TUESDAY, AUGUST 24, 1965 THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Dearborn Center: Blend of Industry and Ed
PAGE SEVEN
ucation
By LAURENCE KIRSHBAUM
Managing Editor
Special To The Daily
DEARBORN--Like its director,
the Dearborn Center is a hybrid.
Engendered in the late fifties
by a fusion of industry and edu-
cation, the University's work-study
* senior college here has grown up
with the philosophy of the man
who directs it.
He is University Vice-President
and Director for the Dearborn
Center William E. Stirton, him-
self a hybrid of industry and edu-
cation backgrounds, who believes
that students can be simultan-
eously trained to "lead the good
life' 'through education and to
"enjoy good living" through occu-
pation.
Industry Arouses Interest
When a group of industrial
firms, led by Ford Motor Co., ap-
proached high University officials
in 1956, Stirton became interested.
The metal-working companies
were envisioning a joint work-
study institution for educating
trained, well-informed personnel
-and Stirton was chosen to ma-
terialize their visions.
He did. The Dearborn Center
admitted a pilot group of 37 stu-
dents in October of 1959, although
the Legislature had .allotted the
campus no state appropriation.
Funded initially only by indus-
trial money which had procured'
land and built facilities at a cost
of $16 million, the Center has ex-
panded to its present size of over
700 undergraduate students at an
annual cost to the state of more
than $600,000.
Part-Time Advantage
In addition, some 100 graduate
students and 350 extension service
pupils take part-time advantages
of Dearborn's course offerings andI
adult education programs.
"We're moving faster than we
anticipated back in 1959," Stir-
ton observes. He contends that the
bulk of the growth is yet to come.
But noting its present condition,
Stirton can be very proud of the
accomplishments to date.
With the unique educational-in-
dustrial cross-breed, Stirton has
in five years developed substan-
tial ties of cooperation with the
statewide community college sys-
tem, established a firm communi-
ty relationship with industry that
may lead the University into for-
eign labor training programs, and
helped the University become a
pace-setter in educational and in-
dustrial training benefiting South-
eastern Michigan citizens.
Fusion in 1956
But the story of future expan-
sion must bepreceded by the story
of fusion back in 1956-and that's
where Stirton begins telling about
it.
"In 1956, industry came to edu-
cation," he commences. Specif-
ically, a high-powered team ofY
southeastern Michigan industrial-C
ists conferred with University of-
ficials about their three-fold man-
its "insulated, yet isolated" 212-:
acre campus. Located in the heart3
of the southeast industrial com-I
plex, the four shining structures
rose amidst farmland and forest
ov kart of the wooded estate of
Henry Ford.
Image-Building
Without tax funds, Stirton and
the University had set an exam-
ple for education-industry coop-I
eration. He was now ready to
build a good name for the Univer-
sity.
Stirton vowed community ac-
ceptance as his top priority mis-
sion.
Today, he traces with his hand
a symbol of that acceptance-the
arc of a long sidewalk projecting
out towards the community where'
it is joined several hundred yards
out by the Henry Ford Communityj
College.
This "cement epitome," which°
physically bridges the state-sup-
ported and local-supported insti-
tutions represents only one of a
series of Stirton's measures aimed
at convincing Dearborn citizens
that the University wasn't a
"ruthless" educational overlord
coming to take over from Ann Ar-
bor, he explains.
Here to There
As he has brought a Center to
the community, so also has he en-
deavored to bring Ann Arbor to
Dearborn.
The walls of the classroom
building are decorated in maize
and blue stripes and the lunch-
room chairs also give "hail to the
colors," Stirton points out.
The community has not been
unmindful of this two-way Dear-
born-Ann Arbor association. The
Zonta Club of Dearborn-an in-
fluential women's group - offers
several scholarships for Dearborn
students, as well as loan assist-
ance.
In addition, Stirton notes the
interest shown by a series of lo-
cal advisory groups, who, in con-
junction with industry, provide
wide ranging religious and human
relations coordination between
community and campus.
Statewide Reputation
But if the curriculum is struc-
tured to local requirements, Stir-
ton discloses that the school has
taken on statewide popularity-
particularly with the community
college system.
Although 48 per cent of its to-
tal population is composed of
community college graduates, only
one-half of this group is from the
local Henry Ford institution.
Substantial groups from Muske-
gon, Grand Rapids, Delta and
Highland Park all journey to
Dearborn-mostly on a commut-
ing basis-to partake particularly
in its industry internship program.
Many of the American indus-
tries abroad - such as the new
Bendix Corp. plant in Bombay -
"want trained local personnel to
run their plants."
Science and Retraining are Dearborn Specialties
insufficient numbers of "quality"
personnel;
2) They were unable to keep
instruction current before the tide
of rapidly changing technology,
and
3) Their productive capacitiesI
were being weakened by the ex-
cessive personnel turnover.
Future Employment Needs
An even stronger motivation
power problem: stimulating these metal-working
1) They were being plagued by companies to seek the University's
Residence9Ratios Plague 'U'
By JUDITH WARREN
Personnel Directort
Each year the Legislature-or at
least a few members of it-take
it upon themselves to chastise the
state-supported college and uni-
versities for the percentage of out-
of-state students enrolled in their
respective institutions.-
This year was no exception with;
Sen. John Bowman (D-Roseville)
leading the assault. He complain-
ed that the University and Mich-
igan State University have accept-
ed too many out-of-state students.
According to Bowman, this
forces the state to pay some of
their education. costs. Bowman
cited figures showing average edu-
cation costs for one student at
the University are $1,515 of which
the out-of-state student pays only
a part.
The complaint was echoed by
Student Government Council
member Thomas Smithson, '65,
who at an SOC meeting cited
figures showing that the Univer-
sity accepts far more students
from New York, Illinois and Ohio
-the three major "feeder" states
-than those states accept Michi-
gan students.
The University accepted the
same number of out-of-state stu-
dents last year as in previous
years. However, the ratio of out-
of-state students to in-state stu-
dents' has dropped significantly
in recent years.
Last year 27 per cent of Univer-
sity students were nonresidents.
According to Executive Vice-
President Marvin L. Niehuss the
ratio of out-of-state students will
drop next fall to 25.8 per cent.
Overall, the percentage decrease
will be caused by an increase in
the numerical size of the total
student body from last year's
29,000 to an expected 30,900 this
fall. Out-of-state students ac-
count 'for some 8000 of both fig-
ures.
"It is difficult to know where to
draw the line, to tell what is the
most desirable ratio," Niehuss said.
He noted that 25 per cent was
"about as low as I'd want to see
it go. If it got that far, it'd be
time to take a second look at our
plans."
University administrators have
maintained that the cosmopolitan
atmosphere that results from
"More of the best out-of-state
applicants are admitted than ac-
tually attend, because many find
scholarships from prestige schools
more inviting. On the other hand,
the outstanding in-state applicant
finds that even with other scholar-
ship offers, the University will be
most economical, Straight said.
The Michigan state constitu-
tion specifies that no person shall
gain or lose residence in the state
while a student or member of the
armed forces.
Consequently, it's up to the
University to determine who is and
who isn't a state resident when
the student first applies since his
status can't be changed once he
is admitted.
The Universityvhas always in-
terpeted the law very strictly, un-
like other state colleges, which
are often very liberal. It has main-
tained that, in order to be a
resident of Michigan, one must be
eligible to vote in the state (or
one's parents must be eligible to
vote, as the case may be).
assistance, Stirton explains, was
their statistical projections of fu-
ture employment needs.
These initial handfuls of com-
panies-the list of cooperating
groups today has grown to 84--
unanimously predicted gaping
shortages of trained college grad-
uates. They presented figures like
these:
-An increase needed every few
years amounting to 10 per cent
more college graduates than cur-
rently existed on their payrolls.
--Eight per cent turnovers every
year in key personnel when the
companies had been expecting five
and six per cent attrition rates.
-An annual labor need for 2,-
000 additional personnel, most.of
them located in the "technical
and professional" classifications
which require college-degree hold-
ers.
Industry Concerns
These needs, projected over a
15-year period, pointed to the con-
cern which industries in the
southeast area were experiencing,
Stirton says.
To ease their employe shortages,
the firms had come to ask for
the establishment of a joint pro-
gram whereby the University stu-
dents would alternate between a
semester working on campus and a
semester working in industry.
For the firms, such an arrange-
ment would give them early-root-
ed ties with potential employes
and advantages for hiring evalua-
tions.
But the University was not im-
mediately sold on the plan, Stirton
recalls.
"Industry had come to us," Stir-
ton emphasizes. "The University
wanted to be in the driver's seat
to structure a step-by-step ad-
vancement program for our stu-
dents-studying at Dearborn and
working for industry."
Their plan, to cost industry
some $10.5 million for buildings
and land, stressed the following
features, which the companies al-
so found acceptable:
1- A two-year senior college of-
fering limited graduate programs
expanding to a capacity of 1,650
on-campus students.
Specifically, the college would
present a tri-divisional selection
of courses.
2- A comprehensive policy to
help eliminate the three-fold
manpower problem. Called the
"cooperative education plan," it
offered an internship program for
all engineering and business ad-
ministration students.
3- An exciting new educational
venture, the trimester system, was
officially to be instituted by 1960.
In October of 1959, the Stirton
hybrid opened on what he calls
WELCOME
STUDENTS
" Hand woven rugs
" Nundah rugs
" Carved screens
" Wood block prints
India Art Shop
330 Maynard
(across from Arcade)
ii, ii
Wfilliam Stirton
John Bowman
mingling students from all over
the world with students from
Michigan is beneficial to all con-
cerned from an educational and
sociological point of view.
They have also said that since
the out-of-state students pay
about three times what Michigan
students pay the out-of-state
student is a valuable source of
revenue for the University.
Many have also maintained that
the out-of-state students raise the
standards of the University. This,
however, is not always true ac-
cording to Sidney Straight of the
Admissions Office.
There's a Nationally-Known
Independent Record Dealer
in Ann Arbor
UF V 0
Probably wonderedI
what the
SSTUDENT CO-OPS7
are all about ...
At Michigan there are four men's, five women's and one married
couples co-ops which house about 250 students.
WHO OWNS AND RUNS HOW MUCH DOES IT COST ?
THE CO-OPS ?Each house sets its own budget. Average
WE DO costs for the past semester have been:
In each house each member, new or old, Week Semester
shares equal responsibility for all decisions; Rm. & -d. $17.20 $275.20
what to eat, how much to spend, how much to Bd. only 11.50 184.00
work ...
New members pay a $20 deposit when they
The co-op houses are owned by the Inter- join; it is refunded when they leave.
Cooperative Council (I.C.C.), a corporation set
up and run entirely by the students who live or
eat in the houses. WHO DOES TIE WOR
WE DO
WHO MAY JOIN
THE CO-OPS ? All cooking, dishwashing, maintenance
and management is done by the members.
Anyone beyond the freshman year or who Any member, new or old, can be elected
is over 21 who agrees to participate in running officer: president, house manager, food pur-
the co-ops democratically is welcome. Members chaser, accountant...
are accepted on a first come, first served basis, It takes from four to six hours a week per
without racial, religious or political discrimina-
member to run a co-op. The exact work time
tion. There is no pledge or initiation period. seciedhouseo Te
is decided by house vote.
WHAT ARE THE LIVING There are no maids, janitors, or hired
AND cooks.
EATING ARRANGEMENTS ?
As a roomer, you are provided furnished HOW ABOUT THE LIGHTER
living quarters as well as social space and eat- SIDE OF LIFE ?
ing privileges. As a boarder, you get 20 meals A co-op is something more than a lot of
a week.
people trying to live economically. Co-ops
"Guffing," our traditional between meal enjoy a characteristically congenial and infor-
snacking, is one of our most cherished privi- mal atmosphere because our members come
leges. Everyone has free access at all times from all kinds of backgrounds and from all
j,,, - Iil
Years of musically
intelligent service
in
an
atmosphere
of congenial
informality
W/ conte
TO ALL OF YOU NEW
MICHIGAN STUDENTS
Please make yourself
have
record
earned
us an envied
position among
dealers.
A COMPREHENSIVE RECORD STOCK OF LP'S AND
LATEST 45'S AT COMPETITIVE PRICES
TABLE MODEL AND CONSOLE RADIO-PHONOGRAPHS
RECORD RACKS AND OTHER ACCESSORIES
TV SETS by RCA VICTOR
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN LP'S AND SONG BOOK
Music on Records is Our Pleasure As Well As Our
Business - Try Us
at home in the
two
JOHN LEIDY
Shops-and, good
luck
in Ann Arbor
I I HU
I