The ASEWU held a work session Oct. 16 to discuss various topics, including general education reform, the PUB remodel and the new ASEWU WordPress site.
Dean of the college of arts, letters and education Dr. Kevin Decker and associate professor of visual communication design Mindy Breen started the work session with a presentation, called Eastern Inquiry, about general education reform here at EWU.
According to Decker, the inquiry is based on what general education should produce in terms of a well-educated student.
This fall, Decker and Breen will be presenting Eastern Inquiry to the faculty, the ASEWU and different departments and will also be holding workshops to get an idea of what generally educated students should look like.
“Our goal is to get as much information as we can about how [general education] should look,” said Dr. Decker
Dr. Decker said that there is nothing on or off the table and no agenda just yet for overhauling Eastern’s general education system. Questions still need to be asked and a plan still needs to be put on the table.
According to Decker, 80 percent of public colleges around the country have some sort of first-year experience for freshmen that help them transition into college by keeping class sizes low to make them more personal. Eastern is one of the 20 percent which do not have these experiences.
This sort of experience is another integration being talked about.
“There’s nothing more alienating than being a freshman and then being dumped into a 115 person class,” said Decker.
There will be an Eastern Inquiry workshop held on Oct. 24 from 3-5 p.m. at the Riverpoint campus in Phase 1 room 108. There will also be a workshop on Nov. 15 in the JFK Library from 3-5 p.m.
Technology Advancement representative James Reisenauer presented the new ASEWU WordPress site which will make the student government more transparent. It will be used as a resource for students who want to see what the student government is up to.
According to Reisenauer, students will be able to comment on the site and voice their opinions on projects that the ASEWU is working on. The website is sites.ewu.edu/asewu/.
The ASEWU will be assisting with the Sigma Phi Epsilon haunted house on Oct. 24-25 from 7-11 p.m. at 419 Fifth St. It is free to all students, but there is a suggested donation of $5. All donations will go to the Wounded Warrior Project.
This project raises awareness and helps service members who were injured while on duty. It provides direct programs and services for the needs of these service members.
According to ASEWU Executive Vice President Francisco Navarro, the ASEWU has completed interviews with four architectural firms who each have ideas on what they can do with an addition to the library and a remodel of areas of the PUB. One of these firms will be chosen to work on the project.
Navarro said that the goal now is to rally students and get them pumped up about a remodel of the PUB.
According to the ASEWU site, a remodel of the PUB has been a long time project of the student government. The ASEWU this year wants to educate students on concerns of the design of the PUB.
The ASEWU will use feedback from the students to advance the possibility of a remodel, which could add more options and features that will benefit Eastern.
“Every day is getting more and more successful,” said D.J. Jigre about the work session. “We’re always conscious about what the students want.”
