Hillcrest Honors Community - Colloquium Magnum

Colloquium Magnum (a.k.a. Colloquium or CM)

Colloquium Magnum is the honors discussion class that Hillcrest residents take every semester. Since there are around 100 students, there are about 8 sections of Colloquium, ideally with 8-15 students. The reading list for each semester consists of three books nominated by Community members and selected by the outgoing senior class the previous year. Since the book lists are available at the end of the previous year, many students read the books over the summer. During Colloquium, we discuss the books, current events, controversial issues, university issues, or any other worthy topics that we come up with. We try to invite speakers several times each semester.

Colloquium Magnum Course Policy

At the end of the Fall 2007 semester, the community voted to adopt a new Hillcrest Colloquium Magnum Course Policy. The policy was proposed by the Hillcrest Steering Committee based on recommendations from the Hillcrest Senior Colloquium of Spring 2007 (see below), and revised based on community feedback before the final version was put up for vote. The adopted course policy came into effect starting in the Spring 2008 semester.

Hillcrest Colloquium Magnum Course Policy [PDF 35KB]
Topical Colloquium Proposal Form [PDF 16KB]
Topical Colloquium Proposal Form [DOC 31KB]
The Word Document version of the Topical Colloquium Proposal form is provided to allow community members to type the course title, description, and other information, although the document will still need to be printed and signed.

The preliminary survey results and comments upon which most of the changes were based are also available below.
Interpreted Data with Graphs [PDF 142KB]
Raw Data [XLS 57KB]

Also, for those of you who were interested in the final vote results:

Do you, as a member of the Hillcrest Honors Community, vote to adopt the Hillcrest Colloquium Magnum Course Policy and the Topical Colloquium Proposal Form for implementation beginning in the Spring 2008 semester?

Yes	39	60%
No	20	31%
Abstain	6	9%
no answer	0	0%
Total Votes:	65

The Reading Lists

The nature of the reading list has changed over time, as the Community's plans for its use have also changed.

The President Steger $10,000 Challenge: Improve Virginia Tech

At the end of the Fall 2005 semester, President Steger challenged the Honors Communities to come up with a way to use $10,000 to improve the University. A special Colloquium Magnum section was organized, largely by Katie Paul, with members from both communities. This Colloquium section collected proposals ideas from both communities, allowed the communities to vote on the ideas, and fleshed out the top five ideas into proposals. The final proposals are available below.

Final Report of the Hillcrest Senior Colloquium Spring 2007

At the beginning of the Spring 2007 semester, a group of seniors formed a Colloquium to discuss issues that the Hillcrest Community has been facing recently. Many of the issues have arisen as the community has grown and evolved, and some of them had never been formally discussed and addressed by students. The result of this Colloquium was a "FINAL REPORT for the viewing of all Members of the Hillcrest Community, including Students, Faculty, and Alumni". A second document, entitled Colloquium Secundum, further discusses the particular issue of the Hillcrest Colloquium class. Both of these documents are available to download below for your viewing pleasure.