The new Common Experience Task Force, centered in New Student Programs, is currently evaluating the common reading program and potential alternatives. It aims to implement a revitalized common experience as a result of their research in fall 2020, according to Michael Coombes, director of New Student Programs and member of the Common Experience Task Force.
Coombes said members of the task force are acting in response to several 2018 statistics reflecting a lack of student engagement in the common reading program. According to a First Year First Term survey of incoming students in 2018, only 33% of respondents read the entire common reading book. The survey also revealed the 2018 reading was considered “required” for 32.4% of incoming freshman, and 51.4% of respondents were never engaged in the reading during the first two weeks of classes.
New Student Programs put the common reading program on hiatus in fall 2019, creating the new Common Experience Task Force, according to Coombes. This group was created with the goal of gathering feedback from a cross section of faculty, staff and students, creating a list of potential assessable outcomes for a common experience and developing a set of options for the 2020-2021 academic year.
Coombes said the common reading program was put on hold because it hadn’t been meeting its intended purpose.
“I think there’s a feeling that maybe it’s not meeting its intended purpose, not meeting its intended goals, either for incoming first-year students or the campus community,” Coombes said. “In coming to that realization, there’s the good governance of looking at that and saying we need to rethink this.”
Coombes said many institutions across the country employ other methods of common experience besides reading. Coombes said there are several alternatives to the common reading program NC State may implement in the future, including a common first-year seminar course or a common service learning project.
“It’s different at different institutions, so it’s kind of difficult to say ‘this is the common experience,’” Coombes said.
Since its creation, Coombes said the Common Experience Task Force has been in contact with people all over campus to determine a good fit for the new common experience.
According to Coombes, the task force has been in touch with 20 faculty and staff groups, 250 individual faculty and staff, and seven student organizations, which include 170 students total. He said they contacted approximately 420 individuals. The task force has also contacted all the academic colleges except for the graduate school.
After the task force finishes gathering their research on the preferences of the NC State community, Coombes said members will make a recommendation to Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Warwick Arden. The task force hopes to be ready to make its recommendation soon, most likely during the spring semester.
“We’re going to present our recommendations to the Provost to see which direction he would like to go in as an institution,” Coombes said.
The term “common experience” is an umbrella which refers to all manner of common experience, from a service learning project to a reading. Though the common reading committee has been on hiatus, Coombes said there is still a possibility the Common Experience Task Force will recommend re-implementing a common reading.
Miller Freeman, a fourth-year studying economics, said she does not support continuation of the common reading program.
“I think [they should do] something different,” Freeman said. “I don’t even think I read my common reading, if we’re being honest. When people force you to read books, you don’t really enjoy them as much.”
However, according to a handout from the Common Experience Task Force, Arden said a common experience is still a necessity going forward.
“A common experience is still an important element of the first year and beyond and has the potential to build engagement, a sense of community and much more,” Arden stated in the handout. “Therefore, we will engage the broader NC State community to determine next steps.”
