Dartmouth's anthropology and classics departments elicit high student satisfaction ratings, while biology maintains its traditionally low marks, according to a just-published Student Assembly report on departmental performance at the College.
Steve Koutsavlis '05 presented a report assessing the performance of the College's academic departments at the final Student Assembly meeting of the term last night.
Over 50 pages long, the report provides extensive information on each department, including number of professors, majors and major-to-faculty ratio; number of classes offered within the department, average class size, median class size and ratings on various aspects of the academic experience.
"We hope this assessment helps provoke a discussion about the future allocation of resources for teaching at Dartmouth and assists prospective majors in choosing a department that best suits their needs," the report's cover letter said.
Koutsavlis, the Assembly's vice president of academic affairs, and Mark Herman '06, vice chair of the academic affairs committee, spent the past year compiling the report based on results from an online survey sent out to majors last spring. Herman is also a member of The Dartmouth staff.
Building upon the first departmental assessment report published two years ago, as a part of the Undergraduate Teaching Initiative, this year's report includes an expanded set of qualitative survey questions and quotes from majors commenting on the quality of their respective departments.
Koutsavlis noted the trend between a high major-to-faculty ratio and student dissatisfaction with the "major experience." The report consequently suggested the hiring of "more faculty to meet demand in these most popular departments."
Koutsavlis said the committee plans to release the report in the fall for the incoming freshmen, at which point it will focus more on specific departments.
A Profiles in Excellence dinner, also a component of the Undergraduate Teaching Initiative, preceded last night's Assembly meeting. Alina Sokol, an assistant professor in the Spanish and Portuguese department, received this term's award.
"I'm very moved. I feel extraordinarily honored," Sokol said upon accepting the award. "It's the first time that I'm receiving something that I did not solicit," she joked.
Sokol, who came to the United States as a refugee from Moscow in 1992 and received her doctorate in Spanish literature from Yale University, focuses on early modern Spanish literature, and in particular, 17th-century Spanish poetry.
"Since the age of 10 or 12, I've been obsessed with Spain, with the stereotype of passionate intensity combined with the very rigid restrictions of that intensity," Sokol said.
Sokol's passion for Spain translated into the classroom, according to colleagues and students.
"You always keep us on our toes," Romance Languages major Katinka Harrison '04 said, citing the interactive nature of Sokol's courses.
"I took an intensive course based on the Stanislavsky method of acting, and I think teaching has a lot to do with acting and being on stage," Sokol said.
"You teach students like mini-academics in their own right. You have high expectations, and you encourage high expectations," Laura Ferrell '04 said during the dinner. Ferrell is a Spanish minor who participated in the Spanish FSP with Sokol.
"I think I enjoy most intellectual stimulation: providing that and consequently receiving that," Sokol said. "That is really inspiring when you stimulate some thought."
