Page 4
Faculty
opinion
(continued from page 1)
graduation and how much money
will be made.
Along with a positive outlook
on the student body, the faculty
members I spoke to felt the
quality of education available here
at Behrend is very good.
Cathy Mester cited three
"measuring tools" that can be
used to evaluate the quality of an
education. First, what is the
ability of graduates to find jobs
in their chosen field? Behrend
has a very good track record in
this capacity. Second, does the
faculty have.high credentials and
are they weilf'qualifiedT
This
question also brought a solid yes,
we do have a first rate staff here
at Behrend. Finally, what is the
student-teacher relationship?
Because Behrend is a small
college, we have smaller classes
and therefore an academic
advantage over larger schools,
said Mester.
All full-time faculty members
are required to do research. The
faculty members that I talked to
all said the university gives
adequate support as far as travel
costs to attend conventions.
However, the sentiment was
expressed that slightly too much
emphasis is placed on
publishing.... pr. : .Iqhrt Gamble. :
said, "the university tends to
judge research by counting
publications; that's a little bit
simple-minded."
When it comes to non-
Students respond to
Collegian academic
(continued from page 1)
35 percent felt they were average.
Only 2 percent felt they were
poor.
The program area faring the
worst
_in ,the
_survey_ was food
service; '.with
. 33 =Percent of the
students finding it average and 38
percent rating it below average.
Student life and programs
were found to be average or good.
Forty-four percent found student
life average and 33 percent found
it good, while student programs
posted a 49 percent average score
and 33 percent found them good.
The sampling polled 45
students with diverse backgrounds
including business, engineering,
sciences and liberal arts. They
were asked to fill out a
questionnaire rating academics,
faculty, food service, student life
and student programs on a scale
of one to five, with one being
poor, three being average and five
excellent.
All percentages were rounded
up to the nearest whole number.
In addition, students were
asked to make specific comments
about programs mentioned in the
survey. Many students felt the
advising and scheduling systems
need work. One student
shares their
of Behrend
academics
academic activities such as the
Speaker Series, many faculty
members said that we should
have more of them. Dr. Kenneth
Louie pointed out that learning
does not always take place in the
classroom.
"I'm concerned that many
students don't take advantage of
the Speaker Series," said Tucker.
Finally, I asked members of
the faculty what they would
change, if anything, if they were
president of the university.
Responses varied greatly.
"I would make it a top
priority for a well-integrated
education that would mainstream
third-world, minority, and
women's concerns into the
curriculum," said Hume-George.
She continued to say that at
Behrend we are a little bit too
ethnocentric and that we need to
learn about other cultures and
listen to what other people have
to say.
Gamble said that this
university tends to put other
things ahead of what should be
their first goal. "I would make it
absolutely clear that the first
value is the free and open
exchange of ideas and
information," Gamble said.
Louie expressed the need for
. an NuaL7share of.the:pie" from
Univemity Park. "I would make
sure that funding for various
programs at the campuses is
commensurate with the success
of that campus," said Louie.
survey
commented, "improve advising
sessions, many advisors are
basically clueless."
Other students felt activities
were in need of improvement,
suggesting buses to cultural
'events taking place out of town,
as well as excursions to major
cities.
Behrend students use
Discovery
job field,
by Jodi McWilliams
Collegian Staff Writer
Behrend's Career and
Placement Coordinator Marybeth
Peterson says her office offers a
valuable career guidance system -
but that many students aren't
even aware of it.
The Discover computer is a
career guidance system located in
the Career Development and
Placement Services office on the
first floor of the Reed Building.
The system is designed to
help students identify career goals
or to help students reinforce their
career choice.
Peterson explained the
program is especially ideal for
sophomores who have not yet
decided what career to pursue, or
for the senior that wants to know
what the job outlook is for
people in his degree area.
Use of the computer recquires
no special computer skills and is
accompanied by step-by-step
instructions.
The system's creators,
American College Tests, initiated
this program to help guide
students in making sound
decisions based on information
they feedinto_the•computer._:,
Discover -takes' the student's'
- interests, abilities, experiences
and values then chooses careers
that best fit that student's profile.
Ranking the
(CPS)- In what has become a
traditionally volatile issue, U.S.
New & World Report ranked
Swarthmore College and Yale
University as the country's best
campuses.
The magazine, seeking to
defuse much of the anger and
resentment that has accompanied
its efforts to rank colleges in the
past, this year attempted to find
the best schools by conducting a
poll of college presidents and
deans.
The Collegian Wednesday, November 1, 1989
computer expl
career possibil
After the student has chosen
several careers in which he is
interested, he can call up
information from the program.
Over 450 occupations are on
file. If you have a question about
being an actuary, for instance,
you can call up actuary and the
computer will give you about a
full page of information about
what the job entails, salaries,
benefits, and employment
outlook.
saga
00
OM
oow
The software is updated every
year so all the figures and
statistics are current. The
computer also has information
covering the greatest likes and
dislikes of the job.
After a student has identified a
desireable job area, the computer
will then suggest appropriate
educational choices.
Discover will also tell you
which majors or programs to
best colleges in the land
Predictably, reaction varied
among schools, said Matthew
Tucker, spokesman for the
magazine. "If you're ranked,
then you're happy. If you're not
ranked, you're not happy."
The results were divided by
types of schools.
The educators said the best
"national universities" were Yale,
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pursue to obtain the proper
training for a particular job and
which schools are best qualified
for your needs.
Discover also has programs to
help students create covers,
resumes, and job applications.
Also included in the Discover
system is information if you
want to pursue a further
education. It will give you
information about two and four
year colleges, graduate schools,
financial aid, and military
programs.
The Discover program begins
with programs entitled The
Career Journey, and Learning
About the World of Work, then
continues with Learning About
Yourself, followed by Finding
Occupations.
After you do these you Learn
About Occupations and Making
Educational Choices, then you
Plan the Next Steps by Planning
Your Career. The final step is
Making Transitions. This process
takes about 3 - 5 hours, but it
usually takes only 2 visits of an
hour each to complete your
exploration because not everyone
needs to go through all 9 parts.
You must be realistic though if it
is W-)Y4P.: .be.caPF.-iCY.Qu„ don't
have any idea what you like, or if
you are not truthful, Discover
cannot assist you in a choice for
your future.
Princeton, Harvard, California
Institute of Technology and
Duke.
The best "regional liberal arts
colleges" were St. Mary's
College of Maryland,
Transylvania University of
Kentucky, Ohio Wesleyan and
Southwestern University of
Texas.