August 22, 2007

New liberal arts faculty take crash course on SIUC

by Andrea Hahn

CARBONDALE, Ill. — New tenure-track faculty in the College of Liberal Arts at Southern Illinois University Carbondale will spend three sessions in Prof. 101 – a crash course in SIUC history, culture and procedures.

Dean Alan Vaux initiated the three, once a week "brown bag seminars," starting this first week of the semester, to introduce the new faculty to each other and to SIUC. The first session covered SIUC history and included information about the greater Carbondale area. The third session focuses on SIUC procedures – the nitty-gritty information about grading policies, grievance procedures and school codes.

The middle session is for new professors to meet representative SIUC undergraduate students. Anita Hutton, assistant to the dean, explained that students are in the best position to inform professors about today's SIUC undergraduate, the unique challenges they face and the specialized experiences they bring. This year's slate of student representatives is full. Liberal arts majors interested in participating in future Prof. 101 sessions can contact the College of Liberal Arts at 2406 Faner Hall or by calling 618/453-2466.