Center for Teaching & Learning Amherst Student Transcripts

The Amherst Student
Volume CXXIV Number 13
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1994

by TOM NASSIM
News Editor

Amid six short student presentations and a lengthy question-and-answer session, Dean of the Faculty Ronald Rosbottom made a public commitment to evaluate and reform Amherst's minority education process at a "Forum on Academic Concerns of Black Students at Amherst College," held Monday night in Charles Drew House.

Speaking to a crowd of approximately 30 faculty members and 100 students, Rosbottom vowed that he would organize a committee to find resolutions to academic problems facing minorities, particularly in the sciences; that be would study how other schools are dealing with problems faced by minorities in the classroom; that be would work on improving Amherst's academic support services; and that he and President Tom Gerety would work on providing adequate funding, both short-term and long-term, for such efforts.

The forum, organized by Shana Harry '97, included an audience of both white and minority students, professors from the sciences and humanities, as well as an array of College administrators, including Gerety, Dean of Students Benson Lieber, Associate Dean of Students Jean Moss, and Rosbottom. Among students giving presentations were Lisa Blair '97, Amani Brown '97, Chad Brown '97, Harry, Karim Hutson '96, and L'Quentus Thomas '97.

Rosbottom, in a later interview, had nothing but praise for the meeting, calling it "very well organized and very well focused." He added that it was probably the most positive meeting of its kind that he had ever attended at Amherst College. "It brought up issues that I didn't know about," he said, "and that I'm sure many of the faculty in the room didn't know about," His promises, he said, were prompted by several students' expression of their disillusionment regarding teaching at Amherst. "We had not gone in with a list," he said, "but I was moved by and impressed by the presentations."

Gerety, meanwhile, pointing to the fact that Amherst "has come a long way in the last 20 years" in terms of curricular diversification, agreed that "we will inevitably come a long way further.... The forum showed that, in some respects, we are failing and that we need to reapply our sources. This is a good opportunity for planning."

The teaching of science was a particular target of criticism at the meeting. Ashaki Brown's '97 assertion that the language of science was "a foreign language" for many minority students was echoed by many others, as was her statement that problems for minorities surfaced primarily in the way tests are conducted.

Moss called for the science department to challenge students intellectually, and not to damage them spiritually. Blair's presentation, meanwhile, which gave a minority student's perspective of science, emphasized the value of help sessions and asked they be expanded from the math department to the other science departments.

Associate Professor of Chemistry Patricia O'Hara surprised many present, had invited alumni to recommend changes in the teaching of the curriculum and had incorporated these suggestions in several applications for grants to pursue the recommended changes.

As the forum proceeded, the focus shifted from the natural sciences to the social sciences. Students directed heavy criticism to two departments in particular: Political Science and Law, Jurisprudence and Social Thought. One student called for classes on the civil rights movement, the contribution of minority caucuses in the federal government and the history of minority political groups and their impact on American Society.

Professor of Sociology Jerome Himmelstein disagreed with the need for many new courses, however, saying that while many courses in his department are not devoted specifically to minority issues, they are integrated into the syllabus. Similarly, Rosbottom suggested yesterday that students look at the curriculum carefully, talk to professors and explore options within the Five College. "We are not going to have everything everybody wants," he said. "Students are too damn smart and too interesting."

Largely, however, the faculty attending sat back and listened, nodding in agreement to much of what was said. Rosbottom said that by the end of the academic year, he hopes to at least have a set of guidelines for resolving the problems addressed by the students. His performance Monday, however, left many students optimistic.

 "The promises he made were phenomenal," said Student Government Organization President Karim Hutson '96.

Image of young woman speaking at podium. Two men are seated on either side of podium.
Photo by Louis Kessler
Caption: Shana Harry '97 addresses participants at a Drew House Forum Monday
concerning the problems facing minorities in the humanities and sciences. 

The Amherst Student
Volume CXXIV Number 15
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1995

by TOM NASSIM
News Editor

Fulfilling promises made late last year by Dean of the Faculty Ronald Rosbottom, the College has established a new student-faculty committee to examine the support services available to students in "quantitative" disciplines such as mathematics, economics and the natural sciences. The need for such changes was expressed at a Dec. 5 meeting at Charles Drew House which focused on the academic concerns of minorities.

The Ad Hoc Committee on Services for Academic Support will be co-chaired by Associate Professor of Chemistry Patricia O'Hara and Rosbottom. According to the charge circulated to committee members, it "shall study ways of providing appropriate academic support for students who have difficulties in quantitatively-based courses."

The committee is charged with reviewing the present situation at the College, analyzing the support systems presently in place and their budgets, studying the means through which other colleges have addressed this inequality and finally making a recommendation. The recommendation will include steps the College can take in both the short and long run which will meet the needs of students and support the work of faculty members.

The committee, which will hold its first meeting on Friday, is a coordinated attempt to resolve long-standing problems. "Everybody's happy that we're finally addressing this as a body, instead of fragmented efforts," said Rosbottom.

Lisa Blair '97, one of the speakers at the Drew House meeting and a member of the new committee, was optimistic about its prospects. "I think [this committee] will help put all students on an equal level," she said. "We all come here with different backgrounds and not everyone has had the preparation to excel in quantitative courses, and academic support can help steer them through those rocky areas."

According to committee member and Professor of Biology Richard Goldsby, "the basic issue of concern is the widespread preparation that students bring to courses.... We'll be talking to faculty members in courses where there have been some concerns." President Tom Gerety identified one such prorgram, saying that the "problem centers around the pre-med track, the most rigid track." Gerety believes the pre-med track "has the sharpest sense of discouragement, they will be reviewing its tracking methods."

The 16-member committee includes four student representatives: Blair, Yvette Borrego '95, Ashaki Brown '97, and Quyen Vu '97. The departments of Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Computer Science, Psychology and Economics are represented. Also participating are Dean of Students Benson Lieber, Dean of Admission Jane Reynolds and Dean of Freshmen Russell Weigel. According to Goldsby, the committee hopes to have suggestions by the end of the semester.

Nor are support systems for quantitatively-based areas the only ones receiving attention. On Thursday, at 7:30 p.m., a meeting will be held in the Campus Center Frontroom to discuss writing support options. Though members of campus minority organizations have been invited, the meeting is "open to all students who want to come and listen," said Writing Counselor Susan Snively. She explained, "[We will] talk about the kinds of problems and tasks that came our way first semester," and emphasized that the floor will be open to any concern.

Another effort at reforming support services targets the advising system. Committee on Educational Policy members Charlton Copeland '96, Joshua Klein '96 and Leah Lin '96 recently asked students to evaluate the advising process. Klein expects that "we will end up with a set of proposals," which will be submitted and voted on by the full faculty.

According to Klein, specific concerns with the present advising system include the lack of contact with advisors during pre-registration week and the needs of freshmen.

The Amherst Student
Volume CXXV Number 1
FRIDAY, SEMPTEMBER 1, 1995

Rosbottom, O'Hara follow up on last year's Drew forum with report titled "A Promise to Keep"

by TOM NASSIM
News Editor

The College's current academic support services are unable to cope with the increasingly diverse Amherst student body, according to a report submitted to President Tom Gerety. The report came from a Committee on Academic Support, which was formed last year after former Dean of the Faculty Ronald Rosbottom promised an assembly of minority students that the College would make substantial improvements to its support services.

"We still too easily conclude that because a student has been admitted to the College, he or she should have little trouble with the curriculum," reads the report, which was written jointly by Rosbottom and Professor of Chemistry Patricia O'Hara. "On the contrary, we have discovered that many of our best students are not equipped, because of their pre-collegiate experience, to take the fullest advantage of what Amherst offers them."

According to the report, the inability of many students to succeed in classes - especially in math and sciences – stems not from an intellectual deficit but from a lack of preparation in high school. The goal of the proposed improvements is to create more of a "level playing field."

The committee's recommendations would both bolster the existing support systems, such as help sessions offered by various science departments and the College's tutoring service, and establish new programs in areas where additional support is needed.

Gerety praised the report, calling it both "passionate" and "reasonable."

"A lot of the short-term recommendations were administrative in nature, so we're starting them right now," said Dean of Faculty Lisa Raskin, who replaced Rosbottom this summer. A four-person ad hoc subcommittee, co-chaired by Associate Dean of Students Jean Moss and Rosbottom (with Professor of Mathematics David Cox and Raskin filling out the group), has already begun implementing the report's short-term recommendations. For instance, data from the Registrar's and Admission Offices have already been combined in order to examine how well College programs adapt to the varied levels of preparation students bring to the school.

Many of the long-term recommendations, on the other hand, need refining before they are ready for consideration by the Committee of Six – the faculty's executive committee – and the Committee of Educational Policy. This job of refining will also fall on Moss's and Rosbottom's subcommittee. "What we're trying to do is get a pilot program going and get the bugs out," said Moss.

The committee advised restructuring the Dean's Tutorial Service, making fewer but more carefully chosen tutors for each subject. Also recommended was expanding the budget of the tutorial program to reflect its current status as a widely-used resource.

According to the report, a Faculty Mentoring program would provide additional attention for a dozen specially designated students. "The mentors would give students access to another faculty member besides the person who is teaching the class," said Associate Dean of Students Jean Moss, a committee member. Mentors would not act as tutors, said Moss, but would suggest "different approaches to getting work done."

In order to stimulate discussion of the curriculum, the CAS report recommends a series of outside speakers to bring fresh perspectives to the campus.  Moss cautioned, though, that the "innovative work on the part of the Amherst faculty serves as the basis" for curricular development. Finally, the report concluded its short-term recommendations by endorsing a series of interdepartmental workshops to increase communication between departments, particularly in the sciences. According to Moss, these workshops will take place in the near future.

"Long-term recommendations include a Curriculum Development Program that would provide funding for new teaching strategies, a Teaching and Learning Center for quantitative skills, possibly similar to the existing writing center, and a Transition Program for freshmen who withdraw from introductory science and math courses because of academic difficulty.

The new subcommittee will adjust its recommendations and suggest new ones as it receives feedback from students and faculty members. Many of the long-term recommendations would have to pass a full faculty vote before they could be implemented.

Comprised of 18 faculty members, administrators and students, the CAS came into existence last year following a December 1994 forum at Charles Drew House focusing on the academic obstacles faced by minority students in the sciences. The forum impressed Rosbottom enough that he immediately promised to form a committee to figure out how to implement students' suggestions. He made good on this promise in January, when he formed the CAS and charged it with studying "ways of providing appropriate academic support for students who have difficulties in quantitatively-based courses."

 Raskin, a neurologist herself, said she shares the concerns of her predecessor for the quality of academic support at the College, particularly in the quantitative disciplines. "It's been a concern of mine for many years," she said, that some students come to Amherst unprepared in math and science." Raskin said she would like to emphasize cooperation between students and faculty to improve education at the College, rather than each simply blaming the other for a student's difficulty in a particular course. "I think the failure of a student to accomplish what he or she wants to in a class is the responsibility of the professor and the student." She admitted that this has the potential to become a "thorny" issue with the faculty when it comes up for debate in the spring.

Lisa Blair '97, who spoke at the Drew House forum, was one of student members of the committee. "I felt my voice was definitely heard," said Blair. "They asked a great deal of us, but I felt they respected us."

To make its recommendations, the committee researched the history of academic support services at Amherst, interviewed student and faculty members and contacted other institutions to learn about other approaches. The report took care to note, however, that "no one seems to have found a magic formula" for successful support services.

Dean of Students Benson Lieber expressed his support for the committee's recommendations. "It will take some time and I think we feel very positive that the College is looking comprehensively at these supports," said Lieber. "A lot of what we have done over the years has been piecemeal."

Associate Editor Scott MacMillan also contributed to this article.

The Amherst Student
Volume CXXX Number 6
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2000

by RYAN YEUNG
Staff Writer

Image of Raldy Laguilles sitting at his desk smiling at camera.

Quantitative Fellow Raldy Laguilles works in his office in the Life Sciences Building. The College is planning to hire a new quantitative director.

The College has begun searching for a new director of the Quantitative Skills Center, a department that provides tutoring services for students in the quantitative disciplines. The newly created position is expected to make the services of the Quantitative Skills Center more elaborate and provide more support to students and faculty.

"The director is going to provide real training for tutors," said Dean of Students Ben Lieber.

The director will have an advanced degree in mathematics or science and advanced training in quantitative skills. He or she will fill a full-time position, working in conjunction with faculty to design support programs and offering personal tutoring to students.

The Quantitative Skills Center provides tutoring services for chemistry, computer science, economics, mathematics, physics and psychology. "It is a relatively small number [of students] who use it," said Professor of Economics Geoffrey Woglom, who chairs the economics department.

Associate Professor of Mathematics Gregory Call said that he has been very satisfied with the work of the center in the past.

In addition to tutoring four days a week, the center provides lecture teaching assistants, who take notes on a class and hold a weekly review session. Call said that he hopes to work with the new director to design pro-educator support programs for students. Another goal is to expand the summer science program, a small preorientation program in the sciences for incoming freshmen, according to Call.

Traditionally, the Quantitative Skills Center has been run by the quantitative fellow, a recent graduate of the College. Randy Laguilles '97 currently holds the position. The position of fellow will remain in the new arrangement and will report to the director, but the fellow will no longer be responsible for the management of the Center. The position will represent more of a "supporting" role, according to Laguilles.

The search for a director began more than a month ago after a recommendation by the Committee on Academic Support. The Committee hopes to bring several candidates to the campus by November and to make an appointment by spring.