Memorandum #102 Board of Trustees Statement on Student Activities

Revised: October 13, 1971
Date of Issue: October 13, 1971

I. Student Activities as a Means of Fulfilling the Purpose of Community College of Philadelphia

The purpose of Community College of Philadelphia is to provide for its several constituencies an institution of higher education having the necessary physical apparatus and professional instruction to create those educational experiences which will discipline the intellectual capacities and advance the vocational skills of students. The most common places in which these educational experiences occur are the lecture halls, seminar rooms and laboratories that are normally under the professional guidance of a teacher trained in the subject being offered. However, the learning experience outside the classroom have long been regarded as a significant part of the total educational program. The Board of Trustees retains the services of administrators and teachers whose professional commitment is to provide these educational experiences for students. ence in order to be reinstated. Additionally, financial obligations are not waived by such withdrawals.

II. The Objective of a Student Activities Program at Community College of Philadelphia

The Board of Trustees recognizes the educational, cultural, social and recreational values of co-curricular experiences. In establishing the total educational program at Community College of Philadelphia it has instructed the administration to ensure a variety of activities designed to meet the needs and interests of students outside the classroom. These should include activities which are clearly supplemental to classroom work, such as language clubs, professional organizations, and other associations clearly related to curricula or courses. Also included should be lectures, film series, concerts, art exhibits and similar activities designed to expose students to new types of experiences and ideas. Community resources in these areas should be used to the fullest possible extent. Activities which foster creativity, participation and self-expression such as publications, choral and orchestral music, drama, intramural and intercollegiate athletics, and effective student government should be the major thrust of the student activities program.

The Board of Trustees further recognizes that many programs are spontaneous and many of the best programs are student originated. The Board counsels its administrators to cooperate with students and faculty in the development of such programs.

In order to maximize the educational effectiveness of these programs, experienced advisers, coaches and moderators should be provided. Whenever possible, these should be selected from the professional staff of the College.

III. Funding

Activities shall be funded from monies collected by the College as part of its regular charges to all students and from the profits from sources such as the Bookstore and food service.

The responsible administrator should make every effort to include students in the planning and budgeting for these activities, working toward a goal of maximum student authority and responsibility within the limits of sound educational and fiscal practice.

IV. Use of the Name - Community College of Philadelphia - Implying Sponsorship

The Community College of Philadelphia is a publically owned institution of higher education established under the enabling legislation of 1963 as amended. Thus, the Community College of Philadelphia must remain responsive to several constituencies that lay claim to its service and purport to speak in its behalf. The Board of Trustees has the essential task of safeguarding the rights of all these constituencies with respect to the Community College of Philadelphia. In this context, the Board recognizes that student and faculty activities are not all formally recognized by the College. Indeed, the Board actively desires the freedom and spontaneity which has characterized these programs in the past to continue unabated. Because there is always a question of liability attached to such matters, the Board reserves to itself, the right to review where any such activity appears to bring the good name of the College into jeopardy.

(1) Unanimously adopted by the Board of Trustees of Community College of Philadelphia at the meeting on October 7, 1971.