Some concepts
toward creating
a
Public Liberal Arts College of distinction
Preamble
At root, good teaching and effective learning hinge on the art of thoughtful, profound conversation. Neither the monologue of the lecture, nor the faithful transcription of prior wisdom by dutiful scribes, nor letters exchanged at a distance can ever rival the impact, immediacy, and urgency of an intense exchange between student and teacher. Socrates perfected the art of dialogue with his students; Jesus and the Buddha both led their disciples to deeper reflection with discussion and example. And Mark Hopkins, the celebrated nineteenth-century educator whose name graces a principal building at Mass College, also made conversation the center of his teaching practice.
Liberal arts colleges of distinction seek to make the entire college -- from residence halls, to classroom, to dining hall, to playing field -- an arena in which faculty and students meet as co-learners involved in an ongoing conversation. They avoid turning faculty into remote masters of erudition who face their students -- whom the remote master treats as perpetual neophytes -- merely at the ordained classroom hour. As it advances to its goal of being a public liberal college of excellence, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts has placed the value of continually renewing itself as a community of conversation with every generation of students at the center of its vision and of its mission.
Students come to this college for all sorts of reasons, but every one of them arrives seeking knowledge and enrichment. We believe they must learn the role of reflection and "second-order thinking" in every subject: a liberal education always carries students beyond technical mastery to understanding the implication of a subject for one's own life and for the social world where ideas have consequences.
As we have reflected on our strengths and our opportunities, we believe that we, as a public liberal arts college, can continue to develop a unique learning model where peers learn from each other and students create a dialogue with instructors. Toward that end, we propose the following vision:
Campus Character
The character of MCLA -- small, rural, and residential with many fine cultural venues for neighbors -- provides an ideal context for nourishing the sort of quality learning community we envision. The size of the College gives it the potential for one hallmark of a good school: a close, direct interaction among students, faculty and staff. With some judicious reorganization and by strengthening the campus character with improved facilities, with a residency requirement, and improved programs we are on the threshold of creating a truly distinguished liberal arts college.
The liberal arts thrive in such small collegiate environments, and we intend to involve our students in the broadest possible range of art, music, ideas, political discussion, multicultural issues, ethical concerns, and athletic competition.
The College continues to expand and diversify our student population, and we are exceptionally proud of our record of responsiveness to the needs and multiple interests of our students and the community. As the designated liberal arts college, we will continue to promote a critical understanding of different cultures, peoples, and ideologies. By weaving various cultural perspectives into the fabric of daily life at the College we intend for our students to grow toward toleration of competing values without surrendering the capacity for judgment.
Curriculum
A sound curriculum should aggressively pursue both disciplinary and interdisciplinary study, and all its subjects -- from the arts to the sciences to professional preparation -- will share a common hub in liberal arts questions and themes. The basic curriculum should, we believe, be patterned on the recognized disciplines in the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences which are familiar in most liberal arts colleges. The curriculum should also include interdisciplinary programs in environmental studies, international affairs, and American and world civilizations. We believe that interdisciplinary work requires a solid foundation in individual disciplines, and neither form of thinking can thrive without the complementary energy provided by the other.
One subject in particular which we think marks every liberal arts college of distinction, and which has long been desired at MCLA is a robust foreign language program. The transition to solid language program might be arranged by consulting with neighboring Williams College where our students already enroll in language courses not available here (MCLA and Williams have an arrangement where students from each college may take courses for credit at its neighbor without incurring extra expense). As our programs develop and our pursuit of excellence continues, we expect that other areas will emerge where collaboration with Williams College is possible -- on the model of the Five-College consortium in which the University of Massachusets-Amherst participates.
Links to other neighboring institutions will further enhance our curriculum. The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MassMOCA) in North Adams promises to provide sources of inspiration and resources for learning as both the College and the museum develop alongside each other. The Clark Art Institute, the Tanglewood Music Center, Jacob's Pillow, the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Shaker Village, and a dozen other cultural ventures of lesser notoriety are resources on which our curriculum already abundantly draws. We are also actively planning for using Distance Learning technology to reach citizens who live in remote areas in western Massachusetts, and we would expect a public liberal arts college to maintain that momentum.
The College already has agreements with Berkshire Community College and Greenfield Community College designating the correlation between our various academic programs, and we would expect to renew those agreements in view of our refreshed academic mandate.
We would also expect to maintain and expand our cross-registration agreement with Williams College, and we have already undertaken initial conversation with Williams College over creating a mentoring program whereby some departments and programs at this College would collaborate with the faculty at Williams. Another type of collaboration would be utilizing more fully the
College Academic Program Sharing (CAPS) with the Massachusetts College of Art.
The College's attractive Honor's Program and a strong First-Year Seminar are staples of our current curriculum and would be maintained and strengthened.
Among some other proposals for strengthening the curriculum which we have under consideration:
- explore course requirement for graduation so our curriculum more closely resembles
that of liberal arts colleges of distinction and provides student with the time for
deeper learning.
- expand the public service dimension of our majors and of general education.
We are discussing the creation of new capstone courses in most majors where the ethical and public policy aspects of each subject are "field tested" by students who are on the threshold of graduation.
- create "theme residencies."
- foster a contract major for students who have a well-defined program they wish to pursue.
- institute a pass/fail option to encourage students to sample various subjects.
- institute a variable credit option for students who wish to vary their level of commitment
to a subject.
- continue to work on improving a college-wide general education program to make it
developmental, interdisciplinary, and ensure that it prepares students to become
effective citizens and persuasive leaders in a complex, socially vibrant and
multi-ethnic world.
Teaching and Learning
The curriculum sets the direction for instruction, but the vital spark for a college's intellectual life is the ethos for teaching and learning that informs each course and classroom. Our courses will emphasize independent thinking and encourage an experimental, open approach to whatever subject matter is under consideration.
Students should master the critical thinking germane to various disciplines, and ideally, they should reach a point where they can make judgments independently of the instructor. Class assignments should not rest with recitation of the facts alone but will also challenge students to analyze carefully, to recognize connections between crucial ideas and texts, to apply relevant principles to particular cases, and to wrestle with difficult and intractable problems so that they relish confusion as the beginning of learning rather than the frustrating dead-end of inquiry.
A learning ethos grounded in independence and experiment leads logically to creating opportunities for undergraduate research. MCLA has a laudable history in sustaining undergraduate research, and we believe a liberal arts college of distinction should foster students with that potential -- an initiative which requires both keeping laboratory equipment up-to-date and making ample provision for faculty time for oversight.
Internships are a logical extension of this action-reflection model of learning. We consider internships to be apprenticeships in leadership where a student learns from a professional mentor how to make expert judgments based on credible information, on a feeling for historical process, on critical reasoning, and on ethical norms; consequently our current vigorous internship program will continue to be an important feature of a distinguished public liberal arts college.
Furthermore, teaching and learning must make creative use of the latest technology in all subjects and academic disciplines. Likewise, instructors and students alike should be encouraged to link courses together in "learning communities" among different disciplines.
Faculty
The primary charge of the faculty will be teaching in the broad sense of the term. Teaching will certainly be focused in classrooms, labs and studios, but it will also go on in dorms, coffee shops, and along the College walks. Toward this end, we would seek to redefine the faculty's courseload and responsibilities so that it matches those at distinguished liberal arts colleges.
A condition of continuance on this faculty of a public liberal arts college will be engaging in ongoing scholarship which is demonstrable and unique to a liberal arts college. The faculty at this College will demonstrate its preparation and scholarly enterprise in publicly accountable ways at regular intervals through public lectures, the publication of course documents to be used by one's students, public performances of one's professional activities, etc.
The faculty will also pursue ongoing professional development through the creation and maintenance of formal faculty seminars within the College. MCLA boasts of a number of such efforts over the years: the AASCU critical thinking workshops, a seminar funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities in teaching multicultural topics, the faculty lecture series, and the faculty Chautauqua series. We would anticipate continuing and expanding such opportunities throughout the College.
The maximum faculty/student ratio at a college with this mission and profile would be 1/14. Additionally, faculty will continue to serve as academic advisors, participate in and supervise outside-of-class activities, and take leadership in making the curriculum a college-wide reality.
Facilitating this vision of the faculty requires, we strongly believe, strictly maintaining the faculty-student ratio to assure the quality of academic programs, making faculty's working spaces (offices, labs, classrooms, and studios) measure up to professional expectations, and ensuring that faculty compensation is commensurate with compensation at similar schools.
Students
The optimum size for this College is between 1600-1800 students, a size which ensures a broad range of subjects and majors while keeping the community small enough to gather together for public events and to safeguard its face-to-face character.
Sustaining the learning community which we envision will necessitate making residency at the College a requirement for all four years. Students who reside in the nearby region with their families could receive exemptions to this rule as a matter of course, but their learning should also carry a distinct provision for a "residency" dimension as well; we should set aside special lounges for non-resident students and arrange events that include them in the "outside of class" dimension of the curriculum.
This College is committed to the idea that active citizenship is an important part of the liberal arts experience, and we intend to foster a program of service learning and community volunteer opportunities as part of its defining character.
The College currently has an enrollment management plan which focuses on recruiting quality students from diverse backgrounds. This recruitment effort is supported by modest college scholarships which need to be dramatically increased in order for us to continue to attract greater numbers of high ability and well-motivated students. In our experience the best way to retain high ability students is to give them options in the context of high quality programs and courses. If our plans go forward, the entire college will be centered on that retention strategy. Another key to an effective retention strategy is creating bonds between students and faculty -- which is the direct result of a reasonable faculty-student ratio.
Residential Life
The role of residence halls in the curriculum might be enhanced by fostering "theme residencies" focused on academic questions such as foreign language ("Italian House" or "French Floor") or scientific concerns (the environment, "Botany House") or the arts ("Trumpet Players as far away from everyone else as possible").
Including residency as a vital component in the College life will prescribe a major commitment to new and refurbished student facilities. On-campus facilities devoted to off-campus students will require major overhaul and redesign. More single-room options must be available to attract and retain students, and a new residence complex which would include a dining hall large enough for the increased number of students in residence must be added to the campus.
Financing for new and refurbished student housing will be an immediate necessity, and legislative authority will be needed to establish the means to retire the debt for such construction in ways that do not degrade the financial base of the rest of the College.
Student Leadership
Four years at this College are already four years spent nurturing the leadership ability of every student on campus. Sound, effective leadership will be as critical for a democratic society in the next century as it has been in the past, and college should be an ongoing workshop in leadership training. Our small size and the immediate proximity of residence areas already allow us to hold Town-Hall style meetings routinely, where every person is invited and encouraged to participate in deciding which path the College should follow. Students fully understand that they have an important stake in the College; by serving on every one of our governance committees alongside faculty and staff, students have been instrumental in helping to shape this institution. As a public liberal arts college of distinction, we expect to continue expanding the array of student-originated clubs and organizations, maintain our active intramural and NCAA Division III athletics programs, and strengthen the faculty-student mentor program with the Hudson-Mohawk Consortium.
All students at this College will have access to a wide variety of events and culturally enriching opportunities. To accomplish this goal, the College will need the funding to support an art gallery and expanded programs of speakers, film series, concerts, and exhibitions. We look forward to coordinating cultural events with nearby colleges and superb art museums.
Our students take pride in overcoming social and financial obstacles by demonstrating true "Yankee Ingenuity" when resources are limited, and they are encouraged to explore, discuss and experience directly the issues of cultural diversity as they emerge in the politics of student life organizations.
And our graduates tell us how valuable making a college into a total learning environment can be whenever they return to campus and report on the success they have after graduation. These issues have particular urgency in our society, and by fostering the ability to write, listen carefully, and speak effectively on their feet, our students are developing the means to put into operation the global perspective which is the touchstone for responsible citizenship and leadership in the twenty-first century.
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