I know that this is a somewhat delayed response, but this morning I read
an article in the the Chronicle about who "the modern college student
is" (see below), and thought this might be appropriate for a graduate
seminar in teaching sociology. Along these same lines, Rebekah Nathan's
"My Freshman Year" might be a good read. The ideas that are presented
might not come as an enormous surprise to students who went to graduate
school straight out of undergrad, but could be quite useful for those
who have not recently dealt with 18-24 year olds.
Best,
Catherine Siebel
___________________________________________________________________________________
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Student-Affairs Officials Share Concerns and Advice at Annual
Conference
By ERIC HOOVER and SARA LIPKA <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Washington
A skilled multitasker who dreams big, thrives on stress, and calls his
parents constantly. That is the profile of the modern student, as
described by college officials here on Monday at the annual conference
of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators.
At a news conference, leaders of the association discussed some of their
top concerns, including the prevalence of high-risk drinking and
mental-health problems among students, and the close relationships many
students share with their parents, who are becoming increasingly
involved in campus life and making more demands on student-affairs
officials.
Some administrators said they were more concerned than ever about
depression among their students and the potential lawsuits arising from
suicides on their campuses. Several officials said they had been alarmed
by a recent court decision allowing the parents of Elizabeth H. Shin, a
student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who committed
suicide in 2000, to seek damages from MIT administrators and staff
members who had known about her suicide threats. The pending case has
prompted many college officials to re-examine their policies for helping
troubled students.
"I've never heard people talking about liability as much as they are
now," said Gwendolyn Jordan Dungy, the association's executive director.
"People are circling the wagons to figure out what we can do to support
our students while protecting our universities."
That delicate balance relates to another crucial question at this year's
conference: How can colleges and parents work together more effectively?
Because baby-boomer parents do not expect to "let go" of their children
when they start college, more colleges are developing programs and
liaison offices to deal with parental concerns.
Kurt J. Keppler, vice president for student affairs at Valdosta State
University, in Georgia, said one of the major challenges for today's
student-affairs officials is "to negotiate this intriguingly complex
relationship between students and parents."
Students in the so-called Millennial generation tend to welcome parental
involvement in their campus lives. Mr. Keppler said the association
recently found in a survey that current students call their parents 12
times a week, whereas baby boomers tended to call home just once a week.
Parents who intervene in their students' college experiences --
complaining about a grade or a judicial proceeding, for example -- are
known in academe as "helicopter parents" for hovering over their
children. Now some officials are calling the more-aggressive ones
"lawn-mower parents," in reference to their attempt to run over
administrators by challenging their authority.
Nonetheless, several college officials warned their colleagues against
tuning out engaged parents. They noted that colleges can use
parental-liaison offices to teach parents how to give their children
some space.
With respect to alcohol abuse, many administrators said that their
institutions are experimenting with new approaches. Some are requiring
all incoming students to take AlcoholEdu, an online alcohol-education
program. Others are incorporating more information about institutions'
alcohol policies into the process of recruiting new students.
In a session on perfectionism, student-affairs officers described that
issue as a growing problem, particularly among female, first-generation,
or minority students. Perfectionism, they warned, can lead to
destructive behaviors like substance abuse, eating disorders, and
suicide. Some officials said today's students may be predisposed toward
perfectionism because of the tightly scheduled lives they have led at
least since high school. Others noted that colleges might play a role, too.
Charles Klink, director of counseling services at Virginia Commonwealth
University, said that by offering hundreds of extracurricular options,
colleges may unwittingly reinforce students' impressions that they must
participate constantly in activities and clubs. Pepperdine University
has limited some students' participation in extracurricular activities,
one administrator reported.
In a packed session on legal affairs, Stephanie J. Gold, a Washington
lawyer, warned administrators to be careful in regulating public forums.
"It can be very difficult to draft a speech code that can withstand
legal challenge," Ms. Gold said. Courts often find campus speech codes
unconstitutional because they are too broad or vague.
More than 5,400 representatives from 1,500 institutions attended the
five-day conference, which ends on Wednesday.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
>-----Original Message-----
>From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf
>Of Kathleen McKinney
>Sent: Thursday, March 02, 2006 9:25 AM
>To: [email protected]
>Subject: TEACHSOC: grad sem in teaching sociology
>
>
>Dear Colleagues:
>
>I am prepping a graduate seminar on "Teaching Sociology." Students would be
>from our Masters program, many of whom go on to teach at community colleges
>or to take other jobs in the academy (e.g., academic advisor, assistant
>director of honors programs...). I have a draft, partial syllabus as well
>as the ASA TRC relevant product, some syllabi from others, and a reading
>list. But, I thought it would be fun and useful to discuss on this list
>ideas you might have for such a course. In particular, I would love to hear
>your thoughts on the following:
>
>1. possible course objectives for such a course
>2. key topics or content areas to include
>3. innovative and useful assignments
>4. any thing else you would like to suggest
>
>Thanks.
>Kathleen
>
>
>Kathleen McKinney
>Cross Endowed Chair in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
>Professor, Sociology
>Carnegie Scholar
>Box 6370
>Illinois State University
>Normal, Il 61790-6370
>off 309-438-7706
>fax 309-438-8788
>[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>http://www.ilstu.edu/~kmckinne/
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"Teaching Sociology" group.
To post to this group, send email to [email protected]
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/teachsoc
-~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
