MAKING WAVES
PASSING BILLS
Swimmer Mackenzie Anderson speaks about overcoming personal doubt to reach success.
The Charleston City Council approved two resolutions to disallow using property tax money to pay off city debt.
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D ai ly E astern News WWW.DAILYEASTERNNEWS.COM
THE
“TELL THE TRUTH AND DON’T BE AFRAID”
VOL.97 | ISSUE 96
WEDNESDAY, February 6, 2013
THEN & NOW
FACULT Y SENATE | ANALYSIS
Professors debate learning goals data By Stephanie Markham Administration Editor
Photo curtesy of “ The Keep ”
Chacour Koop | The Daily Eastern Ne ws
Pictured above from the beginning of his time at Eastern (left) and from Monday (right), Robert Wiseman, a university archives faculty member, came to Eastern in 1958 and is Eastern’s longest-serving faculty member.
Longest-serving faculty member surpasses half-century mark By Chacour Koop Special Projects Reporter Robert Wiseman, a university archives faculty member, has worked fulltime at Eastern for almost 55 years, 10 years longer than any other Eastern employee ever. The next closest is Edson Taylor, a math professor who was at Eastern for 45 years and became interim president when Livingston C. Lord died. Wiseman first came to Eastern in 1958 as the assistant director of the audio and visual center while working on his doctorate at Indiana University in the summers. Now, his office is tucked away in the university archives section of Booth Library. The room has low walls lined with photographs he has taken himself. One photo of the Alumni Association Bell Tower was used for President Bill Perry’s Christmas card a few years ago, Wiseman said, while another is of a Rocky Mountain lake. “That one’s Lake Charleston,” Wiseman said, laughing at his joke. “I’ve been in photography since grade-school days. I’ve done a tremendous amount of photography.” Photography has been a part of his job since he began working at Eastern — documenting history and taking pictures for university publicity, Wiseman said. There was only one camera when he first came to Eastern, a Rolleiflex,
that no one seemed to know how to use, Wiseman said. Now he uses digital cameras, Photoshop software, and a new scanner sits on his desk. “I’ve enjoyed the challenge of learning something new,” Wiseman said. When Wiseman first came to Eastern, he did not plan to stay this long. However, when President Quincy Doudna increased salaries for faculty with doctorates, he could not find another university that paid as well. He looked at Temple University in Philadelphia but did not like the city as much as Charleston. “I have to say it wasn’t planned,” Wiseman said. “I enjoy the work. I don’t know what else I would like to do more.” Wiseman’s wife, Nell, is also still working as an English teacher at Charleston High School. Wiseman himself teaches photography classes at Eastern. Robert Hillman, a colleague in the university archives department, said Wiseman must love what he is doing to stay this long. He said the library had a party for Wiseman after he worked at Eastern for 50 years, but probably will not if he makes it to 55 years. “Fifty years seems to be the plateau,” Hillman said. “I know he has quite a few outside interests.” Wiseman became a pilot shortly after earning his doctoral degree in the 1960s and bought a Cherokee airplane. He
rides motorcycles as well. Some of Wiseman’s work has been uploading photos and archives into an online repository called “The Keep,” which contains about 11,000 documents. Todd Bruns, the institutional repository librarian at Booth Library, said Wiseman’s historical knowledge is invaluable to the university. Bruns said that if there is a person he needs help identifying in a photo from long ago, he can simply ask Wiseman. “Institutional memory is a big deal,” Bruns said. “He’s very much a mentoring colleague.” Bruns came to Eastern from the University of Iowa where he worked with a man who could locate anything in the library because he had been there for more than 20 years. When the man retired, all his knowledge walked out the door too, Bruns said. In the same way, Bruns said Wiseman’s knowledge is valuable to the archival work at the library. “There’s no way to download that so I think Dr. Wiseman is like that,” Bruns said. Wiseman does not have a plan as to when he will retire. He said he takes it year by year and is still not sure about plans for next year. Chacour Koop can be reached at 581-2812 or cmkoop@eiu.edu.
“Whenever anyone tests our critical thinking capabilities, we’re below where we ought to be compared Faculty Senate members debated to our peers and compared to where the accuracy of the data and the im- they should be performing based on plementation of the university learn- our ACT scores,” he said. “I think ing goals during their meeting Tues- what the data clearly shows is either we don’t have the faintest idea how to day. About 67 percent of course syllabi teach critical thinking as a university, have critical thinking as a learning ob- or we’re just lying.” Michael Mulvaney, a professor in jective, while 37 percent include writing, according to the 2013 Coun- the department of recreation admincil on Academic Affairs learning goal istration and Faculty Senate member, said he was most surprised to see that summary. Rebecca Throneburg, a communi- Eastern seniors report to complete cation disorders and sciences profes- less community service than students sor and member of CAA, said a sur- from other universities. “That one really surprised me,” he vey was sent to all undergraduate instructors last spring, and 370, or said. “I thought that was an area for Eastern to really hang its hat on, but about half, responded. The survey asked professors to an- the data is indicating that’s 11 percent less than swer multipeer instiple-choice “I think what the data clearly shows is ei- tutions.” questions Andrew a b o u t o n e ther we dont have the faintest idea how Methven, of their undergraduate to teach critical thinking as a university a b i o l o g y professor classes. or we’re just lying." and FaculThe data t y Se n a t e also comGrant Sterling, philosophy professor chairman, pares professaid he was sors’ responsconcerned es to the sylto see that 58 percent of professors labi evaluations done by the CAA. Grant Sterling, a philosophy pro- never use a rubric to give feedback on fessor and Faculty Senate member, speaking skills and 28 percent do not said Eastern students should be per- for writing skills. Kathy Bower, a geology professor forming better based on the 42 percent of professors who reported their and Faculty Senate member, said it students improved critical thinking is not always possible to implement skills and the 80 percent of depart- all learning goals while successfully ments that assess that objective in a teaching students. DEBATE, page 5 yearly report.
C AMPUS | COMPE TITION
Battling bands to rock Eastern By Ian Murphy Staff reporter The Grand Ballroom of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union is set to rock Wednesday with several of Eastern’s student bands competing in the University Board’s “Battle of the Bands.” The bands will perform at 7 p.m. at the 7th Street Underground in the Union with headliner Dakaboom serving as the master of ceremonies for the event. Dakaboom members call themselves a post-modern vaudeville group, and the duo consists of Ben McLain and Paul Peglar. McLain has appeared on the TV show “General Hospital” and records primarily with electronic and vocal
band Sonos. Peglar works with Internet stars Chester See and Lana McKissack and was the feature piano player on the first season of “Glee.” Members of the UB met the duo during a conference and contacted them to host the event. David Groves, the main stage coordinator for the UB, said Eastern’s music lovers can expect to have standing room at the front of the stage with seats toward the back of the crowd. He also said that concertgoers could expect to see around seven bands. Groves said he is optimistic about the event, and he said he hopes to have 200 people in the audience. The battle consists of three rounds of performances from the bands. BANDS, page 5