Explorations program struggling to find teachers

Next year's freshmen may have fewer advising programs to choose from unless more students express interest in teaching Explorations courses soon.

Administrators so far have received only ten applications to teach the courses next semester, down from 14 applications from last fall and as many as 25 in previous years, according to Experimental College Director Robyn Gittleman.

"We would even be fine with 15, but despite our increased efforts to attract students, we still only have ten," Gittleman said. The original March 17 application deadline was extended so more students could apply to teach.

Explorations courses are pass/fail classes taught by one or two students through the Experimental College. The courses are one of three advising programs offered to incoming freshmen.

The lack of teachers could have a serious impact on the program's size.

"Although the number of people willing to teach these courses has dropped, the number of incoming students expressing enthusiasm in taking them has not." Gittleman explained. "It would be a real shame if we would just have to make it a smaller program and turn away even more interested freshmen than we have been lately."

Gittleman said that fewer students may be interested because of the difficulty of teaching an Explorations class. Student-teachers must develop a syllabus and compile readings before the course even begins.

"Everybody is definitely very busy with schoolwork, and teaching one of these courses does require extra effort," said senior Melinda Nollett, who taught "Beatles and the 1960s" last semester.

An intensive application process helps eliminate applicants who might not be

fully committed to teaching, Gittleman said.

"We could make the application process less intense but we want truly interested students teaching the courses," she said.

Senior Rekha Gavini, who taught "Unwrapping Consumerism" last semester, said the extra effort required in teaching an Explorations class was worthwhile.

"The application was definitely challenging, but it was worth it because I didn't want to be limited in what I wanted to teach," she said. "I think if someone is interested in teaching, he or she should have a wide range of topics to choose from."

The Explorations program has not been modified since its creation in 1972, and Gittleman said no changes were planned. "We don't want to change it just to get people to want to teach," she said. "They should be enthusiastic about the teaching opportunity to begin with."

While interest in teaching Explorations courses has declined, interest in Perspectives, another student-taught program which centers on mass media, is flourishing.

In an attempt to recruit more teachers, the Ex College has increased its advertising efforts, with posters on campus, newspaper and online advertisements. It has also held three meetings to discuss and answer questions about the program. "In the past we've only had one meeting." Gittleman said.

But time for recruiting teachers, Gittleman said, is running out.

"We're doing all we can right now to get more proposals, but this probably can't keep up for more than another week because bulletins do need to be sent out to the incoming students about the program choices they have," she said.

If this year's recruiting efforts do not go well, it could pose even more problems for the future. Gavini and Nollett said they became interested in teaching Explorations partially because they took a course as freshmen, and a smaller offering of Explorations classes may result in smaller future applicant pools.