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Kansan staff
NEWS MANAGEMENT
Editor-in-chief Candice Tarver
Managing editor
Maddy Mikinski
Digital operations editor Matt Clough
Social media editor Megan Tiger
Associate social media editor Emily Johanek
ADVERTISING MANAGEMENT
Business manager Gage Brock
Sales manager
Becca Blackburn
SECTION EDITORS
News editor
Lara Korte
Associate news editor Conner Mitchell
Associate sports editor Skylar Rolstad
Arts & culture editor Ryan Wright
Associate arts & culture editor Samantha Sexton
Visuals editor
& design chief
Roxy Townsend
Chief photographer Missy Minear
Copy chief
Brendan Dzwierzynski
Copy chief
Madi Schulz
ADVISERS
Chief financial officer Jon Schlitt
Editorial adviser Gerri Berendzen
The University Daily Kansan is the student newspaper of the University of Kansas. The first copy is paid through the student activity fee. Additional copies of the Kansan are 50 cents. Subscriptions can be purchased at the Kansan business office, 2051 A Dole Human Development Center, 1000 Sunnyside Avenue, Lawrence, KS.,
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KANSAN.COM/NEWS | THURSDAY, SEPT. 8, 2016
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FROM MAJORS
PAGE 1
the center will be using the study's finding to restructure their advising processes any time soon, as the EAB report is only one piece of the literature and data that University staff uses to determine their operations.
The University already has goals and programs set up that are geared toward early major declaration, Coffin said, and she's seen those procedures work well for the students she sees.
One of those programs is the Graduate in Four Task Force, which determines how the University measures and improves student success. The task force focuses on tracking progression towards a degree and retention, both of which are improved by early major choices, Coffin said.
"Doing those two things, it's really important that you declare the major that you're going to do sooner rather than later." she said.
Moreover, some of the University's programs aren't set up for a late entry. If a student wants to enter into a program like pharmacy or engineering, that student will have to complete very specific courses in a very specific order. These programs, which Coffin calls "lock-step programs," often require students to be fully committed to the major for more than a couple of semesters.
"Our general rule is
that we try to help students get into a major as quickly as possible in case it is one of those lock-step programs," she said. "This way we know we have you in the right place."
In fact, if students don't get into a lock-step program early, it can really hurt them. Benn Stover is beginning his fourth year at the University, but his school, Art and Design, sees him as a sophomore — and he'll graduate at the same time as one.
In his first three years, Stover tried out biology and mechanical engineering, but neither really felt right to him.
"It's frustrating because you don't get a sense of what it's going
to be until you're really in it," he said.
Stover said he might have been able to do more general education requirements earlier, but he doubts it would have helped him graduate sooner, as the design school's requirements are so sequential.
Even for less sequential courses, like many in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Coffin said students do get benefits from entering those programs early, though it's not as essential.
"We want to connect to that major early. We want you to start meeting incredible faculty. We want you to have a variety of experiences and opportunities and internships," she said. "And we want
you to do that as soon as possible, but if you don't happen to make that decision until later, you will still graduate on time."
Coffin said, overall, the way the UAC approaches major declarations is very individualized. While the UAC does encourage students to pursue their interests as early as possible, it doesn't seriously approach an undecided or "deciding", as UAC calls it, student about needing to declare a major until that student reaches 60 credit hours.
- Edited by Christian Hardy
Architecture students help Wichita's homeless
ARCH 508/509 students start their group presentation on current sleeping conditions in homeless shelters.
▶ CHANDLER BOESE
@Chandler_Boese
Baxter Schanze/KANSAN is in homeless shelters
Around the University, there are a lot of places one might hear discussions about social justice: the Multicultural Center, ethics classrooms and Spooner Hall. But an unexpected one is an architecture studio in Marvin Hall.
In assistant professor Chad Kraus' ARCH 508/509 class, students are going to build a home for the homeless community in Wichita. The home they construct, a project that will take the entire school year, will hopefully be a prototype for an entire community of tiny homes for the homeless.
"The group will use it to raise awareness, persuade donors to contribute to their bigger vision, a city of tiny homes for the homeless, with the city to get approval," Kraus said. "It will eventually become a home for a member of the homeless community."
The Wichita organization that is planning the community of tiny homes, Let's Rock and Roll and Change the World, approached
Kraus this summer about his class taking on the project.
"For this project in particular, the tiny house is an ideal model for us," he said. "In the tiny house, there's essentially an element of almost every aspect of [the students'] future career."
With this year's project, Kraus is especially excited for his students to turn a client's request and vision into a reality. Moreover, Kraus said the chance for his students to do something like this for the community is one that doesn't often come along for young architecture students.
"The thing I'm most excited about, probably, in regards to this particular project, is the social dimension," Kraus said.
One thing Kraus and his students have been discussing is how the service goes both ways in this project: while his class is giving a home to a community, the community is also giving them the learning experience of building a home.
"That kind of reciprocal nature, kind of avoiding the industrial savior complex, I think is really important, but also
His students are also looking forward to the unique things that this project offers. Morgan Merkel, a junior from St. Louis, was in a different section of the 509 class, but switched to Kraus' section when she learned about the project.
for them to understand issues of homelessness, not just from a pragmatic standpoint, but also from a social, theoretical standpoint," Kraus said.
"It's really about doing something bigger than me," she said. "It's not just about me thinking about my education as much as it's about doing something for other people."
CORRECTION:
The Sept. 1 edition misidentified the graduate teaching assistant pictured on page three. His name is Lukas Szrot. The Kansan apologizes for the error.
Her classmate, Jordan Coslett, a junior from Halstead, said he was initially looking forward
to the idea of building an entire home (a more extensive project than what is typically done in a design-build studio), but his perspective has changed since the class began.
"Chad [Kraus] started to talk about the social impact that this project could have and I got even more excited," he said.
In October, the class will take a trip to Wichita to meet the organization, speak with the man who will be living in the house and get to know the community.
From there, the class will collaboratively design and build the house. Barring any complications, Kraus said the home will likely be done by the end of the year.
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