Science and the Future of CMC
Will We Have a Debate?
Daniel O'Toole
Last Updated: 9/28/07 Section: News
Every year CMC's trustees hold a retreat over spring break to discuss pertinent school issues. This year, the retreat addressed the role of science in relationship to CMC's mission and its devotion to liberal arts.
Because the comfortable Alisal Ranch could only accommodate a small number with rooms, attendance was limited. Of the nine students invited to the retreat, eight were science majors, and the other student was then-ASCMC president Greg Gallagher. The administration found rooms for members of the science faculty, but other key committee members could not stay. In fact, only at the last minute did the organizers find housing for Vice President Jefferson Huang. Notably, there were few government professors attending, but at most the science faculty did not constitute more than half of the number of professors present.
The Board of Trustees voiced their commitment to expanding CMC's education in the sciences under the recognition that science will play an increasingly valuable role in leadership and management in the next century. As one speaker noted, the business model has changed. Boards no longer plan for what technology they have but for what technology they will; one must understand the research and development process to stay on top.
Talk of expanding science coincides with changes happening at CMC. The college already finances more than Scripps and Pitzer for the Keck Science Center, and we are beginning plans to build two new buildings for Joint Sciences right next to it. In addition, with expansion and finances from the Roberts Challenge donation, the school plans to endow more science chairs, though most of the resources will go to other departments, especially economics.
The tone of the retreat's discussion focused on "enhancing" the school's mission. Of the 45 members of the Board of Trustees, 35 are alumni, and most are former economics, accounting, or finance majors. They recognize the school must adapt to dominant academic trends in order to compete with other top colleges in the country, and few have any interest in diminishing the departments that have made CMC strong.
Because the comfortable Alisal Ranch could only accommodate a small number with rooms, attendance was limited. Of the nine students invited to the retreat, eight were science majors, and the other student was then-ASCMC president Greg Gallagher. The administration found rooms for members of the science faculty, but other key committee members could not stay. In fact, only at the last minute did the organizers find housing for Vice President Jefferson Huang. Notably, there were few government professors attending, but at most the science faculty did not constitute more than half of the number of professors present.
The Board of Trustees voiced their commitment to expanding CMC's education in the sciences under the recognition that science will play an increasingly valuable role in leadership and management in the next century. As one speaker noted, the business model has changed. Boards no longer plan for what technology they have but for what technology they will; one must understand the research and development process to stay on top.
Talk of expanding science coincides with changes happening at CMC. The college already finances more than Scripps and Pitzer for the Keck Science Center, and we are beginning plans to build two new buildings for Joint Sciences right next to it. In addition, with expansion and finances from the Roberts Challenge donation, the school plans to endow more science chairs, though most of the resources will go to other departments, especially economics.
The tone of the retreat's discussion focused on "enhancing" the school's mission. Of the 45 members of the Board of Trustees, 35 are alumni, and most are former economics, accounting, or finance majors. They recognize the school must adapt to dominant academic trends in order to compete with other top colleges in the country, and few have any interest in diminishing the departments that have made CMC strong.
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