Month: August 2007

What 1st years need to know

AdCil (Administrative Council) meets every Tuesday at 8am in the Main Building Conference Room, and is made ¥up of student, staff and faculty members. Chaired by the president, the council votes on the decisions the he has to make. Certain matters discussed during these sessions are closed to the public, however many are open.

ComCil (Community Council) is in charge of community life and CG, is keeper of the Legislative Code, and meets on Thursdays at 3pm in the Main Building Council Room. It is made up of student and non-student members, a Union representative, and it is a public forum.

CGC (Campus Greening Council) explores alternative energy, is responsible for recycling, and ensures purchased products to be used on campus are recyclable. It is also in charge of the Community Garden, and meetings are to be announced within the next week or so.

The Faculty Senate was devised a few years ago after a faculty retreat to address issues of governance. It consists of a Steering Committee which helps to receive and prioritize agenda, a Personnel Committee that deals with faculty review, promotion, and tenure, an Academic Review committee that evaluates faculty publications and student reviews, and a Curriculum Review Committee that works with curriculum development.

Postcard from Co-Op

The date of departure draws near, and my passport, for which I applied three months in advance, fails to arrive. Calling the Department of State only lands me in voicejail. I pester my local congressman, whose kindly-sounding office ladies assure me that they’re writing stern words on my behalf. Listening to them, I imagine a flurry of limp, kindly-sounding emails. I do not count on them.

The government has decided that travelers to Mexico and Canada must have passports, and underestimated the surge in demand. Across the country, people are getting their passports one, two days before their trips, or not at all. Lines at the passport office in DC begin at 4:30 in the morning. Meanwhile, public transportation—my only kind—starts at 7 AM. So three days before my plane leaves, I pack my sleeping bag and head into town to bed down in front of the office.

Continue reading Postcard from Co-Op

Open Letter to Antioch students by College Alumna

I just returned from a weekend in YSO and attended the open forum session with the Board of Trustees. As an alum (class of ’77), I had not been on campus since the late 1990s when I tried to interest my daughter in attending. My experience this weekend reminded me of why I have always loved Antioch and why I stayed after the 1973 strike.

Everything I have ever accomplished of any significance is due to my years at Antioch College (parenting included). I’m often asked how I learned the skills of my profession and I always credit my years at Antioch College. (I own a healthcare consulting firm.) I explain that I learned active listening through participation in AdCil and long meetings held to debate whatever issue was the hot topic on campus (including the ’73 strike). My classes emphasized critical thinking and the synthesis of multiple theories and ideas. During my work study job in the WYSO newsroom, under the careful mentoring of Mark Mericle, I tested my communication and analytic skills. Finally, I gained confidence and independence through the coop program/AEA experiences in Mississippi, New Orleans, Washington DC, and Mexico.

Continue reading Open Letter to Antioch students by College Alumna

Rising Concern about Struggling Library

The announcement of the Board of Trustees meeting in June to suspend the operations of the college sparked another series of serious staff cuts. It has left the remaining members of the college staff and faculty scrambling to cover workloads far greater than in years past. In February, the struggling college already had to eliminate twenty non-faculty positions.

As Jill Becker, Associate Professor of Dance, mentioned at the open meeting of the Board of Trustees on Saturday, services such as housekeeping and security have been cut, as well as the hours of the Olive Kettering Library on campus. While the library was formerly open Monday through Friday, 8:30am to 11:00pm, staff cuts have reduced the available hours considerably. Students and faculty now have to do without the library in the evenings and Sundays.

Continue reading Rising Concern about Struggling Library

Dispatches from Community Meeting

Beginning with applause and admiration for literally every one on, around, and off campus, and ending in voiced disappointment over the cutbacks on hot breakfast, this year’s fi rst community meeting covered a lot of ground in a little time (sort of). McGregor 113, fi lled with a lot of old faces, and several new ones, was immersed in applause and a recurring sense of Antioch pride every few minutes, which helped to lead to its lengthy two hour session. Continue reading Dispatches from Community Meeting