In an effort that hopes to increase student-faculty interaction, the Student Assembly last night passed a resolution to allocate $500 in funding each for two events that bring students and professors together.
Proposals for these two events can be submitted by students, student organizations, faculty members and academic departments to the Assembly's Academic Affairs Committee. Last year, the committee put out a report recommending the enhancement of student-faculty relations at Dartmouth.
The Assembly hopes to funnel these funds especially to students going outside of their major and to underclassmen. One Assembly member said that this is because students rarely have contact with the faculty of departments that are not in their major.
Tara Maller '03, co-sponsor of the resolution along with Melissa Sheiko '04, said she remembers that the College emphasized the positive relationship between students and faculty here when she visited as a prospective student.
However, Maller said, upon enrolling at Dartmouth, she "found that the relationship was not as good as it could be -- and not good at all."
Several Assembly members raised the point that this sort of programming should be done by the actual academic departments. Assembly President Jorge Miranda '01 has said filling this perceived void between faculty and students has been one of the primary goals.
The Assembly also hopes to increase student involvement through four forums that will take place in the spring. One of these forums plans to bring Dartmouth students and faculty together to discuss the future of the relationship between them.
