A List
10/8/01

SLU AWARDED GRANT FOR IMPROVING ORAL COMMUNICATION

CANTON – The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Menlo Park, 
California, has awarded St. Lawrence University a grant of $150,000, 
over two years, to implement a Teaching Fellows Institute for Oral 
Communication as part of the University's newly established Center 
for Teaching and Learning.
	The new program will allow faculty and residence life staff to 
develop methods for improving students' critical thinking and listening 
skills, especially as they apply to oral communication. In the Institute, 
faculty will re-evaluate and redesign both informal oral communication 
opportunities and formal oral communication assignments for students in 
their courses, and residence life staff will develop workshops for 
student residential leaders intended to help them enhance discussion 
in residence halls.
	Among the goals for the Institute are the development of more 
interactive learning experiences for students and the creation of an 
environment that will encourage student confidence and competence in 
extemporaneous and deliberate discourse, especially when that discourse 
involves controversial or emotionally charged topics. Faculty will also 
develop methods to assess student progress and achievement in oral 
communication skills.
	The programs will eventually be incorporated into the newly 
established Center for Teaching and Learning at St. Lawrence.
	"I am very excited about this project and wish to thank the Hewlett 
Foundation for the grant that will allow us to implement it," said 
President Daniel F. Sullivan. "The Foundation's support will enable 
St. Lawrence faculty, staff and students to collaborate on an initiative 
that seeks to deepen learning, improve critical thinking skills and 
heighten sensitivity to the views of others, which are all important 
objectives that define a liberal arts education."
	The Hewlett Foundation, incorporated as a private foundation in 
the State of California in 1966, was established by the late Palo Alto 
industrialist William R. Hewlett, his wife, the late Flora Lamson Hewlett, 
and their eldest son, Walter B. Hewlett. The Foundation's broad purpose 
is to promote the well-being of mankind by supporting selected activities 
of a charitable nature, as well as organizations or institutions engaged 
in such activities. The Foundation concentrates its resources on activities 
in conflict resolution, education, environment, family and community 
development, performing arts, population, and U.S.-Latin American 
relations.

-30-


Back To News Releases

Back to St. Lawrence Homepage