ADVISING MOVEMENT TAKES SHAPE
The movement to create a academic advising program of excellence for our students continues to move forward. A good number of our colleagues gathered on Tuesday, April 29 to discuss a number of issues that included the need for a guidebook, academic progress checklists, a database on student advising, selection of an appropriate advising model, and the creation of a discussion board. Two ad-hoc committees were created to handle the main issues. The Academic Advising Handbook ad-hoc committee is being co-chaired by Science Department Chair Laura Younger and Nursing and Allied Health Academic Advisor Martha Sealey and includes the following members:  Dr. Mary Boudreaux (STEM Division), Gery Frie (Construction Management), Dr. Sandra Harris (Title 3), Leigh Potts, (Title 3), Jeanne Stacy (Academic Learning Center), Leroy Waguespack (Computer Information Systems), and Rebecca Wesley (Veterinary Technology). The Student Advising Records ad-hoc committee is being co-chaired by Business and Social Sciences Department Chair Amy Pinero and Business and Social Sciences Division Academic Advisor Eric Whitfield and includes the following members: Nisha Aroskar (Business), Vinetta Frie (CSSK) Peter Klubek (Library), Marla Kameny (Business), and Krista Schmitt (Business). If you would like to be involved in either ad-hoc committee, please contact one of the co-chairs.

MEASURING TEACHING EFFECTIVENESS
Faculty Focus presents us with a timely article on an issue that we are currently wrestling with; namely student ratings of faculty. She writes, "When we talk about teaching effectiveness, it’s usually in the context of evaluation. Student ratings are frequently described as measures of teaching effectiveness, and that makes our understanding of the term important. Researcher Leslie Layne wondered whether students and teachers define the term similarly. If they don’t, Layne writes that understanding the differences “is crucial to faculty and administrators when interpreting student survey results.”

WHERE DO THE LIBERAL ARTS FIT
Dr. William Durden has written a very provocative opinion piece on the current state of affairs concerning liberal art degrees. He writes, "Americans don’t like cheaters. When it comes to how we learn and what we’re able to do with our acquired knowledge, a game has been going on. And many will find themselves systematically locked out of opportunity. This is not about students cheating on tests or principals downplaying ineffective teaching strategies. Nor is it about the latest argument concerning higher education — that college is too expensive and there’s no guarantee of gainful employment. It a national reckoning of how much we’re willing to tolerate regarding class, status and the suppression of economic mobility. This issue demands that we take responsibility for the way that our educational decisions play out in our lives and throughout our communities. Until we take ownership of these things, we will continue to play a fool’s game of winners and losers."