Provost Michael Bernstein has planned to fundamentally alter the T2 program next year due to budget cuts. The reconfiguration has incited controversy, as students have recently expressed questions about what will happen next year. In addition to program changes, Kelly Jo Larsen's position as assistant director of student transitions and leadership will be eliminated as of Dec. 31.
"T2 is a sophomore year experience program designed to enhance personal, academic and career goals," Larsen said. "It's what we call a living-learning program, designed to bridge between the academic, the co-curricular and the student life programs."
The program is meant to help sophomores link leadership, careers, housing and academics, Larsen said.
The Office of Student Affairs is waiting on the results of student surveys before making final statements about the program's success last year or about plans for 2008-09.
"It's unfair to evaluate T2 on the whole until we have looked at that data," Larsen said. "My personal opinion is that yes, T2 did meet its goals. It was a pilot program, and with any pilot program, you're discovering things as you go along."
However, due to the budget cuts, the current incarnation of T2 will not have the chance to develop.
"We are having to reconfigure the T2 program from its current structure to a new structure that maximizes the benefits to sophomore students," said Amjad Ayoubi, executive director of academic advising. "We will be meeting in the next couple of weeks to develop creative ideas to help us provide programs to sophomores within the current budget guidelines."
Dean James Maclaren said that the surveys will be integral in any decisions that are made about next year's program.
"We'll look at ways to support programming and leadership," Maclaren said. "We'll work to continue what was successful."
Because T2's funding has been diverted to academic advising next year, the program will primarily focus on academics, Larsen said.
"The other pieces of it that are connected - career and academic advising - will continue," Maclaren said. "With Amjad operating as director of both of these things [as he works in academic advising], that shouldn't be a problem."
Concerns remain for programs such as Emerging Leaders and T2: Leads, Larsen said.
"The leadership component of T2, specifically, and the overall leadership development initiative have been eliminated," she said.
Some students are unhappy that they were not consulted about the reconfiguration.
"This situation calls to light an interesting practice - the firing of staff or the restructuring of departments with no student input, despite the outcry from students, ASB President Tim Cullen said.
2008 Woodie Awards
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