2008 Woodie Awards
Committee seeks student feedback on WCP decision
Vic Brotzman
Issue date: 4/27/07 Section: Front Page
Jessica Ruff, also a Western College senior, spoke on the merits of Western College.
"One thing that Western does really well is it takes students outside of their disciplines," Ruff said.
Most of the details regarding the future of the program are still up in the air. However, Myers, a 1983 Western alumnus, said he hoped to retain most of the features of Western, such as the living learning communities and its individualized degree option, which allows students to essentially create their own degree.
"I think Miami needs an individual path to a degree," Myers said. "There will always be students that want to come to Miami whose plans don't fit an existing degree, so that path to an individualized degree is something I'd like to see continue."
Senior zoology major Nick Teets said that while the individual degree option was beneficial, it had the potential to be abused by students, whether they are a part of Western or not.
"I think there's a fine line with the attitude of learning for the sake of learning because some people will take it to an extreme and will only learn what they want to," Teets said. "If you don't think something is important, you might still have to learn it."
However a few students expressed concern that certain traditions of Western might fade, as in fall 2008 there will not be an incoming first-year class enrolled in the program.
Myers added that during the time without the program, the residence halls on Western Campus will remain occupied by students, and classes will still be offered. The classes are likely to be opened up to non-Western students as well, he said.
Shaffer said that she believes that with the proper planning, the redesigned program will offer students everything and more that those who came before them benefited from.
"I felt like this was an opportunity to develop an innovative educational model that could become a national model, to allow students and faculty to learn, teach and share knowledge in ways that hadn't been conceived yet," Shaffer said.
"One thing that Western does really well is it takes students outside of their disciplines," Ruff said.
Most of the details regarding the future of the program are still up in the air. However, Myers, a 1983 Western alumnus, said he hoped to retain most of the features of Western, such as the living learning communities and its individualized degree option, which allows students to essentially create their own degree.
"I think Miami needs an individual path to a degree," Myers said. "There will always be students that want to come to Miami whose plans don't fit an existing degree, so that path to an individualized degree is something I'd like to see continue."
Senior zoology major Nick Teets said that while the individual degree option was beneficial, it had the potential to be abused by students, whether they are a part of Western or not.
"I think there's a fine line with the attitude of learning for the sake of learning because some people will take it to an extreme and will only learn what they want to," Teets said. "If you don't think something is important, you might still have to learn it."
However a few students expressed concern that certain traditions of Western might fade, as in fall 2008 there will not be an incoming first-year class enrolled in the program.
Myers added that during the time without the program, the residence halls on Western Campus will remain occupied by students, and classes will still be offered. The classes are likely to be opened up to non-Western students as well, he said.
Shaffer said that she believes that with the proper planning, the redesigned program will offer students everything and more that those who came before them benefited from.
"I felt like this was an opportunity to develop an innovative educational model that could become a national model, to allow students and faculty to learn, teach and share knowledge in ways that hadn't been conceived yet," Shaffer said.
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