TUESDAY, AUGUST 29, 1967 THE MICHIGAN DAILY
PAiaF? r- :MRF V?
- - . A.~FAAm~E~
SHAW BECOMES LS&A DEAN:
Robertson Departs to Residential College'
Hatcher Commission Attempts
To Define Complex Mandate
By DAVID KNOKE
A changing of the guard has
taken place in the literary college
administration that ultimately
affects the lives of most under-
graduates who will pass through
the college and the new Resi-
dential College.
After 17 years as associate dean
of the literary college in charge
of students, James H. Robertson
moved into temporary quarters in
the East Quadrangle as dean of
the Residential College, replacing
retiring dean Burton D. Thuma.
Into Robertson's position moved
James W. Shaw, formerly head of
the junior-senior counseling divi-
sion of the college.
Warm Tradition
Robertson leaves behind him a
warm tradition of dealing indi-
vidually with the hundreds of
thousands of students who sought
help from his office over the
years. As chairman of the ad-
ministrative board which is con-
cerned with students in academic
trouble, he inherited and extended
the policy of reviewing transcripts
and records of students in trouble
at the end of each semester and
counseling students individually
on possible alternatives.
"It has been a basic conviction
that part of the college's respon-
sibility is to help the student un-
derstand what happened, so thata
he may make timely decisions af-
fecting his future," explained
Robertson.
Shaw concurs with the policy,
having served on the administra-
tion review board during the
hectic two-week round of review-
ing and interviewing.
During his tenure as dean of
the literary college, Robertson wasf
instrumental in setting up the
junior year abroad programs in
which several dozen selected lan-
guage students study at Aix-en-I
Provence in France or Freiburg,1
Germany. He will continue to di-
rect this program while dean of
the Residential College and will
also advise the Committee for In-
stitutional Cooperation-the joint
venture of the Big Ten and Uni-
versity of Chicago - on study
abroad programs.
Robertson's good-natured, pipe'
smoking demeanor belies his
brittle intellect, according to his
administrative assistant, J o h n
Manning, Jr.
"This is the sort of man you
want in charge of the Residential
College," said Manning. "Because
there are no rules and precedents,
you need a man who models his
touch to the individual in dealing
with people. At heart he is a lit-
erary person, a humane humanist
who sees education as an educa-
tor and is only secondarily an ad-
ministrator."
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into one of the best and most
comprehensive for the size of its
clientele in the country.
Robertson's record also makes
a tough performance for Dean
Shaw to follow. Shaw will con-
tinue to head junior-senior coun-
seling until a replacement is ap-
pointed. He inaugurated further
policies designed to free students
and faculty from the more mun-
dane aspects of selecting courses.
The optional counseling pro-
gram permits students to preclas-
sify without the aid of a counselor
and a "superclerk" position will
be created for routine and coun-
seling appointments clerical jobs.
Last spring a "progress report"
form was created for faculty use
to appraise the counseling office
of any student showing difficulty
or outstanding progress in his
work.
"Students should be aware that
counseling is primarily a passing
of the buck to the students; stu-
dents have to come to us if they
want to get things done," cau-
tioned Shaw.
"Compulsory counseling is about
the only reaching out we can do
for the student not already in
trouble. We owe the student
something more than an IBM-
shuffle; we feel he deserves to see
a faculty member face to face at
least once a semester.
"We do lots of little bureau-
cratic things that cannot substi-
tute for the value of teacher-stu-
dent perceptive insight into a
student's progress," commented
Shaw. "Unfortunately, most stu-
dents come to us only as a last
resort."
Shaw does not view his role
solely as one of passing out
Kleenex to despairing students,
however.
"This is an intellectually inter-
esting place to be because of its
breadth of contact with men in
every field and events going on
in the college," he explained.
"We think this is the place
where theory and practice of
what a college ought to be come
together and are adjusted," con-
tinued Shaw, who is also a mem-
ber of the English department
and continues to teach classes.
"Students should look upon this
office as a place of accommoda-
tion where they are treated as in-
dividuals with different back-
grounds and goals. We hope to
give the student neither a 'yes' or
'no' but some intelligent discus-
sion of his particular problem."
"In sum, what this office aims
to represent to the students of
the college," continues Shaw, "is
the spiritthat 120 credit hours
represents, not just the legalities
of the requirements."
To countless students, Deans
Robertson and Shaw have and
will continue to represent the
spirit of the education counselor.
By LUCY KENNEDY
The interim report of the Com-
mision on the Role of the Students
in University Decision Making
leaves many problems unanswered,
but committee members are op-
timistic about possibilities for suc-
cessful report by the end of the
fall semester.
President Harlan Hatcher set up
the commission in November, 1966
in response to students' demands
for a greater voice in University
policy making.
The commission's report will be,
presented to the University presi-j
dent, but it is not binding. It func-
tions as an advisory body only.
Last November, Ed Robinson,
'67, former SGC president, Mark
Killingsworth, '67, former editor
of The Daily, and John Dalameter,
grad, former president of the
Graduate Student Council were
appointed as student members of
the commission by Hatcher. Afterl
Robinson and Killingsworth re-
fused to serve, Hatcher said he
would allow SGC to select the stu-
dent members of the Commission.
Faculty and administration rep-
resentatives were appointed by
Hatcher.
Students Skeptical
From the beginning, the com-
mission was considered by many
students to be a way to avoid
sion considers its mandate. Most
of the commission members are,
however, satisfied with the pro-,
gress the commission has made
and feel the right atmosphere has
been set for a report that will be
acceptable to all parties.
"It is apparent," the report
states, "that there is broad feeling
within the commission that stu-
dents should have a more impor-
tant role in the governing of the
University than the formal struc-
ture would appear to suggest or
require."
Much of the work of the com-
mission so far has been to find
what they consider to be the cen-
tral issue of the role of the student
in University decision making.
r How intrusive in the lives of
students should the University be
by way of regulation and service?
! Is administrative or faculty,
consultation, advice, review, con-
sent or veto appropriate in areas'
where students play a definitive
role? Should student represent-'
atives be provided some direct for-
mal access to the Board of Re-
gents?
* What constitutes a properly
representative agency for student
participation in University deci-
sion making?
*0 How can the necessary divi-
By last May, many commission
members felt concern for the,-
whole University had been gen-
erated rather than concern for
faculty, administration, or stu-
dents.
Members of the commission
summed up their accomplishment
saying, "We have been learning
about each other, from each
other, and with each other. We
still have much to learn, but we
have every reason to hope that
we can succeed in producing a re-
port that will represent a con-
structive contribution to the or-
derly progress of the University."
Prof. Bernard A. Galler of the
math department commented,
"The Commission was created at
a time of crisis. I'm glad we
didn't have to rush in and tear
the University apart. I'm glad the
group has come to be able to
talk like a group."
Few Accomplishments
Prof. Maurice Sinnott of the
College of Engineering, who is
acting chairman for informal
summer sessions, noted that there
were few tangible accomplish-
ments of the commission so far,
"but we have progressed. Mem-
bers now trust each other and
have learned from each other."
Gretchen Groth, grad, com-
mented that the commission "has
not in general been bogged down.
Given the size and ambiguity of
the mandate, it would have been
impossible to come to a conclu-
sion at this point."
DEAN SHAW
DEAN ROBERTSON
The humanist approach comes
out when Robertson talks of his
hopes for the development of the
Residential College.
"We want to give the students
a sense of their own responsibility
in their personal learning much
earlier than is received in the
literary college," he explained. !
"This should be achieved not by
laying down how things are to be
done, 'but to create a 'sense of
expectance' that would encourage
the development of r a p p o r t
among students and faculty en-
gaged in the experiment."
As dean of the literary college,
Robertson stressed the importance
of keeping counseling in the
hands of faculty, as advisers, who
work only ope-third time rather
than full-time professional coun-
selors. Along with the efforts of
the counseling staff and dean'sI
assistants, the policy of faculty
involvement has built the service
U' To Issue Student ID Cards
With Social Security Numbers
granting students more power and sion of student, faculty, and ad-
many remain skeptical. The iri- ministrative functions be main-
terim report to some extent con- tained while allowing all three to
firms their fears, since it does participate in decisions affecting
little but define what the commis- the whole University community?
BY JENNY STILLER The new identification cards are only during the fall semester.
The wide-spread use of social punched for use'in an IBM-III-7. This will give all students ample
security numbers for identification The computer can be used to facil- time to acquire social security
purposes is the chief reason behind itate record-keeping. numbers, which will replace their
the University's decision to issue assigned numbers.
new student identification' cards, Another advantage of the new Foreign students and certain
according t Thomas C. Turner, hcards will be the elimination of clerics forbidden by their orders
dacoringoThomsialsC.rneithe need for registration certifi-to obtain social security numbers
"The use of social security num- cates. At the bottom of the cards will continue to have assigned
bers for identification purposes will be term validation spaces, numbers after the fall semester.
has become fairly generalized," which wil be stamped during each Freshman and entering transfer
Turner explained. "Even the mil registration. students have been receiving the
itary is now using them instead A place for the students' signa- ' new identification cards during
of issuing its own file numbers." ture is provided on the back of summer orientation. Other stu-
He added that, although duplica- each card. Any attempt to alter dents will receive theirs in the fall
tion of names might occur, each the signature by erasing will ex- during registration.
person's social security number is pose a "void" notation.j The embossed maize cards have
runique. Students without social security planned for almost a year,
The new identification numbers numbers will be given "officially according to Turner. The new
will consist of the student's social assigned" numbers containing the I caries ofprevious anothe in a se-
security number, followed by a same number of digits as a social res ofipreviouse identification
cadwihat oetm vnfea-
check digit. The check digit will security number. The initial three tured photographs of the students.
help to circumvent clerical errors, digits will be zeros to distinguish The current cards were intro-
since a programmed computer them from actual social security duced in 1961, and were the first
would note any inconsistencies numbers. to utilize the "charge-plate" style
within the numbers. All students who did not enter [of embossed letters and digits. The
Using this method, coding er- a social security -number on their current blue identification cards
rors, incomplete numbers, trans- last registrationnaire will receive will not be collected, but will be
position of digits, and similar mis- assigned numbers. The assigned declared invalid at the beginning
takes can be detected immediately. number policy will be in effect of the fall semester.
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z:
The back-to-school rush always includes a
rush for telephone service. Every year at this
time we gear up by putting on extra people and
working extra hours. But there have always
been many who had to wait for their telephones
longer than we'd like.
If you want telephone service this fall, the
sooner you can place your order with us the
sooner we'll be able to install it.
You can order telephone service any day,
Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
As soon as you know your new address, call
(Area 313) 761-9900 or visit our office at 324 E.
Huron, Ann Arbor. (That's just west of the
Ann Arbor News.) Or, if you're out of town,
just call us collect.
For those of you who can't order until the
last minute, we'll be open an extra day,
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