ubspectrum.com
Monday, July 2, 2012
UB promises that students will graduate in four years students getting their classes, but we know those are seats in classes that are of higher need.
JOE KONZE JR Asst. News Editor
These are in composition classes, languages, chemistry, physics, math, anatomy, and high demand areas that have historically been thought of as ‘bottle neck’ courses, and that is a big commitment. We are excited about that commitment to our students. We are increasing our capacity to advise. I think group advising is very powerful. We want to think about doing that and doing it well.
UB is introducing a program this fall to guarantee that students graduate in four years. “Finish in Four” ensures undergraduate students who are studying in a four-year program will complete their program in four years. If not, UB will pay the rest of the students’ tuition. The Spectrum met with Vice Provost and Dean of Undergraduate Education Scott Weber for information about the program.
Q: How will you increase your capacity to advise?
The content of this interview has been edited for clarity and length. Q: If I were an incoming freshman and wanted to enroll in the “Finish in Four” program, how would I go about it? A: Advisers are reaching out to students before orientation and asking if students would like to enroll, and why they should. We are also going to talk about it more in orientation. Incoming freshmen will get a full dose and have also gotten a postcard about the program in the mail. Q: How many have enrolled,or shown interest? A: A little over half of our students who have filled out their bio-data forms without any personal direct touch have already indicated an interest. We expect that number to go up. Q: Are students randomly selected, or can any incoming freshman enroll? A: We would like every student to enroll, why not? We thought about actually doing a pilot program, but then we said no; we want every student to be engaged. There are some students who will not sign up because they are enrolling or interested in majors that [take longer than four years]. For example, if you are an intended pharmacy major, you already know that you are going to be here – if you are accepted into the program – a much longer period of time longer than four years. Q: Was this program put in place to increase graduation rates? A: What we as a university are trying to do is influence and make sure those students who should typically graduate in four years have a path and the expectations are clear. I think we are trying to influence graduation rates. Every day you read on popular press – NPR, USA Today, Washington Post, The New York Times – about increasing debt that our students are taking on. I think we have a responsibility to communicate clearly to our students that, actually, a four-year degree can be done in four years. I know that I am stating the obvious, but it seems important to. The national average in public [university] for four-year graduation rates are in the 30 per-
Rebecca Bratek /// The Spectrum A. Scott Weber, the vice provost and dean for undergraduate education, met with The Spectrum to discuss UB's new "Finish in Four" program.
cent range. Our current rate of graduation in four years is about 45 percent. We would like it to be about 55 or 60 percent. Some people may not graduate in four years, and that is fine. We want to make sure that our whole community is thinking about this as a thought process and a culture change. The four-year rate has been increasing, as of late. About 15 years ago, we were about 30 percent – the national average. We’ve gone up to about 45 percent; we’ve made a strong effort to do that. The quality of our students is increasing over that period of time, obviously the higher the quality of the student you have, that’s no big surprise. We want to move it into that next 15 percent or so. Q: Would you say that by enrolling in this program, the university and administration as a whole are challenging students? A: I’m not looking at this as a competition between students; I’m looking at this as a competition between the students and themselves. I do think there is a culture change on campus that [graduating in four years] becomes the expected norm. The reason you don’t graduate in four years is not because ‘Well, I just couldn’t do it.’ It’s because you have done something academically unique, interesting, challenging, you’ve done a double major, or you’ve gone to study abroad in a program that may not mesh perfectly with the course requirements in your major.
A: We have new advisement reports coming out; we are thinking about how to track advisement. It’s like the relay race. You come in, you may have advising by central advising, then you may have advising by your decanal unit, then you may have advising by the department, and how does that hand off? It seems like the relay race is always lost in the baton transfer, and I think we need a more seamless system of how we make that transfer so the students see a sort of seamless path through that process. Q: What if students don’t sign up? A: Quite frankly, if students do not sign up, we are trying to build a capacity for those even if they don’t sign up. Our goal is even if you sign up or not, you still graduate in four years. Q: What if you don’t “finish in four?” A: [UB] will pay for the student’s tuition. First off, students have to take the initiative to go seek out their advisers. There has to be legitimate reason why we could not fulfill our end of the bargain. Our fulfillment to our students is to provide a clear path toward graduation for every major, to provide the advising as needed to communicate that path, and the tools to communicate to the students whether they are on the path or not. My new metaphor to describe this is a GPS. So you are driving in a lane, and you punch in the punch-in that you know you are going from point A to point B. Think of A as when you are coming here for freshmen weekend, and B is graduation weekend. We know what points A and B are, but we don’t know exactly what stops will be on the way, but you chart your path. When you make a wrong turn on the GPS it says, ‘recalculating.’ Students somewhere along the way may make a wrong turn; we want to be there to recalculate their path if they make a wrong turn.
Q: Does this add seats to classrooms? A: We’ve added this for the Fall 2012 term compared to the Fall 2011 term; I think we’ve added about 10,000 seats. I can’t tell you exactly how many sections that is, but remember that is not 10,000 students, that is a lot less than 10,000
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Continued from page A4: Welcome to UB; now don’t be dumb 20 minute car ride and a walk into The Spectrum’s office. I found myself here. I found this wonderful newspaper, with wonderful people, and I found out that I don’t need Newhouse to be a journalist. But as a freshman, you’re entering a notoriously apathetic school, with a huge commuter base. It’s easy to accept defeat and become just one of 18,000 undergrads with no defining experiences in your freshman year. I came pretty damn close to doing that myself. When I decided to take the spend-the-least-amountof-money-possible approach to college, this included the decision to live at home. A lot of people who make that choice also decide they’re going to be antisocial. They treat college like a phase they’re just passing on through. At the end they will get some fancy piece of paper that will hopefully get them an equally as fancy job, and the in between doesn’t matter much. They go to class, they go home, they go to their crappy part-time job, and they hang out with friends that went to the high school they graduated from – maybe picking up a few equally as apathetic UB friends along the way from other suburbs. I almost didn’t join the newspaper. It took a push from talking to people who are actually journalists for me to realize I wasn’t screwed, and that UB could be a lot more than I originally slated it out to be. Your college experience is whatever you choose to make it. I was planning my transfer out before the semester even started. Don’t do that. Give Victor E. Bull a chance. So a shout out to my fellow commuters – don’t feed the apathy like I almost did. I get it. UB was the smart choice, but you don’t really want to be here. In your mind all the “rah rah, go Bulls!” being crammed down your throat at orientation is for the people getting the real college experience. The ones who are excited to be here and are from Long Island or out of state – the ones that are dorming, the ones that got out of where they grew up. This is your college experience, too, just as much as it is anyone else’s. Meet people at orientation. Don’t stick to the kids you went to high school with. As painful and awkward as you think it may be – talk to strangers. I made my first UB friend at orientation because we had the same sneakers. When you live 20 minutes away from campus, leaving orientation early is going to be extremely tempting and overwhelmingly appealing. All my high school friends did it. But I’m pleading with you to stay. No matter how hot, or boring, or stupid it seems, just stay. UB’s your second home now, and you never know who you’re going to meet or what niche you may discover and see yourself fitting into. I was ignorant to think because I grew up around here, UB would offer me few new experiences. I want to laugh at how idiotic and childish I was. At age 18, I hadn’t done it all, and a year later – I still haven’t. Even after I graduate, I’ll still be learning about this area and this school, and as corny as it sounds, about myself. Embrace where you are. Chances are, you’re supposed to be here.
Email: sara.dinatale@ubspectrum.com
Continued from page A1: Legends of the Fall: A historical account of SA’s Fall Fest the venue and unable to see the band perform its ’80s hit, “Rock Lobster.” The tumultuous event was a sign of things to come for the following decades. The rise of hip-hop, protests, and scandal The anticipation that came with the beginning of the year announcement of the Fall Fest lineups was replaced by a cry for protest. The students weren’t caught up with the hype, but were swept in the picket signs and the footsteps of students who marched from South to North Campus because of the proposed bus fees in 1990. The UB administrators were forced to listen to the students’ pleas, and at the same time, SA and UUAB had to keep their ears open to mainstream musical genre that was becoming increasingly diverse. Hip-hop was entering its peak, grunge was on the move, and there were numerous bands with the potential to break it big. It’s apparent from the lineups that the organizations attempted to keep all musical tastes in mind during the decade. Some of the decade’s major successes relied partially on luck and good timing. The Goo Goo Dolls, a Buffalo native band that sold more than 10 million albums worldwide, played at Fall Fest in 1991 before they dominated the charts for the latter half of the decade. SA would later book Nirvana to play at UB in November 1993, months before Kurt Cobain ended his life. While Nirvana and the Goo Goo Dolls are remembered as some of SA’s biggest successes, Mark Sorel, SA’s administrative director, believed that the cards happened to be in the organization’s favor. “It was multiple things – band availability, having space available at time,” Sorel said. “Every concert we put on has a variety of issues that affect when it can happen. You can look at it from the band side of things, the university side, and the student’s side. All those factors have to come together.” SA was also resilient in key moments. In 1994, SA President Karen Hillary resigned after being accused of embezzling SA funds and forgery, prompting Vice President Herman Matfes to take position. Matfes and his organization still remained focused on hosting an enjoyable Fall Fest, despite the changes. “From the Fall Fest perspective and the university perspective, the student government is structured in a way that allotted departure,” Mat-
fes said. “It was a way to keep serving students, and really that was the main focus…The focus was always students, and therefore, things of that nature would never be at risk.” Public Enemy ended up performing at Fall Fest that year without Terminator X, who broke his legs in a motorcycle accident. The ineptitude of the replacement DJ drew a mixed reaction from the crowd. Although Public Enemy may have been the most prolific, SA also brought many other East Coast Hip-Hop acts to the stage: Brand Nubian in 1992, Mobb Deep in 1995, De La Soul in 1997, and Busta Rhymes in 1998. All of the acts received a positive response, but the final Fall Fest of the millennium fell short. The concert, which featured legendary hiphop duo Gangstarr and ska band Reel Big Fish, was marked by low attendance. There was tension in the air as well – a member of Gangstarr’s entourage threatened a member of the crowd after being hit with a paper airplane. Change in the millenniums The new decade started well with a solid performance from The Roots, but a national tragedy would end up rocking the entire UB population in 2001: Sept. 11. Fall Fest was scheduled for the Friday of that week, but a decision was made to postpone it in light of the events. The semester’s most-anticipated event took a backseat to healing the wounds opened by the disaster. SA and Sub-Board sponsored buses to New York City because of the number of students who came from the city. The artists – 3 Doors Down, Mexican Cession, and Everclear – agreed to accommodate and postpone to concert until October “I think every year the big talk is always Fall Fest, but in the grand scheme with 9/11, people were disappointed that it wasn’t happening, but people understood,” said Dela Yador, the 2005-06 SA president. “Not having a concert wasn’t the worst thing in the world compared to what had just happened.” America was forever changed, and soon after, Fall Fest followed suit. In 2003, SA President George Pape’s administration made the decision to form SA Entertainment. For years, SA had to discuss with UB’s other student governments about what direction they’d be taking with each additional Fall Fest because of how Sub-Board is universally associated with each one. SA would fund a larger sum of money
in comparison to the other governments to produce the event. They’d all get an equal say in the acts, despite the monetary difference. SA Entertainment was founded to give the undergraduate government more control of its events. The organization has organized the Fall Fest every year since, while the UUAB – the division that helped produce the fest for 25 years – became defunct. The switch proved to be successful soon afterwards. The 2004 Fall Fest featured alternative rock band Incubus; their performance was buoyed by a lively audience. The organization’s momentum only grew when it achieved its biggest accomplishment the next year. Fall Fest 2005 had one of the most prolific artists of the millennium: Kanye West. It was near-perfect timing. SA had booked him when he just broke into the national spotlight. “It was at a weird point in his career where younger people knew him, but adults had no clue who he was,” said Marc Rosenblitt, SA Entertainment Director. “All of a sudden he got on T.V. and called George W. Bush a racist… That just launched Kanye into way outside of the demographic where he was well-known. His price skyrocketed after that.” It was still in SA’s budget, however. According to Yador, SA was able to book West for $100,000 – the most it has paid for an artist. Now, West performs for approximately $500,000. West left a lasting impression with his performance. The artist played for about two hours, but Yador said the set remained entertaining throughout. “It was such a big deal for Kanye to come, especially since it was an amazing show and since we booked an artist,” Yador said. “‘Now, let’s [see] it lives up to the hype.’ The light show and set changes – he really told a story when he performed, and I think students really appreciated it. I think that they got their money’s worth at that show.” Fall Fest continued with the notable headliners for the latter half of the decade. It included reggae artists Sean Paul in 2006, All-American Rejects in 2007, Ludacris in 2008, and Lupe Fiasco, Busta Rhymes, and Common to close out the decade. Nas performed for the fests three times in the decade – in 2003 and 2008 for the Fall Fest, and 2011 for the Spring Fest.
“If you look up how many of these students come from New York City and how many of these students look at Nas as one of the greatest alive, you can never lose by booking Nas. Whether it’s a thousand person venue or in a soccer arena,” Yador said. “He cuts at so many different people regardless of color.” The fall of Fall Fest The growth of Fall Fest from a student gathering to a big stage concert is a storied one, but it’s hard to gauge just how big the event will get given the limited resources. Rosenblitt would like to see a return of the carnival-like atmosphere that was prevalent in the early ’90s. He realizes that just isn’t realistic. “That’s something we’ve talked about and played with for years, but the cost of these sorts of things is incredibly high,” Rosenblitt said. North Campus doesn’t offer many places to hold the concert, either. Alumni Arena is often in use by UB Athletics, and the traitorous Buffalo weather can easily cut hopes of having Baird Point or UB Stadium as a venue. The circumstances almost led to disaster in Spring Fest 2011, which was held at UB Stadium. “The stadium show two years ago was the first time we’ve ever gone into the stadium with the Fests, so that was a gamble,” Rosenblitt said. “If the weather had been bad – and the weather before had been terrible, miserable days – if we had those weather problems the day of the show, we’d probably have to cancel the show.” But Rosenblitt, who’s been helping out with Fall Fest since 1996, believes that having a bigger Fall Fest isn’t necessarily the most important thing. “For me, it’s never been about the musicians or anything like that,” Rosenblitt said. “The biggest thing is for me is seeing people enjoy themselves at the show. There’s nothing more important to me than looking at a crowd of people smiling, pumping their fists, and having a good time. That for me is a lot more interesting to watch than the people on stage.” Nemmer said his organization has been planning this year’s Fall Fest since the end of the 2012 spring semester.
Email: arts@ubspectrum.com