TUESDAY$ AUGUST 29, 1967
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
TUESDAY, AUGUST 29, 1967 TINE ~tICUU~AN IIAILY
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SHAW BECOMES LS&A DEAN:
Robertson Departs to Residentia
Hatcher (
r drl., l A& 1
commission Attempts
.e 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 happen'ed, so that
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 was
instrumental in setting up thel
junior year abroad programs in'
which several dozen selected lan-
guage students study at Aix-en-
Provence in France or Freiburg,
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."
intoi 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.
uTtegelo Defin
"We do lots of little bureau- By LUCY KENNEDY
cratic things that cannot substi- The interim report of the Com-
tute for the value of teacher-stu- mision on the Role of the Students
dent perceptive insight into a in University Decision Making
student's progress," commented leaves many problems unanswered,
Shaw. "Unfortunately, most stu- but committee members are op-
dents come to us only as a last timistic about possibilities for suc-
resort." v cessful report by the end of the.
Shaw does not view his role #alsmse.
solely as one of passing out fall semester.
sKleex to dnespaing unt, President Harlan Hatcher set up
Kleenex to despairing students, the commission in November, 19661
however. in response to students' demands
"This is an intellectually inter- for a greater voice in University
esting place to be because of itspol ag.
breath f cotac wit me inpolicy making.
breadth of contact with men in The commission's report will be
every field and events going on presented to the University presi-
in the college," he explained, dent, but it is not binding. It func-
"We think this is the place tions as an advisory body only.
where theory and practice of Last November, Ed Robinson,
what arcollege ought to be come '67, former SGC president, Mark
together and are adjusted," con- Killingsworth, '67, former editor
tinued Shaw, who is also a mem- of The Daily, and John Dalameter,
ber of the English department grad, former president of the
and continues to teach classes. Graduate Student Council were
"Students should look upon this appointed as student members of
office as a place of accommoda- the commission by Hatcher. After
tion where they are treated as in- Robinson and Killingsworth re-
dividuals with different back- fused to serve, Hatcher said he
grounds and goals. We hope to would allow SGC to select the stu-
give the student neither a 'yes' or dent members of the Commission.
'no' but some intelligent discus- Faculty and administration rep-
sion of his particular problem." resentatives were appointed by
"In sum, what this office aims Hatcher.
to represent to the students of Students SkepticalI
the college," continues Shaw, "is From the beginning, the com-
the spirit that 120 credit hours 'mission was considered by many
represents, not just the legalities students to be a way to avoid
of the requirements." granting students more power and
To countless students, Deans many remain skeptical. The in-
Robertson and Shaw have and terim report to some extent con-
will continue to represent the firms their fears, since it does
spirit of the' education counselor. little but define what the commis-
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-I
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.
f 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?
* How can the necessary divi-
sion of student, faculty, and ad-
ministrative functions be main-
tained while allowing all three to
participate in decisions affecting
the whole University community?
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 one-third time rather
than full-time professional coun-
selors. Along with the efforts of
the counseling staff and dean's
assistants, the policy of faculty
involvement has built the service
'U' To Issue Student ID Cards
With Social Security Numbers
BY JENNY STILLER
The wide-spread use of social
security numbers for identification
purposes is the chief reason behind
the University's decision to issue
new student identification cards,
according to Thomas C. Tuiner,
director of statistical services.
"The use of social security num-
bers for identification purposes
has become fairly generalized,"
Turner explained.."Even the mil-
itary is now using them instead
of issuing its own file numbers."
He added that, although duplica-
tion of names might occur, each
person's social security number is
unique.
The new identification numbers
will consist of the student's social
security number, followed by a
check digit. The check digit will
help to circumvent clerical errors,
since a programmed computer
would note any inconsistencies
within the numbers.
Using this method, coding er-
rors, incomplete numbers, trans-
position of digits, and similar mis-
takes can be detected immediately.
The new identification cards are
punched for use in an IBM-III-?.
The computer can be used to facil-
itate record-keeping.
Another advantage of the new
cards will be the elimination of
the need for registration certifi-
cates. At the bottom of the cards
will be term validation spaces,
which wil be stamped during each
registration.
A place for the students' signa-
ture is provided on the back of
each card. Any attempt 'to alter
the signature by erasing will ex-
pose a "void" notation.
Students without social securit*
numbers will be given "officially
assigned" numbers containing the
same number of digits as a social
security number. The initial three
digits will be zeros to distinguish
them from actual social security
numbers.
All students who did not enter
a social security number on their
last registrationnaire will receive
assigned numbers. The assigned
number policy will be in effect
only during the fall semester.
This will give all students ample
time to acquire social security
numbers, which will replace their
assigned numbers.
Foreign students and certain
clerics forbidden by their orders
to obtain social security numbers
will continue to have assigned
numbers after the fall semester.
Freshman and entering transfer
students have been receiving the
new identification cards during
summer orientation. Other stu-
dents will receive theirs in the fall
during registration.
The embossed maize cards have''
been planned for almost a year,
according to Turner. The new
cards are just another in a se-
ries of previous identification
cards, which at one time even fea-
tured photographs of the students.'
The current cards were intro-
duced in 1961, and were the first
to utilize the "charge-plate" style
of embossed letters and digits. The
current blue identification cards
will not be collected, but will be
declared invalid at the beginning
of the fall semester.
I
S,
0
,0
N
T
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.
S'i
r,
For those of you who -can't order until the
last minute, we'll be open an extra day,
ARIA! ADDfD0 rnEDrI SA
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