According to Dean of Academic Affairs and Acting JSC President Daniel Regan, Johnson State College is lagging behind the other state colleges in implementing four academic standards that seniors must meet beginning in spring 2009. Those standards have been mandated by Vermont State College’s board of trustees.

“It’s important to realize that all colleges and universities have governing boards,” said Regan. “Our VSC trustees grant us autonomy in nearly all important respects. They impose few mandates on the college; graduation standards are among the very few. Faculty, staff, the president, and I—as well as, we hope, students—see that it is in our interest to enact them in good faith and, in doing so, be able to assert that our graduates have demonstrated reasonable proficiency in these four, key areas.”

Finding the course you need at the time you need to take it can be frustrating, but the same problem at its worst can be more than that: it can also affect when you graduate. It’s a familiar issue: most of the courses offered at JSC occur during “prime time,” Monday through Thursday between 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.

Citing concerns ranging from student retention and graduation rates to campus culture, the college administration is committed to changing the way courses are scheduled at the college.

This year’s Ellsworth lecturer, Julia Alvarez, will speak on Thursday, March 26, in the Ellsworth Room at 4 p.m. and Bentley 207 at 7 p.m. Alvarez, an award-winning author, has written in a variety of genres, including novels, essays, and poems. Her lecture will focus on writing and how it guides individuals in mysterious but important ways in their daily lives.

“The lectures are something that will give the campus community the chance to learn about different lives in different parts of the world,” said Director of Development and Alumni Relations Sally Laughlin. “She will be talking about the Dominican Republic and the United States.”