Wednesday, August 27, 1969
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Page Five
Wednesday, August 27, 1 9 6 9 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Five
The
Residential
By BARD MONTGOMERY
Begun as an experiment in
making higher education a com-
munity project for students, fa-
culty and administrators, the
Residential College has come a
long way in its brief two-year
history.
And with the college's first
class now beginning its junior
year, the experiment is entering
an especially critical stage.
The original plan for the Re-
sidential College-completed by
senior literary college faculty
members a year before the col-
lege took up residence in East
Quad-included three major
features which would provide
unity to the RC community:
-A "core" curriculum of so-
cial science, humanities and for-
eign language required of all
students, with small discussion
seminars supplemented by lec-
tures. The courses are un-grad-
ed, with students receiving
written evaluations and marks
of "pass" or "fail" at the end
of the term;
-Four-year residence in East
Quad, the massive pre-war dor-
mitory which is presently being
remodeled to help accommo-
date the college;
-Participation by all three
"estates"-faculty, administra-
tors, and students and their "re-
sident fellow" graduate counsel-
ors-in the decision-making Re-
presentative Assembly. The as-
Eollege
sembly draws its authority from
RC Director James Robertson,
an associate dean of the literary
college.
But while the expected tight-
knit feeling of community did
indeed materialize, the general
guidelines of the Residential
College have been altered in a
way which could have a signi-
ficant affect on the direction
education in the college will take
and on the success of the ex-
periment as a whole.
Perhaps the most basic change
that has taken place is an al-
teration of the core curricu-
lum. The changes were largely
the result of the major influ-
ence that students have in RC
decision-making.
While the literary college was
convulsed last year by a con-
troversy over its four-term lan-
guage requirement, a group of
Residential College students
contested the validity of requir-
ing of every RC student the
equivalent of five terms of lan-
guage and seven terms of other
courses. They felt that students
should be free to draw on their
own intellectual motivations to
shape a study program.
Faculty members, including
the co-ordinator of the language
program and Prof. Carl Cohen,
the instructor of the only graded
"core" course-"Logic and Lan-
guage"-argued that a dilution
experiment
in
ferment
-Daily-Jay Cassidy
East Quad, home of the Residential College
Pilot Program vs. multiversity
of the core would weaken th
RC's educational distinctiveness
A compromise was finall
reached which will permit 3
incoming freshmen to chooseE
student-run "Communications
course in place of either the re
quired "Logic" course or th
Freshman seminar writini
course. The experiment, if judg
ed successful, will be renewe
on a larger scale.
Meanwhile the foreign lan
guage controversy ended witl
agreement permitting student
to fulfill the requirement at an:
time during their four years o
study, instead of being oblige
to achieve proficiency by th
end of their sophomore year.
The Representative Assembly
which has 50 per cent studen
representation, a ls o adopte
other alterations to the origina
plans:
-Creation of a teacher-evalu
ation panel of students and fa
culty to "take note of facult;
members who are unsuccessfu
in teaching," as well as "to re
cognize teaching excellence", of
fering suggestions to the direc
tor in both cases.
-Reduction of the East Qua
residency rule to two years, an
in concert with other dormitor
ies, elimination of parietal regu
lations which obliged women t
return to the dorm by a certair
hour.
--Selection of RC juniors t
serve ass"resident-fellows," a
well as graduate students.
Since most upperclassmen wil
live outside the Quad, and since
their major academic interest
will no longer be bound to th
"core", the selection of under
graduate counselors was adopte
as one of several steps to assur
maintaining sources of commo
interest for all members of th
college. The remodelling of Eas
Quad is another.
But the most significant and
thus far untested part of th
RC's future lies in the nove
concentration programs whic
the small college has created.
These programs will involv
interdisciplinary approaches t
the intellectual tasks which con-
c e n t r a t o r s and instructo
themselves, rather than depart-
mental veterans, will have a
large part in choosing.
The list of new concentra-
tions, as well as the contents o
the "core" curriculum, reflects
the RC's predisposition for the
liberal arts rather than the na-
tural sciences.
The students and teachers
who are attracted to this en-
vironment are as much inter-
ested in the methods of educa-
tion and their companions in
the educational process as they
are in the intellectual disciplines
with which they deal.
The success of this style o
education is even less easily
measured on the level of the
whole college than it is at the
level of the individual student's
pass-fail evaluation. Many fin
an open-ended scholastic exper-
ience stimulating, and welcome
e
0
a
e
t
d1
h
;s
y
d
d
tl
d
d
the opportunities to define their
own intellectual endeavors, or
to share the pursuits of others.
On the other hand, students
have complained of the shal-
lowness o f interdisciplinary
courses, and have condemned
the "emotionalism" which they
feel takes the place of intellec-
tual substance in many recita-
tions.
Part of the hoped-for success
of the Residential College will
be developed in the larger liter-
ary college, as instructors return
Honors: For the elite
Now entering its eleventh year in existence,
the Honors Council is designed to insure top
literary college students access to challenging
personalized instruction.
Before establishment of the council, all.hon-
ors instruction was handled by the separate de-
partments and was restricted to juniors and
seniors. It was felt, however, that a need existed
for personalized instruction on the freshman
and sophomore levels. +rhe Honors Council was
formed to meet this need.
Honors courses differ from other courses and
sections in both the method of instruction and
the depth of the material covered. While most
non-honors introductory courses rely heavily
upon a lecture format-a condition most under-
classmen are only too aware of-the honors sec-
tions strive to involve the student and the in-
structor in a dialogue.
For this to be practical, the student-faculty
ratio must be kept low. Consequently, the Hon-
ors Council tries to keep the number of students
in each class at about 15, and never above 22.
Underclass honors students are provided with
the opportunity to take a wide range of special
courses and programs. Honors sections exist for
nearly every introductory course and the council
offers a number of special courses which are not
available to non-honors students,
At the junior and senior level, participation in
the honors program allows the student to take
a number of seminars directly related to his
concentration program and culminates in most
departments with the writing of a senior honors
thesis.
The Honors Council is not something that you
decide to rush out and join, however. Only stu-
dents who are invited by the council may parti-
cipate in the honors program.
The 410 freshmen who will enter the program
this fall had to fulfill a number of criteria before
they were invited into the program.
Passing these initial criteria is not, of course,
sufficient to insure graduaton with an honors
degree. Honors students must maintain an over-
all 3.0 index (and usually a 3.5 in their concen-
tration program) or they are asked to leave by
the council.
Students who are not admitted to the program
initially may, however, be admitted at a later
date if they perform at a high level during their
freshman and sophomore years.
With small classes and more personalized at-
tention, the Honors Council spends a dispropor-
tionate amount of money compared to the num-
ber of students it serves.
German Prof. Otto Graf, director of the Hon-
ors Council, feels that this expenditure is justi-
fied. "The extraordinarily strong showing that
graduating seniors made in national competition
for support, such as National Defense Education
Assistance, National Science Foundation and
Woodrow Wilson fellowships, demonstrates the
success of the Honors Council," he says.
Clearly, however, the success of which Graf
speaks has been the University's for longer than
the existence of the honors program and may be
more a function of the literary college's high ad-
missions standards than of the education which
is actually offered.
While few have disputed the success of the
program, Graf's statistics are far from conclu-
sive evidence that the additional funds which the
Honors Council tak away from other literary
college programs is justified.
to their departments with dif-
ferent attitudes toward their
students and toward course
structure and, perhaps, as the
RC model of decision-making
and curricular innovation wins
favor among literary college stu-
dents and faculty.
A major difficulty faced by
the college in developing the
style of education which the
most ambitious of its planners
would like to see exported to
the literary college is the short-
age of funds.
The RC will likely be obliged
to provide for three classes this
fall on a budget identical to
that which supported instruc-
tion for only two classes last
year.
Although the Residential Col-
lege is not the only University
unit which wil be feeling a fis-
cal pinch this year, it is prob-
ably the only school that will
have its reason for existence-
expressed in smaller classes and
innovative techniques-jeopar-
dized by lack of money.
By SHARON WEINER
The Pilot Program, created in 1962 as
"an attack on impersonality and academic
isolation in a large college," is winning
its battle.
"The mandate of the program was to
test new ideas," says Bruce Storey, director
of the project, "and it certainly has been
carried out."
Students in the program worked last
year to bring several new ideas into the
program, and have helped plan several
more for this year.
One successful project last year was "op-
eration hook-up", question and answer ses-
sions with well known public figures which
were conducted by phone.
Special phones with amplifiers and
speakers were installed at Alice Lloyd Hall,
where all Pilot Program students are hous-
ed. Among those interviewed were Gen.
Lewis B. Hershey, director of the Selective
Service System, former Democratic State
chairman Zolton Ferency, and Madeline
Murray, the force behind the movement to
remove prayer from public schools.
Several additions to the program's aca-
demic curriculum were also made last year.
One credit courses in contemporary events,
urban affairs, and Middle East studies
were offered.
Each course included a series of lectures
by professors-not all from the University
-on topics related to the course which are
of interest to the instructor. One-credit
courses will be continued this year.
Tutorials supervised by the program's
resident fellows were also offered to Pilot
Program students. The fellows, graduate
students living in the dorm, conducted in-
dependent study programs in the areas of
African history, Mexican literature, and
sociology.
Out of the tutorials have evolved a two-
credit 100-level and a four-credit 200-level
seminar series to be initiated this fall. The
100-level series will be taught by resident
fellows, and the 200-level courses, planned
for upper classmen although freshmen may
also register for them, will be taught by
resident directors.
These series will include such courses as
imperialism and nationalism in contemp-
orary affairs, problems of identity and
alienation in contemporary American Edu-
cation, and revolution.
These courses, says Storey, are planned
"to develop the student's analytical abili-
ties."
The tutorial program indicates the in-
terest which resident fellows take in the
students, Storey says. "The resident fellow
is much more mature than an undergradu-
ate adviser," he points out.
"We find the students communicate well
with this staff," he says. "The RF's per-
spectives are excellent, and they are little
concerned with the authority relationship.
They have been able to de-emphasize the
structure within which they work."
Last year's resident fellows agree with
Storey on the success of their position.
"I think it's a stabilizing influence to
have grads with a large range of special-
ties in the dorm-it's a good tutoring set-
up," says Jim Sack, an English history
grad student.
The students have created a new posi-
tion, "student advisor", to supplement the
role of the RF next year,
"We will be able to understand the prob-
lems of the freshmen better because we
ourselves are undergraduates," explains
Julie Seyforth, '72.
According to a survey taken among pilot
students, the basic concept of the program,
integration of the dorm with the class-
room, has been successful. The results
show 86 per cent of the students last year
met with the pilot members of their class
outside of the class period to discuss aca-
demics.
"There is an attitude of spontaneity
about academics," says Storey. "Students
are confident fellow students want them to
pursue ideas outside of the class, and the
structure of the program encourages this."
Something must be right about the pilot
program-Alice Lloyd Hall (with a reputa-
tion of the best food on the Hill) has a 36
per cent return rate from last year and
there is a waiting list for the Pilot Pro-
gram.
But at present there are no plans to ex-
pand the program. "It would probably be
better to diversify and have other experi-
ments," says Storey.
1I
H
I-Fl
STEREO
* Magnavox
* Garrard
"Harmon-Kardo
* Dual
* Mvarantz
in . Scott
Sony * Teak
f
s
robably wondered
what the
STUDENT CO-OPS
are-al-abou...
At Michigan there are four men's, five women's, one coed and
one married couple's co-op which house about 242 students;
an additional 125 "boarders" take meals only.
WHO OWNS ANDi RUNS THlE CO-OP'S? WE DO
In each house each member, new or old, shares equal responsibility for all d ecos;
what to eat, how much tc spend, how much to work.
The co-op houses are owned by the Inter-Cooperative Councid I.C C., a corporation
,et up and run entirely by the students who live or eat in the houses.
WHO MAY JOIN TilE CO-OPS?
Anyone who agrees to participate in running thec co-ops democraticofly is welcome.
Members are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis, without racial, religious or political
discrimination. There is no plecige or initiation period.
11HAT ARE THE LiVING and EATIING, ARIANGEMENTIS?
As a roomer, you are provided furnished living quarters as well as social space and eating
privileges. As a boarder, you get 20 meals a week
"Guffing," or between meal snacking, is one of our most cherished traditions Everyone
has free access at all times to milk, bread, butter, jam, and leftovers. Other items arc charged
Any member may invite guests. There are adequate launly fuit, e o-op stayoe
during vacation periods and in the ummer
110W MUCH DOES IT COST?
Loch house sets its own budget. Average costs for the past sermeser have been:
Week Semester
Room and Board $21.00 $336.00
BoardPonly $13.5n21200
New members pay a $40 deposit when hey join; it is refunded when they leave.
WHO DOES TAE WORK? WE DO
All cooking, dishwashing, maintenance and management is done by the members. Any
member, new or old, can be elected officer, president, house manager, food purchaser or
Iat taes from four to sx hours per member to run a coop The CaCt work tme is
decided by house vote.
* Sherwood
IThorens
"
. Ampex
and many others
best selections of Speakers
HIM I4' f~M IIRI ~ ~VLf~NCfP
One of the
Amplifiers
Tuners
Tape Recorders
Changer Kits
Home Intercoms
"WE COMPETE"
Fast Dependable Service
.;;,
.
' :
r."
..
:
; ;
;
ti
ti
r
r
R t
,. .
{ .
ti.t :;,'
'{ '
S'S'.'}.
C": h,1 1.
11665-8607 1
I ibWWwM'll%%*s
i I