Student-faculty ratio expounded

Author: Lisie Mehlman

Admissions data affecting the College's national ranking was hotly contested among the faculty, who also discussed grade inflation and the Starr Restoration Project at a meeting on Monday in John M. McCardell, Jr. BiCentennial Hall.

The first order of business presented in the packed auditorium was the issue of the faculty's role in the admissions process. Associate Professor of Psychology Barbara Hofer spoke about the Admissions Office's interest in the input of professors while formulating their decisions about which student candidates to accept. Comments from professors such Charles A. Dana Professor of Political Science Murray Dry and Stewart Professor of English and Environmental Studies John Elder proved particularly helpful to admissions officers deliberating about students who were really on the brink. Hofer, asked if this was a practice that faculty members felt should be continued.?

Following Hofer's address, the meeting turned to the topic of the newly released student-faculty ratio, which has improved from 11:1 to 9:1. Faculty members like Vice President for Academic Affairs and Professor of English Alison Byerly voiced skepticism of the rather sudden, extremely positive change in the reported ratio. President Ronald D. Liebowitz and Dean of Planning and Secretary of the College John Emerson explained that, in the past, the College's method of calculating the ratio had differed greatly from the method outlined by U.S. News & World Report and followed by the College's peer institutions. Leibowitz explained that although the College's previous method is one that the administration considered more honest and accurate, it has now adopted the more common method, which has yielded a lower student-faculty ratio. Leibowitz claimed that by reporting the 11:1 ratio, the College was "handicapping" itself. Emerson explained that the old method was "more preferable and relevant. The problem is that there is no way of getting comparable data from peer institutions." The primary difference in calculations results from how part-time faculty is accounted for statistically. The school feels it is important that it compare "apples to apples," according to Emerson.

Another significant change in reporting is one that is less positive for the College and has been advised against. For the first time, the College will release all the reported SAT scores of admitted students rather than the scores of only those who chose to use them in their application. This will significantly widen the SAT score range of admitted students, a range that was previously smaller than those of both Williams and Amherst.

When a professor inquired as to why the college cannot simply forgo participation in the U.S. News & World Report rankings, President Liebowitz explained that the journal would obtain the necessary information anyway, and added that in the past, Reed College made the decision not to participate and, as a result, found itself ranked 64th.

Next on the agenda, Bill Heart spoke about the Ad Hoc Education Affairs Committee on Grading that formed in response to discussions regarding college grade inflation. The Committee, headed by Associate Professor of Biology Andrea Lloyd, has made recommendations for policy changes that it will share electronically with the faculty. Soon after, the Committee will convene open meetings to discuss its recommendations, and those recommendations will be brought to the floor and voted upon in April.

Finally, Leibowitz took the floor and reported on the two primary decisions made in a previous board meeting. He updated the faculty on the Starr Restoration Project, which has recently seen an increase in estimated costs from $20 million to $36 million, as well as on the College's Comprehensive Fee, which saw the lowest increase this year in comparison to all peer institutions. Lastly, he informed the faculty about conversations he had in Student Government Affairs meetings regarding student consumption of alcohol. He said that it was "astounding to hear" how much alcohol students are consuming and that, in his view, it was "out of control."