SPECIAL FRESHMEN EDITION! t Vol. XXII, No. 10 | 101) Penn State University, Delaware County Campus June, 1991 Meet the Class of 95: Freshmen Are A Varied Group The in-coming Freshman Class of Penn State Delco is an interesting and diverse group, based on the responses of 390 who had accepted admission to Delco by June 6. While the large majority of the class live in Pennsylvania, as would be ex- pected, there are representatives from seven other states: Alabama, California, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Massachu- setts, and New Jersey. As also might be expected, most of the Pennsylvania freshmen live in Delaware County, but a sizable number (72) live in Chester County and twenty-six live in Philadelphia. Other counties where members of the Class of ‘95 reside in- clude Bucks County, Lancaster County, and Montgomery County. Although Philadelphia is the ‘‘home- town’’ of more freshmen (29) than any other town or city, 24 students are com- ing from Aston, 23 from West Chester, 21 from Media, and 20 from Drexel Hill. Downingtown, Havertown, and Walling- ford are also well-represented with 17 freshmen each. Boothwyn, Broomall, and Upper Darby are each contributing 14. Also well-represented on campus are Folsom and Springfield (9 each), Glen- olden and Ridley Park (8 each), Glen Mills, Malvern, and Newtown Square (7 each), Folcroft, Norwood, and Secane (6 each), Morton and Swarthmore (5 each), Brookhaven, Chester, Coatesville, and Collingdale (4 each), and Aldan, Chadds Ford, Clifton Heights, Darby, Prospect Park, Sharon Hill, and Woodlyn (3 each). In addition, 38 other municipalities were named by one or two students as their hometown. Ethnically, the predominantly Cauca- sian class will look to a number of its members for cultural diversity. Twenty students come from Asian or Indian backrounds, twelve are African- American, and five are Hispanic. In the gender make-up of the class, there are 1.6 males for every female. The most popular major declared by the members of this class is Business Administration (24%), although an almost equal number (23%) plan to ma- jor in the Liberal Arts. Fifty hardy souls (13%) are planning to major in Engineer- ing, while 11% are keeping their options open by enrolling in. the Division of Continued on Page 2 Help Is Here! Students enjoy a break between classes with friends made at PSU Delco. Photo by: MARY MATUS FTCAP Focuses on ‘Academic Survival’ If you are reading this ot Penn State ‘Delco, you are probably taking part in FTCAP today. But do you know what it is? Over 390 incoming freshmen are tak- ing part in the Freshman Testing, Coun- seling, and Advising Program (FTCAP) this summer at Penn State Delco. It may seem unimportant, even bother- some, to some freshmen, but it is actual- ly a very important first step in establishing a successful academic career at Penn State. a ge a “It sets the stage for ‘the entire Pern State academic experience,” explains Linda Campitelli, Programs Coordinator for the Division of Undergraduate Studies (DUS). “It’s an introduction to academic survival.” Testing Results Provide Guidance The first part of your FTCAP, the testing phase, probably took place a few weeks ago. Do you remember the stan- dardized tests in reading, grammar, math, and chemistry? Because freshmen coming into Penn State have a wide New Diversity Requirement at PSU by Carmen Livingston (An article from the June 1991 Monthly Collegian) Some members of the University com- munity agree that the diversity require- ment mandated by the University Faculty Senate will prove beneficial not only to students’ education, but to their integration into a multicultural society. The Faculty Senate Undergraduate Committee last year approved a rule that freshmen and transfer students entering in summer of 1991 must take three credits of diversity-focused courses or 12 credits of diversity- enhanced courses. All candidates for associate degrees must take three credits of diversity-focused or six credits of diversity-enhanced courses. One quarter of material in diversity- enhanced classes must be taught from a minority or alternative standpoint. Diversity-focused classes would include University courses already designated under black, women or other culturally specific studies. Under the diversity re- quirement department heads will have to decide what courses are diversity- enhanced or -focused. Many members of the University com- munity said they already feel it is necessary to implement minority or alternative perspectives into the classroom. Carla Mulford, professor of early American literature, said even though she has been designated to teach diversity-enhanced English 231, early American literature, her course work will not change much. Mulford said she has always included African-American, American Indian, female and other minority writers in her class because students need to know about different perspectives. “We are asking students to realize that historically speaking those so called minority voices were closed out and we are asking them to reconsider their writing,” Mulford said. “These writers have a very important tradition of writing that happens to enter English classes just now.” English department head Bob Secor said students who perceive diversifying the curriculum as diluting their under- graduate education are mistaken. “They think by including or even substituting more traditional writers for lesser known writers they will not be prepared for graduate school,” Secor said. Mulford said the University’s grad- ‘uate program in English, which is slight- ly behind in incorporating these new texts and courses compared to other universities’ graduate programs, is now allowing students to take courses specifically about race and gender. Secor said other diversity-enhanced classes will include English 1,2,3 and 232. And pre-existing courses such as English 129, 194, 431 and 490 will be labeled diversity-focused. Secor also said the University’s col- leges of Health and Human Develop- ment, Arts and Architecture and Earth and Mineral Sciences will also have strong diversity-enhanced components and a number of general education courses will be diversity-focused. Marilyn Cruz, president of the Latino Caucus, said diversity requirements are necessary, but she thinks some people will still miss the point of diversifying education. “You will always have a percentage of the people with a traditional viewpoint, but we are in a day and age when text- book knowledge is not good enough,” Cruz said. James Stewart, Vice Provost for Underrepresented Groups, agreed. “The reason we have education is for people to learn about different aspects of our society,” he said. “We are going through some major changes, so it’s ludicrous to say you are diluting education in a world that is becoming more globalized. Cruz said now is a perfect opportunity for the University to upgrade its Spanish department to provide a broader perspective of the Hispanic- American experience. For in the year 2000 Hispanic Americans will be the nation’s largest minority group. While the Spanish department plans to have diversity-enhanced classes, no plans are being made to implement a Hispanic-American course, said Leon Lyday, Spanish department head. Stewart said the Black Studies pro- gram would consider designating a course about the Hispanic-American ex- perience because the two groups share of oppression on a socio-economic level. range “of "academic ‘experiences 44 various high schools and not all tock the SAT’s, the tests provide scores from a common test. The test results, along with your high school average and SAT scores, are put together into your Profile of Academic Abilities. This lets you see where you stand in academic preparation and abilities compared to other incoming freshmen. It also provides guidelines for you and your academic adviser to use in making up your fall schedule of classes. The idea is to help you to succeed in your first semester at Penn State. You don’t want to get into a class where the pace bores you; but you also don’t want to schedule a class that’s so hard you can’t cope with it. FTCAP gives you the opportunity to sit down with knowledgeable counselors and faculty at ‘Penn State Delco and confidently make some decisions about your academic future here. Opportunities for Academic Counseling Maybe you'd like to talk to someone about your long-term professional goals and how they impact on your choice of major and choice of specific classes. Maybe you'd like to discuss what ma- jors are available, what's required to get into them, and how you go about chang- ing a major if you don’t like it. Or maybe you're concerned about the transition from high school life to college life. You can learn all about these things during FTCAP. “Some specific topics we look at dur- ing Freshman Counseling and Advising,” says Linda Campitelli, ‘‘are faculty expectations of college students, where to go for help when students have specific questions or concerns, and the rules and regulations regarding entrance into majors and graduation. FTCAP is like an Academic Orientation.” The End of the Day Best of all, when you finish your FTCAP day, you will have a lot of your questions about college in general and Penn State in particular answered. And you'll have your schedule of fall classes all lined up. You put a lot into the day, but you get a lot back. And that is what FTCAP — and Penn State — is all about.
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