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The St. Ignatius Institute : A Closer Look by Steven Spinali The Saint Ignatius Institute, surely the most controversial development in the University of San Francisco curriculum in some time, has recently been the center of attention - not only for students of the Hilltop — but also nationally. Articles in The National Catholic Reporter. America, and, of course. The Foghorn have heralded a fascination for an academic program which embodies tne °'d trad*1'011 oi Jesuit tradition with heavy doses of traditionalist theology, classical philosophy and the Great Books. Because of the Institute's seeming popularity (it now boasts apprixi- mately 160 members), a number of people have registered curiosity as to the nature of the program itself and the type of person who would be willing to enroll in it. The type of person who would join the Saint Ignatius Institute would need to be a very highly motivated student, indeed. In fact, all of the Institute students interviewed for this article agreed unanimously that the curriculum is very challenging, time-consuming, and, at times, quite difficult. "Sure, the Institute is difficult," one student admitted, "but it's worth it, all in all. . . I'm a pre-Med student, so you can imagine how much work I put into school." Another student agreed. "Some people have dropped out of the S.I. Institute because it was too demanding, but most of the students in the progam really enjoy the work. It's a pretty motivated bunch of people..." Just how demanding is it? The Institute program consists of eighty units — all in mandatory subjects - which, by nature of its extensiveness , leaves only five subjects outside of the SII for an average liberal arts student to take. Pre-med, pre-dental. and science majors, with their major requirements, cannot take any other courses but SII subjects. Interestingly, though, most Institute students willingly harvest the chaff with the wheat. "1 won't be able to take many other subjects besides these (the SII offerings)." one girl stated. "I feel sort of limited, and there are some courses that other teachers offer that I'd really like to take, but that's life." Some other students felt no limitation whatsoever, arguing that the Institute presented "a fairly wide spectrum of subjects." The criticism, however, has not centered around the variety of subjects, but rather at the conservative orientation of some of the SII courses. All of the Saint Ignatius Institute students interviewed agreed that their academic program was very conservative and traditionalist. Leaning back to the old traditions of Jesuit education, the average SII pupil will Continued on page 10 jlan 3francteca Jfogfyorn Volume 73 Number 4 I'niversity of San Francisco April 28,1978 Committee Offers Proposals by Angela McNulty In the Fall 1977 semester the USF Faculty Association established the Committee on Grading Practices. The Committee, headed by Dr. S.J. Huxley, sought to recommend possible solutions to the ills of the grading system currently used at USF. Just this last week, in its final official meeting this year, the Committee formulated a summary report of its activities and proposals. The Committee hoped to specifically alleviate differential grading standards among faculty and to curb the current trend in grade inflation. In a 1975 study performed by the University Senate it was determined that the current grading system was most useful in determining student capabilities in the area of their specialty. The study revealed that Graduate Schools frown on the use of the pass/fail or credit/no credit options. Due to the nationwide increase in the average campus GPA and the corresponding steep decline in the average scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Test, employers and Graduate Schools are sceptical of college grading standards. Both have resorted to, and rely on, their own tests of ability. Interviews and references become increasingly . ciritical determinants of success. Evaluating the different grading -*'andards among the various profes sors here at USF was the second subject of the Committee's attention. Dr. Huxley felt that if the professor's standards could not be equalized ■ then in all fairness the student should at least be aware of the varying standards. The Committee surveyed both the Dr. Huxley is chairman ofthe committee on grading practices. Senate Allocates Activities Fees by Brian O'Connor The ASUSF budget sessions for various clubs on campus ran from Monday through Thursday of this week. This was the culmination of many hours of cooperative work between the organizations and the members of the student government. The completion of this process determined where and how the entire ASUSF funds (your student activity fee) will be spent next year. From all the club's proposed budgets submitted to him, student body president Aaron Lee gave his recommended budget to the Senate last Tuesday, April 18. Initial negative reaction to what some members thought were the inadequacies of this budget led to the drawing up of "Budget Recommendation B," a counter-proposal to the President's. The seven people involved in this second budget were Michael J. Kane, David A. Cruz, Fred Schleup, Joe Schunk, Ava McWashington, Edward Day, and John G. Sheehan. Among the objections that make up the body of this recommendation: the inadequate allocations for such organizations as ISA, College Player's, KUSF, RPC. and Medusa's; no allocations for the ASUSF general fund, the Legal Office for Student Trauma, CAB, and the Non-Residents Commuter Council; and the recommendation that such organizations as Delta Sigma Pi, Tri Beta, Embers, and Alpha Sigma Nu should not have budgets. Senator McWashington in particular said she was "very upset" with the original budget. Each budget session lasted from 6:00 to 11:30. Each club had 15 minutes to argue for their proposed budget, and then another 15 for questions and debate. After this, the budget was voted on. Details of the new budget were unavailable at press time; the full facts of the budget sessions will appear in our next issue. faculty and the students. Correspondence and discussions were held with other Bay Area Schools. Meetings with representatives of the Registrar's office, the Computer Center, and ASUSF were held to hammer out the resultant committee proposals. Ouestionnaires were returned by 129 faculty members (51 percent) and 775 students (26 percent of the undergraduates). "The most encouraging aspect of the surveys, however, was the fact that the responses of both groups paralleled each other in favoring by 60 to 70 percent the changes recommended in this report," stated Dr. Huxley. On the basis of their findings, the Committee recommends that a "Grades and Evaluations Report" be published each semester. This Report should include the following information: 1) the number of students in the class; 2) the percentage of grades awarded (A, B-,B+...W); 3) the resultant GPA based on this distribution (excluding the I's and W's); and 4) the mean score for each question from the student evaluations of the faculty member. The information would pertain to each course, section, and faculty member based on the data from the previous semester. lt is hoped that grade inflation will be curbed by this reform. Ideally, disparities in grading standards will be reduced as grade distributions become a matter of public record, according to the report. Students will have accurate information upon which to base their course selection with the timely release of these reports. The members of the Committee feel this will eliminate reliance upon rumor. The Committee further recommends that in addition to the official Continued on page 10
Object Description
Rating | |
Publication Date | 1978-04-28 |
Volume | 73 |
Issue | 4 |
Newpaper Title | San Francisco Foghorn |
Issue Title | San Francisco Foghorn Volume 73 Issue 4 |
Number of pages | 12 |
Page size (W x L) in inches | 11X17 |
Scanner setting -DPI | 300 |
Notable content | Senate Allocates Activities Fees |
Date Scanned | 2014-05-01 |
File Name | index.cpd |
Source | index.cpd |
Language | eng |
tag | foghorn |
Description
Newpaper Title | 1978042807304_01 |
File Name | 1978042807304_01.jpg |
Source | 1978042807304_01.jpg |
Language | eng |
Transcript | The St. Ignatius Institute : A Closer Look by Steven Spinali The Saint Ignatius Institute, surely the most controversial development in the University of San Francisco curriculum in some time, has recently been the center of attention - not only for students of the Hilltop — but also nationally. Articles in The National Catholic Reporter. America, and, of course. The Foghorn have heralded a fascination for an academic program which embodies tne °'d trad*1'011 oi Jesuit tradition with heavy doses of traditionalist theology, classical philosophy and the Great Books. Because of the Institute's seeming popularity (it now boasts apprixi- mately 160 members), a number of people have registered curiosity as to the nature of the program itself and the type of person who would be willing to enroll in it. The type of person who would join the Saint Ignatius Institute would need to be a very highly motivated student, indeed. In fact, all of the Institute students interviewed for this article agreed unanimously that the curriculum is very challenging, time-consuming, and, at times, quite difficult. "Sure, the Institute is difficult," one student admitted, "but it's worth it, all in all. . . I'm a pre-Med student, so you can imagine how much work I put into school." Another student agreed. "Some people have dropped out of the S.I. Institute because it was too demanding, but most of the students in the progam really enjoy the work. It's a pretty motivated bunch of people..." Just how demanding is it? The Institute program consists of eighty units — all in mandatory subjects - which, by nature of its extensiveness , leaves only five subjects outside of the SII for an average liberal arts student to take. Pre-med, pre-dental. and science majors, with their major requirements, cannot take any other courses but SII subjects. Interestingly, though, most Institute students willingly harvest the chaff with the wheat. "1 won't be able to take many other subjects besides these (the SII offerings)." one girl stated. "I feel sort of limited, and there are some courses that other teachers offer that I'd really like to take, but that's life." Some other students felt no limitation whatsoever, arguing that the Institute presented "a fairly wide spectrum of subjects." The criticism, however, has not centered around the variety of subjects, but rather at the conservative orientation of some of the SII courses. All of the Saint Ignatius Institute students interviewed agreed that their academic program was very conservative and traditionalist. Leaning back to the old traditions of Jesuit education, the average SII pupil will Continued on page 10 jlan 3francteca Jfogfyorn Volume 73 Number 4 I'niversity of San Francisco April 28,1978 Committee Offers Proposals by Angela McNulty In the Fall 1977 semester the USF Faculty Association established the Committee on Grading Practices. The Committee, headed by Dr. S.J. Huxley, sought to recommend possible solutions to the ills of the grading system currently used at USF. Just this last week, in its final official meeting this year, the Committee formulated a summary report of its activities and proposals. The Committee hoped to specifically alleviate differential grading standards among faculty and to curb the current trend in grade inflation. In a 1975 study performed by the University Senate it was determined that the current grading system was most useful in determining student capabilities in the area of their specialty. The study revealed that Graduate Schools frown on the use of the pass/fail or credit/no credit options. Due to the nationwide increase in the average campus GPA and the corresponding steep decline in the average scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Test, employers and Graduate Schools are sceptical of college grading standards. Both have resorted to, and rely on, their own tests of ability. Interviews and references become increasingly . ciritical determinants of success. Evaluating the different grading -*'andards among the various profes sors here at USF was the second subject of the Committee's attention. Dr. Huxley felt that if the professor's standards could not be equalized ■ then in all fairness the student should at least be aware of the varying standards. The Committee surveyed both the Dr. Huxley is chairman ofthe committee on grading practices. Senate Allocates Activities Fees by Brian O'Connor The ASUSF budget sessions for various clubs on campus ran from Monday through Thursday of this week. This was the culmination of many hours of cooperative work between the organizations and the members of the student government. The completion of this process determined where and how the entire ASUSF funds (your student activity fee) will be spent next year. From all the club's proposed budgets submitted to him, student body president Aaron Lee gave his recommended budget to the Senate last Tuesday, April 18. Initial negative reaction to what some members thought were the inadequacies of this budget led to the drawing up of "Budget Recommendation B," a counter-proposal to the President's. The seven people involved in this second budget were Michael J. Kane, David A. Cruz, Fred Schleup, Joe Schunk, Ava McWashington, Edward Day, and John G. Sheehan. Among the objections that make up the body of this recommendation: the inadequate allocations for such organizations as ISA, College Player's, KUSF, RPC. and Medusa's; no allocations for the ASUSF general fund, the Legal Office for Student Trauma, CAB, and the Non-Residents Commuter Council; and the recommendation that such organizations as Delta Sigma Pi, Tri Beta, Embers, and Alpha Sigma Nu should not have budgets. Senator McWashington in particular said she was "very upset" with the original budget. Each budget session lasted from 6:00 to 11:30. Each club had 15 minutes to argue for their proposed budget, and then another 15 for questions and debate. After this, the budget was voted on. Details of the new budget were unavailable at press time; the full facts of the budget sessions will appear in our next issue. faculty and the students. Correspondence and discussions were held with other Bay Area Schools. Meetings with representatives of the Registrar's office, the Computer Center, and ASUSF were held to hammer out the resultant committee proposals. Ouestionnaires were returned by 129 faculty members (51 percent) and 775 students (26 percent of the undergraduates). "The most encouraging aspect of the surveys, however, was the fact that the responses of both groups paralleled each other in favoring by 60 to 70 percent the changes recommended in this report," stated Dr. Huxley. On the basis of their findings, the Committee recommends that a "Grades and Evaluations Report" be published each semester. This Report should include the following information: 1) the number of students in the class; 2) the percentage of grades awarded (A, B-,B+...W); 3) the resultant GPA based on this distribution (excluding the I's and W's); and 4) the mean score for each question from the student evaluations of the faculty member. The information would pertain to each course, section, and faculty member based on the data from the previous semester. lt is hoped that grade inflation will be curbed by this reform. Ideally, disparities in grading standards will be reduced as grade distributions become a matter of public record, according to the report. Students will have accurate information upon which to base their course selection with the timely release of these reports. The members of the Committee feel this will eliminate reliance upon rumor. The Committee further recommends that in addition to the official Continued on page 10 |
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