Faculty
advisors work as one member of a team of three, including the
advisor from the UWW office and the student, to design the student's
program of study.
The
faculty member plays a particularly important role in selecting
courses for the student's focus, or major, and typically is a
specialist in that area. A student may focus in a traditional
academic discipline, such as Sociology, a familiar interdisciplinary
field, such as East Asian Studies, or a self-designed field under
the supervision of the faculty advisor. Advisors are encouraged
to help students create programs to meet their own academic and
personal needs while preserving the academic rigor of a demanding
liberal arts education. Foci in traditional disciplines need not
follow the major requirements of the Skidmore department, but
they usually reflect the values of that department and often look
ahead to educational experiences that would be expected of the
student should she aspire to an advanced degree.
In addition
to supervising the student's course selection in the focus, the
faculty advisor also oversees the production of the student's
final project proposal and final project. Advisors are often asked
to serve as one of the three assessors appointed to evaluate the
final project.
Each UWW
program of study is approved by the UWW Committee, a committee
composed of the academic staff of UWW and six elected faculty
members. This committee has the authority to add additional course
work to the student's program if the program is weak or lacking
in some respect. Faculty members of the Committee are elected
at large for two-year terms. Each student is required to come
in person to the committee to discuss his or her program and final
project proposal. In anticipation of the meeting, members of the
Committee are sent statements from the student and written comments
by the faculty advisor on the student's program.
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