The Observer, April 11, 2008
Volume XL, Issue 24
SAGES program still adapting to student feedback
click to enlarge
Feedback from students on Case's SAGES program is hardly universally positive; – whether concerning organization, advising practices, or the requirement of SAGES itself, the program has still not found complete acceptance among undergraduates. Yet SAGES has become more refined since its inception, and in order to continue its improvement, the student body was recently asked to complete a new survey regarding the program.
Ideally, the SAGES Impact Survey will provide "insight into the impact SAGES has on student morale and the effectiveness of the teaching style," according to physics professor Gary Chottiner, who also serves as the chair of the SAGES Impact Committee and the chair of the University Undergraduate Faculty's Executive Committee.
The survey asked students to rate their experiences and beliefs on: academic outcomes, the seminar experience, expectations, advising, curricular opportunities, and assessments, and also left room for the students to share any other thoughts that may not have been covered. The results will help the committee write up its report, which should be issued at the end of this semester. The report will be used to help guide the future direction and form of the SAGES program.
In January 2002, Case approved a three-year pilot of the SAGES program. Since then, it has undergone many transformations, adapting itself to an ever-changing campus and an increasing student body population. The pilot program began with just 150 students, but SAGES has now expanded to approximately 3000 students. The administration is trying to keep up with the growing number of students while continuing to better the program.
One of the biggest changes is an increase in diversity of course offerings for the First Year Seminar. The class of 2009 entered Case as the first class required to follow the SAGES curriculum. In the fall of 2005, those current juniors' first semester at Case, only 9 of 70 first seminar courses were topical (FSNA, FSSO, FSSY). The remaining 61 (or 87 percent) were generic "Life of the Mind" courses.
Current freshmen have many more first-seminar options. "In response to an interest in more topical first seminars by faculty and students alike, we have grown the number of topical first seminars to 33 of the 72 first seminars (46 percent)," said Peter Whiting, director of SAGES. Examples of first seminars offered this past fall semester were titled: "Working Class Heroes," "The Chemistry of Biology and Drugs," and "College and City: The UniverCity."
Whiting points out that while it is important to have some common elements and expectations between the different seminars, it is also equally important to make sure each course is unique.
"I don't think you would want each course to be exactly the same – stamped out by a press to be identical. The richness of a course is enhanced by the faculty member putting his or her own mark on the course. In the seminars, it is often the students who help shape the uniqueness of the discussion and experiences," said Whiting.
Chottiner also believes that one of the important aspects of SAGES is its uniqueness. He believes that SAGES is an important and innovative program on which the university should not give up hope.
"I've been at CWRU since 1980," explained Chottiner, "long enough to know that the generations of General Education Requirements we had before SAGES were nothing special –they were similar to the GER at lots of other schools– and it would be a shame to go back to something more pedestrian without first trying to understand the effects SAGES is having on the students and faculty, and whether or not it is an improvement."
The professor of the first seminar is also the adviser for all of the students in that class until they officially declare a major. In order to make sure students are getting the best advice possible, the university has taken several steps to prepare the professors, including training sessions that all first seminar instructors are required to attend. SAGES and the Office of Undergraduate Studies have been paying particular attention to improving the functions of the First Year Seminar and adviser.
Chottiner reminds students that there are other resources besides the first year adviser. "All the information students need is probably available on the web via handbooks, FYI guides, department web sites, etc. College students need to learn to take responsibility for their own lives; one part of this is looking up for themselves what courses they should be taking - and asking questions of the right person if they aren't sure."
He also believes that the new structure can be a much better one than the pre-SAGES advising configuration. Chottiner says that since he sees his advisees on a more regular basis through class, he gets to know them much better. Some of his first seminar students have asked him for a letter of recommendation, which he does not believe would have happened under the old system.
David Poerschke, student representative on the committee and USG VP of Academic Affairs, believes that a first year adviser is not meant to simply help students pick out courses for the next semester.
"I think that the often forgotten or underutilized aspect of advising for first year students is the support for the transition from high school to college and general mentoring. In this sense, it shouldn't really matter what field the adviser is in and the repeated contact in the seminar setting should make this aspect of advising stronger, although I don't think that students look to [an] adviser as much in this capacity."
Even with all of these improvements, there are still students who are unhappy with the SAGES program and would prefer a more typical GER. Cory Cocco, a freshman nursing major, was not satisfied with his seminar: "Photography's History and Use." He explained that while the course was OK and he understands its purpose, he doesn't think it applied much to him. "I had to take a course that was completely unrelated [to nursing]…I'm taking something out of my realm."
Avanti Jakatdar, a junior biology major, remembers enjoying her Life of the Mind seminar freshman year. "The teacher was really engaging and he listened to what we wanted to do and what we wanted to read." Even though she enjoyed it, she was unsure of whether or not her writing and discussion techniques had really improved because of the class. When asked if she had the option to pick the SAGES or GER curriculum, she is undecided about which she would prefer.
While the SAGES program may not yet (or even ever) be perfect, the university is continually trying to make it a success.
