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                                  %FACULTY MEETINGS 730924

     There is a tradition whereby the members of a liberal
arts  college  faculty meet to discuss and  adopt policies
which  direct  the  evolutionary course of  their academic
institution.   As is common,  there are committee reports,
parliamentary procedures, group discussion, and votes. Not
so  many  years  ago  such meetings  were  closed  to  the
students  who  were the  presumed  beneficiaries  of  such
meetings.    Students were not permitted to contribute new
questions which their elders had ignored for a variety  of
reasons.

     In  recent  years  the spirit of  democracy  and  the
right-to-know  which characterizes the society has  worked
its  way into the deliberations  relating  to  maintaining
standards   in  colleges.    The  rights  of  students  to
influence  such deliberations has been acknowledged.   Yet
after  the  initial novelty of the process has  worn  off,
student participation in general faculty meetings commonly
drops off.   Sometimes it is said  that  the students were
not  really  interested,   and  that  their  drop  off  in
attendance  is an indication  of  their  lack  of  genuine
interest.    On the other hand  it  might  be  helpful  to
recognize that,   unlike faculty members,  the students do
not have a financial interest in attending.   The students
are more free to see an unbiased value judgment  regarding
the  worth of spending their time  at   faculty   meetings
rather  than   in   assignments,   independent study,   or
recreational activities.

     Suppose that the students'  decisions and actions are
taken   as  a  serious  indication  of  the   quality   of
deliberation  which they see at general faculty  meetings.
What might be the interpretation?  Might it be that in the
behavior  of their faculty they do not see anything  which
they respect  as  worthy of emulation,  and  so  of closer
observation?

     The   faculty  of  a  liberal  arts  college   should
presumably  be liberally educated and be qualified to deal
with real  problems in an educated way---which is free  of
narrowness  of mind and vision.  The purpose of a  liberal
arts  college  is  to  liberate  young  people  from   the
enslavement of too narrow a frame of reference. The people
who  are  supposed to help young people achieve this  goal
might reasonable be expected to have in large part already
achieved such liberation.

     Might  it be that college students have  noticed  how
rare  it is that college professors turn to each other for
professional  insights  within the context  of  trying  to
solve the real problems of their liberal arts college, and
also resolve  the  real  dilemmas  which are not technical
problems.
                         (c) 1999 by Paul A. Smith in
  GO:  essayz.com     "Search for Integrity and Honesty"
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