Providing the supportive environment of a small college through an innovative General Education program, strong student-faculty connections, superior student services, and a focus on each student as an individual, with unique educational needs and potential. Illinois State is a campus dedicated to placing the learner at the center of teaching and research.
Not letting students get lost in the crowd is what Nick Maroules, Sociology and Anthropology, strives to attain for individualized attention. Remembering his own educational experiences, Maroules looks for those moments that are unpredictable. "When I was in high school, I wasn’t into education," said Maroules. "It wasn’t until I went to college and took a couple of Sociology classes that I finally woke up. It was an awakening or a renaissance." Maroules tries to convey enthusiasm in his teaching and believes individualized attention provides that opportunity for that "awakening" to come to fruition.
In his 16 years at the University, Maroules has chaired for seven years in Sociology and Anthropology, which translates into wearing many hats, including serving as the coordinator for the middle core general education program at Illinois State. The middle core consists of cross-disciplinary courses. The nature of the course material requires students to work in groups and discussion sections. A piece of the program includes the reviewing and making recommendations to improve Foundations of Inquiry (FOI). Maroules said this is a large commitment to Illinois State in providing individualized attention. One particular value of the FOI program focused on transforming freshman’s first year experience. "Rather than students coming out of high school and leaving home and suddenly being plucked down in 300 person lecture halls, we wanted to give them an experience like a small liberal arts college," explained Maroules. "There have been bumps in the road but it works really well."
Maroules works assiduously to keep the majority of classes small, with the focus on motivating students to continuously and diligently learn. Maroules said faculty work hard to achieve this goal, considering the Sociology program alone has approximately 250 majors and 600 minors. One particular Sociology class developed five years ago was designed for students to have something rigorous and demanding while remaining intimate. It was intended to bridge students’ experience between large introduction and upper division required courses. The class is taught in sections of twenty students and Maroules described it as very interactive and popular with most students.
Maroules said the department has been working on an archeology presence and credits several professors for their hard work in achieving the distinctive program. Maroules said there is a real professional market place for archeologists with a master’s degree and the right training. "There are federal laws that require that there be archeological analysis of the areas of excavation of federal buildings, roads or interstates," said Maroules. "Our University administration has seen that this is not just an academic exercise but that students can graduate and have a nice livelihood and a great profession."
Portraying a desire students learn is important to Maroules. When Maroules reads his evaluations from students in his classrooms, he looks for the ones that express that he really cared about their learning. "That tells me that they know my commitment to learning and perhaps it rubbed off," explained Maroules. "I believe in the contagion theory, that if I’m enthusiastic and caring that they get that way."