CFC responds to Long Range Planning Report

College Faculty react to community building

According to the initial report on the long range planning process, it is time for a change at Oberlin. According to many faculty members, there simply isn't enough time to change. At the College Faculty (CF) meeting Tuesday both long range planning and the lack of time faculty have to focus on it were discussed.

Some say that these problems are nothing new. Arguing that nothing changes, Professor of Classics James Helm produced a small slip of paper from his wallet. "I carry this around with me," Helm said, reading off examples of changes made in the last 30 years as the College attempted to make faculty lives simpler. The introduction of fall break and reading period were just two examples Helm cited in his litany.

"As far as I can tell," Helm said, "none of those have done any good and I think I know the reason. We have high expectations. Internal not external compulsion leads to frenetic activity. And I see no reason to change our expectations."

The CF met after a three month hiatus. After Professor of Classics Tom Van Nortwick presented a short report from the General Faculty Committee, President Nancy Dye launched into an introduction of the recently issued report on long range planning focus groups. During discussion of the long range planning report, the busy pace of Oberlin and the difficulty of changing that was brought up.

According to Dye, two major issues have emerged from the long range planning process.

"How do we excite ourselves about our intellectual and academic lives?" said Dye. "And how do we in a liberal arts college make sense of integrating teaching and scholarship?"

Apparently, the first issue generated little excitement, as faculty chose to concentrate on the second question posed by Dye: "How do we define and build a sense of community that is a diverse community?"

"I was moved by the nostalgia or desire for community," said Professor of Art Bill Hood. Hood then harkened back to a far earlier time in his explanation of community. "I just asked Tom [Van Nortwick] for the etymology of the word college. Turns out college means to be bound together or to read together."

Dye said she feels the College needs a place to come together as a community. "It is no great secret that I have a desire to build a student union," Dye said.

Hood commented that the CF had not met in three months. "One of the most effective ways for a community to fall apart is to not sit down and talk to each other," Hood said. "I just want to make another plea that we come together when we don't have to be together."

Dye responded positively to Hood's comment, reminding faculty of the convocation with Cornel West that officially launched the planning process. The convocation was styled after the all-college meetings that students were once asked to attend every week in Finney Chapel. "I hear from alumni how wonderful those Thursday assemblies were," said Dye. "I would be happy to reinstate them."

As the clock ticked away and faculty members began to trickle out of the meeting, Professor of Politics Marc Blecher suggested that building a community might absorb too much time. "I think the biggest barrier to all this is the amount of work we all do," Blecher said. "Everyone's smiling because everyone knows this. I wouldn't come on a Thursday when there's no agenda. I sometimes don't come on Thursday when there is an agenda."

Faculty members agreed that the frantic pace of college life was ripe for discussion.

"My own reaction when I got here was my amazement that students were expected to do for three hours credit what I did as an undergraduate for four credit hours," said Professor of History Gary Kornblith.

In response to the complaints of mounting time constraints, Acting Dean of the College Clayton Koppes called for adjournment promptly at 6 p.m.