Posted by Alex Brehm
Faculty members convened for the fourth and final faculty meeting of the semester on Friday, Dec. 2 to discuss the conferral of degrees for 33 early graduates and several policy changes, including the College's Intellectual Property policy and the Honors Forum.
The faculty voted to grant Bachelor of Arts degrees to 29 students and Bachelor of Science degrees to 4 students, pending their completion of degree requirements by Jan. 31, 2012. Many of these students were also granted Latin and departmental honors pending their satisfaction of graduation requirements.
Following the vote, an open discussion was held on a proposed intellectual property policy for the College supporting creative thought, calling to mind the college's motto.
Several faculty members said they felt that the proposed policy did not do enough to protect students' ideas, and asked that the policy clearly state that students' inventions will never become intellectual property of the College. Faculty and administrators acknowledged that the concerned parties were making a good faith effort to address such concerns.
Catherine Golden, professor of English and director of the Honors Forum, announced several changes to the name and policies of the Honors Forum, including the merging of the Honors Forum and the Periclean Society, due to non-regular membership of the Periclean Society.
Additionally, contrary to previous practice, students will be invited to the Periclean Honors Forum based solely on scholastic performance while attending the College, rather than including their performances in high school, as has been done in the past, although students have always been able to apply for the Honors Forum while in college.
Faculty also discussed new changes regarding the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies membership. Under the proposed revision, the faculty handbook will be revised to include four professors, one each representing the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and arts. There will be a discussion and a vote on the proposal at the next meeting, scheduled for Feb. 3, 2012.