David Kamitsuka – The Oberlin Review

Posters Call Upon Students to Boycott Course Evaluations

Rachel Choi

December 13, 2019

Conversations around the ethics of student-submitted course evaluations have surfaced after anonymous posters were put up around campus urging students to boycott filling out their evaluations. The posters argue that inherent implicit biases may cause unfairness and inequity in the evaluations, particularly toward professors who identify as women or LGBTQ+, as well as professors of color. “Due to our implicit and internalized biases, we hold minority professors to disproportionately higher standards than we hold their majority counterparts,” the poster read. “This bigotry fosters an atmosphere in which marginalized people must work substantially harder to earn the same amount of recognition, opportunities, and...

Following Quillen’s Appointment, College Must Pursue Similar Stability

Editorial Board

December 13, 2019

At this crucial moment in Oberlin’s history, we need a seasoned captain at the helm of the ship. Particularly, at a time when significant changes are being instituted to improve the functioning of the College, we need all the stability we can get. Until recently, both the College of Arts and Sciences and the Conservatory have been entrenched in a hiring search for their respective deans. The hiring committee for the Dean of the Conservatory concluded its national search for a suitable candidate, which began in May of this year. The hiring committee for the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences also began earlier this semester and is currently on-going. The Conservatory has proven that promoting stability ...

College Seeks to Address Course Registration Challenges

Nathan Carpenter and Ella Moxley

November 22, 2019

The course registration period for the upcoming spring semester concluded today following concerns that class offerings across several departments had been restricted this past fall due to a number of factors, including faculty leaves. Some students and faculty members feel that students — particularly first-year students — had more difficulty registering for classes than in previous semesters. Others, including Acting Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences David Kamitsuka, argue that the data don’t support this conclusion. According to Professor and Chair of Economics Ron Cheung, who sat on the steering committee of last year’s Academic and Administrative Program Review, the Economics department has experi...

Search for Next Vice President for Advancement Ongoing

Katie Lucey, News Editor

September 27, 2019

A search is underway for Oberlin’s next vice president for advancement, a position previously titled vice president for development and alumni affairs. Candidates will be expected to build upon previous institutional fundraising campaigns, such as Oberlin Illuminate, as well as articulate a strategy for Oberlin’s financial future as shaped by Academic and Administrative Program Review recommendations. Rachel Smith Silver assumed the position on an interim basis following the retirement of Bill Barlow last June. Upper-level administrators, including President Carmen Twillie Ambar, Acting Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences David Kamitsuka, Acting Dean of the Conservatory Bill Quillen, other administrative s...

Searches Launch for Next College, Conservatory Deans

September 6, 2019

In a time of unprecedented institutional change following the recommendations of the Academic and Administrative Program Review, both the College and Conservatory have launched active searches for new deans. The AAPR, which concluded this past spring, was chaired by Acting Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences David Kamitsuka and vice-chaired by Acting Dean of the Conservatory William Quillen. Both Kamitsuka and Quillen are currently filling their positions on an interim basis. Kamitsuka ass...

Introductory Arabic Courses Offered On Campus in Fall, Spring

September 6, 2019

Following significant controversy last spring, Oberlin will once again offer introductory Arabic courses on campus this academic year. In April, a group of faculty petitioned the College Faculty Council with a proposal to offer a section each of Arabic 101 and 102. Visiting Assistant Professor of Arabic Mahmoud Meslat was hired over the summer to teach the introductory courses. “As is our process, a group of faculty submitted a request for a temporary line in Arabic to the [Educational Plans and P...

Hourly Workers Maintain AAPR Concerns

May 10, 2019

Tensions remain high between Oberlin’s unionized hourly workers and the Academic and Administrative Program Review steering committee. After weeks of collecting community feedback, the committee is wrapping up its work and preparing to submit its final recommendations to President Carmen Twillie Ambar at the end of this semester. Many constituent groups have endorsed the AAPR’s recommendations. Last week, the Educational Plans and Policies Committee, the Educational Policy Committee, the College F...

AAPR Unveils Draft of Final Recommendations

May 3, 2019

On Monday, the steering committee of the Academic and Administrative Program Review released a public draft of its final recommendations that will be submitted to President Carmen Twillie Ambar at the end of this semester. The draft, a 59-page document expanding on the initial areas of recommendation made public in March, was the subject of a well-attended public forum yesterday. According to Acting Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and AAPR Chair David Kamitsuka, the draft was informed by feedb...

AAPR Prompts Concern Among Union Supporters

April 12, 2019

Oberlin is considering eliminating over 50 staff lines — a decision which could impact up to 40 current employees — as part of the Academic and Administrative Program Review. This is part of just one of the AAPR steering committee’s areas of recommendation meant to address Oberlin’s structural budget deficit. The steering committee referenced Oberlin’s exorbitant employee costs as a reason for the area of recommendation, claiming that 63 percent of Oberlin’s operating budget goes toward em...