Maroon

              The MAROON Vol. 62, No. 16 Loyola University, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118 February 10,1984 SCAP report outlines tentative Loyola plans By Rene Sanchez The bottom line is "doing fewer things better." The ultimate ambition is "a gradual increase in standards so you won't be so much a graduate, as you will be a survivor." The end result is still in limbo. According to Robert Preston, vice president for Academic Affairs and chairman of the Standing Council on Academic Planning, the first two statements are philosophies on which SCAP stands. The third is where it stands right now. "SCAP is not an attempt to save money," Preston said. "It is an attempt to reallocate resources. We want to take money from here and put it over there." "Times change, programs get started," he said. ". . . [Some) programs started around here 15 years ago. The reason why they got started is no longer relevant. Why are we still doing it? Well, we're still doing it because we're still doing it." Thus far, SCAP has formulated its preliminary recommendations, distributed them throughout the four undergaduate colleges under review, and recently received responses back from each college and each department.Saturday SCAP meets to discuss these responses in preparation for a March 30 deadline set by the Faculty Senate to receive the report. According to the report, titled, Planning for the Future: Loyola University in the Next Decade, SCAP will submit its final recommendations to the Board of Trustees by June 1. The Board has until Oct. 1 to respond. Implementation of any boardapproved recommendation could begin as early as next semester. "1 am confident that there will be some changes in the final recommendations from what we had first recommended," Preston said. Preston would not give The Maroon a copy of the SCAP report due to its confidential and tentative nature. However, he did quote four objectives directly from the report: 1. To incorporate fully the liberal arts into both the core curriculum and in degree preparation and to strengthen the moral dimension of the Jesuit educational experience. 2. To increase rigor in all programs across the university. 3. To provide leadership in the educational community in developing more effective approaches to education and to keep the university responsive to the needs of the community. 4. To focus the vision of the university in order to choose wisely the areas in which we will offer academic programs. "There's a big difference between a college degree and an education," Preston said. "What we want to continue to provide, and do an even better job at, is an education. Anybody can get a college degree. If you just want a college degree, we can tell you where to go [to get it]." According to Preston, SCAP's recommendations, if passed, would be the means to achieve that end. "A Loyola degree will be something to be proud of," he said, "because not everybody will be able to get one." Although he would not release the entire report, Preston did provide a list of some of SCAP's recommendations, emphasizing that,they were not final in any respect: •The formation of a fine arts college, combining the college of music with the departments of visual arts and drama/speech. •A double major requirement for all communications majors, with a maximum of 30 hours allowed communications courses, and an obligation to take a "substitute discipline." •A parallel requirement with regard to education majors. The department of education would be responsible for teacher certification, but every student in the field of education would have to major in another field as well. •Implementation of some type of foreign language competency requirement. Initially, this recommendation would be in the form of a task force assigned to develop a specific course of action. •A reduction in the size of lower-level common curriculum classes by doubling thfe number of sections. •"Writing across the curriculum," a concept that would be implemented initially as a task force to study ways students could, throughout the curriculum, demonstrate an acceptable level of writing competency. Merely passing Composition 122 would no longer be sufficient. •In the College of. Business Administration, a possibility of requiring at least one semester of study in Central or South America. Preston said the reasons behind this recommendation include breathing life into the international business program and allowing the student to be exposed to another culture. He added that because New Orleans is a major port city with quite a bit of international business, a semester in Central or South America could allow the student to make valuable contacts. •Offering a bachelor of arts in music, specifically music theory or music history. Preston said the recommendation would be an alternative to the existing performance-oriented music program. Therese La Hood, dental hygiene senior, works on Vic Clanton. The dental hygiene department may soon be phased out. —Photo by John McCusker Department discusses Comp 122 controversy By Kim Trotter The English department has taken steps to standardize English Composition 122, according to Andrew McDonald, assistant professor of English. The changes will counteract the effects of an easy or a hard teacher, he said. The classes are using the same textbook as last fall, but the approach is different, and changes were made in the course structure. Students in all sections will now work from a standardized syllabus, and final exams will be graded by at least two different instructors. A previous change in the course structure was the implementation of a pass/fail grading system in the fall of 1983. The pass/fail grading was meant to achieve two objectives: 1. To raise the standard for written expression at Loyola by establishing a minimum level of writing competency. 2. To encourage consistent and fair grading of student writing. The English department believes that the pass/fail procedure will emphasize its seriousness in establishing minimal writing skills as an essential qualification for graduation from Loyola. Dr. Richard E. Johnson, chairman of the English department, said, "We have been concerned about the writing quality of Loyola students, especially those who graduate with low-level writing abilities. This does not reflect well on the university." "Students don't realize their deficiency until they are about to See Comp 122 /page 2 See SCAP /page 8