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For the first time in years, a lengthy committee report is seeing the light of day, or at least the dimly lit halls of Ramo Auditorium. If all goes as the Academics and Research Committee (ARC) hopes next week, students will be wooed by free food and prizes to discuss whether the house system needs fixing, how to get faculty and students to mix and mingle, and how to battle the “Caltech Syndrome” of burn-out and anti-intellectualism.

During next Wednesday’s Student Experience Conference, ARC representatives hope to get feedback on recommendations in the Student Experience Report, a comprehensive look at the undergraduate experience that former ARC chair Csilla Felsen says “almost no one had read” at a poorly-attended Open House in October.

Usually, according to newly elected ARC chair Tzong-Lian “will” Tsay, “a lot of reports get published, but nothing gets done.”

But with new provost Dr. Melany Hunt at the helm, the report has been far from underwhelming among faculty and administrators. Of the ten recommendations in the report, two have already been realized: a trustee committee now exists solely to evaluate the undergraduate experience, and interviews are underway for a committee to evaluate the core curriculum.
Now the ARC is trying to knock off a few more items on the checklist. A big issue, says Felsen, is how to support people who leave the house system. “Opinion is pretty split among students and faculty on what to do.”

The report suggests creating a Dean of Residential Life, who in addition to the Master of Student Housing (MOSH), would work with house leadership like the Upper-Classmen Counselors, Health Ads, and RAs.

Getting students out

This isn’t the first time ARC has formally solicited feedback on student life. The Student-Faculty Conference, held once every two years, includes a session on student life. But thirty minutes every two years was far too little for such an impacting topic, says Felsen. “People would tell me afterward that it was the most important part of the conference.”

But unlike last year’s day-long SFC, when only some professors rescheduled classes, Felsen says the ARC is making a bigger effort to inform faculty members in advance. ARC reps are personally approaching faculty with class sizes over 20 as opposed to sending email memos.

The ARC is also armed with a $300 budget for prizes. Tickets to a raffle will be handed out between lecture topics, so students who sit through all the topics get multiple tickets.

In addition, 85 key administrators, professors, and students will sport dark brown t-shirts with a popular Crippling Depressing comic. President Jean-Lou Chameau and Vice President for Student Affairs Anneila Sargent are among the walking billboards for the conference.

Ultimately, a successful conference will be measured by whether “the students who want to get their voices heard get their voices heard,” says Felsen. She admits that finding people to help with the proposed changes would be nice too.