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The College of Engineering and Applied
Science, for example, is steadily
increasing its activities; there is a
definite reorientation in that college
toward a very strong job market, and
its students are doing fantastically
well after graduation.
I am interested in maintaining and
improving the balance between the
humanities and the science and
technological departments. We don't
want a good reputation only in the
technological areas. The fact is that
we have super departments of
English, history, and philosophy. I
think we can improve the perception
of the University as a heavy
technological school. We must, to
survive the future.
How do you think we can do better in
academics at Rochester?
My hope for improvement in a
number of areas comes in redirecting
their focus. Take clusters, for example.
I am interested in pulling diverse
disciplines together in the total educational
process. It is possible to take
philosophers, anthropologists,
neurologists-all faculty, in short, that
have been well trained in their own
areas-and have them talk together,
teach together. Clusters of faculty
gathered together, you see. There is
an excitement generated when people
who know their own disciplines cold
bounce their ideas off professionals in
other fields. This excitement is just
terrific, it really adds juice to student
life and diversity to the educational
process. Some very exciting things
happen when you have faculty well
trained in disparate disciplines contributing
to one another. Not melting
old disciplinary lines, but mixing
them together so that new ideas are
generated.
We've talked some about faculty; what
about students? What kind of an education
does the University owe them?
A university should prepare
students for a lifetime following
graduation. University of Rochester
graduates should have a marketable
professional skill plus an education
that will last long after facts are
forgotten.
I believe that freshmen must be exposed
to senior faculty. Of course,
there is a certain amount of basic
knowledge that must be gained by
freshmen, and yes, we do that here in
large classes. But these large classes
are taught by the best faculty, by the
most qualified faculty, so that
students are exposed immediately to
the best academic minds.
For some years now we have been
having a great deal of success with
freshman preceptorials, which place
senior faculty in direct contact with
small freshman classes. Preceptorials
are interspersed with the larger,
necessary freshman classes so that
students are challenged both
individually and in groups during the
first year of their exposure to university
life.
This interaction between faculty
and students applies to interaction
between the graduate and
undergraduate programs as well.
There is a widespread belief that
graduate programs and graduate
students do not contribute to a
university as a whole.
This simply isn't true. It just won't
Another kind of faculty-student interaction. Intramural sports will get a boost from the new
sports and recreation complex scheduled for completion late this year. "I would like to see
the entire student body involved in the athletic center."
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