This process represents the best of kind of policymaking: An issue of fundamental importance to the University community is examined empirically, and recommendations are made on the basis of consultation between students and administrators. Indeed, the survey's contribution to campus dialogue on socioeconomic diversity has been so substantial that it should be repeated at regular intervals.
Making greater use of the survey methodology will, however, require a greater level of administrative support. The socioeconomic diversity survey was analyzed, and the data synthesized, by the University's vice provost for institutional research. If, however, survey methodology were to be more broadly adopted as the basis for dialogue on major campus issues, the University community cannot entirely rely on the limited time and resources of the vice provost. A policy shop of the kind previously suggested by this board would provide a support structure for the survey methodology to better inform campus dialogue.
A policy shop - an institution designed to facilitate long-term research and policy analysis - is well suited to this function for several reasons. It provides the capacity to collect and properly analyze statistical data, which is easily incorrectly or inefficiently gathered and frequently misinterpreted. As an institution with a long-term policy perspective, the policy shop could also help to target campus issues of greatest concern.
These may include the effects of the four-year college system and ways to improve it, the impact of Princeton's grading policy on student life and the effect of the increased financial aid for upperclassmen on their choice of dining options. Finally, the policy shop could act as an impartial analyst with greater credibility than any student organization or single University office. The data the shop collects could allow for more targeted dialogue between the administration, students, faculty and staff on substantive issues based on concrete data. The combination of these capacities makes a policy shop the ideal catalyst for the greater incorporation of survey methodology into debate of serious issues concerning the University community.
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Let’s acknowledge those who make “boutique teaching” possible, those who work tirelessly to make our rigorous curricula more accessible, and those who dedicate their time to advising and guiding us through all the challenges we face at this University. Lecturers should be eligible for the President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching.
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The secular makes no room for the spiritual. What Opening Exercises are meant to convey is the spirit of the institution so that it may be kept alive from generation to generation.
