RPInsider

See the email below from Dr. Jackson.  VP for Student Life, Dr. Knowles, is transitioning into his Professor position.  He will step down effective June 30, 2011.  This is of particular interest considering its timing with the beginning of the CLASS Initiative rollout.  Dr. Knowles has largely been the architect of CLASS. He has worked at RPI for 33 years, including as Dean of Students.

You might be interested to read some of the posts in which he has been tagged.

To:    The Rensselaer Community
From:  Shirley Ann Jackson, Ph.D.
President
Professor of Physics
Professor of Engineering Sciences
Date:  May 11, 2010
Re:    Announcement of Vice President for Student Life Transition

It is with mixed emotions that I inform you that Eddie Ade Knowles, Vice President for Student Life and Adjunct Faculty in the Department of the Arts, will step down from his vice presidency next year. Effective June 30, 2011, he will transition to a position as Professor of Practice in the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences. By announcing this transition now, we facilitate preparation for a national search for a Vice President for Student Life and a seamless transition to new leadership. Read more…

Share Uncategorized Dr. Jackson, Dr. Knowles

An email sent from Dr. Eddie Ade Knowles this morning indicates that Randi Mogul has been hired as an Assistant Dean of Residence Life.  The full text is below, but a quick google search turned a couple of things up, and we thought we’d share.  Even more after the jump.

NEW STAFF COUNCIL VICE PRESIDENT RANDI MOGUL STAFF COUNCIL

Read more…

Share Uncategorized Dr. Knowles, randi mogul, residence life

RPI is getting rid of housing grants.  In an email sent by Dr. Eddie Ade Knowles  and Dr. Paul Marthers on Wednesday, the administration’s policy on these scholarships was clarified.  The full text is below our analysis.

Some important highlights:

• Housing grants are scholarships which are intended for use to offset on-campus living costs.
• Housing grants will not be offered to the class of 2014.
• Classes of 2011, 2012, and 2013 will keep their grants if they stay on campus.
• Greeks who have the grants will be able to keep them as long as it doesn’t exceed the cost of living in the fraternity.
• If you move off campus voluntarily, you forfeit the grant.
• If you can’t get a room in the lottery, you will get 50% of the grant for one semester.
• Important exception: If you already have a lease, you can use your housing grant for the cost of a meal plan ONLY, for one year.

Almost immediately after the email was sent,  the Grand Marshal Michael Zwack posted a tweet saying, “According to today’s email from Dr. Knowles, 10 months of work finally paid off….”  I applaud the GM for the work he has done in fixing these housing grants.

I’m a little confused about why this was published in the Poly before the email was sent out, mostly because it’s the first time that we know of the Poly breaking a story before we did!

I should also say that I’m very happy that the email was the first from an administrator which used bullet points and lists for the first time in recent memory.  This is a huge improvement, and it makes the email much clearer for students.  Keep that up, RPI!

As for the housing grants themselves, it looks like RPI is doing some effective damage control on a volatile issue.  This was upsetting a lot of students for a long time, and it seems like students will be glad to have these concessions. The Poly editorial had one line of opinion:

The Poly extends its thanks to the administration for working diligently to make a fair decision, and we hope that this policy has helped alleviate the confusion that has occurred over the past few weeks.

I agree with this comment, but I would like to also applaud the GM for “working diligently” on this issue.  This is something that might not have been addressed if it hadn’t been for the GM bringing it up in his meetings.

Here’s the full text:

Read more…

Share Uncategorized Dr. Knowles, GM, housing, Paul Marthers

Here's the skinny...

The email below was just sent from Dr. Eddie Ade Knowles, VP for Student Life, and Mr. Claude Rounds, Vice President for Administration, to Rensselaer students.  This is a long-awaited email that outlines the housing selection process for the 2010-2011 year.

Here’s the skinny (in a format much easier to read than the long email…):
Read more…

Share Uncategorized CLASS, Claude Rounds, Dr. Knowles, housing, sophomore housing

So, you probably got that extremely long email about the CLASS initiative if you have an RPI email (if not, it’s below!).  But, you also probably didn’t read it or didn’t want to.  There isn’t very much new in the email, but I thought it would be nice to give you the highlights, so here you go:

• CLASS = Clustered Learning Advocacy and Support for Students, and it starts this fall.
• Tom Tarantelli of the CDC is now acting Assistant VP for Student Life and Janette Fayelle is the Acting Dean for FYE
• CLASS is based on residential clusters with all types of students and some faculty living with the students
• In the Fall of 2010, all sophomores will be required to live on campus or in greek life, so that they feel like they “belong.”
• The new Blitman Commons Residence Hall opened downtown.  They didn’t mention that it is being used for conferences this summer.
• More “Student Life Signature Events” to come at EMPAC such as Bela Fleck.

Pretty simple really!  Nothing new in this email, but at least they’re trying to make sure everyone does have access to what little information there is available.

Read more…

Share Uncategorized CLASS, Dr. Knowles, FYE

The admin team takes on their latest challenge

This next installment of our series “Admin Adventures” focuses on Dr. Jackson and gives us insight into her past. Though not filled with crazy parties, Dr. Jackson’s own history does contain boys and smashing hot rods. If you’re curious to find out more, you won’t find this page on RPI’s site. (Be sure to check out Lia’s Scientist Buzz, it’s a personal favorite.)

Share Uncategorized Dr. Jackson, Dr. Knowles, provost

Here is a link to a statement made by Dr. Eddie Ade Knowles, VP for Student Life, regarding the “Uprise at Five” event. There are numerous points that he makes within the release that I would consider to be flawed, blatantly wrong, or hiding behind ambiguity and vagueness. Decide for yourself though. Full text also below.
Read more…

Share Uncategorized Dr. Knowles, uprise at five