(As) part of that proposal, they look at the faculty we would need, the student need, the industry need, what jobs are there, how supportive the industry is. They look at labs, at space.

Active scholars are uniquely attracted by a high-quality graduate school of arts and sciences. Faculty members consider the teaching and training of new generations of graduate students as their highest calling. They believe that working with graduate students maintains and develops their professional skills more effectively than any other activity. It may be the main reason for the great attraction of academic jobs. Laboratory scientists have told me that the opportunity to work with graduate students keeps them in the university. For them, other options would center on research in commercial laboratories, but there the principal investigator would be assisted by technicians, and that is considered a far less creative interaction.

At Hamilton, 40 percent of our faculty is adjunct. So I don't presume adjunct instructors are bad. Many are very talented. They can bring a different perspective to the classroom. But where higher education has failed is not developing programs to help (adjuncts) improve their teaching skills.

It's another avenue where faculty are looking at students and student eligibility. The league has received a few calls with questions about electronic sites.

My favorite part of the symposium is the incredible grins on student and faculty faces. Both are excited about what their doing and they really convey a passion for knowledge.

The way that we're putting it together is mainly faculty advisors with mostly student leadership. We're going to be trying to find a good number of students in architecture, engineering, industrial design and business, and our plan is to have a studio next quarter.