Student Council discussed a resolution to seek funding for a student-initiated courses scholarship fund last night. The resolution, proposed by Academic Affairs Committee co-chairs Marisa Roman and Matthew Fifer, seeks to gain Council's approval in obtaining $10,000 for the Student Initiated Course Proposals Program from the Parent's Program.
The program was instituted last year to allow students to design courses based on particular interests that are not satisfied by current course offerings, Roman said.
According to Roman, although the program was created last year, the committee did not receive funding to compensate professors who volunteered to teach and supervise the courses.
Fifer said he thought compensation would encourage faculty to teach student-initiated courses.
"The money is to help get it so that faculty members realize that we are investing in them, so that, then, they will put initiative back into the course," Fifer said.
Roman explained that the committee realized teaching a student-initiated course is a "big time commitment" and said she hoped that by compensating the professors, they would be more willing to teach student-initiated courses.
According to Roman, the committee determined that a total of $10,000 would be adequate to fund four two-credit courses each semester.
Fifer said selections for the scholarship will be based on the uniqueness of the course and evidence that the student has put sufficient planning into the course. Students may still seek approval for courses without scholarship funding, he added.
Roman said the course also must have the written commitment of a faculty member to teach the course and to take responsibility for grading students. The student applying for the scholarship must also submit a written statement demonstrating the need for the course and explaining how it would benefit from the Scholarship Fund.
"We will also take why the course is beneficial to the community and what its merits are into consideration," Roman added.
According to Roman, the program allows students to develop courses in any department in the College. The procedure to create a course is parallel to the process of seeking a scholarship; however, students must also seek approval for the course from Associate College Dean Gordon Stewart, Fifer explained.
The classes will be student-initiated, but must be taught by a University faculty member, according to Roman, who added that although students may not be involved in the teaching, grading or student selection of the course, they can help in outlining course content.
"We're hoping that this can help address the issue of course diversity," Roman said.
Roman said facilitating the creation of student-developed classes will help fill voids found in the University's course offerings, especially in ethnic studies departments, where a shortage of professors limits the number of classes from which students can choose.
Roman said the program will help students "address the problem by starting their own classes."
Engineering Rep. Rajarshi Nigam said he thinks the program demonstrates the University's tradition of student leadership.
"It reflects an exercise of student self-governance by showing how students can self-govern their own education," Nigam said.
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