Remarks by William E. Barstow
Member of the UGA Teaching Academy
UGA Fall Convocation
August 12, 2001

Thank you Dr. Holbrook.

I am pleased to join with you, President Adams, and the faculty and staff of the University of Georgia in welcoming this outstanding class of new students, new faculty, and new staff to this great institution of higher education.

Students - I applaud your decision to come to the University of Georgia. You have chosen wisely and we are glad that you did! We, the faculty and staff, are looking forward to working with you as you undertake this great adventure of improving your mind.

I teach a very large introductory biology class and I am often asked by students: why do I need to take biology? I am never going to use this information. I don't want to be a doctor. I want to be an accountant, or go into business, or play music, or practice journalism, or law or whatever.

My answer to these fine folks comes from Kingman Brewster Jr. who was the president of Yale University from 1963 to 1977. He was once asked "what is the value of a liberal education?"

His answer:

"Perhaps the most fundamental value of a liberal education is that it makes life more interesting. It allows you to see things which the undereducated do not see. It allows you to understand things which the untutored find incomprehensible. It allows you to think things which do not occur to the less learned. In short, it makes it less likely that you will be bored with life ... and less likely that you will be a bore to those around you."

Senator Zell Miller in his inspiring address at our very first convocation made the distinction between information and knowledge.

He said, "Did you know that if you were a flea you could jump 65 stories high - and you could do it 30,000 times without stopping?!"

That is information ... not knowledge. There is a very slight chance that you could use that piece of information if you were a contestant on "Who wants to be a millionaire"! That is, if you can get through those first three really tough questions.

Knowledge, on the other hand, is more of a process rather than a destination. The result is an inquisitive and questioning mind and gives you the ability to distinguish sense from nonsense.

Professor Richard J. Light of Harvard University has written a book called Making the Most of College - Students Speak their Minds. Members of the Teaching Academy, honors mentors, and teaching fellows were recently given a copy of this book.

This book was 10 years in the making and involved over 1,600 interviews with students. Interviewers asked Harvard students a wide range of questions about everything from what they did in their spare time to the quality of teaching and advising. They looked for patterns - - say, what made particular courses more effective. They correlated student's academic and personal choices with their grades and how happy and intellectually engaged they were. The goal was to determine which factors were more likely to improve learning and overall happiness.

Professor Light now tells each of his students the single most important bit of advice he can possibly give to his new advisees:

"Your job is to get to know one faculty member reasonably well this semester, and also to have that faculty member get to know you reasonably well. I point out that achieving that goal may require some effort and planning. Yet think of the benefits, I remind each new student. Even if you only succeed half the time, that means in your eight semesters in college you will get to know four professors. And they will get to know you. I tell each student that I am convinced that they will be far better off, and will have a far richer experience, if they follow that advice."

I wholeheartedly agree. To give you an example:

In the Fall of 1974, I got to know and became friends with a young man who was enrolled in my biology 101 course. His name is Jim Diamantis. We have kept in touch over the years and he and his spouse, Hope, also a University of Georgia Graduate, and his family frequently stay with us when they are in town. They live in Orange Park, Florida.

I am delighted to say that sitting in the audience today are two of the children of Jim and Hope Diamantis. Elizabeth is now a junior at UGA and Alexis is an incoming first year student. Elizabeth works for the Biology Division as a student worker in the Biosciences Learning Center and Alexis has a twin sister who is attending the University of Florida. I should point out that both Elizabeth and Alexis have a Barbara and Vince Dooley scholarship from the Jacksonville Bulldog Booster Club. October 27, 2001 - The day of the Georgia- Florida game - should be an interesting time in the life of the Diamantis family.

Get Involved....

Professor Light encourages students to get involved in group activities. For many students, the single biggest contribution an adviser can make is not about academics. It is to encourage them to join a campus organization or group that will give them social and personal support.

Some students may not integrate quickly or easily into their new community. For many, their academic work as well as their social life will suffer. When this happens, it illustrates how strong the connections are between academic performance and extracurricular activities.

Those who get involved in outside activities are happiest. Professor Light tells the story of one student arriving at Harvard from an island in the South Pacific. She came from a low-income family, and neither of her parents nor her older brother had attended college. She had been at the very top of her high-school class but, after her first few days at Harvard, she was on the verge of packing up and going home. She felt simply overwhelmed by everything: the activities, the pace, the course selection, the big city nearby, even the other students.

Her adviser urged the student to find an extracurricular activity that she would enjoy, ideally one that would also help her get to know other students.

When her advisor encouraged her to do something beyond her studies, she demurred. She had no talent: she could not play on a team or sing in the choir. "How about band?" her advisor prodded. She replied that she didn't play an instrument. "That's O.K. Ask them if you can help them by holding the drum." She took his advice.

She made good grades and was happy and satisfied with her experiences at Harvard. When she was asked to analyze her success, she repeatedly mentioned the band. Because of the band, she said, she got to know many other students well. Also, becoming part of the band, with its performances at football games and other campus activities, gave her a wonderful feeling of belonging.

Study with others.

Professor Light found that students who studied on their own and then discussed the work in groups of four to six, even just once a week , understood the material better and felt more engaged with their classes. This was especially true for science, which requires so much solitary work and has complicated concepts.

Take a mix of courses.

Dr. Elissa Henken is a professor in our English department where she teaches folklore and Celtic studies. She was recently interviewed by our student newspaper. She was asked "What advice do you have for students?"

Her advice was to take advantage of the opportunities that the University provides for trying new fields. Take courses in different subjects. Go to lectures on topics you wouldn't normally try. Go to performances of music, theater and dance. Don't concern yourself with what your education will do for you in the practical job area, but pursue knowledge. Follow the field that truly fascinates you-not just the ones that are most easily translatable into money. Don't give up studying what you love, even if it doesn't work out as a job it will make you a richer person.

The freshmen seminar program of the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences is an example of how the university is uniting senior faculty with small groups of students to study a wide variety of topics.

Finally, I had mentioned that knowledge results in an inquisitive and questioning mind and gives one the ability to distinguish sense from nonsense.

Our faculty - and staff - is committed to facilitate the best possible undergraduate experience you can get anywhere in this nation. If, when you leave us, you are able to distinguish sense from nonsense in science, literature, philosophy, religion and fine arts - then we will have done our job.

Please enjoy your four years with us. We are here to learn with you. I wish you well.

Thank you.