1. Resolution S52-13
The Refocusing Education Project
Sponsored By: Chris Merrill
Submitted:
Voted On: February 24, 2016
Results: Yes, No, Abstain
Whereas, “Fairfield University, founded by the Society of Jesus, is a coeducational
institution of higher learning whose primary objectives are to develop the creative
intellectual potential of its students…;” and
Whereas, “it also seeks to foster in its students a continuing intellectual curiosity and a
desire for self-education…;” and
Whereas, “as a community of scholars, Fairfield gladly joins in the broader task of
expanding human knowledge and deepening human understanding, and to this end it
encourages and supports the scholarly research and artistic production of its faculty and
students;” and
Whereas, “Fairfield University values each of its students as an individual with unique
abilities and potentials…;” and
Whereas, “autodidacticism or self-education is the act of learning about a subject or
subjects in which one has had little to no formal education;” and
Whereas, there is currently no autodidactic (self-education) program offered at
Fairfield University in which a student could demonstrate the University’s
aforementioned values; and
Whereas, the current classroom style education system, as has been argued by many,
takes the focus off of the pursuit of knowledge and instead onto the achievement of
grades; and
Whereas, an autodidactic program would allow students with the capacity and drive
for a complete self-educated academic college experience to realize a greater potential
than the current education system offers; and
Be It Resolved, that an autodidactic program will be established at Fairfield
University, which will be known as “Fairfield Scholars Program”; and

2. Be It Resolved, that this program will consist of a maximum of five (5) students,
which will be enrolled in the program beginning their second semester at Fairfield
University until graduation of their senior year; and
Be It Resolved, that the application process of the program will take place the entirety
of the fall semester and will only be available for first year students to apply to; and
Be It Resolved, that the application process will consist only of references and their
letters of recommendation, multiple interviews, and the completion and review of the
StrengthsQuest and MBTI evaluations; and
Be It Resolved, that the goal of the application process is to identify and accept
students with a genuine desire for gaining knowledge and who would have strong
potential to succeed in self education; and
Be It Resolved, that upon the students confirmation of enrollment in the program, the
student will not be required to complete the core or any classes related to academics,
once they have completed their first semester of courses, for the remainder of their time
enrolled in the program; and
Be It Resolved, that in substitution, the student would study one (1) topic for the
duration of one (1) semester in an effort to gain a comprehensive understanding of that
topic and the majority of all of its aspects; and
Be It Resolved, that the student would be encouraged to choose any topic that
interests them, and that they would face little to no restrictions in the topics they
choose; and
Be It Resolved, that at the end of a semester, the student would be required to
demonstrate the full range of their knowledge in their topic of study totheir academic
advisor on the first day of finals; and
Be It Resolved, that if their advisor felt the student’s demonstration was in need of
improvement, the student would present again by the last day of finals; and
Be It Resolved, that if the advisor still felt that the student’s demonstration was in
need of improvement, the student would present again by the end of the first week of the
next semester; and
Be It Resolved, that upon enrollment, the students would be matched with an advisor
whose role would be to assist the student in their studies to the best of their ability, and
to monitor the student’s progress in their course of study to ensure that the student is
indeed engaging in autodidactic study; and
Be It Resolved, that a student who is enrolled in the program will study only one topic
in their senior year at Fairfield University in order to gain a mastery of that topic, and
that this topic will be considered as that student’s major; and
Be It Resolved, that all students enrolled in the program will, on top of their studies,
be required to read an article from the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal,
Business Insider, or any other reputable news company, and that the students must
discuss the article of their choosing with their advisor each week; and

3. Be It Resolved, that students enrolled in the program would have the ability to
add/drop any course offered at Fairfield University and participate in that course to the
capacity that they choose, however, the student will not be awarded any credits or be
given any grades for their time in the course and that the student would be limited to
five (5) courses a semester; and
Be It Resolved, that all forms of a measurement of one’s education will not apply to
the students enrolled in the program, and that those measurements will never be
incorporated into the program; and
Be It Resolved, that no mandatory assignments will be imposed on the student with
the exception of the final demonstration at the end of each semester and the discussions
of the news articles; and
Be It Resolved, that upon passage of Resolution S52-13, that the “The Refocusing
Education Project Committee” will be established whose purpose will be to completely
structure this program and its implementation, or to decide that this program will not
be established; and
Be It Resolved, that this committee will consist of: three (3) senators, one of which
will be Chris Merrill (’19) and two (2) senators whom he shall appoint, as well as the
President and Vice President of F.U.S.A., any number of administration members that
would be required to be involved in the committee, and any number of faculty capping
at ten (10); and
Be It Resolved, that if the committee drafts a formal proposal of the program, that
proposal would then come back to the F.U.S.A. Senate for approval; and
Be It Further Resolved, that if the committee does not decide to create the program,
then the committee will be dissolved and the program will be dismissed.
Zoe Ferranti ’17, Chair ofSenate Date Submitted
AnifMcDonald ’16, F.U.S.A President Date Acted On