Renovation of Grace Hall

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Vol. XXI, No. 1 CABRINI COLLEGE, ~ADNOR, PA. October 14, 1974

Renovation of Grace Hall

By Fran MacDonald

Student protest at the announced change of Grace Hall into a theater and faculty offices has subsided only slightly after an official explanation was published by the Master Planning Committee.

This past summer, the resident facilities of Grace Hall were renovated to include the faculty offices of the Education, Psychology, Special Education, Early Childhood, and Mathematics Departments. The reasons for this move, as outlined by the Master Planning Committee, are complex and far reaching. The

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student reaction to this renovation, never- . theless, is one of indignation and protest.

Using dormitories for other purposes is not new at Cabrini. Several faculty offices were located last year in Woodcrest. The Master Planning Committee, in deciding to use Grace Hall as more than a dorm did so for several reasons. The large central recreation room located in the left wing of the building was a main reason. This type room could be found nowhere else on campus, and had excellent possibilities as a combination theater, concert hall and lecture hall.

Grace Hall's duplicated structure also made it extremely desirable as a combination faculty center and student residence, according to Dr. Frank Saul, Chairman of the Master Planning Committee. The faculty offices in Grace Hall could be easily separated from the resident facilities. When the faculty offices were located near students' rooms in Woodnest, the faculty was bothered by the student noise and the students were inhibited by faculty presence. The large individual rooms, well suited for offices, further influenced the choice of Grace Nall.

The underutilization of dorm space also played a primary role in the final choice of Grace Hall as a combination resident hall and office building, according to Dr. Saul. Early la st semester the Master Planning Committee began to look for a suitable dorm for male students . After careful consideration , the left wing of Woodcrest was chosen. When a sufficient number of male students failed to reserve rooms in Woodnest, the Master Planning Committee decided to move female students onto the first floor of Woodcrest , thus freeing space in Grace Hall for other purposes. Grace Hall was already scheduled for renovation and improvements; therefore, it was an easy choice for faculty offices.

Student protest of the use of a portion of

Grace

Hall

as faculty

offices centered

around two issues: the timing of the announcement

of a final decision

and the

lack of consideration

for the opinion of the

students

involved. Students

were engaged

in preparation

for final exams and the

selection

of rooms

for the

up-coming

semester

had already

been completed

at

the time of the announcement.

This left

the involved students with no time to fight

the decision, little or no choice in rooms

for the upcoming semester , and literally no

say in this

aspect

of the governing

of

residential

life, states

a letter

to the

Master

Planning

Committee

written

by

Lorraine Ostrowski, in an attempt to summarize

student

opinion .

The Master

Planning

Committee,

in a

reply,

blamed

the

timing

of the

announcement

on the

indeci ion of male

residency . The deadline for room selection

was repeatedl y extended in the hope of at ­

tracting

more

male

residents.

Thus

valuable

time was wasted, says Dr. Saul.

There

was,

he explained,

no time

for

debate or e\"en a poll of student

opinion .

Students

also

felt

that

the

transformation

of part

of Grace

Hall

into

(Continued on page 5)

American Studies Major Offered

by Beth Schweitzer Few fields have grown more rapidly in the last twenty-five years than American

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Studies. Cabrini students now have the opportunityto study American Studies as a major or combined major .

The major was proposed by Mrs . Sharon Schwarze of Cabrini College's Philosophy department . She said that the interdisciplinaryAmerican Studies major is designed to meet several different needs . It wil 1 provide a well-focused interdisciplinary major in the American experience. The major will also make possible for students with additional concentration in other areas a double major which will give them electives in several disciplines and yet provide some measure of expertise in American Studies.

All the courses necessary for comp leting

a major in this field are offered at Cabrini

College.

The

required

courses

for the

American

Studies

include

English,

History,

Social Science, Philosophy,

and

Religion

courses.

Some

of the

upper

division courses are Survey of American

Literature,

American

Intellectual

Thought,

the

American

Religious

Experience

and American National

Government

. This

individualized

major

enables

a

student

to

design

an

individualized

educational

experience based on existing

courses

at

Cabrini.

In

addition,

an

American

Studies

background

would be

pa1ticularly

useful for students

planning

careers in teaching, law, government service

or communications.

TENURE

A New Policy

by Mary Beth Senkewicz

If a professor has a tenured

contract,

that means he /she cannot be fired except

for several

important

reasons;

they include

serious financial exigencies such as a

department

being phased out, moral turpitude,

and incompetence.

On most college campuses, the granting

of tenure

to worthy

professors

is undertaken

by

a

faculty

committee

designated

for that purpose. Prior to this

year tenure at Ca brini has been granted by

the administration.

As of this

1974-75

academic year, tenure will be handled by

the

Committee

of Academic

Freedom,

Rank , and Tenure,

a faculty

composed

committee.

There are several

ways in which this

procedure differs from the old one. One of

the main differences is that for the first

time students'

views concerning the tenure

candidates

will

be

taken

into

consideration.

The student

evaluations

from

several years back will be used by the subcommittees

examining

each

candidate

.

Secondly, there will be substantial

alumni

input

into

this

matter

which was not

present previously . A random sampling of

the

candidate's

graduated

majors

and

other alumni have been contacted and will

reply via letter concerning the candidate.

Lastly, it is different because the faculty

themselves

handles

the whole procedure.

Ms. Kathleen Gavigan , a member of the

committee,

explained

the reason

for the

change. She said that it was custom in the

academic

community

for a faculty com- .

mittee

to handle

tenure.

Thus,

Cabrini

College joins

itself

more strongly

with

academic

tradition

in using

a tenure

evaluation

procedure

followed in a long

line of creditable

ins t itutions .

The purpose of this committee is to insure

academic

freedom,

encourage

intellectual

and professional

growth among

the faculty, and to supervise the granting

of tenure

and

rank,

according

to the

A.A.U.P .

(American

Association

of

University

Professors)

A professor

becomes

a candidate

for

tenure in the fall of his/her sixth full-time

year. A subcommittee

reviews the candidate's

qualifications

for tenure, judging

on teaching

performance,

counseling

and

other contributions

to students,

academic

achievement,

promise of continued growth

and excellence,

and his/her

value

as a

respected representative

of the college and

the community.

Currently

there are five

candidates

for tenure: Dr. Marice Bezdek,

English Department;

Mr. Robert McGee,

and Mr. Gerald Satlow, both of the Math

Department;

Miss

Jo-Ann

Rondini,

Chemistry

Department;

and Mr s. Irene

Rachat,

Language

Department

.