TUESDAY$ AUGUST 29, 1967 THE MICHIGAN DAILY TUESDAY, AUGUST 29, 1967 TINE ~tICUU~AN IIAILY -I rt 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 7L