The Plan of Concentration
- A. Introduction
- B. Plan Applications and Deadlines
- C. Sample Plan Applications
- D. Sample Plan Descriptions
A. Introduction
What is a Plan?
It is an integrated study that focuses on an area of the curriculum or on a set of related questions or issues that cross disciplinary boundaries. Plan is:
- an integrated course of study designed by the student
- in one or more areas of the curriculum
- under the guidance of a faculty sponsor or sponsors
- approved by the entire faculty
How do you choose a field of study?
The field, or fields, chosen for your Plan should reflect your strengths and the subject(s) you enjoy studying. Your idea may come from a class you especially enjoyed, a paper that sparked an idea or interest fostered by discussion in a class. The Plan should be an exciting adventure of your own, in which you explore matters of considerable interest to you, and in which you can observe your own development of confidence and maturity. A well-designed and well-focused Plan will be your best friend during your junior and senior years at Marlboro, and will help assure a most satisfying final result.
What are the fields of study/degree fields?
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American Studies |
Dance |
Philosophy |
When does a student go on Plan?
At the end of second semester of the sophomore year; you must have accumulated at least 55 credits to go on Plan.
How?
By filling out and filing a Preliminary Plan Application in collaboration with a Plan sponsor or sponsors. Applications are available online or in the bin outside the registrar’s office.
How do you find a sponsor?
Talk with your advisor about your ideas; talk with teachers with whom you have worked; talk with current Plan students; talk with your friends, and consult faculty Areas of Interest for Plan-level Work. Discuss your preliminary ideas with whomever on the faculty seems appropriate. If the faculty member is willing to work with you, then you enter into an agreement in the form of a Preliminary Plan Application.
How many credits do you need to earn on Plan?
50: You may apply up to 8 credits from the first year and sophomore years toward the 50 credits. You should average 15 credits per semester throughout the two years on Plan.
What is the academic structure like in the junior year?
- Emphasis on course work leading to a more precise definition of your Plan (filling in gaps)
- Strike a balance between course work and tutorials
- Off campus work and tutorials as appropriate
- Standard grades (A to F)
What is the academic structure like in the senior year?
- Emphasis on tutorials and independent work with supplementary course work
- Choice of standard grades for course work, not tutorials, or
- Progress grades (S, S-, U) (* asterisk recorded on transcript refers to final Plan grade).
How are you evaluated?
By a board of evaluators made up of
- A minimum of two Marlboro faculty members, and
- An outside evaluator
How do you do a Cross-Disciplinary Plan?
Carefully. Such Plans involve study in two or three different fields, sometimes with fairly equal distribution of weight, sometimes with one field clearly dominant. Whatever the structure, a cross-disciplinary Plan should have the same goal as a single-field Plan. That goal is the investigation in-depth of a single problem or a set of clearly related problems. In cross-disciplinary Plans, it is the notion of “clearly related” that determines the success of the Plan in meeting the stated goal. Any student who ignores or forgets this essential Plan concept risks considerable disappointment when the whole is finally evaluated.
Credit and Residency Requirement:
The Plan of Concentration consists of a minimum of 50 credits, not more than 8 of which may have been earned prior to the junior year. Students are expected to be in residence during the senior year, although sponsors may occasionally recommend a nonresidential term. Such terms must be approved by the dean of faculty. Students are required to register as full-time for the final senior semester.
B. Plan Applications and Deadlines
I. The Preliminary Plan Application
This application serves as your formal request for permission to embark on the first year of the Plan. It follows completion of the Sophomore Review. The junior year is normally devoted to courses that are preparatory to project work.
When do you file a Preliminary Plan Application?
At the end of the second semester of your sophomore year OR at the end of the semester in which you will have earned 55 credits. The registrar will post the deadline each semester. Junior transfers will need to submit the Preliminary Plan Application by the end of their first semester at Marlboro.
The purpose of the Preliminary Plan Application is to:
- articulate your goals;
- organize your work for the next two semesters; and
- inform the faculty of your goals and plans.
Before you fill out your application:
- Attend the Plan workshop for all second semester sophomores and transfers. It provides helpful information and an orientation to the process.
- Obtain a copy of your unofficial transcript and area breakdown from the registrar’s office.
- If you are a World Studies Program student, confer with the director of WSP or your advisor to determine whether you have met the WSP requirements.
- Review the courses you have taken, by area, referring to the degree fields to be sure you have the foundation coursework necessary. Your Plan work should grow out of the courses you’ve taken and the interests you have developed.
- Consider the faculty with whom you have studied. Your Plan depends on a good working relationship with a faculty member.
- Select a Plan sponsor (or sponsors) according to where your interests intersect with the fields of expertise of faculty (see degree fields). (Consult with your advisor or the director of academic advising if you are unsure.) Remember: No faculty member is obligated to sponsor a Plan and usually will not if there has been no prior classroom contact with you. However, even faculty with whom you have had little classroom contact may have useful suggestions.
- Discuss your ideas with many people, including students.
The Preliminary Plan Application form is available at marlboro.edu/offices/registrar/forms/. You will have to print it out and write in your information. Paper forms are also available in the form rack outside of the registrar’s office in Mather.
Steps to complete your Preliminary Plan Application
- Prepare your Plan application in consultation with your Plan sponsor(s). Since this is a permanent record of the college, it must be legible and written in ink.
- Plan statement: Write a simple statement of your intentions. Remember, this is a Preliminary Plan Application. We don’t expect to see a lot of specific detail. Details will emerge by the end of your junior year. “A study (exploration, examination) of _______________ with a focus on __________” may suffice. See sample statements below or contact the director of academic advising, Catherine O’Callaghan, at cocallag@marlboro.edu or x235).
- Courses and tutorials: With your Plan sponsor(s), come up with a list of courses and tutorials for your first year on Plan, including any classes that would fill in the needed gaps.
- Obtain signatures from your Plan sponsor(s) and, if you are a WSP student, the WSP director.
- Drop off the form at the office of the registrar, who will forward it to the dean of faculty.
- Once the dean has approved your Plan application (which could require further communication with you or your sponsor[s]), he will forward the application to the registrar. The registrar’s office will input the information into the student database and will provide copies of both the original application and the computer version to you and your Plan sponsor(s). The registrar’s office then distributes a copy of the application to all faculty two weeks prior to the next faculty meeting. The faculty have an opportunity to comment on Plan proposals during this time. The dean of faculty will notify you if there are any questions about your proposal.
II. The Final Plan Application
The Final Plan Application specifically defines the Plan objective and the Project. It lists work completed during junior year and work projected for senior year.
When do you file a Final Plan Application?
The deadline for submission and distribution of the Final Plan Application is two semesters prior to the anticipated date of completion of the Plan. The registrar will post the deadline each semester.
Like the preliminary application, the Final Plan Application must first be approved by the dean of faculty and reviewed by the full faculty. Copies of the Final Plan Application are circulated to all faculty for final approval once the dean has signed them. This process takes time, so be sure to get your application to the dean’s office well in advance of the deadline. Students who fail to submit Final Plan Applications on time may be required to spend an extra semester at Marlboro before they can graduate.
Credit and Residency Requirements:
You need a minimum of 120 credits to graduate. Of these 120, at least 50 must be on Plan (You may earn more than 50 on Plan, but you must earn a minimum of 50). Up to 8 credits earned during your first and sophomore years may be applied toward your Plan. If your plan sponsor considers it essential, you may work away from Marlboro during your junior or senior year (e.g., an internship, study abroad program, etc.). You are required to register as a fulltime student for your final senior semester.
Filling out the form:
Consult with your Plan sponsor(s) as you go through the process of filling out your Final Plan Application and use the explanations of the numbered sections (see below) to help you. It Is helpful to do a draft in pencil first. If you have technical questions, consult the College Handbook (online) or see the director of academic advising, WSP director or associate director (if you are a WSP student), and/or the dean of faculty, as appropriate.
Approval:
After you have completed filling out the application, obtain signatures of approval from (1) Your sponsor(s), (2) the WSP director (if appropriate), and (3) the dean of faculty. The registrar receives the final approved application and distributes copies of the plan and project summaries to the faculty. During that time faculty have an opportunity to comment on plan proposals.
Step-by-step explanation of the numbered sections of the Final Plan Application:
1. Faculty Sponsor: the faculty member named first is the primary Plan sponsor of record for administrative purposes. It is appropriate to have a co-sponsor only if another faculty member makes major contributions to the plan. It is also recommended that the sponsors match the degree fields, that is, your primary plan sponsor should oversee the degree field that appears first in all capital letters. Faculty in your chosen degree fields who are not sponsors or co-sponsors should be asked to be part of the committee for the oral examination, especially if you have only one plan sponsor (see #8).
2. Field(s) of Study: fields must be selected from the degree fields approved by the faculty and should be written on your application in ALL CAPS. These fields are listed below. The degree field may be followed by descriptive sub-fields in lower-case letters (e.g. ART HISTORY/renaissance painting; BIOLOGY/ornithology; HISTORY & LITERATURE/Shakespeare; CERAMICS/chemistry).
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American Studies |
Dance |
Philosophy |
Students in the world studies program may also undertake a plan in DEVELOPMENT STUDIES.
3. Summary of Plan and Project: the Plan is a coherent program of study that may have multi-disciplinary components. A plan summary is a statement about the areas—topics and/or theoretical issues—you want to focus on and the objectives you have formulated; it is not a list of the work that will be submitted for evaluation. The project summary is a brief description of the work you will do in depth to address the concerns expressed in the plan summary. This work should use the theories and methods appropriate to your field of study. Project work may take the form of a major paper or set of papers based on library, laboratory or field research; a presentation in the performing or creative arts; or any other effort or combination of efforts appropriate to the liberal arts.
4. Background Work: non-Plan courses or work experience that is considered to be essential background work for a Plan.
5. Preliminary Work on Plan: a list of courses, internships and tutorials taken in your junior year that are part of your Plan, totaling approximately 25 credits. Remember, up to 8 credits taken prior to your junior year may be applied.
6. Final Year Work on Plan: a list of plan courses and tutorials you intend to take in your senior year, which will result in a minimum of 50 credits on plan. Note: do not list non-Plan courses (courses that will not be part of the Plan evaluation process).
7. Work to be Evaluated and Proportional Weights: all work on Plan is subject to final evaluation. Percentages should be roughly consistent with the time spent on each element. Note: At least one element must consist of formal written prose and must comprise at least 20 percent of the weighting.
a. Plan work prepared under faculty guidance:
i. Plan Project: permission of the dean of faculty is required if the percentage total for all elements of the plan project is larger than 50 percent. A percentage total above 75 percent is not permitted. If your plan project consists of distinct parts, you may list them individually. No more than 120 spaces may be used to describe each component. Please indicate if the work is a paper, exhibit, performance, etc. These components are recorded separately on your transcript.
ii. Other Plan Components: you should include here all other components related to your Plan project. While this may include complementary work in another discipline, background work for your Plan project(s) (historical, technical, etc.) or comparative work, the relationship to the main topic or question of your Plan should be very clear. Please note if the work is a paper, lecture, exhibit, etc.
b. Examinations and Other Plan Work Prepared Independently of Faculty Guidance:At least 20 percent of the material presented for evaluation must be in a form prepared by you without faculty assistance and be available to your outside evaluator. Such independent work or examinations normally cover the major fields or sub-fields of study; they may also cover areas of the Plan not addressed explicitly by the Plan project and supporting work.
8. Oral Evaluation: the examining board for a student’s oral examination consists of the Plan sponsor and co-sponsors, a second faculty member if there are no co-sponsors, and an outside evaluator. Marlboro faculty who are not co-sponsors but who have worked with a student on Plan may be on the committee. The dean of faculty appoints an outside evaluator upon recommendation of the Plan sponsor; students are encouraged to suggest names of possible outside evaluators.
Note: at least one week before the oral evaluation, the outside evaluator must have copies of all exams, papers, journals, etc., which are part of the Plan. The outside evaluator should have the opportunity to evaluate all elements of the Plan and must have the opportunity to evaluate at least 90 percent of plan work and all work prepared independently of faculty guidance. However, when a student teaches, performs or gives a public lecture, the outside evaluator may not be available. Therefore, such elements with weightings of more than 10 percent, or which are included as independent work, must be documented in a form available to the entire community. For this reason, such elements should not be included under work done independently of faculty guidance, as at least 20 percent of such work must be available to the outside evaluator. Weightings for a public lecture or class teaching must be kept to 10 percent or less. If such elements comprise more than 10 percent, special arrangements must be made with the dean of faculty. Exceptions to this rule may be granted by the dean of faculty, upon advice from the curriculum committee.
C. Sample Plan Applications
Sample Preliminary Plan Application
D. Sample Plan Descriptions
Read past students' (2009) Plan descriptions
AREA: Performing Arts
Sophia Cleary
Bachelor of Arts
ART HISTORY/Modern and Contemporary & DANCE
PLAN SUMMARY: A study of the relationships between conceptual and performance art with a focus on artistic appropriation and authorship.
PROJECT: A paper examining the concepts of object and subjecthood in the works of conceptual and performance artists from the 1960s and ’70s.
SPONSORS: Erin Benay, Kristin Horrigan
OUTSIDE EVALUATOR: Frazer Ward, Smith College
Simon Moody
Bachelor of Arts
THEATER
PLAN SUMMARY: An examination of the history and use of race as a thematic device on the American stage, culminating in a production of Rebecca Gilman’s play, Spinning into Butter.
PROJECT: A performance of Rebecca Gilman’s play, Spinning into Butter.
SPONSOR: Brenda Foley
OUTSIDE EVALUATOR: Peggy Rae Johnson, Keene State College
Nathaniel Weeks
Bachelor of Arts
MUSIC/Musicology
PLAN SUMMARY: A broad study of music history, with a focus on the evolution of electronic music. A study of music composition and performance combining a wide range of influences including jazz, concert music, musique concrete and electronic music. A study of recording, mixing and mastering both electronic and acoustic instruments.
PROJECT: A research paper on early electronic music with a focus on musique concrete and its influence on the rest of the field.
SPONSOR: Stanley Charkey
OUTSIDE EVALUATOR: John Levin, independent scholar and composer
AREA: Visual Arts
Marcus John DeSieno
Bachelor of Arts
PHOTOGRAPHY
PLAN SUMMARY: A critical investigation into the ethical issues surrounding representation in documentary photography.
PROJECT: A photographic gallery exhibit investigating a consumer-oriented American landscape.
SPONSOR: John Willis
OUTSIDE EVALUATOR: Virginia Beahan, Dartmouth College
Laura Lancaster
VISUAL ARTS/Art History
Bachelor of Arts
PLAN SUMMARY: A study in relief sculpture and works on paper that calls into question notions of the natural and the artificial, connected to an art historical study looking at images of violence and monsters in 19th and 21st century art and popular culture.
PROJECT: Art exhibition of artwork that emphasizes themes of collection, specimens, and natural and artificial materials.
SPONSORS: Cathy Osman, Erin Benay, Timothy Segar
OUTSIDE EVALUATOR: Soo Sunny Park, Dartmouth College
Alisha Langerman
Bachelor of Arts
VISUAL ARTS & ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES/Ecological Design
PLAN SUMMARY: A study of visual art exploring the contemporary relationship between humans, ecology and the built environment, accompanied by research in vernacular architecture and ecological design.
PROJECT: Exhibit of woodcut prints and photography exploring human relationships within environments of sprawl, industry and abandonment.
SPONSORS: Timothy Segar, Cathy Osman
OUTSIDE EVALUATOR: Brian Cohen, independent artist, Bridge Press
AREA: Cross-Disciplinary/World Studies
Lucy Michelle Joanna Alexander DeLaurentis
Bachelor of Arts
PHOTOGRAPHY & AMERICAN STUDIES/American Literature
PLAN SUMMARY: An exploration of how gendered identity is created in a mass-mediated society, drawing on socio-historical analysis and photography.
PROJECT: An exhibit of portrait photography and autobiographical collage.
SPONSORS: John Willis, Kathryn Ratcliff, Gloria Biamonte
OUTSIDE EVALUATOR: Rebecca Hains, Salem State College
Von Caterina Ferguson
Bachelor of Arts
ASIAN STUDIES & POLITICS
PLAN SUMMARY: A study of Vietnam’s domestic and foreign policies since 1986.
PROJECT: A paper based on research with Hanoi residents regarding economics and changing lifestyles in Vietnam since 1986.
SPONSORS: Seth Harter, Gerald Levy, Lynette Rummel
OUTSIDE EVALUATOR: Kate Jellema, independent scholar
Christopher Kwiat
Bachelor of Arts in International Studies
LANGUAGES/Applied Linguistics
PLAN SUMMARY: A study of how languages are learned, drawing from both theoretical analysis of communicative language teaching and personal experience learning Portuguese in Brazil. This study is then applied to create a semester-long curriculum for the teaching of English as a second/foreign language.
PROJECT: A compilation of beginner-level English lesson plans outlining a semester’s worth of English instruction.
INTERNSHIP: Florianopolis, Brazil
SPONSOR: Tom Means
OUTSIDE EVALUATOR: Alvino Fantini, SIT World Learning
AREA: Humanities
Gelek Namgyal Yeshi
Bachelor of Arts
PHILOSOPHY/Buddhist Philosophy
PLAN SUMMARY: A study of Buddhist theories of karma.
PROJECT: The first translation into a European language of Chu dang shing gi bstan bcos (Similes of Water and Trees: A Guide to the Buddhist Path), by the 18th century Tibetan scholar Gung thang, together with a commentary and introductory essay.
SPONSOR: William Edelglass
OUTSIDE EVALUATOR: Eric Nelson, University of Massachusetts Lowell
Amanda Justine DeBisschop
LANGUAGES/Ancient Greek & Literature/Contemporary American Poetry & WRITING/Poetry
Bachelor of Arts
PLAN SUMMARY: An exploration of love in three parts: an English translation of Plato’s dialogue, The Symposium, an analytical essay linking The Symposium to Galway Kinnell’s The Book of Nightmares and a collection of original poetry.
PROJECT: A collection of original poems.
SPONSOR: T. Hunter Wilson
OUTSIDE EVALUATOR: Jacqueline Gens, New England College
Lindsay Kathleen Christopher O’Rourke
Bachelor of Arts
LITERATURE/Irish Studies/Classics & WRITING
PLAN SUMMARY: A comparative study of James Joyce's Ulysses and the Classical epic.
PROJECT: A paper exploring both the Classical and Irish elements of episodes in Ulysses.
SPONSORS: Heather Clark, Timothy Little, Andrew Singer, Laura Stevenson
OUTSIDE EVALUATOR: Susan Brown, independent scholar
AREA: Natural Science
Rik Ganguly
Bachelor of Science
BIOLOGY & MATHEMATICS
PLAN SUMMARY: A study of the anatomy and physiology of the human kidney, with the goal of using mathematical tools to predict the severity of kidney disease.
PROJECT: A paper detailing work on mathematical models of kidney functions.
SPONSORS: Todd Smith, Matthew Ollis
OUTSIDE EVALUATOR: Armand Balboni, Westfield State College
Alec Koumjian
Bachelor of Arts
PHYSICS & COMPUTER SCIENCE/Wind Energy
PLAN SUMMARY: An examination of the physics of wind power.
PROJECT: Computer models of wind turbine design and energy production.
SPONSORS: Travis Norsen, Jim Mahoney
OUTSIDE EVALUATOR: Patrick Quinlan, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Evelyn Rose Crawford
Bachelor of Science
BIOCHEMISTRY/Avian Biology
PLAN SUMMARY: A broad analysis of the interactions between organisms and their environment from a biochemist’s and endocrinologist’s perspective.
PROJECT: Paper discussing laboratory research on the effect of an endocrine-disrupting chemical, bisphenol-A, on gene expression in chicken testes.
SPONSORS: Todd Smith, Robert Engel
OUTSIDE EVALUATOR: R. Thomas Zoeller, University of Massachusetts Amherst
AREA: Social Sciences
Michelle Leigh Fischer
Bachelor of Arts
ANTHROPOLOGY & RELIGION
PLAN SUMMARY: An investigation of New Age religion using fieldwork and library-based research.
PROJECT: An ethnography of the Correllian Nativist Church.
SPONSORS: Carol Hendrickson, Amer Latif
OUTSIDE EVALUATOR: Abigail Adams, Central Connecticut State University
Isaac Daniel Lawrence
Bachelor of Arts
ECONOMICS & PHILOSOPHY
PLAN SUMMARY: An interdisciplinary study of environmental management with a focus on collaborative, place-based and adaptive planning, drawing on economics, environmental philosophy and policy studies.
PROJECT: A case study of the Northern Forest planning initiative, examining history, process and outcomes.
SPONSORS: James Tober, William Edelglass
OUTSIDE EVALUATOR: Jan Dizard, Amherst College
Lisa E. Orenstein
Bachelor of Arts
PSYCHOLOGY/Education
PLAN SUMMARY: The review and application of intervention types for school-aged children with AD/HD.
PROJECT: The design of a research proposal that tests the skills approach against other treatment interventions for school-aged children with AD/HD.
SPONSORS: Thomas Toleno, Jonathan Mack
OUTSIDE EVALUATOR: Dorothy Osterholt, Landmark College