The second draft of the Plan for Mount Holyoke College 2003 was the major topic of discussion at the February 12 faculty meeting. President Joanne Creighton noted that the paper, which was distributed to the campus community on February 6, was "very much still a draft, but I hope we've got it mostly right now." An invitation for faculty comments on any aspect of the draft drew varied reactions, many focused on particular word choices in a specific section of the draft.
Remarks were so specific that politics professor Stephen Ellenburg asked at one point if the lack of general reactions meant that faculty approved, were resigned about, or disapproved of the overall draft document. Later comments continued to address myriad specific aspects of the plan and the tone of the document's prose style.
The only area of the plan that drew widespread reaction was "Action Paper 3," which deals with simplifying and strengthening the curriculum. Among other things, this section suggests that the College need not continue to offer all its current majors. Faculty consensus seemed to be that a clearer definition is needed of what constitutes a viable department, program, or major field. There was also discussion of whether the College needed to simplify the curriculum (not just how it could simplify it).
In other business, admissions director Anita Smith announced that applications for first-year admission now total 2,270, and may reach the 2,300 mark. This represents a 12 percent rise in applications over last year's total. This year's applicants are more highly qualified academically as well as more numerous; SAT scores and high school rank-in-class statistics are both up. The applicant pool also includes 22 percent more international students compared with last year's group.
Anyone else for a slice of "hat"?--Professors sample the steamed pudding known as Deacon Porter's Hat before the February faculty meeting. The cylindrical dessert, named for the tall black chapeau worn by original MHC trustee Andrew Porter, will be served to students at dinner on the twenty-eighth. It is the traditional dessert for Mary Lyon's birthday, though no one knows how the molasses-and-spice flavored delicacy came to be associated with the founder's birthday celebrations.
![[Index]](../index3.gif){kind=small}