Addendum to Compendium
- "Caltech's Student Attrition Rate" (Courtesy of the Archives, California Institute of Technology)
- Charles Newton's 1980 report on "Caltech's Student Attrition Rate," in which he answers the questions: Why are students' complaints the same year after year, and why are dropout rates so notable, or, rather, if they are indeed notable.
- Chan's 1986 Report
- The 1986 Ad Hoc Committee on the Core Curriculum presents the view that due to Caltech's enthusiasm, "the core courses are too intense. They are pitched at too high a level. They overwork the students and leave little breathing room for intellectual exploration, sampling, the development of deep insights, independent study or personal growth."
- Jou's "A History of Undergraduate Self-Governance at Caltech
- An illuminating report on ... the history of undergraduate self-governance at Caltech, also below.
- Report by the 2007 Committee on the Caltech Student Experience and Student Affairs
- Recommendations to improve the student experience.
- SET Report, and their Full Suggestions
- The Student Experience Trip sent eleven students to other eight other colleges; they came back with 30 recommendations on how to improve Caltech.
- Confessions of a Genial Abbot I, Confessions of a Genial Abbot II, Confessions of a Genial Abbot III
- Confessions of a Genial Abbot (15 or so pages of memoirs from the MOSH, Dr. Robert Huttenback, at the end of his 11 year tenure as MOSH before he started as Dean of Students)
- Ivory Tower (Courtesy of Caltech's Engineering and Science, 1966)
- Gardner's convocation address "The Ivory Tower and the Executive Desk" notes society's need for both detached observers and active citizens.
- Stephen Fought's Email, Stephen Fought's Tech Article
- Caltech alum Stephen Fought's email outlining the demise of student-faculty relations as he saw it, the change in student admissions, and the elimination of the MOSH's former responsibilities.
- Kathy Scott's Project
- Undergraduate Kathy Scott studies responses to the following statements: I am happy at Caltech; I feel I work harder than the average Caltech student; I have enough time to study, sleep, and socialize; I feel smarter than the average Caltech student; I feel my academic self-esteem has increased since coming to Caltech. Her results are intriguing and split by gender and class.
- Science Magazine Article on Lecturing
- While not written at or about Caltech in particular, it is incredibly relevant. It talks about how direct lecturing without requiring participation is an outmoded form of education. Recommended to me by Prof. John Roberts.
- New Yorker Article on Education
- Not even that relevant, but it's interesting and could be used to form an educational ideology. Recommended to me by Librarian Lindsay Cleary.
- Social Sciences at Caltech
- Discusses the origins of our graduate social science program.
- Quality of Life Powerpoint Presentation
- This was a SFC Presentation on the quality of life for undergraduates.
- ASCIT Bylaws
- Reading the ASCIT bylaws was annoying, so I reformatted them.
- Past Future Potential Projects
- A link to some creative ideas: ARP II? Student Life Exploratory?
- First Mention, and Development of Independent Studies Program in the California Tech
- The Independent Studies Program is underutilized option for undergraduates to find three professors in at least two different divisions who will serve as advisors and help them create a program without the requirements of specific options or the institute.
- Tech Archives
- As below, these are quite time-consuming but really informative.
- Evangelical Scientists Refute Gravity
- Just to show that Caltech professors don't know everything. The proof is in the proof.
- Merlob's Repository
- All the papers I've written, whether for the California Tech, the Academics and Research Committee (ARC), the general improvement of Caltech, or my own edification.
Most awesome beginning to a report: "To everyone who likes to find mistakes and point out flaws and to a few who want to understand."
History Links
- http://donut.caltech.edu/about/history/Jou02/
- Ted's paper "History of Undergraduate Self-Governance" can be found here. I consider it to be the mandatory place to begin for learning more about Caltech's history. It talks broadly about the history of the Institute from the renaming of Throop Polytechnic to Caltech until 2002.
- http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~tjou/words/desk/
- His "From the President's Desk" are here. These were his weekly California Tech columns and other writings during his year as ASCIT President and half year as Past-President before graduation. They cover various issues facing students during the year 2002-03. These included: parking, health care, and student unhappiness with ASCIT.
- http://calteches.library.caltech.edu/280/
- http://calteches.library.caltech.edu/281/
- http://calteches.library.caltech.edu/282/
- Confessions of a Genial Abbot (15 or so pages of memoirs from the MOSH, Dr. Robert Huttenback, at the end of his 11 year tenure as MOSH before he started as Dean of Students)
- http://turli.caltech.edu
- http://donut.caltech.edu/about/history/2001/TURLI/
- The TURLI (Taskforce Undergraduate Resident Life Initiative) Report. This report was seen as a divisive factor in student-administration relations around the turn of the century. It was felt by several of the students on the committee that their words were twisted into the meaning that former President Baltimore requested. On the other hand, the report was used as the primary written record for the recent South House renovations that were completed in the winter term, 2006-07.
- http://donut.caltech.edu/about/history/protest01/
- http://donut.caltech.edu/about/history/2001/?SID=
- There was a large student protest in December 2001 regarding changes to the Health Care for students. I'm told this involved changing the primary provider (who is billed) to parents of students. This would mean students getting medicine, such as birth control, would be reported to parents through means of bills. This preceded the 2001 BoD election and resulted in several of the involved students getting elected to the 2002-03 BoD.
- http://gcrweb.caltech.edu/masterplan/MasterPlan.pdf
- Caltech Master Plan (30 year construction plan for the school, updated every 5 years). This paper talks about future (and recent past) expansion to the campus. From this, one can visualize potential future disputes, such as parking spaces. (For example, this dispute would be between the Institute and the community, since plans call for an additional structure to be built eventually) Includes a somewhat-useful map of the steam tunnels, so Honor Code the use of it. (Frosh, you should create your own map of the tunnels)
- http://www.alumni.caltech.edu/
- http://www.gnome.caltech.edu/
- The Gnome Club is a club of active alumni who care about the school. Both the Gnomes and the Alumni Association are useful references in hunting answers for whatever questions you may have about the past.
- http://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/
- Oral Histories (I specifically recommend browsing the 'administration' subject). Here is a listing of recorded interviews with various faculty members posted by the Caltech Archives. Many, many interesting tidbits referred to here.
- Tech Archives (Very time consuming, really cool)
- The Tech archives are the students' take on issues around the campus. The California Tech has archives in the SAC (Student Activity Center) underneath the South Houses. I don't remember exactly which room.
- Years
- 1946 - 2004 (some missing, I'll document eventually)
- http://findingaids.library.caltech.edu/7/01/Historical_Files.pdf
- This is what's present in the Archives. Email archives@caltech.edu if you're interested; you need to set up an appointment and have a reason other than 'simply browsing,' which is unfortunate.
- http://homepage.mac.com/ehgoins/papers/caltechs_minorities.pdf
- This is a report from 1993 detailing the history of underrepresented minorities at Caltech. It ran as a series of vignettes in the California Tech. If someone's interested in contacting Dr. Goins, I would be interested to see in what he has to say, 15 years later.
- http://alumnus.caltech.edu/~dzobel/walls/AlleyWallArt.htm
- A collection of student murals in the Houses over the past many years.
History Thoughts
Here's some random ideas to get more people involved, especially after we leave: Oral History of alumni organized by Class of X and also by decade. With this, we can get a range of data from the amusing (stuff that makes it into Legends, various 'secret' activities within the Houses) to the administrative side of things (the mark our various school presidents have left on the school, ASCIT/IHC/Tech stuff, etc...)
Lunch "Caltech History" seminar. I'm planning on asking Frautschi if he'd be interested in this or could recommend a prof to sit and chat with us. Other people good to ask about stuff are: Lorden, Brennen, La Belle, Kousser, Libbrecht. We could also invite alumni to chat with us about their time here.
Liz, any news on the history wiki idea you and Alex were bouncing around at the end of last year?