Truman State University tmn.truman.edu FEATURES | Students lead special courses as preceptors Page 5
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2017 tmn.truman.edu
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Final discussions as LSP vote nears
Photo by Brently Snead/TMN Student Senate members attend the special meeting Faculty Senate hosted Nov. 2. Student Senate hosted student forums in October and passed a resolution on the proposals at its Nov. 5 meeting. BY BRENTLY SNEAD Managing Editor
Truman State University’s Faculty Senate hosted a special meeting Nov. 2 to discuss previous proposals for improving the Liberal Studies Program in hopes of better informing the University before a final decision is made Nov. 16. The original proposal was created in a span of two years in an effort to make Truman distinctive by adding seminars and reworking the current LSP. The proposal outlined four worlds and said students should take at least one course from each, and then encouraged students to explore more at their own leisure. Another proposal was then created during the summer after various questions were posed about the first proposal. The latter proposal removed a seminar and reworked the previous worlds into various perspectives. The meeting was open to faculty and students, and representatives of
Truman’s Spring 2017 Proposal Worlds (13-18 credits) At least one course from each: •
Natural Worlds (4-5 credits) • Social Worlds (4-5 credits) • Creative Worlds (3-4 credits) • Symbolic Systems (3-5 credits)
each of the proposals shared why they thought their committee’s proposal was appropriate for the University. Director of Interdisciplinary Studies Bridget Thomas said the original proposal — which took two years to develop — was a framework to encourage curiosity among students, and brought the liberal arts education up to date. Thomas said the curriculum was modeled after private universities with similar goals to Truman, and could help instill in students a desire to learn inside and outside of the classroom. Sally West, who also served on the committee, said she thought the framework they created embodied a vision for students rather than simply having students check off requirements. West also expressed a fear of Truman beginning to resemble a community college rather than the university it is. Senior Joe Slama, Student Senate member, spoke after the first proposal was presented and told faculty he thinks
Syracuse University’s Liberal Arts Core Curriculum
Truman has something special to offer. “I like the emphasis on preparation for multiple careers simply given the world that we live in,” Slama said. “The generation that we, as current students, belong to is expected to have an average of five careers over the course of our lifetime, so I like the idea that we’re being prepared for all of those careers.” Slama is a student ambassador and often gives tours around campus. Slama said he thinks having a curriculum comparable to a private school helps bring students in. “The joke that sort of gets thrown around Truman sometimes — that I’ve even heard professors say — is that Truman students are the ones who couldn’t afford to go to [Washington University],” Slama said. “A lot of students are sort of in that demographic, so if they hear that we are, as we have been called, sort of like a private school education at a public school price, that speaks volumes.” See LSP, page 2
Truman’s Summer 2017 Proposal
Yale University’s Distributional Requirement
Divisional Perspectives Requirements
Perspectives (33-43 credits)
Distributional Requirements for the Bachelor’s Degree
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Natural Sciences and Mathematics (4 courses, 12-16 credits) Social Sciences (4 courses, 12 credits) Humanities (4 courses, 12 credits)
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STEM Perspectives (10 credits) Social Perspectives (9 credits) Missouri Specific Requirements (6 credits) Humanities and Aesthetic Perspectives (9 credits) Communication Skills Perspectives (0-9 credits)
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Area requirement in the Sciences (2 course credits) Area requirement in the Social Sciences (2 course credits) Area requirement in the Humanities and Arts (2 course credits) Skills requirement in Foreign Language (at least 1 course credit) Skills requirement in Quantitative Reasoning (2 course credits) Skills Requirement in Writing (2 course credits)
SPORTS | Truman women’s basketball acquires Davenport duo Page 12
Applications open for scholarships to study abroad BY RYAN PIVONEY Staff Writer For students who might need financial assistance to study abroad, there is currently $70,000 available in study abroad Foundation Scholarships for which students can apply. Each year, hundreds of thousands of dollars total in scholarships are available to Truman State University students through Foundation Scholarships. These scholarships are open to students each semester, and though applications for the general Foundation Scholarships closed Nov. 3, applications for study abroad Foundation Scholarships are now open. Foundation Scholarships manager Becky Pike said individual scholarships have different criteria students must meet to apply for them. Any full-time student can apply, as long as they fit the criteria for the scholarship they’re applying for. Many study abroad scholarships are based on financial need, which requires students to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Foundation Scholarships are made available by donations from Truman alumni and other donors. Pike said there are more than 500 Foundation Scholarships available, and they are intended for a diverse range of students. The criteria for each scholarship is created by its donors. Scholarship recipients are chosen by a committee made up of faculty and staff. “Some scholarships are renewable, some are for study abroad and some are given to students in emergency situations,” Pike said. “But the majority are advertised for current students in October and February.” Pike said while the criteria set by the donors makes the scholarship distinct, such as a scholarship that can only go to students who have graduated from a particular high school, the Office of Advancement has the responsibility to ensure the criteria is not too restrictive and can annually be met. The Foundation Scholarship program awarded more than $1 million to students for the 2017 fiscal year. “A lot of our donors really want to see students have the opportunities to do some amazing things,” Pike said. “Especially those students for which it is something their family might not be able support.” To apply for a Foundation Scholarship, students can follow the Foundation Scholarship Application link under the Student Finances Tab on TruView. Deadlines for applications vary, but more informationcan be found on Truman’s study abroad webstie.
Water tower will be replaced next year BY DANA BARTCH Staff Writer
Next year, the City of Kirksville plans to construct a new water tower in the Patryla Park area to increase water storage as the city’s commercial development expands. Kirksville City Engineer Len P. Kollars said there are currently four water towers and one ground storage unit in Kirksville. These provide the city with about 4 million gallons of water, but because of new commercial development — such as the new hotels and Menard’s — there is an increased demand for water. The towers are inspected once every five years. This year, the City Council decided the smallest and oldest tower — located in downtown Kirksville — will be replaced. Kollars said the industrial standard is to hold the amount of water the city would use in a single day in storage. Since the city’s water plant can handle about 4 million gallons per day, a little more than 4 million gallons should be kept in storage.
VOLUME 109 ISSUE 11 © 2017
The city is looking at constructing a new composite water tower, fit to hold 1 million gallons of water, in the vicinity of Patryla Park in 2018. Patryla Park is located near the intersection
of Boundary Street and Decker Road, west of Spur Pond. “We are in the design process right now — that will be six months — and probably the construction will take
another six months,” Kollars said. “We have not put it out to bid, but our estimate for the one million gallon composite tower [is] about $2.53 million.”
Photo by Lawrence Hu/TMN Kirksville’s downtown water tower — which has the logo of A.T. Still University on the side — is slated to be replaced by a larger composite water tower at a different location in 2018.