Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Editor
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| Robert V. Smith, Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Editor |
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What about a common reading program at the University of Arkansas? Sheila Burkhalter1, Kevin Fitzpatrick2, Karen Hodges3, David Jolliffe4, Bob McMath5, Pat Slattery6 and Bob Smith7
A recent All Things Academic article on reading and life-long learning (Fitzpatrick and Smith, 2007) sparked interest in a proposal that the University consider adoption of a common reading program for incoming first-year students. This paper provides further elaboration of such a proposal developed subsequently by the authors who wish now to share it with our community for possible consideration and adoption. Reading Program for First-year Students Campus common reading programs have literally become quite “common” in the United States (Ferguson, 2006, Lewin, 2007, Mantey, 2007, Twiton, 2007), with program adoptions probably numbering in the hundreds at four-year colleges and universities. Moreover, a 2007 survey involving 126 respondent institutions suggests overwhelming satisfaction with common campus reading programs relative to shared intellectual and community interest and engagement (Twiton, 2007). In an earlier work (Fitzpatrick and Smith, 2007), the values of a campus common reading program were described, and these values have been further elaborated to include:
The above features and values characterize many programs nationally and were thus used as a backdrop in crafting of a possible plan for adoption at the University of Arkansas—a plan that would not only incorporate best practices from programs around the country, but also extend the power of common intellectual engagement throughout our campus community. Key elements of the proposed UA plan include the following:
The following sections of this article provide elaborations on these aspects of the plan proposed by the authors and offered to the UA community. Selecting Books for Campus Common Reading Programs There is a great deal of variety among the books chosen by colleges and universities for their common reading programs. In the 2007 study alluded to above (Twiton, 2007), 109 of the 200 colleges surveyed selected books different from any other college’s choice and only five books garnered more than five host colleges. The most popular selections in 2007 were (in order of most chosen): Mountains Beyond Mountains: the Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World by Tracy Kidder, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon, The Kite Runner by Khaled Housseini, Long Way Gone: Memories of a Boy Soldier by Ismael Beah, and The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. As these selections suggest, the majority of books chosen for campus common reading programs are contemporary works of fiction and nonfiction. But some campuses in 2007 were reading older classics ranging from I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings to Frankenstein, from On Liberty to In Cold Blood. How did the colleges and universities choose the books for their campuses to read? The Twiton survey (2007) cited earlier asked respondents “What qualities do you look for in books for your program?” The top two responses marked “extremely important” were for books that:
Also rated as important criteria were books that:
Many of the nation-wide campus common reading programs list book selection criteria on their websites and invite students, faculty, and staff to submit via an electronic form names of books to be considered. Texas Tech University’s Summer Reading Program Book Proposal Form is a typical example. Potential nominators are advised to follow these “Key Book Considerations” in proposing a particular book:
Also important in the selection of campus common reading program books is the availability of authors to make campus visits. Once members of a college or university community submit names of books that fit certain criteria, who does the actual and final selection and what is the process followed? According to Ball State University’s Freshman Connections website (2008), the selection process has these steps:
At the University of Texas at Arlington a Conversations Team (OneBook Program, 2008) solicits proposals for both a book and a theme taken from that book that will elicit year-long campus conversations from many disciplinary perspectives. The Conversations Team, which also makes the final selection of book and theme, is co-chaired by an English professor and the director of academic advising and student success programs. Other members of the Conversations Team are the provost, vice president for student affairs, director of freshman English, director of community service learning, director of the office of international education, the president of the student government, and representatives from the library, assessment, housing, and the First Year Experience (FYE) Program. Almost all institutions surveyed follow this same practice of making sure that the book selection committee has representatives from all areas of campus life. Sometimes the members rotate; sometimes members of a particular selection committee nominate their successors for the next year. During our efforts to develop this article, we observed frequently the notion of a campus common reading program being integrated into various aspects of the academic life of a higher education institution. Thus, we offer some additional thoughts on this topic—just below. A Proposal For Integrated Efforts One of the most important reasons university faculty and administrators cite for establishing a common reading program is that it provides students with a shared intellectual experience, a “center of gravity” for thoughtful conversation that, ideally, mirrors the kind of informed discourse that the university promotes. In order for this conversation to take hold, common reading proponents maintain, the program needs both to be situated in a particular course and, at the same time, to transcend the boundaries of a single course or curriculum. The best common reading programs are integrated throughout the university, so that different departments, programs, physical spaces, and even virtual spaces “speak” to the ongoing conversation about the book. Indeed, Laufgraben (2006) in a recent work notes:
One university with a particularly successful common reading program is the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh (UWO), where the reading program is a part of their larger Odyssey Program (2008). At UWO, all incoming students, both first-year and transfer, read the same book, selected by a committee of faculty and academic staff members, during the summer before matriculation. In 2006, the book was The Mercury 13: The True Story and the Dream of Space Flight by Martha Ackmann; in 2007, it was A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah. The selected book is the subject of the first assignments in freshman composition, which at UWO is taught in courses called Writing-Based Inquiry Seminars. In addition, the theatre department at UWO mounts a back-to-school production of a play that is related thematically in some way to the common text, and first-year students are required to see (and discuss and write about) the play during the second week of the fall semester. Moreover, about fifty faculty members at UWO agree to hold aptly named “conversations with faculty,” raising issues not only about the common text but also about their particular fields and university intellectual life in general. UWO students are required to take in some—a relatively small but specific number—of these conversations. Finally, where appropriate, different departments on the UWO campus have offered panel discussions and public symposia about issues raised in the common text. For example, during a year when the common reading was Alan Lightman’s novel, Einstein’s Dreams, the physics department sponsored a panel discussion on quantum physics for non-scientists. As in the case of UWO, we propose that all incoming students at the University of Arkansas—transfer students as well first-year students—participate in the common reading program. If the UA program kicks off in 2010, first-year students would read, and discuss and write about, the common text with their peers and instructors in Composition I, Composition II, and First-Year Experience courses during the spring semester. In addition, under the proposed schema, UA students, faculty, and staff would have the opportunity to attend on-campus discipline-specific discussions about the text led by faculty members from a variety of departments and to participate in literacy activities available through the Arkansas Union, Mullins Library, the residence halls, and online forums coordinated by writing instructors. An extended visit to the UA campus by the author of the adopted book would also be planned. Although an all-university program at UA might not officially start until 2010, the English Department and the Honors Program are committed to coordinating a pilot experimental program starting in the fall of 2008 in which students in selected sections of Composition I, Composition II, and First-Year Experience courses will work with a common book. Other dimensions of the pilot program could include study of overall community engagement efforts, including coordination with student organizations, as described below. Coordination with Student Organizations A basic tenant of Astin’s theory of involvement (Astin, 1984) is that the more students are involved in both the academic and social aspects of the collegiate experience, the more they learn. An involved student is one who devotes considerable energy to academics, spends much time on campus, participates actively in student organizations and activities, and interacts often with faculty (Astin, 1984). A common reading experience would afford UA students’ unique opportunities to bridge the academic and social aspects of their collegiate experience. What follows is a sampling of UA co-curricular traditions and student involvement opportunities that could easily be incorporated into a common reading experience to further enhance the overall student learning experience:
As the merits of a common reading experience are considered, inclusion of both curricular and co-curricular forms of student engagement will ensure students’ ability to maximize their learning. As the common reading experience proposal progresses, we will further explore additional opportunities for involving the Division of Student Affairs and student led-groups and organizations in co-curricular activities related to a common reading. As we think about engagement in an emerging reading program, we do not want to neglect interactions with our larger community. Let’s take a look at this aspect of a common reading program. Community Engagement Scholars engaged, as a concept, suggests in the larger context—making a difference and showing an interest in the social, political, economic, and cultural climate of home communities. That may be a picture that looks dramatically different from the earlier twentieth century academic holed up in the ivory tower. Nevertheless, the twenty-first century image of the engaged scholar is becoming more attractive and popular on campuses across the country (Peters et al., 2005). Whether engaged through “service learning,” “civic mission,” or “outreach,” professional scholars are finding new ways to integrate their scholarship with the needs and challenges facing local communities. In the context of the engaged scholar, it is important to recognize that the relationship between campus and community is reciprocal. Finding ways to incorporate the community into the scholar’s work, reaching out when planning campus activities, and continuing to renew a commitment to actively engage in meaningful long-term efforts are all important in sustaining this kind of relationship. In turn, communities consult with experts and scholars to assist in planning, developing, and implementing a wide range of programming often aimed at improving the quality of life while at the same time enhancing a community’s cultural capital. As we enter into a conversation about a common reading program, it seems appropriate that we look beyond the campus and engage the larger community in a discussion of how best to design such a program that reaches out to the larger Northwest Arkansas region. Fortunately, the Fayetteville Public Library has been working on large, community-outreach focused reading programs and may be one of several organizations that the campus can partner with in a joint effort to pilot a community-wide reading program in the larger Northwest Arkansas community. In fact, the entire public library system in the multi-county Northwest Arkansas region would be a great collective partner in this type of community-focused program. While the specifics of the campus/community-wide reading program are in their gestational stage, having a vision that includes as many community partners as possible, not only broadens the appeal of the program but also its impact. Engaging with partners in the public and private school systems, local businesses, non-profit corporations, and a wide range of other local and regional organizations (e.g., Chamber of Commerce, Rotary, among others) can only increase the attractiveness of such a program. Can you imagine all of Northwest Arkansas reading, meeting, and engaging in a regional conversation about the same book? Creating opportunities for the larger community to engage in such a conversation enables the academic environment to facilitate as well as experience first-hand a learning process that takes us out of the boundaries of our classroom and into a dynamic, inspiring, sometimes controversial, and often limitless learning environment. As the overall common reading program develops, another important partner in the campus-community link could be the local high schools. Akin to the required reading for freshman composition classes on the UA campus, local high schools could be encouraged to develop a comparable addition to their curricula. A community-wide reading program could become a starting point for conversation to help bridge the gap between secondary and post-secondary students, teachers, and administrators. Establishing such relationships through a community-wide reading program also opens doors for expansion of already active outreach programs to find new and innovative ways to engage students across curricula, age groups, and institutional boundaries. One further opportunity connected with a common reading program relates to extramural support that would assist in all of the efforts elaborated above. This developmental opportunity is explored in the section following. Opportunities for Grant and Gift Support “What are you reading?” How many times have you heard that question? If you have had similar experiences to those of the authors, you have heard it often. Moreover, it happens to be a question that is frequently associated with professional development events in one’s career (e.g., employment interviews). Accordingly, the relationship of reading and professional development, especially career development, should provide a wonderful “hook” in the development of gift and grant proposals. In short, gift proposals for a common campus-reading program should have a “naturally attractive appeal” to professionally successful benefactors of the University. Beyond private gift development efforts, government agencies (e.g., the U.S. Department of Education, especially through its FIPSE [Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education] program) and non-profit corporations and foundations may be attracted to relevant grant proposals but with one caveat. Given that many common campus-reading programs have already been developed, we imagine that grant proposals to government and non-government agencies would probably require educationally unique elements. However, some of the ideas proffered in this paper might serve as a basis for such elements, and we offer our ideas to potential grant proposal developers. Summing Up Summarizing this article, we have crafted a proposal for consideration of a campus community first-year student reading program that incorporates best practices of many parallel programs in the United States. The plan also includes some novel outreach efforts for engaging the broader campus and civic community groups. We ended with some ideas on possible development plans and efforts that might lead to a permanently endowed campus community reading program. We hope that the ideas and suggestions contained herein—particularly the possible adoption of a pilot reading program in 2008-2009—will be considered seriously and that ultimately, the University of Arkansas will embrace a universal (i.e., for all first-year students), significant and unique community reading program. As is our practice at All Things Academic, we welcome comments and constructive criticisms alike. If you are so inclined, please contact us at bobsmith@uark.edu. The recipient (Bob Smith) will see that all authors have a chance to respond. Epilogue While this paper was in preparation, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) issued its report: To Read or Not to Read (2007). In it, the following troubling observations are offered by NEA Chairman, Dana Gioia:
Given the above observations, and other information in the NEA’s most recent report, what better impetus could one imagine for the institution of a campus common reading program at the University of Arkansas? The authors of this paper would echo: “Let’s get on with it.” Bibliography Astin, Alexander W. “Student Involvement: A Developmental Theory for Higher Education.” Journal of College Student Personnel 25 (1984): pp. 297-308. Ferguson, Michael. “Creating Common Ground: Common Reading and the First Year of College.” Peer Review 8, no. 3 (2006); http://www.aacu.org/peerreview/pr-su06/pr-su06_analysis2.cfm (January 13, 2008). Fitzpatrick, Kevin, and Bob Smith. “Reading and Life-Long Learning.” All Things Academic 8, no. 4 (2007); http://libinfo.uark.edu/ata/v8no1/default.asp (January 13, 2008). Freshman Connections, Ball State University, Muncie, IN; http://www.bsu.edu/freshmanconnections/ (March 6, 2008). Gioia, Dana. Preface, To Read or Not to Read. Research Report No. 47, National Endowment for the Arts: Washington, DC, 2007. Executive Summary: http://www.nea.gov/research/ToRead_ExecSum.pdf (March 7, 2008). Laufgraben, Jodi Levine. Common reading programs: Going beyond the book (Monograph No. 44). Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina, National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition, 2006. Lewin, Tamar. “Summer Reading Programs Gain Momentum for Students About to Enter College.” New York Times, August 8, 2007; http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/08/education/08books.html?_r=1&oref=slogin (January 13, 2008). Mantey, Jackie. “Incoming Freshman Get Summer Reading Assignments.” U.S. News & World Report, June 7, 2007; http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/articles/070607/7summer.htm?s_cid=rss:7summer.htm (January 13, 2008).
Odyssey Program,University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, Oshkosh, WI; http://www.uwosh.edu/odyssey/index.htm (March 5, 2008).
OneBook Program,University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX; http://www.uta.edu/uac/onebook-home (March 5, 2008). Peters, Scott J., Nicholas R. Jordan, Margaret Adamek, and Theodore R. Alter, (eds.). Engaging Campus and Community: The Practice of Public Scholarship in the State and Land-Grant University System. Charles Kettering Foundation: Dayton, OH, 2005. Summer Reading Program Book Proposal Form, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX; http://www.depts.ttu.edu/fyre/summerreading/ProposalSRB2008.htm (March 6, 2008). Twiton, Andi. “Common Reading Programs in Higher Education.” Folke Bernadottee Memorial Library, Gustavus Adolphus Library, St. Peter, MN (2007); http://gustavus.edu/academics/library/Pubs/Lindell2007.html (January 13, 2008). __________________________________________________________________ 1Sheila Burkhalter is Director of First Year Experience Programs at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville 2Kevin Fitzpatrick holds the Jones Chair in Community in the Department of Sociology at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville 3Karen Hodges serves as Director of Remediation and Retention Activities in the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville 4David Jolliffe is Professor of English and Brown Chair in English Literacy at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville 5Bob McMath is Professor of History and Dean of the Honors College at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville 6Pat Slattery is Associate Professor of English and Director of Composition at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville 7Bob Smith serves as Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville |
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