by Gerald E. Lang
Dr. Lang is provost and vice president for academic affairs
and research.
WVU has focused much effort recently on enhancing student life outside the classroom. We have given attention to academic advising, student retention, and enrollment services. We have also made major efforts to build a sense of community, stimulate cultural and public affairs awareness, diminish alcohol abuse, and build closer ties between potential employers and students.
Operation Jump-Start, the Parents Club, and the Career Success Academy are examples of programs designed to focus on student success. These programs are working, and they reflect our slogan: Success. Expect it.
WVU is committed to providing students with a quality, value-added academic experience. With the growth of technology, an ever-expanding base of information and data, and a recognition that students learn and assimilate knowledge differently, a college education today is more complex than in the past. Students today must be prepared for a life of continual learning. Learning for them will not stop once they graduate.
As alumni, you can be proud of your University. The 1997 West Virginia Higher Education Report Card shows that WVU has the best entry standards, retention statistics, and graduation rate compared to other institutions in West Virginia. Our statistics are on par with those of other state land-grant universities.
Even so, we believe WVU students can achieve higher grades, develop more focus in the classroom, and improve study habits. We can further enhance student retention, provide more support for serious students, and develop a more intellectually curious atmosphere on our campus.
Our commission seeks to answer these questions:
- Are the existing WVU goals for undergraduate education adequate?
If not, how should they be adjusted to be more reflective of
expectations the University has for its graduates?
- What are the current academic expectations of faculty toward
student performance, students toward faculty, and faculty and
students of themselves? Are these perceptions appropriate?
- What is the academic profile of the typical WVU undergraduate?
How does this differ from what faculty believe the profile to
be?
- How is an undergraduate education at WVU distinguished from
one at a state college or comprehensive university? What component
does the institution's research mission add to undergraduate
education?
- How can the recommendations of the commission be placed in
the context of student learning outcomes assessment?
- What incentives must be in place to encourage academic units to adopt the commission's recommendations?
The results of the commission's work will lead to a better WVU, with more valuable degrees and a stronger national and international reputation. An alumnus recently remarked to me, "The goals of this commission may be your most difficult challenge yet." I agree. Yet, it is the atmosphere for learning that we create that gives WVU the reason to exist. What more noble cause could we have?
|
|
|
|
|