Cluster hiring intends to foster cross-disciplinary connections

Geneseo officially undertook a cluster hiring initiative in fall 2014. Since they were hired, faculty members in the two existing clusters—Latin American studies and statistics—have collaborated on a number of interdisciplinary projects, many of which will begin in earnest this year. While Geneseo already offers 22 interdisciplinary minors and several faculty members are interdisciplinary themselves, faculty clusters represent a relatively new trend in higher education. Professors of history, political science, anthropology and Spanish comprise the Latin American studies cluster. The statistics cluster includes professors of mathematics, psychology and sociology.

“There was a sense that we might be able to demonstrate the uniqueness of the college … by doing a cluster hiring where four different departments do a search for Latin Americanists—each department framing the search around its own needs but also with the expectation that these new hires would work together once they were on campus,” professor and chair of the history department Joseph Cope said. “It connects, I think, to the institutional vision to build more interdisciplinary [learning] into the overall college curriculum.”

Assistant professor of Spanish Kyle Matthews is one of those hires. “We talk about Latin America as though it’s one place … but it’s such a variable place that no one optic is going to tell you everything about all of it,” he said. “You need to approach all these different places differently, but from a variety of angles.”

According to Matthews, the members of the Latin American studies cluster have collaborated on a documentary film showing and guest speakers in the past. The members will be bringing several more interdisciplinary Latin American experts to campus to speak during the fall 2015 and spring 2016 semesters.

“I’m very excited to see that get kicked off,” Matthews said. “These speakers will be talking about border crossings from Mexico … historical fiction in general and questions that a lot of people normally ask themselves in a number of different disciplines.”

“The hope was that [cluster hiring] would make Geneseo a more attractive place to work and allow us to recruit stronger candidates as well as allow for interdisciplinary work among students and faculty members,” professor and chair of mathematics Christopher Leary said. “We had needs in statistics, so it was a very good fit for us.”

Assistant professor of statistics Yusuf Kenan Bilgiç is part of the statistics cluster. According to Bilgiç, the members of the cluster have met for the past year and are planning several cross-disciplinary projects. These include collaborative faculty research, workshops for faculty and students on topics in statistics and a potential Wiki page containing statistics resources for people from different academic backgrounds.

A multivariate statistics course for mathematics, sociology and psychology majors is also planned for spring 2016 and will be co-taught by all three members of the cluster. “The goal with this course is that we will study advanced tools, come up with concrete data analysis projects and have a chance to disseminate our results,” Bilgiç said. “It’s cross-listed ‘experimental,’ but once the test passes successfully, I’m hoping to make it a course for the whole campus.”

Overall, Bilgiç expressed positive feelings regarding the impact of the statistics cluster. “I’ve had a chance to get to know what statistical tools are more important in psychology and sociology. So now I’m using this knowledge in my teaching,” he said. “Some of my students are from social science backgrounds, so they want to hear more connections in order to grasp the topics that are challenging.”

Leary expressed that he is not so sure, however, that the cluster has really impacted the college yet. “I think the [mathematics] department has benefited because we got a hire out of it,” he said. “The actual cross-fertilization is really just starting to show its benefits at the department level as opposed to the individual level.”

Still, Leary expressed hope for the future of clusters and cross-disciplinary work at Geneseo. “To ignore the possibilities of interdisciplinary work would be to really shoot yourself in the foot as far as attracting an interesting and vibrant student body, as well as an interesting and vibrant faculty,” he said.

Meanwhile, Matthews is focused on the global impact of interdisciplinary education. “It’s no longer sufficient for people to sort of lock themselves within their discipline and pretend that that’s going to be sufficient to impact the world in the kind of way that people are expecting higher education to impact the world,” he said.

Bilgiç echoed Matthews’ sentiment. “Historically, scientists did not study a single topic; they studied many topics,” he said. “If you want to stop a crisis in the world, you have to combine many disciplines to solve the problem."

CAS begins affiliation with Barnes and Noble, rebrands campus bookstore

As of this past summer, the campus bookstore has ended its six-year partnership with the Follett Higher Education Group and has begun working with Barnes & Noble College. The bookstore opened with the new affiliation on June 22. According to Campus Auxiliary Services Executive Director Mark Scott, the long-term relationship with Follett ended for a number of reasons.

“We believed there were better solutions in the marketplace, specifically as it relates to selling items rather than textbooks,” Scott said. “We had to give Follett a lot of instruction on when to do and how to do it, but Barnes & Noble has deep roots in retail space and are inherently interested in finding ways to keep people interested and coming to the store.”

Barnes & Noble College is affiliated with Barnes & Noble, Inc. but according to store manager Chris Sackett, it differs from Barnes & Noble bookstores—which are all fairly similar—because every Barnes & Noble College bookstore is catered to the campus it serves.

“Our goal is to serve the campus community to the biggest extent that we can,” Sackett said. He previously worked through Barnes & Noble at SUNY Brockport and Genesee County Community College’s bookstores, explaining that the company strives to accommodate each one to its campus’ needs and culture.

The partnership with Barnes & Noble affects all aspects of the bookstore, from the actual textbooks to the clothing, promotional items, health items, layout and even its role on campus.

“We want to make the bookstore more of a social hub for people on campus and off campus as well,” store manager Ashley Zalappa said.

This goal begins first and foremost with the physical modeling of the store. While Sackett explained times were not set in stone, Scott reports that remodeling will ideally be finished by Columbus Day weekend. New fixtures will include a seating space, a new façade and a reorganization of the apparel and non-textbook merchandise.

“One of the things we were clear with … was that we wanted brands that would be on trend, brands that were going to offer value, whether that’s name brand that everyone recognizes or brands that are high quality and affordable at the same time,” Scott said.

The revamped bookstore is also working on increasing the efficiency and costliness of textbook buying that students go through every semester. “One of the final decision factors that we used to conclude this process [of finding a partner] was, ‘Can you commit to working with us to put a price lock program in place for Geneseo?,’” Scott said.

The price lock program—which Scott hopes to put into effect as early as the spring 2016 semester—would tell students in advance how much their textbooks will cost prior to the semester and could tell students a consistent net price for the next two to six semesters.

“We think that is on par with how people think about higher education,” Scott said. “It’s not just about today, it’s about how our situation will pan out over the years. If I can tell you that up front, that makes your decision to come to Geneseo that much easier. It makes your decision to go to college much easier.”

Sackett, Zalappa and Scott are also working on implementing a price-matching program in the textbook section to ensure that Geneseo’s bookstore prices are not higher than those of competitors—even online distributors like Amazon or Chegg.

The bookstore will also be expanding its options for textbooks to include more eBook and digital purchases and rentals. “It’s no longer just a new or used book that’s available,” Sackett said.

Students can expect many changes to the style and role of the bookstore, which is allowing students to submit and vote on its new name. Sackett noted that the bookstore wants to “really extend beyond the four walls” and be a presence at special events, visiting weekends and sporting events, as well as a hangout spot for students in the MacVittie College Union.

“We see the College Union as the place where community building happens on campus,” Scott said. “We think Starbucks helps to do that, Fusion Market helps to do that, the Center for Community helps to do that … we want the bookstore to be just as important in that effort.”

Battles begins presidency, collaborative learning initiative

Though Denise Battles officially assumed the role of president of Geneseo on July 1, the week of Aug. 30 represented a new beginning with most students returning to campus. Since becoming president of the college, Battles has announced her approach to immersing herself in the college, instituting her Deep Learning program and planning the first 100 days of her presidency. “We just had our convocations for faculty and staff and for students within the past week, so I’m making sure that I don’t identify new initiatives absent that conversation and consultation,” Battles said. “I want to make sure I get to know the people, the programs, the place and our position really very well before I get into that mode.”

Now that classes are in session, Battles has spearheaded an initiative she calls “Deep Learning;” a program comprised of two separate efforts to engage in a dialogue about Geneseo.

One aspect of Deep Learning is Listening Tours, which involve direct engagement with questions about Geneseo’s strengths and weaknesses.

“We all know the campus best from our own perspectives and so I’m hoping by having student voice, faculty voice and staff voice there that we can learn from each other,” Battles said. “It’s for my learning but not just for me alone. I’m hoping it’s a communal learning activity that we can undertake collectively.”

The first Listening Tour took place on Tuesday Sept. 8 in Doty Hall. The 14 professors, administrators, staff members and students in attendance discussed issues ranging from student-to-faculty ratio and faculty advisement to air conditioning in campus buildings. Geneseo’s role and reputation as a liberal arts institution was also a prominent topic.

Assistant director and manager for Systems and Networking for Computer Information Technology Kirk Anne was vocal during the meeting regarding Geneseo’s as a liberal arts institution. “We’re at that pivotal curve,” he said. “But are we at a plateau or at the top of a mountain? I think now we’re going to have to make some decisions.”

Similarly, professor of English Graham Drake commented on the perceived role of liberal arts at Geneseo and beyond. “The media has this idea of college as a utilitarian thing. I’m deeply frustrated by this trend,” Drake said. “Geneseo has an opportunity to make its case to the world that the liberal arts and sciences are flexible.”

Battles previously expressed a preference for public liberal arts schools. Battles explained that, “Geneseo looks different from the other places I’ve been to because it’s in a different setting, because it’s in a different system, but also because it’s a public liberal arts college … and that’s always been a model that has appealed to me.”

Part of the challenge of a state liberal arts education is limited funding. “When [tax] revenues are funneled back to public higher education, we really owe it to ourselves and to the whole of the state to be very thrifty, thoughtful stewards of that investment,” Battles said. This means emphasizing efficiency—and at times, cutting departments or allowing student-to-faculty ratios to rise.

Four “Locating the College,” or schola brevis, short course sessions will take place throughout September. These courses will offer specific information about faculty experts on relevant topics, including integrated learning at Geneseo and the college’s financial stability. Each of these 90-minute sessions will include a question and answer period.

According to Student Association President senior Andrew Hayes, Battles is invested in the success of SA and students in general. “She asked us about our goals and I feel like Student Association’s goals kind of align with everything the students want to accomplish,” he said. “She wants to be a part of Geneseo and I think she just realizes how the students are Geneseo ... as are the faculty and staff.”

Senior Sarah Dukler echoed Hayes’ positive sentiments. According to Dukler, Battles plans to attend at least one SA meeting so that “she can utilize [the SA Executive Board] as a tool for communication between the administration and the student body.” Dukler is the SA director of Student Programming as well as the chair of Geneseo Campus Activities Board.

“In President Battles’ faculty convocation, she was talking about looking back in order to inform the future,” Dukler said. “I think it will be really exciting to see how she’s going to build on it.”

Some students have had trouble connecting with Battles, however. Junior Thomas McCarthy attempted to meet with her on the state of LGBTQ+ affairs on campus but could not make an appointment. McCarthy is the president of Pride Alliance and a student ambassador.

“I think there’s a lot of potential for this president to be more proactive with some of the stuff that maybe Interim President Long was less interested in pursuing because she had a shorter tenure,” he said. “I’m really disheartened and I find it really disingenuous when I can’t make a meeting with the president of the college.”

Battles emphasized that her ideal vision for the future of Geneseo, however, is one that involves active engagement from all members of the Geneseo community.

“When we look down the road … what is our vision? Because it’s not going to be Denise Battles’ vision,” she said. “I will articulate it, but it’s got to be a vision that arises out of the collective, out of our community … and so I’m really looking forward to that conversation.”