Welcome Fall 2011-Page 4

6.  Prime:  (noun) – A term used in Fencing:  the first of eight defensive positions.  A block.
Whether it be reforming general education, implementing on-line, new or innovative courses and programs, developing a first-year experience and other student support systems, re-thinking tenure/renewal/promotion or any other change we try to make, we know we will encounter obstacles and hurdles.  We will run into colleagues whose first response is to play defense.  Times are tough and morale is low.  “Why bother?” becomes, a seemingly, justified response.

It is not good practice to ignore issues of concern when they arise.  Debate and collaboration must be part of any change made.  As we debate change, we need to rely on best practices and the literature on reform discussions and issues that are happening nationally.  We can’t defend initial reaction without further study.  We need to support and increase our Faculty and Staff Development for those working to make effective change so that morale increases.

When we encounter a prime or other defensive position we must, to use another fencing term, employ a “redoublement,” which is a new action, plan or strategy that follows a block.  What differs from fencing is that we are not searching for winners and losers.  Through a process that collaboratively uses critical thinking, discussion and problem solving we can make change for which all will ultimately win. 

7.  Prime:  (adjective) – of the first importance; demanding the fullest consideration: a prime requisite.
I conclude by suggesting a prime directive for the College of Letters and Science – our most prominent guiding principle.  This may be rather bold since I am doing it on my own without forming a committee. 

I suggest our prime directive be, “It is unacceptable to fail.”  What I mean by this is that, we as a College community should work, in all we do, through our teaching, advising, mentoring, administration, research, professional and creative work and service to create a supportive, collegial atmosphere in which we find the failure of students, co-workers, and colleagues unacceptable.  While I know failure, both big and small, cannot be avoided altogether, we must each do everything we possible can to minimize the failure of others.  I suggest that each of us take responsibility when others fail in the sense that we become willing to openly and honestly assess how our courses, actions, programs and policies affected those who failed.

Jaime Escalante, who died in March 2010, was an East Los Angeles high school teacher who taught the nation that inner-city students could master subjects as demanding as calculus.  His story is told in the 1988 movie, Stand and Deliver.  He is a wonderful example of a person who found the failure of his students unacceptable.

Escalante said, “We are all concerned about the future of American education. But as I tell my students, you do not enter the future – you create the future. The future is created through hard work." 

Let’s create a future of success.  I wish you a prime year!  Thank you