[Alumni-chat] Antioch Interdisciplinary First Year Curriculum

[Michael Brower]

Mark Pomerantz posted a long article from today's (May 16) New York  
Times Education section (Thanks, Mark, and next time please identify  
not only the author, but also the paper and date of publication)  
about the rising numbers of College applications at Ivy and other  
colleges, and posted his own top line above it:

"It's pretty sad that Antioch College is not doing better in this  
market."

To which Christian Skotte ("Scooter3") posted a detailed thoughtful  
response about the fallacies of the NYTimes article and about how  
Antioch is in fact dong increasingly well in applications and  
admissions, but not well enough with Support systems, especially for  
minority students, and in student retention rates.

I write to fully support what Scooter wrote about Antioch's  
increasing success in Admissions, and to disagree (see below) with  
only one thing she wrote.  As she wrote, Antioch Admissions totals  
last fall (Sept. 2006) were the highest in many many years.  And I  
have recently been told that we are on track to duplicate those  
numbers next fall, although unfortunately not yet to achieve another  
20-40-60% increase, which we do need every year for several years  
more to get up to a really viable student body size.  And, as Scooter  
pointed out, GPA and test score levels are also rising.  Alums!   
Organize and join local Alumni Chapters!  Create Recruitment and  
Admissions Support Committees and Teams.  Contact Admissions, even if  
you live in a small town or city that has no Alumni Chapter.  Ask and  
figure out how you can help with recruitment and retention!

In the New York Times article that Mark posted, there was one  
sentence that Scooter responded to with a comment that I disagree  
with.  In the article it said that Colleges striving to remain  
competitive have:
"hired stronger faculty; built new libraries, science complexes,  
dining halls, fitness centers and dormitories; and created  
international programs and interdisciplinary majors."

Scooter responded, correctly I think, that "Antioch does not have the  
money to build new "libraries, science complexes, dining halls,  
fitness centers and dormitories."

And Scooter then went on with a remark that I write to disagree with:  
"A (more) interdisciplinary curriculum has been instituted (of course  
its popularity among current students may make it more of a liability  
than an advantage)"

Four comment from me on this remark, based on my 6-7 visits to  
Antioch in the past 2-1/2 years, during which I hang out in the Caf  
and coffee shop interviewing students:

1.  It is true that some upperclass students who had never been in  
the new Freshman Core Interdisciplinary Learning  
Communities,complained about them.  But their complaints were not  
based on experience, but on the fact that they had no classes  
together with Freshman and therefore had difficulty teaching them  
(indoctrinating them?) about Antioch's culture, etc.

2)  The overwhelming majority of the Freshman I talked with were very  
enthusiastic about the new Freshman Core Interdisciplinary courses.   
(Example:  "I am pre-med, going to become a Doctor.  Later I will get  
my science training and medical school training.  This Freshman  
course is exactly what I need to become a good doctor.")  A very few  
who were disappointed had simply switched to an alternative Core  
course.   I think on the whole, with some initial difficulties for  
faculty to learn how to work smoothly together across disciplines,  
that the new courses have been a tremendous success.

3)  In response to the concerns about the Freshman courses limiting  
freedom of choose in the first year, and contact with upperclass  
students, the faculty has recently taken up (and approved?) a  
proposal to limit them to the first half of the first year and to  
start students in separate courses in the second half.

4)  The faculty has also decided to continue with the self-designed  
majors by all students, but to provide somewhat more guidance by  
organizing and reccommending a number of "clusters" of courses which  
will help students interested in several different fields of studies.

Overall, Antioch clearly needs lots more money, a deeper faculty  
(that are better paid!), and better student support.  All the Alums  
who read this, please figure out how you/we can help more.  (Mark -  
my next post is to you on this!)

  But I would not criticize Antioch on its current curriculum.

Mike Brower '55 and Member, Alumni Board