revisions – Houghton STAR

New revisions to the Houghton College Community Covenant may soon be in effect. This is due to a push the last two semesters to adjust certain sections of the covenant according to Vice President of Student Life, Robert Pool.

The section in question currently reads: “We believe that Scripture clearly prohibits certain acts, including drinking alcohol to excess, stealing, speaking or writing profanely or slanderously, acting dishonestly, cheating, engaging in occult practice, and engaging in sexual relations outside the bonds of marriage (including premarital sex, adultery and homosexual behavior).”

According to Philip Maenza ‘17, President of the LGBTQ student group, this is not a new issue. “We’ve been trying for years- since my freshman year; I’m a senior now- to get it changed, to have it clarified,” he explained. He described the LGBTQ community’s attempts to add the issue onto the agenda for change (revisions). “I got involved with petitions and professors and different people and former alumni to word it and got into a really nice place. Unfortunately they [the Student Life Council] just weren’t on the same page as we were.”

According to Pool, change to the community covenant would begin with concerned students convincing the Student Government Association (SGA) that the matter is a real issue which affects students and requires redress. The SGA would then discuss and decide whether or not to pass the issue along to the Student Life Council. Pool explained that as Chair of the Council he works to create “the agenda and make sure that whatever advice or feedback I’m getting from the Student Life Council is appropriately woven into the policies we create or revise, and in this case it’s the community covenant.” He recalled there was a petition for revisions circulating, but that it was lost before it could be of true use. “But we realized this was an issue,” Pool reflected. “So we began discussing how to clarify the wording.”

Maenza said he and other members of the LGBTQ community, however, are concerned as to what that new wording may be. He said he was displeased that the revisions could further restrict student relationships and is concerned that they will have a negative effect on students. “They can’t quantify feelings,” explained Maenza, “so the covenant can’t say you can’t have gay feelings for each other but they are saying there can’t be a relationship. That just opens one up to a lot more gossip and backbiting.”

Micah Cronin ‘17, a member of the LGBTQ student group, also expressed concern about the new wording. “I think Houghton should consider whether restricting certain dating relationships is in line with federal Title IX regulations,” he said. “If not, that could open the college up to costly lawsuits.”

Pool did not make clear what the new wording in the covenant could be, only that it would make the rules on the issue of LGBTQ behavior more clear. Pool explained the proposed changes have not yet been put to an official vote. Voting could not take place until February at the earliest, although likely later. However, he did express hope that the change will be in effect for the next fall semester.

Faculty received approval to make comprehensive changes to the current curriculum October of last year. They hope to approve a new set of clearer requirements better aligned with the values of Houghton College that will be easier to communicate to students and advisers.

Major changes are not yet in effect. The updated curriculum could receive approval by November or December of this year, though it is still too soon to say. While small changes to procedure are constantly taking place, the intended shift would the most extreme remodel of the past decade.

One of the primary motivations for change is to remedy the complexity of the current system. Professor of English and director of integrative studies, Susan Bruxvoort-Lipscomb said “One of the big goals of this is to make a general education curriculum that is clearer and more intuitive for advising. That students, their parents, and their advisors should be able to look at our general education curriculum and know what classes to take.” Bruxvoort-Lipscomb continued, “Right now, students have to go to a fairly large six page document with lots of different classes on it. Students will say ‘I made mistakes, I took the wrong classes’ because it’s quite complex, the curriculum we have right now.’”

Junior Michael Sievers said, “I had a general concept of [the integrative studies] when I came in, but I had to do more research on what was required than I anticipated. I think it should be more structured as to the times that [students] take gen ed courses. Students shouldn’t be in their junior and senior years finding out that they still need [integrative studies courses].”

The proposed curriculum would bring a shift to more core classes, specific classes every student must take to fulfill a requirement. Current procedure relies more on distribution requirements, for which a student has the choice among a range of classes that would fulfill a requirement. However, required core classes from the draft proposal should be easier to fit into students’ schedules. Classes such as Biblical Literature and Western Civilization would decrease credit hours from four to three.

Overall, the shift intends to match the ideals of Houghton College. Bruxvoort-Lipscomb noted “Because Houghton is a liberal arts college we really strongly believe in a broad preparation.” As a result, the draft for the new education curriculum recommends a higher emphasis on writing, global engagement, and theology classes than the current program. The science, math, and social studies requirements would remain similar. However, the suggested core classes are the classes most students already choose.

Any adjustments to the curriculum will take place gradually for the sake of current students. “What happens whenever you pass a general education revision like this, is there are transition rules,” explained Bruxvoort-Lipscomb, “The registrar’s office will work with the faculty to decide how to make that transition…so transition rules will make sure students aren’t disadvantaged by the curriculum change.”

“I feel like [the registrar’s office] makes things as it as clear as they can make them,” Sievers said, “but I think the advisors should be more aware that students are trying their best but they may not always understand. There’s sometimes a disconnect between what advisors expect students to know and what students actually know.”

Students who already completed the current general education requirements should find the transition to have little effect on their schedules. It is not yet clear how the changes will affect the ease with which future students can transfer credits earned from advanced placement (AP) exams or other institutions.

Already, the faculty has revised Houghton’s Essential Learning Outcomes (ELOs), consolidating them from fifteen points to only 7. ELOs are “the big goals for what a Houghton education should do” and can be found under Institutional Research on the Houghton website. Houghton’s mission is to “provide an academically challenging, Christ-centered education in the liberal arts and sciences to students from diverse traditions and economic backgrounds and equips them to lead and labor as scholar-servants in a changing world.”

Bruxvoort-Lipscomb recalled asking “How can we devise learning outcomes based on this mission statement?”

Some small changes currently affect new students. For example, the new Personal Health and Wellness class fulfills the previous requirements of Health and Wellness as well as an activity credit. Students will be able to learn of further changes through their advisers and the updated course catalog.