Boston University administrators and students discussed the recent presidential debacle, grade deflation and student apathy at the fifth Deans’ Luncheon, held at the Castle Wednesday.
Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore, Provost Dennis Berkey and most of the college deans attended, but School of Hospitality Administration Dean James Stamas and School of Management Dean Louis Lataif were absent. SMG Senior Associate Dean Michael Lawson represented the school.
President ad interim Aram V. Chobanian and President emeritus John Silber also did not attend though Silber had come to the luncheon in previous years.
The Student Union chose the 27 student attendees through an application process. Union officials gave the applications to senators to distribute to their constituencies, according to Union Executive Vice President Dave Bresler.
“We picked people who put thought into what they wanted to ask the deans,” Bresler said. “There’s [more than one] student for every dean here.”
Students sat next to the deans of their colleges, and signs on the tables suggested topics for discussion.
Bresler said the topics, which ranged from traditions at BU to grade inflation and deflation, had not been used before. The topic of grades gained the most attention, followed closely by deliberations on the BU presidency and the recent turmoil surrounding the Board of Trustees.
College of Fine Arts Dean Walt Meissner said grade inflation is prevalent.
“I don’t want to give the impression it’s a problem,” he said. “In one-on-one courses, the consistency of evaluation is a challenge.”
However, students at other colleges said deflation is actually the problem, not inflation, with several students citing College of Arts and Sciences courses as the source of the problem.
Berkey said the highest grades should be reserved as an award for the strongest students.
“There needs to be something reserved for the very strongest achievers,” he said.
Not all the students dwelled on grades, however, and College of Engineering senior Daniel Brunina commented on the recent media coverage surrounding Daniel S. Goldin and the Board of Trustees. College of Engineering Dean David Campbell said he could see both sides of the story, especially because he has two children at BU. Campbell also said he has faith in Chobanian.
“Aram is caring and sensitive,” Campbell said. “He’s tough – but smooth.”
ENG junior Matt Gorelik said he hopes the president will have more interaction with students.
“If a president sat down to dinner in the dining hall with a student, that would be revolutionary,” he said.
Gorelik also said he hopes the Trustees will be more active in trying to repair BU’s reputation.
“The only way to heal the school is to see the board doing something,” he said.
Both students and faculty also talked about university-wide apathy.
College of General Studies Dean Linda Wells noted how the problem affects faculty just as much as it does students.
“You think there’s apathy among BU students?” she said. “It’s just like the faculty. All they care about is teaching their classes and doing their research.”
CAS sophomore Elizabeth Eng said hearing the deans’ views added to the overall experience of the luncheon.
“I thought it was a lot of fun,” she said. “I learned a lot about the administration and what’s going on in the school. It cleared up a lot of things that I had issues with last year.”
SHA freshman Kelly Zinszer agreed.
“I think it’s nice to talk to the dean and provost about issues, not just with individual schools, but [with] the university [as a whole],” she said. “The deans are more accessible than people think. They’re always there to talk to.”