The Rice Thresher, Vol. 93, No. 14, Ed. 1 Friday, December 2, 2005 Page: 6 of 20
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THE RICE THRESHER
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2,2005
Masters committee seeks opinion
by Sarah Baker
THRESHER STAFF
The Committee on Masters and
Resident Associates hosted forums
this week at Wiess and Martel col-
leges to discuss the role of faculty
members in the college system.
At Tuesday's forum at Wiess,
History Professor Ira Gruber, who
chairs the committee appointed by
President David Leebron and Dean
of Undergraduates Robin Forman,
led the discussions.
Gruber, who was Hanszen Col-
lege master from 1968-73, posed
questions about the role of faculty
as masters. RAs and faculty associ-
ates within the colleges, as well as
the selection process for masters
and RAs.
"What we're interested in
hearing is how the colleges are
working and what doesn't seem to
be working," Gruber said. "We've
noticed some things from the out-
side already."
Gruber said colleges differ in
the total number of faculty associ-
ates and that there is a disparity
between colleges in the number
of departments faculty associates
represent.
'What we're interested
in hearing is how the
colleges are working
and what doesn't
seem to he working.
We \e noticed some
things fron the outside
already
— Ira Gruber
History professor
Committee on Masters and
Resident Associates chair
"Some colleges have 22, and
some colleges have 12," Gruber
said. There's something that's not
quite right about that,
since the non-resi-
dents are supposed to
be part of an advising
scheme."
Gruber suggested
the colleges work
together to smooth
out some of these
discrepancies.
Gruber said the
committee also no-
ticed that the emphasis
on scholarly work at
Rice has discouraged
younger faculty mem-
bers from becoming
involved in the col-
leges. He said some
deans and department
JAE-HEE SCHIN/THRESHER
Wiess College junior Malcolm Eckel speaks at a forum on the roles of masters,
resident associates and faculty associates Tuesday in the Wiess Private Dining
Room. A similar forum was held Wednesday in the Martel PDR. Both forums
were hosted by the Committee on Masters and RAs, which was appointed by
President David Leebron and Dean of Undergraduates Robin Forman.
chairs are wary of faculty getting
deeply involved with the colleges
early in their careers.
"Everybody knows at Rice the
emphasis is on scholarship, then
teaching and then service to the uni-
versity, in descending order," Gruber
said. "That means that if you have a
young person here who is trying to
get tenure, he or she is under a lot
of pressure to take care of research
and teaching and, if there is any time
left over, some kind of service to the
university"
The committee consists of 13 mem-
bers (see box, below), including three
masters, one RA and five students.
Gruber said the committee was
meant to be representative of all
nine colleges as well as the kinds
of people who have contact with the
college. The committee was divided
into five subcommittees.
"The subcommittees have gone
off to explore the nature of other
residential college systems in the
United States, to see how the ad-
ministration views the colleges at
present and what they think of the
faculty in them, to see how the faculty
think, and, of course, to see how the
students think," Gruber said.
Gruber said the committee aims
to present recommendations to
Forman and Leebron shortly after
winter break.
COMMITTEE ON MASTERS AND RESIDENT ASSOCIATES
Ira Gruber, chair
History professor
Luis Arandia
Martel College senior
Carolyn Aresu
Lovett College master
Evan Colton
Sid Richardson College senior
Meredith Fallon
Will Rice College junior
Rudy Guerra
Jones College master
Matthias Henze
Religious Studies professor
Mary Ellen Lane
Biochemistry and Cell Biology professor
Brandon Mack
Wiess College junior
Kevin MacKenzie
Brown College resident associate
Wes Morris
Hanszen College master
Taryn Roos
Lovett College senior
Matthew Taylor
Assistant to the Dean of Undergraduates
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STUDENT ASSOCIATION
The Student Association met Monday. The following were dis-
cussed.
■ SA Internal Vice President Ames Grawert announced volunteers
are still needed to proctor self-scheduled exams. Interested students
should sign up with college senators.
■ The senate approved two new clubs. Campus Girl Scouts at Rice
University helps students volunteer to facilitate events at Rice for local
Girl Scout troops and is open to males and females (interested students
should contact Noorain Khan at nkhan@rice.edu). "Owlchemy" is a
club for students interested in chemistry. The group is already active
and regularly gives science demonstrations at the Houston Museum
of Natural Science (contact Erica Flor at elaraine@rice.edu).
■ SA President James Lloyd proposed approving a document he wrote
to send to President Leebron endorsing the Call to Conversation. After
voting to remove one paragraph from the document, the senate approved
the endorsement with no votes against and two abstentions.
The approved endorsement states, "The Call to Conversation actively
engaged students in a dialogue on the future of Rice University. Students
have expressed a sincere interest ... and appreciate that President
Leebron included students in an open dialogue." The document states
Leebron welcomed the feedback from students and encourages Leebron
to use students' opinions in his "vision for the university."
During discussion that preceded the vote, Lovett College New Stu-
dent Representative Nikka Landau said she thought the document
did not represent the opinion of the student body. In response. SA
Secretary Laura Kelley emphasized the endorsement is just to rec-
ognize the fact that Leebron consulted students, not to support any
of his opinions.
Grawert, a Lovett senior, said the senate should consider inserting
remarks about the content of the Call to Conversation that would
represent most students — for example, supporting a small student
body size and a focus on undergraduates. Lloyd, a Brown College
senior, said it was unnecessary to try to represent overall student
opinion since Leebron sought feedback from all students.
Lovett President Evan Ross made a motion to remove a paragraph
that began: "The Student Association commends President Leebron's
commitment to personally engaging students in the conversation.
... Students were incorporated into the process and encouraged to
freely respond." Ross, a junior, said the paragraph was not appropriate
because many students believe the forums about the Call to Conversa-
tion were more like lectures than conversations. The senate approved
the motion by a vote of 18-4.
The SA also met Monday, Nov. 12. The following were discussed.
■ The senate discussed Provost Eugene Levy's and Dean of Under-
gratuates Robin Forman's proposal to eliminate self-scheduled exams.
(See story, page 1.) Lloyd summarized the proposal to the senate and
quoted opinions from faculty members on the Teaching Committee.
Some students agreed self-scheduled exams are an unnecessary
burden on the Registrar's office, but disagreed with various points
in the proposal.
Sid Richardson College President John Stubbs said rather than moving
up due dates for exams for some classes to allow faculty members
more time to grade the tests, the deadline for submitting grades to
the Registrar's office should be moved back.
Grawert said he supports the idea of removing self-scheduled exams,
but only for the reason of enabling more exams to be take-home, which
would be consistent with the Honor Code. Students also voiced sup
port for requiring a class to have 50 students to have a scheduled
exam under the new system.
In a straw poll, the senate voted 25-2 not to support the proposal in
its current form.
■ The senate discussed Lloyd's suggestion to endorse the Call to
Conversation. Wiess College President Jack Hardcastle said almost
everyone agrees with the way Leebron said he would consult students,
but that he did not agree with an endorsement because Leebron still had
not visited four colleges. Leebron visited those colleges this week.
Some students said the senate should wait to comment until Leebron
announces his proposal for the future of the university.
Hanszen junior Stephen Rooke suggested sending a document with
the senate's opinions on the content of the Call to Conversation to
the Board of Trustees as well as Leebron.
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Obermeyer, Amber. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 93, No. 14, Ed. 1 Friday, December 2, 2005, newspaper, December 2, 2005; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443095/m1/6/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.