Academics

In no particular order, below is a list of issues and changes that we are either currently working on or are developing plans to address.  Click any one to find out more!


• Advising
  
• Student Advising Liaison
  
• Universal Grievance Policy
  
• Universal Graduation Policy
  
• Class Scheduling
  
• Increase National Ranking
  
• Alumni Outreach
  
• Code of Conduct for Professor/Student Relationship
  

 

Advising

Advising has been and continues to be a major issue at Temple. Many students have not been able to graduate on time, partly due to inadequate advising. We also recognize that colleges make it difficult to graduate by forcing students to take classes they do not need. Many students have also expressed the difficulty of scheduling meetings with their advisors, which ultimately effects their class scheduling. Owl Evolution is currently in dialogue with both students and administration to finally develop a solution to these huge problems, and hope to develop a resolution within the next year.



 

Student Advising Liaison

Having a Student Advising Liaison is a practice that is used by other major universities. We propose for the implementation of Student Advising Liaisons in various residential or academic buildings so that students with smaller advising needs are able to receive help faster than they would if waiting to meet their regular advisor.



 

Universal Grievance Policy

If a student is late on a payment the university has the ability to cancel classes, cut off financial aid, and deactivate a student account. If a student has a complainant, that student often has to go from one office to another until they find the right person to address their concerns. The same accountability the university holds for students, should be expected of them. When a student has a complainant against a university employee, administrator, or has a general issue that needs to be dealt with, every Temple school and department has a different way of filing a complainant. We propose the creation of a university wide grievance system, where the process for filing a complaint is similar throughout all of the colleges within the university. Varying grievance policies, combined with a backup in scheduling, makes it difficult for students to obtain an appointment for quality advising.



 

Universal Graduation Policy

In continuing with the work of the past administration, Owl Evolution will work on establishing a university-wide system for graduation. As it currently stands, Temple has various schools that all have different graduation policies. Because of this, there is often much confusion about graduation procedures and some students actually miss the graduation deadline. It is our intention to continue developing the framework to create a universal graduation policy and have it adopted by each college in the near future.



 

Class Scheduling

Academic departments throughout Temple have a tendency to schedule the same classes at a single time. When variation in scheduling does occur, it is usually because the classes are located at a different campus. We will strongly advocate that academic departments be more efficient in scheduling classes at different times so that students are not forced to drop a class that they need due to the lack of scheduling options. This is an issue that has also been expressed by Temple administration, and developing a plan to end this dilemma is one of our highest priorities.



 

Increase National Ranking

Temple is currently a "tier three" university, but we have better statistics then many "tier two" universities. What is holding us back from moving up in the ranking? Raysean Hogan has had conversations with various administrators about bringing in professional consultants to assess our standing. It is our intention to fully explain their recommendation to the student body and decide our course of action together. Along with TSG President Oscar Chow, we will also closely examine the possibility of implementing a University Co-Op program with local businesses and organizations. We believe that by providing more options to Temple students to prepare for life after graduation, the more they will be prepared to contribute to our society.



 

Alumni Outreach

Thus far, Temple University has had limited success in campaigns to reach out to its Alumni. Many great things have been happening at Temple recently and we are continuing to get even better. We will extensively help in these outreach efforts and get involved as needed. Among the resolutions we have already developed is working with the Office of Alumni Development to provide networking opportunities between current Temple students and Temple alumni. We are also working on a system that will better connect students to the University after they graduate.



 

Code of Conduct for Professor/Student Relationship

We believe that a University-wide code of conduct should serve as a guideline which establishes the teacher/student relationship and one that outlines what each party should expect from one another. The purpose of creating this document is so that an academic environment is established where both student and teacher are comfortable with their responsibilities to each other, allowing them to gain the most from the experience.