An  Introduc+on  to  the  College  for  Faculty  Assembly  –  January  17,  2012  

John  Mackey  

Special  Thanks  to  Sr.  Associate  Dean  Robert  Oresick  

 The  mission  of  the  College  of  General  Studies  is  to  provide  students  with  a  unique  interdisciplinary  two-­‐year  liberal  arts  core  curriculum  taught  by  a  team  of  faculty  with  Ph.D.s  in  a  cross  sec+on  of  disciplines.      

 CGS  offers  students  the  intellectual  environment  of  a  small  premier  liberal  arts  college  during  their  first  two  years  and  an  entree  into  one  of  the  many  degree-­‐gran+ng  colleges  at  Boston  University.  

Some  CGS  Facts  -­‐CGS  is  located  at  871  Comm  Ave.  

-­‐CGS  employs  50  full-­‐+me  faculty  with  Ph.D.s  and  seven  professional  advising  staff  

-­‐CGS  students  are  the  second-­‐largest  group  of  incoming  BU  first-­‐year  students  (approx.  700)  

-­‐Sophomores  end  their  CGS  careers  by  comple+ng  and  defending  a  group  interdisciplinary  Capstone  Project  

-­‐Incoming  CGS  first-­‐year  students  are  in  the  top  20%  of  their  high  school  classes  and  have  an  average  GPA  of  3.3  

-­‐CGS  students  are  approximately  65%  female  

-­‐The  CGS  Wri+ng  and  Academic  Support  center  offers  wri+ng  consulta+on,  study  skills  strategies,  +me-­‐management  assistance,  and  similar  services  

-­‐CGS  Publishes  a  weekly  Newsle^er  and  a  biannual  alumni  magazine  called  The  Collegian  

CGS  Administra.on  

-­‐Linda  Wells,  Dean  of  the  College  (pictured)  

-­‐Natalie  McKnight,  Associate  Dean  for  Faculty  Research  and  Development  and  Director  of  the  Center  for  Interdisciplinary  Teaching  and  Learning  

-­‐Stacy  Godnick,  Sr.  Associate  Dean  

-­‐Robert  Oresick,  Sr.  Associate  Dean  

Faculty  and  their  Academic  Divisions  at  CGS  

CGS  faculty  hold  the  ranks  of  Professor,  Associate  Professor,  Assistant  Professor,  Senior  Lecturer  and  Lecturer.    Some  faculty  are  tenured  or  on  tenure  track,  while  others  are  on  the  non-­‐tenure  lecturer  track.    CGS  faculty  have  dis+nguished  records  of  teaching,  university  service,  and  publishing.  They  reside  in  four  divisions:  

-­‐Division  of  Humani+es  (14  full-­‐+me  faculty)  –  Adam  Swee+ng,  Ac+ng  Chair    

-­‐Division  of  Natural  Sciences  and  Mathema+cs  (8  full-­‐+me  faculty)  –  Peter  Busher,  Chair  

-­‐Division  of  Rhetoric  (14  full-­‐+me  faculty)  –  Ma^hew  Parfi^,  Chair  

-­‐Division  of  Social  Sciences  (14  full-­‐+me  faculty)  –  Jay  Corrin,  Chair  

CGS  was  founded  in  1952  as  a  part  of  Boston  University’s  par+cipa+on  in  the  na+onal  movement  to  open  the  doors  of  higher  educa+on  to  more  ci+zens.    

The  college  was  organized  around  two  founda+onal  ideas:  

1.   Teaching  and  Student  Development,  which  led  to  the  innova+ve  Team  Structure  

2.  General  Educa.on,  which  led  to  the  interdisciplinary  Core  Curriculum  

The  Team  Structure  A  Team  typically  consists  of  85-­‐100  students,  divided  into  sec+ons  or  labs  of  

20-­‐25  students  or  Rhetoric  sec+ons  of  10  to  15  students  

Freshman  Team:  

-­‐One  Humani+es  Faculty  Member  

-­‐One  Social  Sciences  Faculty  Member  -­‐Two  Rhetoric  Faculty  Members  -­‐One  full-­‐+me  Academic  Advisor  

Sophomore  Team:  

-­‐One  Humani+es  Faculty  Member  

-­‐One  Social  Sciences  Faculty  Member  -­‐One  Natural  Sciences  Faculty  Member  -­‐One  full-­‐+me  Academic  Advisor  

Center  for  Interdisciplinary  Teaching  and  Learning  (CITL)  

-­‐Impact:  The  Online  Scholarly  Journal  of  CITL  

-­‐Summer  Ins+tutes    Summer  2012:      Baseball  –      an  Interdisciplinary      Summer  Ins+tute  

-­‐Post-­‐Doctoral  and  Graduate  Teacher  Training  

-­‐Academic  Conferences  focused  on  Interdisciplinary  Teaching  and  Research  (star+ng  2013)  

618

826

412

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637

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639

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596

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826

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784 787 808

872

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801 814

690

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822

702

778

716 683

762

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1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1260 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Freshman Class Size

% of all BU freshmen  

% of BU freshman class   n of CGS freshman class  

Freshmen: fall 2009, n = 762 fall 2010 estimated 720

18.50%  

1 0 1 0 0 0 5

17

42

69

117

85

99

87

70

60

30 34

26

12

6

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120

2 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 3 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 4

CGS Freshman High School Grade Point Average

Fall 2009, CGS'11, BU'13

Since 2000, our freshmen high school GPA has been about a B+ (3.2)  

Fall, 2009: 6 freshmen entered CGS with a 4.0 high school GPA, 12 with a 3.9 and 26 with a 3.8.  

Until the late '70s, our average freshman student had a 2.0 high school GPA.  

From the late '70s through the mid '90s, our entering students had about a 2.5 GPA.  

Fall 2009 high school GPA mean = 3.22  

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Junior Year Retention

Entering year  1952 - 1968 estimated from eligibility reports, and so are upper bounds of the actual retention  

CAS  

CGS  

% of Entering Freshmen Enrolled as Juniors at Boston University  

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Continuation from CGS to CAS, COM, and SMG

CAS  

COM  

SMG  

number of students  

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Continuation from CGS to SED, SAR, SHA, MET, ENG,CFA, and UNI

SAR SHA SED MET ENG CFA UNI SED became a transfer school, requiring a 2.6 GPA

and Literacy Exam, effective Fall 1999.  

Number of students  

0

5

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1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Comparative Graduation Rates

CGS  CAS  SMG  

COM  

All US Colleges  

Private US  

Public US  

Student  Opportuni.es  Outside  The  Classrooms  of  871  Comm  Ave.  

-­‐Student  Clubs  and  Organiza+ons  like  FLAPS  (Film  Lovers  and  Philosophers  Society),    Science  and  Society  Group,  World  Affairs  Forum,    the  CGS  Literary  Magazine  Chimaerid,  CGS  Student  Government,  and  others  

-­‐CGS  Humani+es  and  Natural  Sciences  Study  Abroad  programs  in  London  

-­‐The  CGS  Social  Sciences  China  Tour  

-­‐The  Gilbane  House  on  Bay  State  Road