SAAB: Academics

SAAB is a venue through which students’ academic concerns are voiced. With representation from each academic department, the Board discusses various issues of academic concern to the student body: curriculum matters, the academic calendar, the senior capstone/keystone experience, faculty retention, general education requirements, etc.

As an inter-departmental board, SAAB makes recommendations on these issues to various Boards on campus, both student and faculty. The Administration uses SAAB's input on such matters to gauge student sentiments and to help them make more student inclusive decisions. If you have any concerns, please don't hesitate to approach the Chair and/or Vice Chair of SAAB by e-mailing saab@lclark.edu or your departmental SAAB representative by checking the directory.

Current Points of Interest:

The Student Academic Affairs Board has recently completed the task of choosing student representatives to serve on the College Honor Board (CHB). The CHB is charged with the task of enforcing the college's Academic Integrity policy. SAAB formed an ad hoc committee with Mike Strout (Political Science), David Calkins (Chemistry), and Chris Harreld (East Asian Studies). SAAB recommended to Dean Eldridge and Dean de Paula that Ryan Lidster serve as Chair, Stephen Sommers serve as a member representative of the Humanities division, Ryan Brutger serve as a member representative of the Social Sciences division, and Jordi Chandra serve as a member representative of the Natural Science division.

Academic Issues: The board is currently reviewing and discussing the Ethnic Studies Minor Proposal. The board is also discussing the texts chosen for the Exploration and Discovery core, which will replace Inventing America in the Fall of 2006.

Academic Interests that SAAB has pursued:

• In partnership with the Academic Advising Program and the Office of Residence Life, SAAB instituted a peer academic advising program to help students enter their appointments with their advisors prepared and to aid students who are undecided.
• SAAB has awarded over $904,000 to student motivated projects through the grant program.
• As an extension of a Curriculum Committee study, SAAB surveyed the student body about their feelings towards the senior capstone experience and how well departments were fulfilling their goals. The survey produced several interesting results which the Curriculum Committee have utilized extensively.