by Susan Griffith

When school opens in the fall of 2005, Case Western Reserve University plans to begin teaching its first-year students in a way that no other major research university has successfully implemented university-wide.

A task force, under the direction of Roy Ritzmann from the biology department and with representation from every school on campus, is meeting and discussing ways to grow the pilot program of SAGES (the Seminar Approach to General Education) from its 150 first-year students to the full freshman class.

Ritzmann said the task force has the charge of delivering a plan to President Edward M. Hundert by the end of summer "to ramp up" the program and transform how the research university educates its student.

SAGES currently is piloted in the College of Arts and Sciences as a new model for an undergraduate educational experience that builds the foundations of academic inquiry in small seminar classes. The SAGES approach emphasizes context mastery rather than content mastery.

The program is the cornerstone of Hundert's vision to transform CWRU into the most powerful learning environment.

While seminar approach is part of several liberal arts colleges like Wooster College where Ritzmann's daughter attends, he stresses that research universities have had difficulty implementing it university-wide.

Ritzmann said he sees two parallel forms of education taking place in the United States-the small college primarily staffed by educators and the research institutions filled with scholars who invite students to come and work in scholarly research activities with the faculty.

"Research is what distinguishes us from the small college. If you take away the research activity, then you have an oversized small college and that does not create a unique niche," Ritzmann said.

He added, "SAGES has started a dialogue that has begun to pervade this university about how we are doing things."

If CWRU can succeed-and Ritzmann said he thinks it can or he would not have accepted his new half-time responsibilities with the task force-CWRU will have a new university model.

"This program will affect the entire University," Ritzmann said.

It a "daunting" task that keeps him awake at night, but he finally sleeps knowing that the checks and balances of faculty approval before implementation will enable the University to adopt a program that works.

In the program, SAGES students attend first seminar multidisciplinary classes that encourage students to work and participate as a team in class and in field experiences. In the second semester, students enroll in University seminars that are individually designed by faculty members around specific topics that come under the themes of "Thinking about the Natural World," "Thinking about the Social World" and "Thinking about the Symbolic World." A senior capstone experience-that demonstrates critical thinking and writing skills-culminates the SAGES learning experience.

Ritzmann said the task force is grappling with enormous issues that involve having between 260-300 faculty teach the small seminar classes of 15 students, while balancing the needs to continue research and teaching the regular courses to fulfill major requirements in each department. Currently approximately 370 people teach in all the undergraduate classes.

The task force also has other logistical questions to answer before formulating the plan-where is office and lab space available for new hires, what are the costs and for many researchers, how can you maintain a quality research program that brings in millions of dollars of substantial support and balance teaching and researching in a way that does not have a negative impact.

Currently only the English department provides teaching assistants trained to teach critical writing. Going campus-wide with the SAGES program would require TAs from other departments and areas. Related questions of how many are needed and how are they trained are answers the task force must find.

Working with Ritzmann are task force members John Orlock, College of Arts and Sciences; Cyrus Taylor, College of Arts and Sciences; Mark Hans, School of Dentistry; Tim Fogarty, Weatherhead School of Management; John Yankey, Mandel School of Applied Social Science; Chris Hudak, Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing; Robert Lawry, School of Law; Peter Whitehouse, School of Medicine; and Jim Cawley, John Blackwell and Steven Garverick, Case School of Engineering.

In addition, Lee Thompson and Peter Whiting, co-directors of the SAGES pilot; Laura Tanski, the University director for budget and financial planning; Deans Julie Amon and Margaret Robinson from Undergraduate Studies and Associate Dean Jill Korbin, College of Arts and Sciences have been invaluable participants in the summer deliberations, while Lynne Ford, secretary of the University Faculty, have provided staff support, Ritzmann said.

Return to the online edition of the 7-24-03 Campus News.

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