University of Virginia Library

Colloquium

Yes Virginia, There Is
A School Of Education

—Ed.

By Denise O'Brien

With the belief that student
participation can be achieved
through a defined medium, the
officers of the School of Education
and the Student Education Association
have drawn up a constitution
for the student body which provides
for channels through which
students in the education school
can express their own ideas for the
growth and future of their school.

A chain is only as strong as its
weakest link, and in the education
school, that weakest link is the
student body. With the proposed
constitution, the student body has
a chance to express itself; the
burden of decision now rests on the
students.

We have a chance to knock off
some the rust on the chain and
walk into the open door of student
participation. To shut this door
now would be to deny ourselves an
education in a school designed for
that purpose. To learn is to change
the worst of yesterday and mold it
into the best of tomorrow. If this is
quixotic, then so is the education in
general, in any school.

Until now there has been only
one small tributary - the poorly
attended Student Education Association
(SEA) - into which student
concern could be fed into the main
stream of the School of Education.
Last fall the administration changed
its policy on faculty meetings and
opened them to any interested
student.

The governing system was completely
revamped to allow for
student membership and voting
privileges on the Faculty Council,
Student Personal Committee,
Faculty Personal Committee, and
Program Committee. At present
there are two students on each of
these committees, selected by students.
This framework for cooperation
represents a refreshing change.

The proposed constitution
opens even more areas for student
participation. There are three salient
areas of this document aid
willing students.

In the past officers of the
education school and the SEA were
nominated and elected without
knowing their real functions. They
operated in the gray area between
chaos and indifference, guided by
the suggestions of outgoing officers.
Two years ago the same person was
president of both bodies. This year
each office is held by a different
person, and consequently there are
also two vice presidents.

This arrangement was totally
inefficient. Therefore the new constitution
provides for one president,
who will represent the education
school in the Honor Committee,
attend the Faculty Council and
with the advice of the vice president
and Student Council representative,
appoint members to their
other joint student-faculty committees
in the education school.

The vice president will be
chairman of the SEA, and a
member of the Faculty Committee.
The secretary will be a member of
the Bad Check Committee, and
serve as secretary to the SEA. The
treasurer will be the financial
representative of the SEA.

The constitution also provides
for student members on the Student
personal committee. This is a
unique feature in school constitutions,
but the situation of the
education school calls for the
definition and delineation of positions.

The third area of the constitution
provides for an Education
Council whose primary function is
sampling and presenting student
opinion to the faculty and administration
via the representative joint
committee. Its officers will be the
school officers and members of the
committee with the presidents of
departmental clubs within the
school. Additional students may be
incorporated within the council by
a majority vote.

This committee will be open to
any suggestions concerning the
school or student body from any
students, and will pass them along
to the joint committee.

The constitution is not an
attempt to foster bureaucracy or
create an outlet for frustrating
ultimatums. It is an effort to
inform the students of the education
school that they have a voice
in their school if they were
interested.

The constitution will be on the
ballot for ratification in the March
24-25 election. School officers will
also be elected at this time.
Nominations for those officers
named in the constitution will be
held in room 4B in Newcomb Hall
on March 12 from 4 to 5 p.m. All
interested students are urged to
attend.