The following recommendation was made by the president and administrative staff of Grove College a private institution to the college s governing committee Recently there have been discussions about ending Grove College s century old tradition of all fema

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The following recommendation was made by the president and administrative staff of Grove College, a private institution, to the college's governing committee.
"Recently, there have been discussions about ending Grove College's century-old tradition of all-female education by admitting male students into our programs. At a recent faculty meeting, a majority of faculty members voted in favor of coeducation, arguing that it would encourage more students to apply to Grove. However, Grove students, both past and present, are against the idea of coeducation. Eighty percent of the students responding to a survey conducted by the student government wanted the school to remain all female, and over half of the alumnae who answered a separate survey also opposed coeducation. Therefore, we recommend maintaining Grove College's tradition of all-female education. We predict that keeping the college all-female will improve morale among students and convince alumnae to keep supporting the college financially."
Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered in order to decide whether the recommendation is likely to have the predicted result. Be sure to explain how the answers to these questions would help to evaluate the recommendation.

The recommendation mentions that there is a discussion about ending the tradition of enrolling female students only. Although faculty members favor coeducation, there are eighty percent students and alumnae against. The president concludes that maintaining the tradition could bolster the confidence and enthusiasm of students and keep the subsidy for the alumnae. However, there are some questions rendering the argument a little unconvincing.

First of all, the argument cites that both the present and past students support to keep the tradition. Although there are major students advocating the tradition, it does not mean that keeping the tradition can improve quality of the school and students. It has no causation between the majority and the best decision. The result of the vote only presents the desire of the students. It is possible that students are familiar with the old custom. They might like to stay in their cozy zone and do not want to change, which might not enhance their morale but keep them the same as before.

Secondly, the author points out over half of the alumnae also agree that the school should maintain their custom. Nonetheless, the clear numbers to demonstrate the survey result is not provided in the argument. Probably, there are 51 percent alumnae who support and 49 percent who against. Therefore, there is no obvious relation between over 50 percent alumnae are supporters and ensuring the finance income from alumnae. If there are 49 percent alumnae who advocate the change, the subsidy might decrease since they lose the supporting from 49 percent opponents.

Finally, the write contends that the survey for alumnae is different from the students. Notwithstanding, the writer does not offer the detail about questionnaires on both surveys. Thus, there is no clear connection between 80 percent against and what they are against for. Perhaps, the questions in the surveys do not conduct the thought of enrolling male students well. They might solely present the cons, but not the pros of living with males. As a result, if the questionnaires are not fair of discussing both advantages and disadvantages equally, the results cannot represent the sincere desire of students and alumnae.

To sum up, the above questions: the best decision for students, the exact number of alumnae supporting the tradition, and the details about questionnaires leave the argument with doubts. Hence, to bolster the argument, the president might need to provide more information to answer the questions and clear the air.

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argument 1 -- not OK. maybe many of incoming students (not registered) are against the female only policy.

argument 2 -- not OK. over half of the alumnae who answered a separate survey also opposed coeducation, but maybe they are not the alumnae to keep supporting the college financially.

argument 3 -- not OK. need to argue: 'keeping the college all-female will improve morale among students '
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