The University has made a major announcement three times over the past four academic breaks, raising questions about its commitment to student and faculty feedback in major decisions.
Student Trustee Darrick Nighthawk Evensen grad weighs in on the meaning of transparency on campus and pledges his own transparency on campus discussions between students and administrators.
Faculty members who had been eager to see the University’s strategic planning task force reports got their wish last Friday when Provost Kent Fuchs released the documents to the public. Most faculty members have praised the decision as a giant step towards greater transparency in the “Reimagining Cornell” process. According to the Dean of Faculty’s Office, approximately 27 people have read the reports thus far — at least 13 of whom were University faculty members.
One of the most popular majors on campus, biology serves as a gateway to the medical profession, as well as a department for crucial research in areas such as pharmaceutics and genetics. Although we applaud the attention paid to the major in the form of a recent revamping, we are, nonetheless, disappointed with the low level of transparency on the part of the Biology Curriculum Transition Committee throughout the process.
Re: “Bio Major Removes Intro Course; Two Electives to Take Its Place,” News, Nov. 2
This article states: “The instructors of the introductory courses, however, did not play a major role during the deliberation process” and that “the members of the committee were unavailable for comment.”
Greetings, readers. I’m Rob Tricchinelli, and I’m The Sun’s new public editor. My role is mainly to be The Sun’s reader representative, responding to reader comments and feedback and assessing coverage. I’m not a member of the paper’s staff in a traditional sense. Instead, I’m an independent “editor” – appointed instead of elected by the staff.
But before I get to what I want to do, here’s a little bit about me.
The Sun’s March 23 editorial entitled “On the Outside Looking In” is, frankly, a bit perplexing when I think about the openness that distinguishes President Skorton’s administration. When it comes to the well-being of our university, there can never be too much communication, especially in these times of financial challenge. A critical ingredient in that process is transparency of decision making, which has been a top priority for President Skorton from the very start of his administration. And, I am proud to say, that the administration and the Board of Trustees have redoubled efforts to be more transparent since the beginning of the financial crisis last fall.
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