Sixty-fifth year
ROTUJNDA Tuesday, November 12, 1985
Number Eight
Involvement Project; Faculty VS. Administration Sophomores Caught In Middle Faculty View By BRUCE SOUZA On Monday Nov. 4 the logistical problems which were I/Ongwood College faculty and becoming evident. Faculty administration clashed in what members of the Business some faculty members termed Department who are burdened "a fiasco" and a "crisis with a high number of advisees situation." The situation arose as saw havoc wreaked upon their sophomore students began the scheduling process. The hold-ups pre-registration advising and and detailed obstinance of counseling process on the above student Development Monday. Since sophomore administrators continued the students were the only ones delay in students receiving their affected in this scenario a quick forms. At this point, facultysketch of the events leading up to members began pooling their Monday Nov. 4 may be needed. complaints through their On Tuesday, Oct. 29, The channels of communications and Rotunda published a letter by decided on collective action. John Colangelo; Colangelo, a Faculty members The Rotunda sophomore, asserted his right not talked to stressed their to fill out an informational survey associated with the Involvement indignation over the perceived Project sponsored by Student interference in a process which Development. The survey asked had been traditionally a faculty students 140 questions, and function. Student Affairs in the specified that compliance was words of one faculty member compulsory to receive the "had no right to tie up the paperwork necessary for pre- academic process." Another registration advising. As Nov. 4 faculty member echoed faculty rolled around, the full implication opinion by stating that it was of Mr. Colangelo's complaint "inappropriate to have a was realized by a seemingly condition on registration. . . it unaware faculty. Many other belongs to faculty and not Student students feeling as Mr. Colangelo Affairs." did had also not filled out and turned in the surveys for similar On Wednesday, Nov. 6, a and-or different reasons. By meeting between faculty early Monday afternoon, many spokesmen and the president faculty advisors began to realize took place to resolve the problem. that Colangelo was not simply It was decided at this juncture blowing off steam, but had in that filling out the survey would essence sent out an early warning not be mandatory and would not that faculty and administration be tied to pre-registration. To the were dilatory in interpreting. credit of all people involved, and As more and more sophomore by all accounts, the problem was students began to turn up for resolved peacefully. Most faculty advising without their Dreadvising sheets and harboring complaints, the faculty began to Continued from Page 9 act. For the faculty, one of the main concerns was simply the
Administration's View By FRANK RAIO It is important for the Longwood community to understand the other side of the Involvement Project story; the administrators taking part in the program feel that: 1) The survey was a success, 2) The Involvement Project is a valuable part of a Longwood education, 3) Proper procedure was observed when completion of the survey by sophomores was linked to pre-registration. Student Development Educators Kathe Taylor and Bill Moore, who along with Barb Gorski and Meredith Strom make up the Involvement Project Group, told the Rotunda that although disappointed and surprised by the sudden opposition, the Sophomore survey phase of the Involvement Project appears to be an overall success. The Involvement Project has been in the works for several years; directly related to the "Fourteen Goals," the project is
an innovation in higher education's never-ending effort to allow students to "get more out of their tuition dollar." In fact, Bill Moore had been away all last week at a conference where he made an Involvement Project presentation to "impressed" collegues who are similarly charged with the responsibility of getting students to "try to think about how their time is spent and get the most out of their investment." The Sophomore survey is only a small part of the Student Development Educators' effort to "make the fourteen goals more meaningful than just words," Taylor said. The survey is a series of questions which, in Taylor's words, "make a snapshot picture of the student's past year." Students filled out the questionnaire and turned them in to the Student Development office. The surveys were returned to the students in small group discussions scheduled throughout the past week. Within
these groups, administrators guide the third semester students through a review of the responses. This one-hour meeting provides "assessment and feedback" according to Moore, allowing students to take a look back at their freshmen year and perhaps encouraging them to get more out of their remaining years at Longwood. Taylor explains that sophomores were chosen as the target group because freshmen had demonstrated in a "pilot survey" last spring, that first-year students were "too academicoriented" to think about getting more out of college; making grades and getting acclaimated to college life was enough of a burden. The mere title, "Involvement Project," demonstrates the desirability of having participation mandatory; if students voluntarily took part in such programs, the Involvement Project itself would be unnecessary. (Continued on Page 9
The Heat Source Of Longwood College By JOHNNY C. PASTINO The IiOngwood Boiler Room is located beneath the large 140 foot smoke-stack. In 1971, two of the four coal-fired boilers were converted to burn fuel oil. The other two boilers were put on standby for emergency use only. Some time later the idea of using wood chips was introduced. The use of wood chips involved some modifications to the two coalfired boilers. This change from
oil to wood chips has reduced fuel cost dramatically, consequently contributing to the overall Commonwealth's economy. The location of Longwood College is in the heartland of Virginia where there is an abundance of forest products. Therefore, it was, and is, logical to make use of the wood chips and sawdust for our source of fuel. Currently, wood chips and sawdust are furnished at a cost of
$15.50-ton from a main supplier to about $21.00-ton from incidental suppliers. The wood chips and sawdust is obtained from several (up to 6) suppliers because no single supplier has the source and-or transportation facilities to meet our requirements during the winter season. The fuel utilization varies from about 300 tons in May to over 1,500 tons in December. The amount of savings during (Continued on Page 5)