Cabotton University: The First Curriculum

Like Westerhill Institute, each of the Five Houses stood housing the same studies as before, with James Randall House holding the Grammar and Literature studies, Thomas Adams House holding the Science and Spellfire studies, Alexander Norris House holding the History and Law studies, Karl Deering House holding the Mathematics and Engineering studies, and John Fleming House holding the Civics and Economics studies.

However, the lecture-and-drill model was abolished in the formation of Cabotton University, and was replaced with a subjective and open-ended, research-based curriculum. Basically, at the beginning of the semester, instructors and senior students would pose questions with the expectation that students in groups would conduct research and pose arguments accordingly in debates toward the semester's end. Whenever a debate was presented, the remainder of the class would vote on which side had more sound evidence; they would then vote on each student involved over whether or not the student's research methodology was sound enough to earn accreditation for the class with a majority vote being grounds for passing the course. However, students had infinite opportunities to pursue these classes until passing scores were earned if those opportunities were necessary.

Martin Cross and a lobby of University Council Members cited the lack of oversight by the University on this curriculum as being grounds for possible student favoritism in the future, and called for reform. Such a reform would involve re-imposing a lecture-and-drill curriculum along with a letter grade system, albeit with amendments in favor of student success. Cross was joined by leading figures James Randall, Thomas Adams, Alexander Norris, and Karl Deering, after which the Houses were named; and they were opposed by the other half of the University Council, led by Sedryth Grey and Thomas Snow. For each the Assembly of Scholars and the Chamber of Academics, one third of the body was undecided while the remaining two thirds was divided between the two sides. Meanwhile, the High Scholar Delegation was split 50-50 on the issue. On January 23, 1232, Thomas Snow ultimately cast the deciding vote, facilitating the Council to pass a compromise where the research-debate curriculum became more structured. According to the new structure, those wishing to enter the University would now to propose a question, along with a possible method of research to that question, to a class in which they were attempting to enroll. And if the class voted with its majority in favor of having the student join, the student would be accepted as a Cabotton University Scholar. The said student would then be given one semester to conduct their research and give a presentation in front of the class while attending a minimum number of presentations as part of the new curriculum requirement. The class would then vote on whether or not the research process followed was academically sound, with a majority favorable vote warranting accreditation for the class as added to an academic track to graduation. Failing to pass this vote would result in an opportunity to carry out another research project in a future assessment for the same accreditation standard; and there were unlimited opportunities for each Scholar to do so, as well as unlimited opportunities to be accepted into the University.

Such a standard of accreditation would accept those who transferred from other universities, and would also stand as a model for the National Institute of Research and Development, established under Prime Minister Meghan Wen's Administration 140 years later.

Cabotton University: Early Housing and Infrastructure

Along with its academic purposes, Randall House also served as the venue for the Office of University Affairs while Fleming House served as the venue for University Administration, two University institutes mandated under the University Constitution. The third institute, University Council, met in the Living Room of 124 West Mason Street, with each of the three chambers meeting in that place at different times in coordination with each other on a set schedule.

Before long, numerous University Council members cited logistical concerns with these venue arrangements with some of them calling for new structures to be built in the remaining blank lawn squares between the intersecting walkways, which were referred to informally as "The Yards." On 3 February 1232, Sedryth Grey, an advocate for the Emoran Community, succeeded in getting University Council to pass a measure to hand The Yards back to the Emoran Community, with trees replanted, by the end of the year. Also passed on that day, led by Martin Cross, was a measure to reserve the remaining Four Floors of each of the Five Houses to serve as student dormitories.

These two measures, however, led to an issue with overcrowding for the academic classes.

With Thomas Snow's vote, the Council, on 7 February, enacted a measure to construct temporary "sealed pavilions" in various locations in the grid area around each House to hold the additional classes being added to the curriculum. These pavilions would be well-heated in the winter and well-ventilated in the summer. And while each pavilion had doors to the outside, there were also granular strings connecting each pavilion to a door inside the given House so that students did not have to walk outside in order to travel to a pavilion. This, of course, led to another concern brought up by the Council: the durability and high maintenance costs of said pavilions.

There was also another issue brought up by Council Members regarding the Southwest Corner of The Yards, primarily around Norris House, where rainwater began having a tendency to pool and flood the crosswalks. This was addressed during a renovation proposal made to the Council on 11 February, during which Sedryth Grey proposed to initiate the replanting of the trees and to begin converting numerous houses in Cabotton proper into University classrooms. This was supported by Thomas Snow and other loyal University Council Members, but enough of the other Council Members opposing this, led by Martin Cross, led the measure to stall in the High Scholar Delegation Chamber for a few weeks.

The George Cabot Renovation Proposal of 1232

On 01 March 1232, George Cabot took a guided tour around the Five Houses and The Yards of Cabotton University. He was content with the curriculum in place but was unimpressed with the physical venue and campus logistics, citing that the University Campus appeared to have a "summer carnival appearance" to it. Afterward, Cabot wrote to numerous donors throughout Combria and the Great North for funding for better classroom venues. Numerous responses were received, all of which Cabot consolidated and approached the University Council with a proposal to use such funding to build five new buildings: a Planetarium, another new building serving as what would become the John Hobbes School of Spellcrafting, a new University Affairs Building, a new University Administration Building, and a new University Council Building, the latter of which would also serve as a new venue for the University Library. He furthermore added to this a proposition to have a new drainage system placed to deal with the flooding issues near Norris House.

Both support and opposition were fierce for this new measure, which barely passed the Assembly of Scholars and Chamber of Academics. When it arrived to the High Scholar Delegation, the measure came to a tight impasse. This forced that latter Council Chamber to continue their meeting at 124 West Mason Street on Saturday March 16, with this extra session lasting almost 12 hours. At the end, however, Thomas Snow broke the tie with a compromise: that The Yards would remain with the University, but that the woodlands along the margins of the Campus would be protected for the Emoran Community. Sedryth Grey decried this as a broken promise and had a falling-out with Thomas Snow over it. Regardless, the High Scholar Delegation passed the measure that day, making it University policy.

Construction began on the five new buildings on 1 June 1232, and was completed by 24 May 1233.