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Dolan, Calhoun hold town hall meeting

The University Task Force on General Education plans to reevaluate distribution requirements which haven’t been changed in nearly 20 years, Dean of the College Jill Dolan said in a joint town hall meeting on Thursday.

Dolan explained that working to reevaluate the general education curriculum is one of her priorities and that her goal is to see where the campus climate fits in the discussion.

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Vice President for Campus Life W. Rochelle Calhoun said that although the University is diverse, it struggles with acknowledging plurality within its student body. She added that an institutional level effort to focus on diversity and inclusion would improve students’ experiences and well-being.

Calhoun said she is excited for the addition of a new position in diversity and inclusion in her office and looks forward to a new appointee in the upcoming months. The role would include working closely with different parts of the University and working with staff and students to ensure the University is making progress toward diversity, equity and inclusion, she said.

The individual would work with different centers such as the Undergraduate Student Government and the Carl A. Fields Center to better the experience of all students. Tracking student climate on campus is also a priority, Calhoun explained.

Dolan and Calhoun both noted that their goals are to connect students with the University to demystifythe institutionand build a stronger relationshipbetween students and the University. Calhoun added that their jobs are to determine students’ needs and actualizing those goals.

Other topics discussed include expansion of residential colleges and grade deflation.

Dolan said that two-year residential colleges such as Wilson and Forbes are low on housing but have difficulty expanding due to little available space for displaced students as a result of construction. The 2016 Campus Plan is currently focusing on plans for rehabilitations of older buildings, she said.

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“There’s a desire to keep expanding [them] into four-year colleges, which will happen in the future,” she noted.

Dolan said that the current residential college system is a good model for student collaboration that will remain in place for the future. She said she hopes that more academic experiences take place within the residential colleges to have the colleges truly embody living and learning communities. A Residential College Task Force Report will be published in the near future with recommendations for potential residential college expansion, she added.

On grade deflation, Dolan said the majority of students are pleased that the grade deflation policy is no longer in place but noted that many departments have different grading scales. Part of her role as a dean is to encourage different departments to publish rubrics and make grading policies more transparent to students, she added.

Dolan said that she only has a year’s worth of data so far on grade deflation and a significant data collection will occur in the next two or three years.

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The town hall meeting was held in McCosh 62 at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday.