- Spring Regional Conference—Eastern
On April 6, 2001, the Lenoir CC English Department hosted the CEI Eastern Regional Spring Conference. The theme of the conference was Share – Learn – Pass it On! Attendees from participating schools began, during the kickoff breakfast, to meet and share with other attendees.
After opening remarks by CEI chairperson Liz Meador, and comments from event chairperson Kim Turnage, attendees moved to roundtable sessions in Lenoir Community College classrooms. These sessions included "English 114 roundtable" with Monika Fleming (Edgecombe CC), "Developmental Reading Strategies," presented by Washella Turner (Lenoir CC), and "English 112-113 roundtable with Kim Turnage.
Following a catered lunch, Charles Wright, Lenoir CC, presented a group session on building English 113 for the Internet. Participants added comments and suggestions for Charles to incorporate in the course. Lenoir Community College will present English 113 online beginning with the summer session.
President Liz Meador, dismissed the group after a brief business meeting. All participants were urged to attend the Fall CEI conference in Wilmington.
CEI Officers and Reps
President
Vice-President
Secretary/Treasurer
Membership Chair
Newsletter Editor
CEI Online
Eastern Regional Reps
- Sharon Mills
- Bill Gural
- Cheryl Saba
Central Regional Reps- Anne Helms
- Clem Welch
- JoAnn Buck (pending)
Western Regional Reps- Freddy Bradburn
- Tom Hearron
- Brett Wallen (pending)
According to the CEI Constitution, the duties of a regional rep are as follows: "Regional Representatives will communicate with faculty within their respective regions; represent faculty within their regions; attend regularly scheduled Executive Board meetings, as well as annual business and regional meetings; work with the Board to nominate representatives when vacancies arise. " If you would like to fill one of the open positions, please contact Liz Meador.
Click here for the latest CEI Treasurer's Report.
Membership Profile
CEI now has 166 members, 42 of whom are adjunct instructors.
NCCCFA News
Community College Funding
Through NCCCFA's successful legislative actions, the 1999 North Carolina General Assembly passed the best budget package in the history of the North Carolina Community College System.
The NCCCFA continues its cooperative efforts to improve our community colleges in general and to bring faculty salaries to the national average.
Community College Awareness
The NCCCFA mobilizes faculty statewide to educate NC citizens and their elected officials of the value of community colleges to the economy and future of our state.
The NCCCFA spearheads efforts to publish editorials on community colleges in newspapers across the state.
The NCCCFA organizes letter-writing campaigns targeting the governor, state legislators, and other local officials to provide facts and opinions useful to lawmakers.
Campus Association Support
The NCCCFA provides a point of contact for and a clearinghouse of information on the faculty associations that already exist on community college campuses.
The NCCCFA provides information and support to facilitate the startup of faculty associations on campuses that lack them.
The NCCCFA Website
The NCCCFA coordinates information on the association and its efforts on its website: http://ncccfa.org.
Welch Wins Cowan Award
Clem Welch, Lead English Instructor at Central Carolina CC and a representative for CEI's Central region, won the 2001 Cowan Award for Excellence in Teaching at the TYCA-SE conference in Fort Lauderdale this spring. Way to go, Clem!
Internet Movie Database Anyone?
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A Dialogue Between an Epistemologist (D. K. Hillyer)
and Skeptic (C. C. Holcomb) of Surry Community College
Skeptic: Ms. Epistemologist, what subject are we here to discuss this fine day?
Epistemologist: Writing across the curriculum, I suggest.
Skeptic: Since you are suggesting, what approach are you suggesting?
Epistemologist: The Socratic method.
Skeptic: Socrates died too long ago to have developed a method worthy of our use.
Epistemologist: Is 399 B.C. (or B.C.E.) eons ago in the history of knowledge and learning? No, in fact, the approaches employed back then have become timeless and have been used over the course of centuries.
Skeptic: At any rate, what is his method as identified by his best pupil Plato?
Epistemologist: For example, in Plato's Republic, his method is the search for truth by two or more individuals who subject questions or topics to rational or logical analysis.
Skeptic: For whom are we searching for truth this fine day?
Epistemologist: For students, for professors, and maybe even for administrators at Surry Community College.
Skeptic: But for what truth does Plato have Socrates search in The Republic?
Epistemologist: How society might best be run!
Skeptic: Ah! Whether right or wrong, philosophers, without gender or racial bias of course, apply their wisdom, its basis in reason, to settle disputes and controversies. Shall I be a philosopher-king, and you, a philosopher-queen? (Skeptic laughs.)
Epistemologist: Of course, or anyway we should be logicians and should be wise, and we should remember that impiety was one of the charges on which Socrates was condemned.
Skeptic: No impiety out of my mouth or from my pen either.
Epistemologist: The other charge was corrupting the youth of Athens.
Skeptic: Whether Socrates was guilty or not of corrupting youth, I presume that one of our goals should be the opposite of corrupting.
Epistemologist: Although there are many ways to divert youth from corruption, as professors, we concern ourselves with students' acquisition of knowledge and a tremendous part of that knowledge comes from students actually writing. Although many students are not consciously aware that they use the Socratic method of debating issues mentally or verbally, it is the way in which they find their own rationale for their personal vision of the world.
Clearly, we corrupt our youth by not preparing them effectively for the expectation of writing abilities when they transfer to four-year universities. Bottom line is if students can't write when they transfer, they flunk out. It is plain and simple. If they move into the professional world, the inability to write may prevent advancement and certainly will have a negative influence on the way in which they are perceived by their peers and supervisors.
Skeptic: Impious me! With class size relatively large at Surry Community College and a tremendous amount of content area to cover, is incorporating writing across the disciplines a truly valuable tool that produces learning?
Epistemologist: Yes! The act of writing causes the student to reflect upon the subject matter from a number of perspectives. The student experiences different ways of understanding, seeing, and finally learning.
Skeptic: Are you saying that writing is more valuable than other strategies of teaching and/or learning?
Epistemologist: No, I am saying that it is one of the most valuable ways to create a learning experience. When students write, they must think the subject matter through, look at it from a number of angles, and finally decide how they think, feel, and/or know the topic. As content continues to be manipulated through the writing process, the content becomes better experienced by the mind and understood on a higher level.
The work of many researchers indicates that "higher order thinking skills such as analysis and synthesis seem dependent on written language" (Couch 195).
Skeptic: How might professors consider incorporating writing that won't take away from content instruction?
Epistemologist: There are many ways to incorporate writing in every discipline, including lab notes in the areas of science, reports, journals, general responses, solutions to problems in math, proposals, interviews, rebuttals, etc.
Continued on page 2.
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President's Corner Dear Communications Compatriots:
The summer should be easier, but I am certainly busy with new challenges in the form of a humanities course I do not usually teach and an American literature course that I haven't taught for a while. Those are my lame excuses for not getting this article to Kim sooner, at any rate.
Please keep alert for mailings this summer about our fall conference slated for The Blockade Runner in Wrightsville Beach. The Executive Board members met Friday, April 27, to finalize arrangements for the Fall Conference, Sunday, October 28-Tuesday, October 30. Cheryl Saba, Cape Fear CC, had already done the bulk of the work, so mainly we enjoyed watching the seagulls swooping overhead, the healthy bodies playing volleyball, and the tourists from far-flung states basking under Carolina sunshine. Hats off to Cheryl for her fine work so far!
Conference information on Website
This site for our conference is a winner! Wilmington offers a bounty of things to do in our free time. Please see the CEI website where Rick has placed information of the opportunities that await us in October. Patricia Lydom, regional sales manager, gave us a tour of the rooms, many of which have new furniture. The food at lunch was very tasty--in short, we anticipate a great conference. Mark calendars, now, please, and request department or Staff Development funds early.
Proposals
Cheryl shared proposal ideas submitted thus far, all of which sound relevant and stimulating. Thanks to those of you who are willing to share your expertise as we cope with advances in technology and with new strategies.
Regional meetings
Thanks, too, to the eastern and central regional leaders, Kim Turnage and Charles Wright at Lenoir CC and Rick Lewis at Sandhills CC, for their hard work in planning regional meetings.
The 20 of us at Lenoir shared texts and issues for ENG 114, ENG 113, developmental reading, and humanities, and at Rick's Blackboard session, everyone went home with a course!
Nominations needed
An item of new business at the fall conference will be filling vacancies for officers: a huge thanks to Kim Turnage and Charles Wright for their roles as newsletter editor and vice president of CEI. Charles will be working on a doctor's degree, giving him limited time for CEI, and Kim needs a break from doing the newsletter. The Executive Board serves as the Nominating Committee, so please e-mail nominations to me at lizm@wcc.wayne.cc.nc.us. We want to set up a ballot box at the registration table so that members may vote upon their arrival.
Archives keeper needed
We need a member to volunteer to keep an on-going scrapbook of CEI activities, newsletters, etc. Please bring any snapshots or albums so that we can have a display of these artifacts from the past at fall conference.
Have a wonderful summer!
Liz Meador, Wayne CC - CEI President
Notes from the Editor It's the end of the semester and as always, I see now how I really should have approached all my classes. Why is it that just when we begin to see what works with our students, the semester ends and there's no more time to practice what we've learned? It's one of those puzzles that never cease to worry me even after fourteen years of teaching.
Make sure and read Liz's President's Corner and get the latest about the Fall conference to be held in beautiful Wrightsville Beach. The Blockade Runner is a gorgeous place, and you'll be impressed with their conference rooms, as well as their fine restaurant, and newly-decorated rooms that offer an ocean view or a harbor view. Let me tell you that I would be hard pressed to say which view is lovelier. Please plan to join us there in October. We're going to be hearing from many talented people, and we might find some time, too, for walking tours, moonlight boat rides, and shopping! See you there!
Kim Turnage
Lenoir Community College
Editor
CEI Needs You!
Here are some things to consider if you would like to become a more active member or take on a different role in CEI:
We need a new Vice-President and newsletter editor. Nominations for Treasurer/Secretary and Membership Chair are also being accepted. Let Liz Meador know if you are interested in any of these positions. We also still need a representative for the Central Region.
If you would like to donate door prizes for the Fall conference, notify Clem Welch at Central Carolina CC or Anne Helms at Alamance CC. They are heading up the hospitality committee for the conference.
If you would like to volunteer to help in any way with the conference, either before or during, contact Cheryl Saba at Cape Fear CC.
Thanks for anything you do to make this a successful conference and a stronger organization.
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