Cultural Life Committee
Annual Report, 2003-2004
Faculty Committee Members: Si Pearman, Chris Blackwell, Vaughn CroweTipton, Paula Gabbert, Glen Halva-Neubauer, Sandy Roberson, Laurel Whisler
Student Committee Members: Stephanie Gunter, Reid Powell
To date, the Cultural Life Program (CLP) committee met nine times during 2003-2004 to discuss CLP event proposals, proposal guidelines, and program requirements. The committee also reviews proposals weekly. Presently, the committee has reviewed 174 CLP event proposals, approved 157 events (90%) and rejected 18 events as CLP events.
Many of the events that were not approved by the committee were determined to be of a “how-to”, skill acquisition, vocational, or personal health/wellness nature, and therefore, in violation of current CLP guidelines (CLP guideline #3). The committee felt that these types of events deserved special consideration since proposals for such events are being submitted, especially from various student groups, with increased frequency. Therefore, the committee extensively discussed the merits of such events within the scope of the CLP program and concluded that, although many of these events provide students with important information about personal wellness and vocations, they are too narrowly focused on student life at Furman or on current college campuses to merit CLP status. Further, the committee developed statements (which were posted to the CLP website in January) to clarify CLP guideline #3 which concerns “how-to” types of events.
During April, the CLP committee scheduled separate meetings with Student Services personnel, eight student group leaders, and the Academic Dean and Associate Academic Dean in order to discuss concerns and issues related to the CLP program. The committee will continue to meet weekly for the remainder of the term to discuss current CLP guidelines/requirements in order to determine whether the current CLP program is meeting the intended program objectives. Future recommendations might be brought to the faculty in the 2004-2005 pending the outcome of these meetings.
The Chair wishes to thank the faculty and student members of the committee for their diligent work and thoughtful discussions throughout the year.
Respectfully submitted,
Tim Patrick
Chair, CLP Committee