Faculty Meeting News and Notes: March 5, 2020
By Benjamin Pontz, Editor-in-Chief It turns out the adage might be true: the third time may well be the charm. At Thursday afternoon’s meeting of the Gettysburg College faculty, the body approved two changes to the language in the Faculty Handbook about tenure and promotion after spending two previous meetings discussing and amending the motions. In February, the Faculty Personnel Committee, which drives the tenure and promotion...
With New Travel Warning, Students Studying Abroad in Italy Must Either Sign New Waiver or Return Home
By Benjamin Pontz, Editor-in-Chief Students studying abroad in Italy must either sign a new special waiver within 48 hours or return home as the coronavirus spreads throughout the country, which now has more than 1,100 confirmed cases. The college protocol, which is standard when students are in countries with U.S. State Department Travel Warnings, was triggered when the State Department issued a level three warning — urging...
How We Reported This Story: Compiling a 4,100+ Entry Database by Hand and Figuring Out What It Meant
By Benjamin Pontz, Editor-in-Chief The genesis of this story was a relatively simple question: is it true, as I had often heard faculty members complain, that some departments teach more students in larger classes than others? If so, why is that, and what are the implications for the college at a time when it is confronting acute financial challenges and the potential for declines in enrollment? This should be pretty simple, I thought...
Gettysburgian Investigation Finds Broad Disparities in Department Course Enrollment
By Benjamin Pontz, Editor-in-Chief Gettysburg College advertises an average class size of 17. But, depending on what subject a student majors in, they may rarely—if ever—see such a class size. An Environmental Studies course, for example, is five times as likely as an English course to have an enrollment above the college average. An Organization & Management Studies course is twice as likely as a Theatre Arts course to have an...
Review: Symphony Orchestra Delivers Raw, Compelling Performance of 19th, 20th Century Repertoire
By Benjamin Pontz, Editor-in-Chief Symphony orchestras across the country have been grappling of late with how to make their performances more accessible — and thus more marketable — to modern audiences, who seem less and less inclined to pay rapt attention to music written centuries ago by dead white guys. While repertoire choices themselves are one way that ensembles are striving to be more inclusive, perhaps more acute...
