 students because one professor didnt turn in his syllabus on time? Academic focus identified in the syllabus: Haslam said that by denying certain trips, students were damaged. He said of the trips, Theyre great opportunities which change students. Thats why I teach them. He said he thought taking French students to France would be useful for and aids in, the learning process. The other professors of the declined trips said they thought their academic focus was strong as well. According to Watkins and Chapmans proposed course description, their trip was going to track the evolution of capitalism working from the rise of cities and the emergence of long distance trade. The purpose of their proposed trip, The Origins and Development of Capitalism, was to explore the relationship between culture and economics. The number of courses offered for a discipline: The school of business alone had three pending May Term Study Experience trips (all Economics related). The council of Deans and the board who voted on the proposed trips wanted a diverse mix of course type offerings, said Newell. Of the three proposed, one economics trip is expected to run. The new process of determining which trips will run begins at the school level Each teacher who wishes to take students on a trip submits a short proposal to their respective school. The school then decides which trips will most benefit student learning. Student safety. Haslam said, Its a pain in the ass. Youre on call for three weeks. Students can get out of hand 3,000 miles away from home. He, said, however, all was justified from what students gain. Watkins said every professor would encounter a difficult situation. He said one year he took his students to Europe. A woman went missing. They couldnt find her anywhere. The next morning the class went back to the place they had last seen her. The woman was found, with a German escort. He reiterated that every professor would likely encounter student safety issues. The participation of new and full-tifaculty. Faculty members of the classes which have been running for the past years said they were under the impression their trips were canceled by the administration to give a more diverse mix of, and more opportunities to, other faculty members faculty who might not have traveled with students for as many miles. Apathetic expectancy may have fueled a triangle of tension; some saw students, administration and faculty pitted against one another and each had an idea of what classes they wanted. Not every want aligned with the other. Students expected classes, and became irritated when their want was left unmet. Faculty wanted classes, and the administration had their own set of classes in mind as well. Another point of interest was some faculty members becoming upset that members of the administration were deciding on curriculum or academic matters matters more suitable for faculty to handle, said Haslam. Newell said that each member of the administration has traits which can strengthen classes. She said faculty formulate syllabi, but administration can add things to courses to strengthen them. Competition amongst faculty members to grip a trip slot was high this year said Newell. More faculty members wanted to tour and educate their students than has been typical of years past. Westminster had 14 proposed May term trips this year. The most trips Westminster has sponsored in one year has been 10 most recently in 2007. Last year students were able to travel on seven trips. Accordingly from historical analysis 10 will be the capping number of allowable trips for the future, said NewelL Newell said at 14 courses, the number of students traveling would have been spread too thin. She said some classes would likely have dropped due to low enrollment, 24-sev- en me 11-pl- us VOLUME XLIII: ISSUE 17 free-floati- ng any other applicable marketing techniques. Students are able to register for desired trips until January. Each trip requires 15 students and two professors. If a trip has low student enrollment, the trip will be dropped. Professors of the trips which arc expected to run attend a pre-tri- p safety meeting in March. Professors determine when to hold preliminary class meetings with students. Successful trips depart in May. The process was not as clear-c- ut last semester. Teachers were allegedly advertising trips early. They were prepping students for trips which had not yet been approved said Newell. Some professors said their (dropped) classes had upwards of 40 interested students. Newell said there was no way of knowing which classes had the most interested students. She said there was no evidence to support those claims. She said it seemed as if faculty assumed the administration would implicitly know that faculty was recruiting students before their trip had been approved. When advertised classes were rejected, some students became disappointed and angry. One student made a point to find out what had happened to the trip he was planning on. to get a feel for what the students were saying. He administered a series of polls. He found that the number one destination students wished to travel to was France. None of the expected trips this year are traveling to France. Haslams proposed (and rejected) trip was slated to visit France. Newell said the counsel of deans and the administration is not using Dumkes research for determining where trips will go. Instead, it gives us a general idea, which we can take into consideration. Personal Politicking Some students whose trips were canceled started passing allegations of personal politicking at play. They accused members of : the administration of consciously picking out and denying trips to certain faculty members. The students thought administration was questioning the teaching competence of some professors. One student who wished to speak pointed to a potential bias. Mark Feme, Dean of Students, is traveling, for the first time, with students, and he was on the board of Deans who chose which trips would be accepted, the student said. Haslam said, By having the Dean of Students on the board of voters, even if he didnt vote, still creates some tension and possibly conflict. It doesnt look good. Although rumors spread and whispers grew, student allegations were not substantiated. I wasnt telling students why some trips had been denied, said Newell. She didnt want to pass words through a tangled grapevine. If professors wanted to know why their trip was canceled, if they asked me directly, I told them, she said. She said she didnt know of any personal politics at play I wholeheartedly believe the administration had the best intentions in mind with their decisions, said Watkins. He said, Maybe its a Godsend the administration rejected our proposed trip, referring to the volcanic activity in Europe which grounded air travel several weeks ago. A bunch of disappointed students and I might have been stuck on the ground somewhere in Europe. Maybe its a Godsend. Q off-the-re- cord . The following courses were proposed for this year were, hut for a variety of reasons will not run: Construction of Capitalism Everest Base Camp , x , Student Activism 1 , Mitch Dumke, a senior in economics reacted to the change in the enforcement of the policy. He was planning on traveling with professors Watkins and Chapman to Europe. I remember the day in class when Dick walked in, said He looked genuinely sad. Chapman was bearing news that students planning on an economics trip werent prepared to hear. The anticipated May Term trip had been denied. At first I wanted to gather a crowd and protest, said Dumke. He didnt. He researched and surveyed instead. At the time Dumke was a senator for the student government. He wanted Dumke. ? f f ; I : Grand Canyon Greater China : Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Mainland Impact ofRecreational Business and Tourism on the Diverse Populations ofNeva Zcland andAustralia Maya: Classic & Contemporary European Heritage Of the 14 proposed, ten trips were approved, four rejected and seven expected to run. The four rejected trips were not permitted to redeem a slot after three of the approved trips dropped. Newell said, There was no way to know students would register for them if they were reinstated. . |