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Ann Arbor, Michigan
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
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Next round of
Canvas testing
will include
7,000 students
By CARLY NOAH
Daily Staff Reporter
CTools may yield to a new
online learning platform over the
next few years, but current stu-
dents won’t likely be around for
the transition.
Created by a consortium of
institutions, including the Uni-
versity, CTools launched in 2004
and has been in use since.
However, a new system, Can-
vas, has seen steady progress
toward implementation since it
was first piloted at the University
in the fall of 2014.
The Senate Advisory Commit-
tee on University Affairs, along
with working faculty groups, have
spent the past year discussing the
switch as part of the NextGen
Michigan initiative, which seeks
to modernize the University’s
Information Technology Services.
A February report from the
faculty
team
responsible
for
evaluating the switch, the Digital
Innovation Advisory Group, cited
changes in digital education as
the main rationale for the switch.
“CTools
development
has
unfolded around the creation of
tools to manage digital assets in a
reactive manner,” the report said.
“Canvas, in contrast, has been
conceived from the ground up to
provide a more cohesive learning
experience.”
In an interview last month,
University Provost Martha Pol-
lack said the University so far has
not yet made a formal decision on
transitioning, but data from pilots
has been promising.
However, she said she expects
CTools to remain in use until
April 2016 at the earliest.
This semester, the University
is partaking in a second round of
piloting with a larger audience.
Pollack said the pilot includes a
total of 123 instructors and 7,000
students in 112 classes through-
out 15 schools and colleges.
ACADEMICS
See CANVAS, Page 3
Students also pose
questions about
diversity during
fireside chat
By GENNIVEVE HUMMER
Daily Staff Reporter
University
President
Mark
Schlissel discussed controversy
surrounding several Greek life
ski trips during his monthly fire-
side chat Monday afternoon.
During the chat, Schlissel pre-
sented the roughly 30 students
in attendance with a question of
his own.
“A couple of the fraterni-
ties and sororities on the Janu-
ary break, the MLK weekend
break, did some mayhem at some
resorts they were staying at,”
Schlissel said. “How do we set up
a culture where there are ways to
have a good time without being
criminal?”
Engineering
senior
David
Hershey said Central Student
Government’s push for a student
honor code could be one solution.
The honor code would serve as
an addition to the Statement on
Student Rights and Responsibili-
ties, aiming to hold students to a
higher standard of integrity and
respect.
“The attempt behind it is
to make it so that students are
accountable to their fellow stu-
dents to some extent,” he said.
“At some basic level we all want
the face of the University to be a
positive one because our future
is based upon this university.”
Engineering sophomore Evan
Field, president of Delta Kappa
Epsilon, voiced his support for
the sanctions recently placed on
several fraternities and sororities,
but said educational initiatives
should be central to disciplinary
processes going forward.
Schlissel agreed, but also
stressed that concrete penalties
become necessary at a certain
point.
RITA MORRIS/Daily
University President Mark Schlissel discusses concerns about Greek life and its role on campus with students during the March Fireside Chat on Monday in the
Michigan League.
See FIRESIDE, Page 3
ADMISSIONS
Test revision to
start in April, reflect
changing medical
school preferences
By NABEEL CHOLLAMPAT
Daily Staff Reporter
Last
month,
registration
opened for the new version of the
Medical College Admission Test,
better known as the MCAT.
The updated test, developed
by the American Association
of Medical Colleges, will focus
more on experimentation and
practicality. The AAMC will first
administer the new test on April
17. The old exam was last taken on
Jan. 23.
According to the AAMC, the
four updated 95-minute sections
include Chemical and Physical
Foundations of Biological Sys-
tems; Biological and Biochemical
Foundations of Living Systems;
Psychological, Social and Biologi-
cal Foundations of Behavior; and
Critical Analysis and Reasoning
Skills.
The test is expected to last
about 7.5 hours — contrasting a
previous three and a half time
span. Testing time has increased
due to the addition of a fourth
section, as well as the longer
length of each section compared
to the previous exam. According
to a January report in The New
York Times, the additional test-
ing time necessitates more stam-
ina and focus.
Eric Chiu, Kaplan Test Prep’s
executive director of pre-medical
programs, said the changes will
ultimately permit the exam to
test application of material, for
example, in an unprecedented
way.
“The MCAT is undergoing not
just a change in the content areas
covered and the length of the
exam, but also in terms of how
it tests science content and, in
particular, application and inte-
gration of that knowledge in a
different way,” Chiu said.
He added that the new empha-
sis should aid students in their
careers as doctors.
“It’s the type of skill pre-meds
will need once they get to medi-
cal school,” Chiu said. “That’s
how their medical school classes
and, someday, how they will act
as doctors really apply content
knowledge from lots of different
science areas to real-life scenari-
os.”
The changes include recom-
mendations that students take
11
semesters
of
prerequisite
courses, compared to the previ-
ous eight. Sociology, psychology,
biochemistry and statistics are
now included in this list. The
exam will also place more focus
on chemistry and physics in the
context of biological processes,
which may require students to
take additional coursework in
that realm.
DAVID SONG/Daily
Music, Theatre & Dance junior Sophia Deery improvs during the Dance and Identity Workshop at the Trotter
Multicultural Center Monday evening.
Trotter
Multicultural
Center hosts
Abraham.In.Motion
By ALYSSA BRANDON
Daily Staff Reporter
A small group of students
seated on the floor of Trotter
Multicultural Center listened
attentively Monday night as
Jeremy Neal, a principle dancer
from the critically acclaimed
dance
company
Abraham.
In.Motion, introduced himself.
“My name is Jeremy and I
identify as a queer artist, as a
listener and as a friend,” he said
to the group.
Neal led participants in the
Dance and Identity Workshop,
an event co-hosted by the Office
of Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs
and the Trotter Center.
First, Neal asked the group
to consider how dance move-
ments can connect with one’s
own identity, focusing the
event on the ties between indi-
viduality and movement.
“Being able to understand
your identity through move-
ment can make a better non-
verbal communicator, which is
a very important skill to have,”
Neal said.
During the dance workshop,
Neal asked students to impro-
vise dance movements that cor-
responded with the spelling of
their names. In another exer-
cise, the students took turns
“sculpting” themselves using
the body of their partner.
Kinesiology
sophomore
Kamaria
Washington
par-
ticipated in the dance work-
shop and said she thought the
exercises were both fun and
enlightening.
“I loved it,” Washington said.
“It was a great way for me to
freely dance, and it was amaz-
ing how Jeremy tied in how
you identify yourself and how
you want others to identify you
with dance.”
Neal said he wanted the par-
ticipants to get comfortable
with body parts they do not
normally use.
“It was a combination of
getting them to really think
about moving their bodies in
ways that hadn’t thought about
before, and also it was way to
get them to open up and explore
different ideas,” he said.
Sophia Deery, a junior in
both LSA and the School of
Music, Theatre and Dance,
who interned with Abraham.
In.Motion last summer and was
a main organizer of the work-
shop, said the event was cre-
ated as a platform for members
HOSPITAL
Health System to
collaborate with
insurer to examine
medical practices
By ISOBEL FUTTER
Daily Staff Reporter
When actress Angelina Jolie
opted for a preventative double
mastectomy in 2013, the move
spurred an increase in the num-
ber of people seeking genetic
testing and counseling.
Now, the insurance provider
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michi-
gan and the University Health
System have established a col-
laborative to improve and create
more guidelines for genetic test-
ing, which can screen patients
for genes linked to an array of
illnesses and conditions.
The Genetic Testing Resource
and Quality Consortium aims to
investigate and improve current
genetic testing practices.
David Share, senior vice presi-
dent of Value Partnerships at
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michi-
gan, said he believes genetic test-
ing will positively impact patient
care in Michigan.
“Such testing has the potential
to add great value to the care of
people with conditions, or at risk
for conditions, with a genetic
component, which can affect
their future health and also
future treatment,” Share wrote
See GENETICS, Page 3
See DANCE, Page 3
See MCAT, Page 7
‘U’ expands
program to
pilot CTools
replacement
Schlissel addresses recent
Greek life controversies
Updated MCAT
to include more
subjects, longer
testing times
Dance workshop connects
identity, body movement
UMHS
to expand
guidelines
for genetic
counseling
INDEX
Vol. CXXIV, No. 77
©2015 The Michigan Daily
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