[Alumni-chat] Antioch Interdisciplinary First Year Curriculum

[Robert Devine]

Hi Brian,

I remember you speaking to the faculty in '94, and clearly remember the
reservations that you and other students cited.  We switched from the
quarter to the trimester system in 95-96 for a variety of reasons, not the
least of which was high student attrition.  The quarter system, without a
summer study term, was a disaster for student continuity and community
cohesiveness.  Every student was on a different sequence, and students had
to re-invent social networks every time they returned to campus, in
addition to completing the work for four courses in what was essentially
10 weeks.  

The calendar shift, like many changes, was a compromise to (a) reduce the
skyrocketing attrition by having more consistently defined "divisions",
(b) to maintain the integrity and reliability of the alternating
co-operative learning model by implementing a summer academic term term to
make true alternation possible, and (c) to strengthen the academic program
by lengthening the weeks of actual course delivery.  The long and short of
it is that the calendar change was successful in addressing these issues. 
In 1996 enrollment was 509; by 2001 it was 650 FTE  (an 800 "headcount"
including AEA and non-matrics).  In 1996 attrition had risen to 34%; by
2001 it was in a comfortable 12-18% range.

There's another way to think about the current -- and past and future --
"new curriculi" at the College.  The curriculum of a liberal arts
institution like Antioch has to evolve to stay current and competitive. 
Think about the changes that have taken place in your field since you
graduated from Antioch!  The knowledge, the pedagogical approach to
delivery and the organization have to be constantly changing, sometimes
incrementally, and sometimes in larger scale paradigm shifts.  We can call
such shifts a "new curriculum", but the truth is that the College's
curriculum has to be constantly undergoing change to keep up with the
changes in disciplines/interdisciplines, the best practices of
undergraduate teaching and learning, the characteristics of our learners
(e.g. How many students came to Antioch with a laptop, cell and ipod array
when you were a student?), and whatever vision we might have of what's
ahead.  I'm among those who would rather not use such changes as the
centerpiece of fundraising, but that's another story.  

Antioch simply can't be the same Antioch it was when you went to school
here (let alone when I attended the College).  It has to reinvent itself
with the most creative energy it can muster.  Since it lacks critical
resources, that usually means the sweat equity of faculty, administrators,
staff and students.  When we stretch ourselves out to go through these
reinvention processes, while continuing to deliver the existing program to
current students, it's a little demoralizing to be told that our work is
"half-assed".  We're putting everything we have into building the future
for this amazing institution, and Mike Brower is speaking the absolute
truth in suggesting that we need help in doing so.

Bob

Alumni Chat List <alumni-chat at w3.antioch.edu> on Monday, May 21, 2007 at
11:31 PM -0500 wrote:
>Hi!
>
>On May 21, 2007, at 6:14 PM, Robert Devine wrote:
>
>> "half-assed" -- without even being familiar with the new curriculum  
>> -- and
>
>While I can not assess the new curriculum without more information,  
>it does seem like every few years there is an attempt at a solution  
>by changing the curriculum or going from a semester to a quarter  
>system. I spoke out at the Faculty meeting in '94 and commented at  
>the time that the switch to a quarter system wouldn't make a  
>difference in my own view of the school. I personally picked Antioch  
>over Evergreen in large part do to what I believed, and still  
>believe, was the better approach Antioch had to curriculum.
>
>As alumnus I hear "new curriculum", and it sounds like the same  
>solution that has been tried over and over. I can see where it would  
>inspire Faculty, but I don't see reasons why it would change the mind  
>of an entering student (or a parent writing a check).
>
>It would be interesting to see a published list of what the students  
>thought would make the school more attractive. Finding out attrition  
>statistics or hearing about why someone did not choose Antioch would  
>also be interesting.
>
>Cheers,
>	-Brian
>
>--
>_______________________________________________________
>Brian "Krow" Aker, brian at tangent.org
>Seattle, Washington
>http://krow.net/
>http://tangent.org/
>_______________________________________________________
>You can't grep a dead tree.
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>Alumni-chat mailing list
>Alumni-chat at w3.antioch.edu
>http://w3.antioch.edu/mailman/listinfo/alumni-chat



Robert H. Devine
College Professor
Antioch College
Yellow Springs, Ohio 45387

Our lives begin to end
the day we become silent
about things that matter"

-  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr