Signatures 157 total
-
1
Name: Christopher Burley on Mar 21, 2008Comments: Developing a transparent process for communicating how the organization has addressed the challenges stating the reasons that any of the challenges are not strengthening mission, ethics and accountability is an organic process that requires an ongoing commitment by boards and staff of individual organizations and by the entire nonprofit community.Flag
-
2
Name: Jane Hoelker on Mar 21, 2008Comments: Without the excellent quality of training given me at SIT by dedicated educators in the SMAT 17 program, I would not be the teacher that I am today and I would not have considered myself qualified to run for election to the TESOL, Inc. Board of Directors to which I was recently elected. Please consider this document with upmost seriousness.Flag
-
3
Name: Gail V. Reynolds on Mar 23, 2008Comments: As an MAT 9 and someone who worked for SIT /World learning for five years, I am shocked at what the Board of Trustess has done. The MAT program at SIT remains one of the finest in the world. We former MAT's on the West Coast are very upset by this news. A full investigation is absolutely called for. I don't expect this type of action from our beloved institution and alma mater.Flag
-
4
Name: Kathleen Nicoletti on Mar 23, 2008Comments:Flag
-
5
Name: Jon Whitford on Mar 23, 2008Comments:Flag
-
6
Name: Heidi Pancake on Mar 23, 2008Comments:Flag
-
7
Name: Amanda Bohne on Mar 23, 2008Comments:Flag
-
8
Name: Dana McMillen on Mar 23, 2008Comments:Flag
-
9
Name: Anne Koplinka-Loehr on Mar 23, 2008Comments:Flag
-
10
Name: Mary Scholl on Mar 23, 2008Comments:Flag
-
11
Name: Aminullah on Mar 23, 2008Comments:Flag
-
12
Name: David Bozetarnik on Mar 23, 2008Comments: I feel that organisational transparency is vital. So far, I am not convinced that the institution has been honest and upfront with their decisions and how they have been arrived at. Ever since I was an undergraduate there in the late 80's I have felt an institutional disconnect between their mission statement and what they have wanted on campus. The faculties have always been, and continue to be excellent, but the institution has had plans which they have always been afraid to honestly share. First they cut undergraduate on-campus education, then their ESL program, and now graduate education/languages. Education is the most fundamental form of development, and for SIT/EIL...etc. to cut that is reprehensible.Flag
-
13
Name: Rachel Unkovic on Mar 24, 2008Comments:Flag
-
14
Name: Kyoungmi Lee on Mar 24, 2008Comments:Flag
-
15
Name: Janine Slotwinski on Mar 24, 2008Comments:Flag
-
16
Name: Erica Gordon on Mar 24, 2008Comments:Flag
-
17
Name: Marimi Asada on Mar 24, 2008Comments:Flag
-
18
Name: Ariel Nelson on Mar 24, 2008Comments: this is an outrage. carol is not going to hang around SIT long enough to see this "vision" through....so, then what!! This is education...not another american corperation.Flag
-
19
Name: Josephine Clark Kennedy on Mar 24, 2008Comments:Flag
-
20
Name: Annie Abraham John on Mar 24, 2008Comments:Flag
-
21
Name: Rachel Prizant Kotok on Mar 24, 2008Comments:Flag
-
22
Name: Bophany Huot on Mar 24, 2008Comments:Flag
-
23
Name: Erin Krapf on Mar 24, 2008Comments:Flag
-
24
Name: Laura Yost on Mar 24, 2008Comments:Flag
-
25
Name: Sarah Coradetti on Mar 24, 2008Comments:Flag
-
26
Name: Anonymous on Mar 24, 2008Comments: I request items 1 and 2 in the first section also the declsaration, for Istarters. Items 3 and 4 in the second demand. Other actions should be based in results of above.Flag
-
27
Name: Gregory Anderson on Mar 24, 2008Comments: As a MAT23, I am committed to social change and justice. EVERYTHING that has arisen from the Corporate Progaganda Machine called "world learning" has suggested that recent moves are ANTI-Justice . . . ANTI-peace . . . and ANTI fair play. You're changing the name . . . you're firing faculty . . . . you're destroying the dignity of the institution.Flag
-
28
Name: Anne Amis on Mar 24, 2008Comments:Flag
-
29
Name: John Croes on Mar 24, 2008Comments: It sounds to me as if the leadership at World Learning has undergone a radical shift in philosophy and procedure, the affects being to undercut and gut the outstanding MAT program and create a host of agrieved dedicated professionals. Taking this action, SIT no longer seems to be acting out the inclusive participatory process that I learned there, that I have taught, that originally attracted me, and that made me encourage others to study there. Change may be necessary, but the process should reflect--not debase and contradict--the institution's core values.Flag
-
30
Name: Kimberly Awao on Mar 24, 2008Comments: I first met our current president and CEO at a graduation dinner last summer. During our meeting, she spoke of how education did not interest her. Her interest in SIT came from its diverse interests, not from its investment in education. As the event was a celebration of a successful completion of a teaching program, I found her words out of place. Her interests seem to lie in "global citizenship", but doesn't this begin with education Helping to nurture first-rate teachers should be at the the core of any program that hopes to achieve a truly global community. I am amazed at the diversity of the World Learning program, but to remove the backbone: the training of teachers that will help bring this world closer to mutual understanding, is a travesty. In her interview published on World Learning's home page, Carol Bellamy said, "I never pretended to be an academic. The first thing I did was to hire a provost to protect the academic integrity of the institution." Has it been protected The SIT teacher training program is like none other that I am aware. It is an amazing program that nurtures teachers to be teachers, not just practitioners of a certain methodology. It creates teachers that are able to address the whole student. Reflection is at its foundation, and from this reflection great insights are gained. The program should be expanded to educate more teachers who can help connect the different facets of our amazing world, not disbanded.Flag
-
31
Name: Sarah Thatcher on Mar 24, 2008Comments:Flag
-
32
Name: Katie Lloyd on Mar 24, 2008Comments:Flag
-
33
Name: Katherine Breeden on Mar 24, 2008Comments:Flag
-
34
Name: Susan Hines on Mar 24, 2008Comments: MAT-32 My experience at SIT has been invaluable to me in my current position at Educational Testing Service. The reflective practice and experiential learning model that I learned from the MAT program is garnering positive change and influence that impacts millions of English language learners every year around the world.Flag
-
35
Name: Lani Wright on Mar 24, 2008Comments:Flag
-
36
Name: Dr. Bill Harshbarger on Mar 24, 2008Comments:Flag
-
37
Name: Thomas W. Santos on Mar 24, 2008Comments:Flag
-
38
Name: Heather Satrom on Mar 24, 2008Comments: I'm a MAT33 and am very grateful for the education I received at SIT. These changes are extremely short-sighted and harmful to the MAT program. I sincerely hope the administration will reconsider them.Flag
-
39
Name: Sonja Burrows on Mar 24, 2008Comments:Flag
-
40
Name: Anne Stevens on Mar 24, 2008Comments: MAT is a wonderful program and is part of SIT's excellent academic reputation. To weaken it is foolish and destructive to the organization we love.Flag
-
41
Name: Denise Abate on Mar 24, 2008Comments: MAT 31- I am deeply troubled and truly disappointed by the short sightedness of these decisions. Everytime I step in front of my classes, my teachers and my colleagues I feel the depth of the learning and practice I got at SIT. What these administrators looking at the bottom line fail to see is the collective experience, Stevick's "inside and between" that we all carry with us. What a shame to trivialize such a monumentous thing. My heart and thoughts go out to all the talented MAT faculty who still act as beacons for me when things in education get tough. Hang in...Flag
-
42
Name: Brad Deacon on Mar 25, 2008Comments: Any successful business needs skills in both matters pertaining to the heart and the head. That the MAT program has and does embody vast amounts of each is without question. Obviously, these decisions that have been made are coming from a business minded perspective to ensure profitability (fair enough). At the same time a plan that is equally grounded in both the heart and mind needs to be put forth in order to convince the powers-that-be of the financial viability of this program. My suggestion Be more active in asking the alumni to help recruit new students. Personally I have already steered three such students. How many will you findFlag
-
43
Name: Emma Todd on Mar 25, 2008Comments: There is a desperate need for reflective and socially aware teachers in the world of teaching English. It would be an enormous disservice to the global community and future language learners to end the MAT program.Flag
-
44
Name: Jaime Weiler on Mar 25, 2008Comments: The MAT program was one of the best things to ever happen to me. I can't imagine my life without it.Flag
-
45
Name: Lena Jahn on Mar 25, 2008Comments:Flag
-
46
Name: Roger Cohen on Mar 25, 2008Comments:Flag
-
47
Name: Jo Anne Hartel on Mar 25, 2008Comments:Flag
-
48
Name: Lisa Pontoppidan on Mar 25, 2008Comments:Flag
-
49
Name: Cathy Swanson on Mar 25, 2008Comments:Flag
-
50
Name: Alesha Evans on Mar 25, 2008Comments:Flag