by The Cowl Editor on January 19, 2017
News
By Sabrina Guilbeault ’18
Assit. News Editor
At their first meeting of the spring semester this past Tuesday, Student Congress welcomed guest speakers Charles Haberle, Yvonne Arruda, and Tom King on behalf of the Course Series Committee to discuss matters related to the scheduling of courses offered at Providence College. Traditionally, PC offers three class types: a 50 minute class that meets three times a week, a 75 minute class that meets twice a week, and a marathon class that meets once a week. There are few night classes offered by the College other than those available through the School of Continuing Education, which can only be taken once a semester by undergraduate students.
The speakers asked for feedback from the students present, asking which class types students preferred and how receptive students may be to taking classes later in the day. King, who spoke from the perspective of Faculty Senate, explained that in the past few years, PC has seen a shift in that the administration has been encouraging faculty to abandon the “sage on a stage” model of teaching—the model of teaching in which the professor simply lectures the entire class—to a more innovative and interactive model of teaching.
Although many might say this shift is a positive one, King explained that it can result in professors needing longer classes to generate meaningful discussion, and can create a demand for more 75 minute biweekly courses rather than three 50 minute classes. Teaching space available in both the schedule and on campus hinders the College’s ability to give every professor the class type of his or her preference.
When asked for their perspective, feedback from the Congress included making biweekly classes available by having some courses scheduled on Mondays and Wednesdays, along with the current courses that are scheduled Mondays and Thursdays as well as Tuesdays and Thursdays. Other feedback encouraged the scheduling of classes later in the day, making sure courses required for graduation are not held at the same time, and for the Course Series Schedule to keep long internships in mind when creating course schedules. Students with any feedback on the matter are welcomed to email the committee at scheduling@providence.edu.
With no new or old legislation to be discussed this week, Congress took time during the rest of their meeting to make goals for the semester. As the Congress saw much legislation involving internal affairs last semester, many committees and classes recognized the need for Student Congress to work on legislation on more external affairs that will lead to the betterment of the student body. Students wanting to make change or students with any proposals for new legislation are encouraged to contact a member of Student Congress, or email the Legislative Committee Chair at hrayment@friars.providence.edu.
All students on campus are welcomed to attend next week’s meeting at 5:30 p.m. in Ruane LL05.