President Donna Randall, Susan Conner, provost, and college vice-presidents were in attendance.

President Randall began the evening with a power point presentation detailing the recent decision of the Board of Trustees (BOT) to cut 15 full-time equivalent (FTE)  positions. Randall elaborated on the BOT mandate, the elements of the program review and the future of Albion College. An open forum followed the presentation, with Randall calling on students.

Questions were raised regarding faculty cuts, including whether the BOT had considered alternative options and whether the quality of an Albion education will remain the same.

“We’ll try to minimize it (the damage done to the quality of education) as much as possible,” Randall said. “Sometimes it’s better to have fewer programs and improve student quality.”

It was repeatedly stressed throughout the evening that academic programs, not faculty, were under review.

Gregory Hodges, Rochester Hills senior, asked about the availability of the budget. Mike Fransden, vice-president of finances, stated that as a private college, Albion has no obligation to make the budget public, though some faculty are permitted to see it. Competition was cited as one reason for the budget’s privacy.

Responding to repeated questions regarding the budget, Fransden will give a presentation at the student senate meeting  on Monday, March 15.

Two students, Abigail Walls, Dearborn sophomore, and Katherine DeVoursney, Muskegon junior, read prepared statements that detailed their thoughts and concerns about the college and the cuts.

“What I read was simply an average student’s perspective,” Walls claims. “I knew that if a student’s statement could be heard in public and supported, it would leave an impression on the administrators I was trying to reach.”

DeVoursney also asked about the Albion Advantage, mentioned both in Randall’s memorandum and in the evening’s presentation.

According to Randall, the Albion Advantage is an investment in the future of Albion College that pairs students with alumni mentors as well as offers opportunities for internships. Randall stated that the Albion Advantage would promote the “career readiness” component of the liberal arts, stating Career Development, institutional and alumni support.

Randall also discussed the impact of the retention rate on Albion’s future: currently at 83% for first – second year students, 75% for second – third year students, and 73% for third – fourth year students.

“I am not satisfied with our retention rate,” Randall said. “A significant number of initiatives have been taken to improve retention.”

Randall did not elaborate on the components of these initiatives.

Randall emphasized the availability of student senate for the facilitation of discussion with administration.  Students raised concerns regarding whether the senate was an appropriate representation of the student body.

After the forum Karen Linderborg, Palos Hills, Ill., senior, still expressed concerns.

“It looks like this (the program review) will be done very fast and with very little consideration of the students in these programs that will be cut,” Linderborg said. “Even though Albion says that it will honor a students’ degree, how will it (the degree) have any value if that student just takes class substitutes with professors that aren’t (as) knowledgeable in that topic?”

According to Hodges, the future of his soon-to-be alma mater is still uncertain.

“We may have become more informed on some topics, but for me personally, it was not the amount of information I would have liked,” Hodges said. “Thus, this tactic makes me wonder: does the administration or the Board of Trustees truly know where this institution is going?”

“Casinos are physically stimulating.”

Some would say that entering into a venture (say, a casino game) knowing that money will most likely be lost is foolish.  But the expansion of casinos into 48 of the 50 states over the last 35 years shows that there is something about gambling that some people just can’t resist.

“Gambling is enjoyed by all statuses, races and genders,” said Andrew Brandt, psychology professor.  “Up and down the board, we see gambling from all types of people.”

Brandt cites things like changes in heart rate and perspiration as clear-cut signs that gambling strikes a physical cord.

“There really is a heightened sense of excitement when people think about winning something that they don’t already have,” Brandt said.  “People can know up and down that what they’re going to do will lose them money, but it doesn’t stop that person from being entertained enough to gamble.”

“Casinos are stupid and pointless.”

After visiting two casinos in her lifetime for birthday celebrations, Stevie Collini, Higgins Lake senior, is through.

“I just don’t see the point,” Collini said.  “I’d rather just take my money and have the guarantee that I can buy something rather than take a chance with it.”

More than just a potential waste of money, Collini is put off by the atmosphere of a casino.

“High rollers might have a lot of fun, but so many of the people are there because they actually want or need money — they don’t take it as a game,” Collini said.  “And then they’re not friendly.  The atmosphere is never as fun as the movies.”

“Casinos are more fun with chicken wings.”

Katy Van de Putte, Grosse Pointe 2009 alumna, has visited FireKeepers on occasion.  While she does go in with a small allocation of money to spend on the roulette table, for Van de Putte, the thought of hitting it big isn’t her favorite part.

“It’s the people watching,” Van de Putte said.  “Casinos are like water parks — you see the best and the worst, the happiest and the saddest parts of humanity all in one place.”

“Once, I was just doing some laps around the casino because I was out of money, but the people who I came with were gambling in various locations,” Van de Putte said. “I was walking down a row of slots when I saw a lady pulling chicken wings out of her purse and handing them out to, presumably, family and friends who had taken over an entire row of slot machines.”

With a $20-$22 all-you-can-eat buffet, food is another draw to FireKeepers.

“I could sit there (the buffet) for hours,” Van de Putte said. “Not to gorge, but to enjoy all of the delicious food — soups and salad, pizza, chinese, sushi, filet mingon, salmon.  And I know it’s a casino so it sounds weird to say that their food is so good, but it’s truly incredible — better than restaurants in Albion.”

“Casinos are exciting.”

Ashley Peterson, Marquette senior, was excited with the news of a casino opening in Battle Creek and has been to FireKeepers around a dozen times.  Playing mostly the penny slots, Peterson says that she thinks that her money lasts longer and enjoys the thrill of potentially winning.

“When you win big on the penny slots, it’s pretty big,” Peterson said.  “Once I won $250 on one spin.  It’s the coolest thing in the world, but you also know it’s never going to happen again.”

Peterson equates the money lost at a casino to the money she’d lose in other social activities.

“If you go in knowing that you’re going to blow 20 bucks in 2 hours, it’s not a big deal,” Peterson said.  “If you went to the movies, you’d spend close to that for the same amount of time, but at the casino you get to be social, too.  I’ve probably lost around $200 there, but I’ve spent many hours with good friends, so it doesn’t bother me at all.”

“Casinos are my best friend and my worst enemy.”

Joe Robertson, Flint senior, is no stranger to gambling.  After studying in Africa last semester where a casino was in close proximity, and returning to campus this semester to find FireKeepers up and running, Robertson says that he loves it.

Sticking mostly to blackjack but dabbling with roulette and craps, Robertson says that he is down a couple hundred bucks if he includes his stint in Africa.  But being in the hole hasn’t slowed his attendance.

“I go alone, usually,” Robertson said.  “People don’t want to go gambling at 4 o’clock in the afternoon.  But I do.”

In a single visit, Robertson has gone up as much as $700 or down as much as $450.  His final opinion:

“Stay away (from casinos) — you’ll lose your money,” Robertson says.  “But if you do want to come, call me.”


Photo courtsey of Jamie Adams

Tenure: Protects a faculty member in the exercise of academic freedom and provides continuous employment with the college until the faculty member resigns or retires.

Tenure is a system by which a faculty member serves for six years on probationary appointments.  During that term, the faculty member works to meet college-established standards for value to students (teaching effectiveness), scholarly development, value to the department, and contributions to the college.  In the sixth year of the faculty member’s term at the college, s/he is reviewed on those criteria by department members, the Faculty Personnel Committee, the provost and the president.  With a positive recommendation, the Board of Trustees grants tenure.  (Susan Conner, provost)

Probationary: A person serving a probation or a trial. (Oxford English Dictionary)

Tenure-track: A faculty member hired in a national search who has six-year probationary period until tenure. (Susan Conner)

Visiting professor: A faculty member hired nationally, regionally, or locally on a one-year appointment (with the possibility of renewal if there are continuing programmatic or enrollment needs). (Susan Conner)

Adjunct professor: A faculty member hired on a course-by-course basis typically for specialty courses, lessons, or as a replacement for someone on leave. (Susan Conner)

Full-time equivalent (FTE): A formula used by places like US News and World Report to recognize the size of a faculty and have a standard measure. (Susan Conner)

A professor must be considered to be teaching the equivalent of 3 classes to be considered a FTE.

• 3 adjunct professors = 1 FTE
• 1 visiting professor = 1 FTE
• 1 tenure or tenure-track professor = 1 FTE

Financial exigency:

1) While some institutions have adopted a formal definition, Albion College has not. (Mike Fransden, VP finance)

2) An imminent financial crisis that threatens the survival of the institution as a whole and that cannot be alleviated by less drastic means. (American Association of University Professors)

Still confused? Post the words that baffle you, and we’ll update our list of student-friendly definitions.

Unfortunately for the Albion women’s basketball team, it was their play in the final minutes that ousted them from the MIAA tournament in a loss to Saint Mary’s College Tuesday, Feb. 23.

When the sixth-ranked Lady Brits opened up the game against the third-ranked Belles, they played with purpose: like a team that not only had a chance to win the game, but potentially the tournament as a whole. Albion led St. Mary’s into halftime 32-22 by making  14 out of 27 shots, or 0.519 percent, and remaining persistent on defending and in rebounding the ball. But their mediocre efforts in the second half led them to a season finish that was just that — mediocre.

The Lady Brits’ shooting percentage dropped to 0.346 percent, and their defense fell to an even lower extreme. The Belles went on a 39-27 scoring run in the second half to end the game with a 61-59 win over the Brits. Saint Mary’s proved to Albion the importance of playing hard through every second of the game, and even more importantly at the end of the game.

In comparison of talent, both teams were fairly evenly matched. The Lady Brits entered the game the better defensive team, allowing only 56.2 points per game to the Belle’s 62.4, and Saint Mary’s offensive was averaging close to 15 points per game more than Albion. Though they did give the fans the closely scored playoff-like game they were looking for, I am sure that no Briton in the stands expected their team to fall in the end after the outcome of the first half.

I’m not saying that in all the Lady Brits played horribly in the second half; they maintained consistent shooting, making 0.500 percent of their 3-point attempts, and kept the game fairly low scoring on defense. It was, however, Saint Mary’s aggressive play in the paint that gave them the win.

Though the Belles only made one out of nine 3-point attempts and shot 0.390 percent in the second half, they fought for offensive rebounds and utilized their forwards for points under the basket, showing the Lady Brits exactly why they were ranked third in the conference.

The good news for the Lady Brits is that they do not have a single senior in their lineup, meaning that they can maintain the same roster next season, giving them a good chance to compete in the MIAA.  In order to win on a consistent basis, however, they will need to learn to take advantage of having the lead and not playing on their heels late in the game. They have the talent and the experience they need to win the conference — all they need is the conviction.

“(The assessments) are anxiety-producing for many students, because no matter what we tell them, they place much more weight on these assessments than they need to,” said Tracey Howard, assistant dean for program development. “You think that this is going to make or break your academic career, and it’s not. Students just internalize that (it will).” 

 But for next fall’s incoming first-year class, that will no longer be the case, with the removal of both the math and writing placement assessments from the four SOAR sessions on June 2, 4 and 7 and Aug. 19. Instead, students will take both assessments online and receive their results before attending SOAR.

 “By being able to take those placements out of the actual SOAR program, I think it will be much less anxiety producing,” Howard said. “It will give them more time to learn about Albion College, about the curriculum at a little slower pace, so they’ll be able to better retain the information.”

 Prior to 2007, SOAR events were spread out over two days, but for the last three years, the orientation sessions have been fit into one day to be more convenient for students and their families. The change frees two hours, but because the change was only formally announced on Feb. 19, it is still uncertain what activities will be added, according to Howard.

 Mark Bollman, math department professor and chair, said that the online math assessment will be similar to its predecessor and vary depending on which classes a student has previously taken.

 But Bollman is worried that the change will remove the academic emphasis from SOAR.

 “We’ve been drifting away from an academically oriented SOAR to ‘we’re just going to register you for some classes,’ and that’s an issue,” Bollman said. “It seems to me that we’re doing this for the wrong reasons – we’re leaving students with the wrong impression of how academics should be regarded at college.”

 The possibility of cheating is also something to consider, according to Bollman, and it is not something that he is quite sure how to address yet.

 “What we have is not so much students cheating to do better, as students who don’t want the placement that they’ve got,” Bollman said. “We have students who place into Calc 2 and want to take Calc 1 again.”

Ian MacInness, English professor and chair of the English department, plans to address any possible cheating by providing a timed writing assessment of 30-40 minutes.

 “We find that we’re pretty sure that the time limiting factor will mean that we get an authentic sample,” MacInness said. “We want to put them in the best writing class for them possible, so they need to give us the most realistic sample of their writing. What we find is when students they write under pressure, you can get a good diagnostic picture of some of the issues they confront as writers.”

 The writing assessment will be administered through the Moodle engine in the college’s CourseWebs site and will offer a variety of topics for students to choose from.

View multimedia for all of the routines below.

Delta Gamma – Friends

Phi Mu – Big Bang Theory

Tau Kappa Epsilon – Get Smart

Kappa Delta – The Brady Bunch

Delta Tau Delta – Boy Meets World

Kappa Kappa Psi, Phi Mu Alpha, Sigma Alpha lota – Gilligan’s Island

Alpha Tau Omega – That 70’s Show

Alpha Xi Delta – George of the Jungle

Delta Sigma Phi – Golden Girls

Kappa Alpha Theta – The Dukes of Hazzard

Sigma Nu – The Cosby Show

Alpha Chi Omega – I Love Lucy

Sigma Chi – The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

Photos by Chris Amos

Currently, 162 total faculty members are employed, with 137 full time equivalent (FTE) positions. The elimination of 15 full-time equivalent positions would result in the FTE total of 122 after the cuts are made in early summer.  Of the total faculty members, 105 are tenure or tenure-track, 67 of whom are tenured.

Faculty cuts will be made through a voluntary early retirement program and the elimination of  full-time, part-time, tenure and tenure-track positions.  The Board of Trustees mandated the cuts based on budget projections for the next five years.

According to the faculty handbook, there are three ways to terminate tenure or tenure-track faculty: program elimination, declaration of financial exigency and misconduct.

The allocation of faculty and academic staff as well as the recommendation for program elimination falls upon the curriculum and resources committee (C&RC), according to the faculty handbook.

“The curriculum and resource committee is the faculty committee charged with supervision of the curriculum and making recommendations regarding the allocation of resources to support it,” said Timothy Lincoln, director of the Institute for the Study of the Environment and chair of the C&RC.  “The mechanics of the process by which the committee will deal with the administration’s request is on the agenda of the faculty meeting on Thursday.”

An institution-wide program review is now being conducted.

“We will not know the outcome, including the details on what positions will be affected, until that review is completed,” said Sarah Briggs, associate vice president for communications. “Faculty have been asked to take part in the program review, and this week it will be determined how the review process will work.”

Albion last eliminated a department, home economics, in 1982 during a similar financial downturn, according to Greg Saltzman, economics and management professor and department chair.

The faculty handbook also lists the declaration of a state of financial exigency as a means of elimination of tenure or tenure-track faculty.

While some institutions have adopted a formal definition of financial exigency, Albion college has not.  The American Association of University Professors (AAUP), a group that has gained prestige as a defender of academic freedom and that holds the respect of many Albion faculty members, according to Saltzman, however, defines financial exigency as “an imminent financial crisis that threatens the survival of the institution as a whole and that cannot be alleviated by less drastic means.”

The BOT has not made a declaration of exigency.

Stay tuned this week for news updates from The Pleiad staff.

As students filed into the Coffee House at 10 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 25,  Kaylee Pope, Grand Rapids senior, began to etch a simple phrase in bold lettering on the chalkboard that would be the focus for the night’s conversation. The phrase read, “THIS MATTERS TO US.” 

The phrase transcribed by Pope was originally created by Albion alum Katy Van de Putte . Van de Putte stresses that whether “THIS” is a department or even the idea of saving the principle of liberal arts, students on Albion’s campus need to realize and rally behind what is important about their education.  The goal is that with enough students supporting the idea that an elimination of faculty is both unnecessary and a threat to academics, the Board of Trustees will take notice and reconsider their plan of action, according to Pope.  

“We, as students, have a voice in this matter,” Pope said. 

As a response to the memorandum delivered to students on Feb. 24 by Donna Randall, college president, regarding the cuts, Pope and Greg Hodges, Rochester Hills senior, created the idea for a group known as Keeping Liberal Arts at Work (KLAW), with the help of several students. 

 Initially, Karen Linderborg, Palos Park, IL sophomore and KLAW member, formed a Facebook group to spread the message of KLAW. Within the two days leading up to their scheduled public forum at the coffee house, their group had grown to almost 900 members and their forum filled the house, with students standing from wall to wall. 

“I’m not normally a protest person, but when I came to Albion, I grew to love this institution,” of education and water down the value of my diploma (which is what I think this elimination would do).” said James McRae, a Charlotte junior in attendance. “This change will not only affect current, but future students as well, and I couldn’t stand to see this college disregard the value 

At the forum, the leaders of KLAW presented their ideas about how cuts directly affect students and laid out their plan of organized action. 

“What we’re talking about tonight is inquiry, cooperative action and taking a stand,” said Abigail Walls, Dearborn sophomore and KLAW member. “It’s going to show that we care — that we’re taking a stand, that we’re inquisitive and that we want to work towards a solution.” 

KLAW’s plan included a seven-day protest that began Friday, Feb. 26. The group is urging all students to attend the student senate meeting on Monday, March 1 where Randall and Susan Conner, provost, will be present to answer students’ questions. There, KLAW plans to present a student-signed petition as well as a letter expressing the concerns of KLAW and KLAW’s supporters to administration and the Board of Trustees. 

“We want to get across to administration that we do care, and that we are going to take action,” Hodges said. “The Board of Trustees will realize that there is no apathy on the part of the students—this matters to us.”

Perhaps the most obvious reason that many find this proposed cut unreasonable is that it simply doesn’t add up with other spending policies we see happening around us.  For example, the administration is pushing the senior class for donations to purchase a $4000 “presidential mace” for ceremonial purposes.  That is all well and good, but the fact is simply that if we are in such serious need of a budget cut, then how can we possibly justify spending four grand on something so frivolous?

More inconsistencies abound.

For instance, if we are “always thinking,” then how can it be that we are paying to add two new varsity sports when our athletics are already underfunded, and that the equestrian program lost over $100,000 this year alone (that sounds like at least one faculty position to me)? Not to mention, the décor of choice for any recently renovated building is flat screen TVs.

Even more unsettling, a simple look through our Web site’s staff directory shows 162 faculty and 366 administrative staff — if we’re counting, that’s well over twice the number of faculty.  Moreover, a study done by the college comparing a cohort of 30 similar small, private colleges shows that we are ranked 25th out of 30 in number of full professors, 26th for associate professors, and 27th for assistant professors.  Now, I’m not a math major, but something here doesn’t seem to add up.  My point is this: if the school wants to show that it is really serious about balancing the budget, it should be cutting from all areas of our spending and we should not see these inconsistencies.

Besides these contradictory practices, many of us are upset by the very undemocratic nature of this decision.  Maybe it’s that we’ve been spoiled with autonomy and a personalized education here, but at an institution that tells us that we are not just a number —that we are a community, not just a campus and that we determine our own college experience — a decision of this gravity handed directly down from the administration rightly makes us scratch our heads.  Truly, it is these aspects of our time here that we have cherished most, and as our professors have shown us that we are not just numbers to them, we want to make it clear that “15” is not just a number to us.

We understand that Albion is a business as well as a school and that we simply cannot be spending more than we’re making, but a school is also defined by its students, faculty, staff and how well those parties are able to work together to function as a place for learning and growth.  Yes, the faculty may be one of the greatest expenses when it comes time to balance the budget, but they are also certainly our greatest asset, and Albion should celebrate them.  Simply put, we don’t come to Albion College for the tater starz and the General Tso’s chicken.

This is an administrative matter, but if we as students weren’t concerned and didn’t manifest that concern with voice and action, then we wouldn’t be Albion College students.  The faculty have supported us, helped us plan our futures, gotten us jobs, recommended us for graduate and professional schools, researched and presented with us, stayed well past their office hours to help us, cooked us dinner at their houses and even shared a drink at the bar.  This is school politics, but as the students of this school, we find it to be our concern as well, and we have something to say about it.  Alternatively, we could stay quiet and leave this to the administration to decide, but keeping quiet — well that’s about as reliable as tenure at protecting faculty jobs.

The senior class just had a meeting where we were told about giving back to Albion to show that we care about what has been our home for the past four years.  Well, we do care.  But you can’t have our support without our opinions, and you can’t have progress without compromise.  We all graduate eventually, and some of us might never look back, but most of us will. And when we do, we want not only to love what we see, but also to know that we had a hand in it.  That’s what Albion College means; that’s what growing up means.

And that is why we, the students, stand beside our mentors.