On Monday, Nov. 3, Bates faculty convened for their monthly meeting, in which they were able to discuss new legislation, updates on various committees and hear from departments on relevant data. President Garry Jenkins also provided a few short remarks, including an update on the Bates Board of Trustees meeting the prior week, which discussed current strategic planning. Here are the highlights from the meeting. 

1. Timing of Implementation for the Race, Power, Privilege and Colonialism (RPPC) Committee

Faculty voted unanimously to pass legislation to postpone the RPPC curricular requirement. The RPPC Committee introduced the first and final reading of legislation proposing a delay in the requirement. The requirement would include 2 courses tagged with the RPPC label, at least one inside a student’s major, in the Bates curriculum.  This legislation postpones the RPPC requirement for the incoming class in the fall semester of 2026 (Class of 2030) to the fall semester of 2029 (Class of 2033). The legislation also altered the requirement’s wording to enable better cross-department collaboration in offering relevant courses across subjects.

2. Repeal Petitioning Mandate from the Curriculum Review Committee

The Curriculum Review Committee brought forward the second and final reading of legislation proposing a repeal of mandated petitioning. This proposal repealed legislation from 1993, which required that students be able to petition a course instructor when waitlisted for their course during registration. The committee representative noted that this would not change the current registration system, nor would it introduce a new registration system. The legislation simply removes the mandate for petitioning. This legislation passed unanimously, with no abstentions. 

3. Composition and Charge of the Writing Committee

The Writing Committee initiated the final reading of legislation that clarifies the language concerning the committee’s charge and modifies the members serving on the committee. The membership of the committee was amended to add the Director of Student Writing, a representative from the Dean of Faculty’s office, and four representatives, ideally from each of the four divisions (Natural Sciences, Math, Interdisciplinary Humanities, and Social Sciences). During the discussion on this legislation, an amendment was introduced to strike the word “ideally” from the membership, which had recommended but not mandated representatives from each of the four divisions. This motion did not pass, with a tight vote of 55 for, 58 against, and 5 abstentions. The original legislation passed with an overwhelming vote of 105 for, 7 against, and 3 abstentions. 

4. Information Report: Student Conduct Case Summary for Winter and Short Term 2025

The Student Conduct Board Pool presented a case summary of student misconduct cases for the winter and Short Term semesters of 2025, as well as highlighting changes to the newly changed legislation from last spring. The changes included an increased focus on training and implementation of the new legislation, including outreach to student leader groups and education for faculty, staff and student members of the Student Conduct Board Pool and Judicial Educator committees. The case summary made note of a slight uptick in Winter semester cases from the same time last year (23 from 16), but with the understanding of usual variations from year-to-year, still considered the number regular. The case summary also mentioned a similar number of cases in the Short Term semester (21), which is associated with the busier, more active time of the Short Term semester. Only three of these cases resulted in probation or suspension, and no no dismissals occurred in either the winter or Short Term semesters of 2025. 

5. Information Report: Student Retention Task Force

The Student Retention Task Force presented on their exploration into student retention. Early data findings highlighted a pattern with the entering cohort in the fall of 2023 that has not historically been the case for Bates: there was a significant additional withdrawal between 2nd and 3rd year. The task force also made note that these transferring students typically had the mobility to go onto another highly selective institution. The task force was established based on the recent trend of reduced student retention, compared to Bates’ pre-COVID student retention. They noted that retention is an important institutional priority distinct from, but relating to, the enrollment challenges of admission. Their key scope includes deep data analysis to identify patterns and predictors of attrition and persistence; mapping key moments to target interventions early; and working with faculty, staff, and students to identify known barriers. This is all with the long-term goal in mind of moving from a reactive to proactive approach with an institution-wide retention management, as guided by a data-informed framework. 

6. Information Report: Senior Survey Results

Tom McGuinness, director of Bates Institutional Research, Analysis & Planning presented on the findings of Senior Survey results from the graduating class of 2025. Generally speaking, the office noted students were satisfied, returning to pre-COVID rates. There were especially high satisfaction rates for quality of instruction, out of class faculty availability and the level of intellectual excitement on campus. There was, however, a gap between satisfaction with research experiences (relatively high) and satisfaction with opportunities to participate in research with a faculty member (comparatively low). The report also made note of demographic satisfaction rates, including differences associated with gender, race, ethnicity, first-generation identity, and financial capacity.

Editor’s Note: An original version of this story published inaccurately suggested that all student conduct cases resulted in a probation or suspension. The story has since been updated to reflect the number of cases that resulted in a probation or suspension.