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February 18, 1983
Spelman Spotlight
Student Problems Adressed
For the past several months,
students at Spelman College
have been voicing questionsand
concerns over various problems
here. These questions range
from the usage of the cafeteria
for parties, to the snack shop
being closed in the eveing.
One of the most frequently
raised questions involves the
closing of the back gate. “You
never know when it’s going to
close,” said one junior at
Spelman. “You can go out the
back gate to the store and come
back five minutes later to find it
closed.”
According to Dr. Carmen
jordan-Cox, Dean of Student
Life, there is a time schedule for
the closing of the back gate. The
gate should be open each day
from 7:00 a.m. to 10:40 p.m. and
closed each day from 6:00 p.m.
to 7:30 p.m., during the break for
the guards. On Saturday and
Sunday, the gate is also closed
from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
The key system is another
concern which is often discussed
by students. The major problem
is that the keys are not always
given out. “Sometimes they tell
you that the door is open or that
a guard will meet you at the
dorm," says Lynne Shipley, a
sophomore at Spelman. “But
usually I end up banging on the
door or yelling up at somebody’s
window to let me in.”
“The problem is that there are
only 15 keys for each dormitory,”
says Dr. Cox. "The students take
the keys, so they aren’t there.”
Technically, she adds, the guards
by Karen Burroughs
aren’t supposed to open the
doors for students.
Mr. W.O. Hunter, food service
director for Spelman College,
answered a particular question
regarding the snack shop,
located in the lower concourse
of Manley Center. Since the
beginning of this semester, the
snack shop has not been opened
on a single evening. According
to Mr. Hunter, the snack shop
was becoming a losing venture.
“On a good night, we only made
about 15 dollars at the most,” he
said. “We weren’t even making
enough to pay the salary of the
personnel.” He added, however,
that the snack shop will open
again for business some time this
semester.
Many students have also been
questioning the decrease of
parties in Alma Upshaw, as well
as the difficulty in requisitioning
the cafeteria. "I heard that
students couldn’t give parties in
the cafeteria anymore because
the patch of floor gets scratch
ed,” said one student. “Why
can't they just put a floor cover
ing down like they do in the
gym?"
Dean Cox offered some im
portant information regarding
the cafeteria parties. According
to her, many factors are con
sidered when an organization
attempts to give a party in the
cafeteria. Some of these factors
include how many people are
expected to come to the party,
who will be attending the party,
and past experience with the
organization. "Spelman College
spent $5,000 to refinish the
parquet floor in the cafeteria and
during Freshman Week, the first
party that was given had 900
people in a room with a capacity
of 400,” Dean Cox said. “The
parquet floor was scarred, and
cigarettes were put out on the
carpet of the concourse.”
“The president was very con
cerned,” she added. "From then
on we have had to be very
careful about activities held in
the cafeteria. Organizations
have to be responsible.” Dean
Cox also suggests that
organizations wishing to give
parties in Alma Upshaw requis-
tion the cafeteria at least five to
seven working days in advance.
A final question that students
frequently ask refers to the status
of sororities on Spelman’s cam
pus. "The status of sororities is
the same as it has always been,”
said Dr. Cox. “But, we are very
concerned about the recent
hazing. I want it to be know that
this college does not condone
hazing and, if necessary, will take
steps to make sure that it does
not happen here.”
“There has been an apparent
increase of hazing in black
sororities and fraternities across
the country,” she added as a final
note. “It is appalling that black
students would physically and
mentally abuse each other.”
NOTE TO STUDENTS: If you
have any problems that you
would like to see addressed in
this publication, contact the
Spelman Spotlight, P.O. Box 50
or call 525-1743.
Spelman’s Admission Process
by Lynette Clover
The admissions process of
Spelman College has two stages.
These two stages are as follows:
inquiries and acceptees. The
process begins when a student
writes, phones, or sees an Ad
missions representative.
Names of prospective students
are often given by already
enrolled students and alumnae.
Some are found through the
Student Search process. These
names are then given to the data
research clerk and processed
into the admissions computer.
The inquiry is subsequently
placed on a mailing list. The
student receives five mailings
spaced one week apart. An
application packet is the first
item received which includes an
application and instructions,
three brochures, and a letter
from the Director of Admissions,
Juanita Dillard. The next week,
the student is mailed a college
catalogue. The third set of mail
received is a letter from Dean
Carmen Jordan-Cox, Dean of
Student Life, accompanied by a
Phase 4 brochure. A letter from
Dr. Donald Stewart, President of
Spelman, is mailed to the parents
of the prospective student, along
with financial aid information.
The final correspondence in
cludes a letter from Dr. Barbara
Carter, Dean of academics along
with a brochure.
“All this is done with the hope
that it will generate an applica
tion,” said Denise Mack, Assis
tant Director of Admissions. “By
the end of the fiscal year we
hope to have 13,000 inquirees.
Right now we have 6000students
on the prospect list."
The next stage in the Ad
missions process is acceptance.
When the application is received
by the Admissions office, it must
be processed through the office
and the new computer system.
“The computer makes it easier
to deal with a large number of
students," added Mack.
After the applications have
been processed, they must be
matched with other data such as
SAT scores and transcripts that
might have already arrived to
Admissions. The application is
then given to the Admissions
committee. The committee con
sists of Juanita Dillard, Patricia
Johnson, and Denise Mack,
three Admissions professionals.
If there is a borderline applica
tion, a second committee con
sisting of faculty and the Ad
missions professionals review
the application.
In accepting students, the
Admissions committee looks at
several different things, in
cluding whether or not the
student was active in high
school, and if she possesses
leadership qualities.
Geographical diversity is also
taken into consideration. A
student with a grade point
average of at least 2.0, and SAT
scores of 750 and above can be
fairly certain of being accepted.
“Students are competing
against other students for accep
tance,” said Mack, “therefore,
the GFA and SAT standards may
vary from year to year.
There have been some
changes in the decision making
process. Spelman switched from
the rolling decision to the
modified rolling decision plan.
Instead of making decisions as
applications come in, this plan
allows Admissions to look at all
applicants.
Students who apply early will
be notified of acceptance by
March first. For the first time,
Spelman guarantees all
Freshman who pay their housing
deposit by April first on-campus
housing.
Photo by Melvin Jones
Are
Page 3
Teacher Evaluations
Taken Seriously?
by Sidonie C. Jeffers
The teacher evaluation
process is a process by which
teachers are evaluated and
reviewed for competency and
effectiveness on the college
campus. The evaluation
procedures were established by
Spelman’s founders and this
process has become somewhat
of a tradition, a tradition which is
utilized to perpetuate idealism in
the educational atmosphere
here at Spelman. I question this
last sentence.
The methods presently used
by Spelman were adopted in
1978 under the supervision of Dr.
Kathryn Brisbane who was then
Academic Dean. Accompanying
the modernized approaches that
Spelman acquired, was a new
sector of the Evaluation
procedures, a sector which gives
the student an opportunity to
express ideas, opinions and
criticisms on her teachers’ effec
tiveness, teaching ability and
competency. This sector is
presented to the student in the
form of a standardized test in
which the student rates the
teacher in all categories on a
scale of one to five, with five
representing excellent and one
representing total ineffec
tiveness.
Despite the goals of the Stu
dent Evaluation of teachers many
students do not believe that their
grievances expressed on their
evaluation forms are taken
seriously.
Sabrina Holmes, a sophomore
at Spelman, stated: “I don’t think
the evaluation forms are taken
seriously; I think the administra
tion is merely conforming to a
school policy.” Raynell Watkins,
another Spelman student, ex
pressed her opinion: “I honestly
don’t believe that the teachers
are ever informed of the
criticisms expressed by their
students.
Dr. Kathryn Brisbane, present
ly Vice President of Academic
Affairs at Spelman and former
Academic Dean under whom
the present evaluative system
was instated, explained:
"Although the students’
opinions are valued greatly, the
teacher must be observed in all
phases of his/her profession;
therefore, we have instated four
categories under which our
teachers are reviewed; among
these are Scholarly Achieve
ment, Community Service,
College Service and Teaching
Effectiveness.”
Dr. Brisbane further explained
that the student’s evaluation of
the teacher is only one element
of the teacher’s effectiveness
phase. Dr. Brisbane also explain
ed that the Evaluation form is not
to be used as a vendetta, but as
an honest summation by the
student of her teachers’ perfor
mance in the classroom.
However, it is not exactly clear,
how the student’s criticism of her
teachers’ performance in the
classroom is utilized in the
teacher evaluation rocess.