Historical Record of Officers (2003-Present) A list of officers from the 1910s to 2002 is available as part of Ted Jou's SURF report (see History Links below)
Bechtel Opening Crisis Documents: A collection of documents related to the opening of the Bechtel residence which cause significant debate and political drama from ~2012 to 2019.
Competition
Addendum to Compendium
- The Boyer Report, The Boyer II Report
- A report aimed at the subset of research universities, suggesting a fundamental change in structure. They support the shift to a research-based education, starting with an inquiry-based freshman year and culminating with a capstone experience. They also address educating graduate students as teaching assistants, changing the faculty award system, removing barriers to interdisciplinary education, using information technology creatively, and linking communication skills and coursework.
- The Hunt Report (2007)
- One of the most important reports in (recent) history; I won't even summarize it because it is so important you should READ IT. Technically called the Report by the 2007 Committee on the Caltech Student Experience and Student Affairs.
- The Core Curriculum Task Force's Primliminary Report
- Every decade or so, the core is usually revamped; here is the most recent revamping. The report includes the purported educational philosophy of Core, surveys of the faculty (though students and alumni were also surveyed), and a Straw Man curriculum[[Note that I thought it was terrible – negligent of its charge, ill-conceived, half-assed and outdated before its inception|.]]
- "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 if they are indeed notable. He posits that the students that are most likely to drop out are "creative," and that their actions are more reflective of their personalities and needs than the college they attend. He suggests we change our admission process accordingly.
- Antioch's First Year Program: The Hazards of Innovation
- The Chan Report (1986)
- 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.
- 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.
- SEC Report
- The Student Experience Conference Follow-Up Report and their Full Suggestions
- Origins of the Academics and Research Committee
- The 1994 reorganization of the BoD changed the Educational Policies Committee into the present-day ARC, among other changes.
- Change in Higher Education: Not Enough, or Too Much? (Change Magazine)
- Why don't educational reforms work? Yes, resistance, poor communication and bureaucracy are sometimes the reason, but a major part is the sheer amount of stakeholders in higher education. Encouraging synergy and declaring priorities are effective measures to avoid duplicated and disjointed efforts.
- Student Perceptions and Motivation in the Classroom: Exploring Relatedness and Value
- Using autonomy and two types of achievement goals (mastery and performance), the authors finds a positive correlation between intrinsic motivation, relatedness and value. They suggest "[conveying] to students that they have the autonomy to choose the direction of their education and to stress the decisions made about courses are a reflection of the student. Thus, encouraging students to take ownership of their course selection and overall education may improve how connected a student feels to the educational environment and the value s/he places on their education."
- GPA Analysis
- We have grade inflation!
- 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) (see also history links below)
- 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 (see also April 29, 1994 issue of the Tech)
- 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 posits that direct lecturing without requiring participation is an outmoded form of education. (Recommended to me by Prof. John Roberts.)
- New Yorker Article on Education (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
- Evangelical Scientists Refute Gravity - Just to show that Caltech professors don't know everything. The proof is in the proof.
- Intellectual Creativity: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, Prelude, and some ideas,
Education Research Websites:
- http://www.rand.org/congress/education/
- http://www7.nationalacademies.org/dbasse/
- http://www.ed.gov/ (specifically http://ies.ed.gov/)
- http://www.edutopia.org/
- http://academicearth.org/
- http://www.criticalthinking.org/
Temporary Location for
- Honor Keys
- Old News
- Bylaw Amendments
- TA Training Handbook
- Tech Archives
- Past Future Potential Projects
- ASCIT Bylaws
- Faculty Guide
- Rulings of the Executive Committee
- Ruling of the Review Committee
- Updates to ASCIT Documents
- 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.
- Digest (Defunct ASCIT Digest, moved here from the main page 23/06/2020-Alejandro López)
- Bagel (Old Bagel project stuff, moved here from the main page 23/06/2020-Alejandro López)
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
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- 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) (see also above)
http://turli.caltech.edu (link now dead as of 2020) Click here instead for archive.org link
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.
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- 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?