Dean Wilcox - notetaker
CLEA NOTES Thursday morning 4/9/09: Opening comments by each School: 9:45-10:45am.
Feel free to add to these notes:
Ron’ opening comments: first conference was on the first year experience. So the first year in-experience brings us back to these ideas. CLEA as an un-conference. Follow what’s on our minds. Direct the conversation towed your concerns.
Peabody: issues – new administration – sort of wiped out the institutional history. Changes made a few years ago not necessary acknowledged.
University of the Arts: rigorous changes in curriculum in the past few years. Assessment is a major issue for accreditation. Director of writing – transition from expository to critical writing – how to teach and then how to asses. Also working on how to connect to upper level studio teachers and upper level liberal arts classes – trying to extend the notion of teaching writing into these upper level courses.
Berklee: moving to 1/3rd of course sin liberal arts. Issues with advising first year students – looking at their lives – perspective – look 20 years down the road – but according to standards of good writing. Producing world-class citizens. Understand about the world – history and contemporary. Issue of the first semester – where so many students seem to be dropping the ball. Now establishing a first semester course – ambitious since many come unprepared for college.
UNCSA: what does liberal arts mean now? Information available to students unheard of 20 years ago. What is the liberal Arts – what is the relationship between this and our audience. At the point of revising our program buy asking these questions – how do we teach artists at this point in time – what skills do they need?
Musicians Institute - Hollywood : Work with an articulation agreement with LA community college. There are issues of cost as well as availability of courses and diversity of course offerings. How does having gen ed courses within the school affect graduate school applications? Students can transfer in Gen ed, concurrently or transfer them in. Functioning, but an issue for discussion. How to get new students up to speed for academic courses. Get then ready to be in school. Similar concerns and issues as other CLEA schools. Looking forward to everybody else’s problems.
Cornish: Concerned with alignments – students who are comfortable at being in flux and multitasking and institutional structures that are the opposite of this. Interest in how we being all of thee things into better alignment. Challenge is looking at way to integrate activities across college. Developing general learning outcomes – with a main focus on assessment. Small core faculty and adjuncts. How to achieve some kind of scientific/quantitative skills for art students. Varied skill levels .
College of Visual Arts: Brought liberal arts on campus to fulfill accreditation requirements. Liberal arts approached though visual means. Dealing with students who have vastly different skill levels – rethinking liberal arts for today’s students. Concerned with writing. Do have writing across the curriculum.
Mcnally-Smith: Students need to learn how to work on their own. Liberal Arts used to be all adjunct faculty – now on campus and integrate within interests of the students. Students as entrepreneurs - How to prepare students to be curious – to think critically – anticipate the next movement of a fast passed industry. Re-defining the idea of liberal arts. Renaissance person important – to do more than one thing – music, business, writing, promoting, etc. Models of experiential learning – internships. Application of skills of what students are learning. Integration between arts and liberal arts. How to do research, writing, still be a performer – and bring new ideas into their own work.
Global Language Institute: Intensive academic English Language program. 85 percent international students – acculturation - get students ready for university study. Not just getting in but being successful. What difficulties do we encounter with international students and how we can better aid international students.
Minneapolis College of Art and Design: Supporting students in liberal arts education. Going through curriculum revision. Issue of how to integrate adjuncts within liberal arts curriculum. How to encourage students to connect writing to their discipline.
Columbia College Chicago: Not an arts school – enlightened liberal arts education. Required first year seminar course. Encouraged by administration to be more “rigorous” but not necessarily defined idea. Redesign of curriculum – how students can create something that can be a vehicle through which to assess critical thinking. A re-articulation of how creative and academic are synonymous. What can you teach a student in a first years course that will not only help them progress in their education, but also if they don’ t pursue a degree. What is the soul of liberal arts. Can we help students articulate ethical, moral, intellectual ideas.
Walnut Hill School: College prep. Taken a substantial step away from traditional approaches to English and history. How does this impact preparedness for college.
St. Paul Conservatory for perform arts: 4 year college prep program. How to work with arts institutes to prepare students for college.