So What Have I Missed...? (Part Two)

Our Provost, Terry Weiner, calls it "zigging when everyone else is zagging." I'll explain. Over the years, Sage has had less and less new faculty put on tenure lines, with the number of tenured faculty dropping at the college. This fits with the national trend for colleges to jettison faculty tenure lines for more adjuncts, lecturers and on-line classes. These options can more cost effective, but also reduces the number of faculty available to advise, do committee work and simply keep the campus humming.

During the last three years, tenure has slowly been restored to Sage. After six years, I was put on a tenure line and in February (gratefully) received tenure. Each year the numbers of both new and old faculty put on tenure lines is increasing. At the last Board of Trustees meeting, the Board agreed to allow Sage to become a more tenure-driven institution, meaning that campus-wide, tenure lines may be available for all faculty. After this year, faculty who are not tenured will either be placed on tenure lines or become "Professors of the Practice". The POP will be on multi-year contracts, with more emphasis on teaching and service and less research requirements. This may be a preferable option for a long-serving, untenured faculty member who does not wish to go through the tenure review process.

I think that this is good news for Sage. It should strengthen faculty investment in the institution and puts out a strong message that faculty work is valued at Sage. It bucks a national trend and that's always interesting. One thing I know for sure is that I'm glad I don't have to go up for tenure again.

SAT No More

REPRINTED COURTESY OF SAGE COMMUNICATIONS

THE SAGE COLLEGES DROP TESTING REQUIREMENT

By a wide margin, the faculty of The Sage Colleges on Friday voted to no longer require standardized testing for their undergraduate applicants to Russell Sage College and the Sage College of Albany. This change will be effective immediately.

“This is in keeping with the faculty’s view of a Sage education,” said Dr. Terry Weiner, Sage’s provost. “We believe our educational philosophy and practices should be reflected in our admissions policies.

“The SAT continues to be a less reliable predictor of first year performance or success in college compared to high school GPA and class rank. Our own studies at Sage have confirmed this. We continue to rely on our assessment of the whole record as the best way to assess students ready for Sage,” according to Weiner. “In this time of economic distress students should not have to choose between expensive cram courses or tutoring for these tests, or worry about losing ground in the competition for college admission.”

Bob Schaeffer, Public Education Director of FairTest notes that “Fortunately, more and more colleges have recognized the folly of fixating on the narrow, often biased, information provided by standardized tests and moved toward test-optional admissions.” Surveys by FairTest show that schools that have made standardized tests optional are widely pleased with the results. Many report their applicant pools and enrolled classes have become more diverse without any loss in academic quality.

Sage already utilizes a “holistic” approach to student evaluation: academic preparation – rigor and achievement – is the most important factor followed by recommendations and students’ personal profiles.

“Our approach to selecting students is very similar to the way students choose a college: we look at many factors, keep in mind a student’s background and interests, and assess the match between that student and Sage. No one factor is a ‘driver,’ it is the sum of the whole,” according to Sage’s vice president Dan Lundquist. “If a student wants to submit test scores we will be happy to receive them, just as we want to learn about their accomplishments and goals. But if a student doesn’t submit scores we won’t assume anything, just as if they don’t tell us about a hobby. We don’t guess about what’s not in the application, we focus on what’s in an application.”