<p>I have a few opinions on UR Id like to share:</p>
<p>1) The food at the Heilman Dining Center is fantastic. It is worthy of its namesake, Chancellor E. Bruce Heilman, the living legend. The employees at the Dining Center are very helpful and cheerful.
2) The faculty is great. They really care about the students, teaching and learning.<br>
3) The academic programs are well thought out. You can a great education here.
4) Everyone already knows how beautiful the campus is and how much money is available, I wont go into that.
5) Most of the students are happy. If you are attractive and socially outgoing, as most of the students are, it is a great place to be. Remember the coolest, attractive, kids in high school? Its like that.<br>
6) One might hear that UR is a big party school and also hear that it is a great school academically. How can that be? My view is that it is indeed both. But not both for the same student. More than other colleges, the student body is more polarized, both academically and socially. There are some students that are interested academically and others that are all about the partying, playing dress-up and living the country club life. There isnt much of a happy medium.<br>
7) The administration loves the school and believes it is a special place. That can be good and can be bad. If YOU, as a student, have an issue then it is automatically YOUR fault, because there is certainly nothing wrong with the school, in their opinion.
8) It is time for the college coordinate system (men and women in separate colleges ) to disappear. It has more disadvantages than advantages. The duplication of high-paying staff jobs is but one disadvantage. Look at the org chart if you want to see a top-heavy organization. UR -- a low teacher:student ratio is a good thing. A low admin:student ratio is not.<br>
9) UR is going to a unit based academic plan from a credit" based in Fall 2008. The plan is ill-conceived. It smacks of being an edict that comes from an ivory tower and is left to the faculty and students to figure out. Does anyone think it is a good idea? Woe to the current students when they see how their current credits translate. Why didnt they grandfather it and start fresh with the class of 2012?</p>
<p>I have a few more observations, I'll be glad to share if anyone is interested.</p>
<p>Araneus, I'm interested to see what other reasons you feel the coordinate system is more of a negative than a positive. </p>
<p>From personal experience from dealing with the (former) Dean(s) (Mateer and Bisese), I felt that since they dealt with just the guys, they were able to have a more personal relationship with the students and "got" me. I was much more open to going to them if I had a problem with something than I would have if it was just one dean, and I would have likely had to talk to an associate dean first and work my way up the ladder.</p>
<p>As far as having two student councils, I think that there are some communication issues between the two that could be better resolved, but they're able to address issues pertaining to a specific sex more easily and it does offer more leadership opportunities for students. </p>
<p>Aside from some traditions (Investiture, Ring Dance, Proclamation, RC Formal, etc.) and the two things I mentioned up top, I don't think the coordinate system really made a lot of difference in the daily life of students and thought that the more personal interaction between the Dean's office and students was a huge benefit. I'm interested in seeing your thoughts on it.</p>
<p>Hi Spiders05,
Ive been reading your posts since last spring and I really admire your respectful comments and your considerable research.<br>
Here are some thoughts about the coordinate college system
- As you said, it doesnt make a lot of difference in daily life
- The cost per student to support the duplicated positions does make a difference in the very high tuition, so if it doesnt make a big difference to quality of life, why increase the tuition to support the additional positions?
- Separating men and women, although it really doesnt have a great impact on daily life, may have made sense 50 years ago. But in todays climate, where both sexes are equally represented in the workplace, learning to work with the opposite sex should be encouraged in every way.
- Your comments about your positive personal relationship with ex-mens dean Steve Bisese is more representative of Steve personally, not of the coordinate college. I suspect women would have found him equally supportive if he was Dean of all students. He has a great reputation. But would you use the same argument if you were a current student and found your interactions with the new men's dean very disappointing? Wouldnt you then say "I wish I could work with Dr. Landphair." </p>
<p>To continue with my opinions
10) Working with admissions and financial aid is a real pleasure. Both groups are full of professional, organized, caring people.<br>
11) Ive seen posts that call UR a school for rich kids, then others stating about many students attending with very low family incomes. My observation is -- they are both correct. What is missing is middle class. Wealthy families can afford the high tuition. Lower income people can attend because the need-based aid is VERY generous. It is the students with families in the 100K to 150K EFC that find it difficult to attend, unless the student gets a Richmond Scholar award.<br>
12) Richmond Scholar Program People on this site are optimistic about their chances of winning this award. Apparently, it does happen for 50 or so students each year. But I dont think there is appreciation of how difficult it is obtain this award. Perhaps you need to be in the top 1% of all high school graduates, with a hook.<br>
13) The CORE course is designed so that all freshman are reading the same book and have something in common to talk about. It would be great if there was 1 conversation about the book for every 10 one hears about "how much I drank last night" or "where's the party" tonight.</p>
<p>The cost per student is negligible for the duplicated positions. Even if you have $500,000 a year in potential savings by combining the two offices, you save $140 a year in tuition per student on $40,000+ a year. I also believe that a good portion of the expenses have been endowed, which means the money to cover the expenses doesn't come from tuition dollars. I think the difference in the quality of life was worth more than the $140 a year in potential savings, but that's just one person's opinion. </p>
<p>How, other than in student government positions, are men and women separated? </p>
<p>Despite my admiration for Bisese, it wasn't just because he was a great guy that I enjoyed having a Dean for the men. It was because he (and any RC dean) understood the issues that pertained more to men than women, because that was what he dealt with all the time. I certainly wouldn't have felt comfortable discussing some topics with Dr. Landphair despite the fact that I also enjoy her personally. I knew of a couple of girls who had various eating disorders and the WC Dean's office was able to really help with that because they dealt specifically with women and the issues that really effect them. I credit the coordinate approach for allowing for more personal interaction between the students and their respective Deans and the specialization assoaciated with dealing with one specific sex.</p>
<p>I'm curious about what year you are, as I know my opinions on a lot of things at UR changed as I spent more time at the school (and not always for the best).</p>
<p>In terms of Deans Landphair v. Bisese--I've heard good things about both of them. As a woman, if I was to go to the dean with personal problems, I would be a lot more comfortable going to a woman. </p>
<p>As for the CORE course...well, I think the problem lies in the fact that most of the books we read are philosophical texts--Freud, Marx, Augustine, Beauvoir, etc. I have talked with some friends about the texts out of class, largely Beauvoir, but for most of them, I think students are happy to leave them in the classroom. You also have to keep in mind that this class also offers the incoming class a philosophical foundation, so that in other classes, a professor can refer to use value or libido and the students will know what he/she's talking about. I've found the latter to be the most useful part about it. Core can be boring as heck while you're taking it, but it pays off if you have a good instructor and actually apply yourself to learning the material.</p>
<p>Spiders05,
I am not a student. Over the past year, I had to work with the administration on an issue of mutual interest to us. I spent significant time on campus, talking with students and just hanging around getting a feel for how things worked. I witnessed an insidious underside to the university that most students will fortunately not get a chance to see. I will keep the particulars of that incident to myself as it was somewhat unique and hopefully will not happen to anyone else. I am trying to share my opinions in an objective as I can be manner. Perhaps I am not objective, but I am trying to be, because among the handful of people that I find reprehensible, there were far many more that were outstanding.</p>
<p>I would say its all about finding the near perfect match between the college and you. Every college has its share of disadvantages and advantages. I'd rather look at the what are the 'good' things UR has to offer. </p>