TUESDAY, AUGUST 24, 1965
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
PAGE S
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TUESDAY, AUGUST 24, 1965 THE MICHIGAN DAILY
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Dearborn Center: Blend of Industry and Edu
catio
By LAURENCE KIRSHBAUM 700 undei'graduate students at an
Managing Editor annual cost to the state of more
Special To The Daily than $600,000.
Part-Time Advantage
DEARBORN-Like its director, In addition, some 100 graduate
the Dearborn Center is a hybrid. students and 350 extension service
Engendered in the late fifties pupils take part-time advantages
by a fusion of industry and edu- of Dearborn's course offerings and
cation, the University's work-study adult education programs.,
senior college here has grown up "We're moving faster than we
with the philosophy of the man anticipated back in 1959," Stir-
who directs it. ton observes. He contends that the
He is University Vice-President bulk of the growth is yet to come.
and Director for the Dearborn But noting its present condition,
Center William E. Stirton, him- Stirton can be very proud of the
self a hybrid of industry and edu- accomplishments to date.
cation backgrounds, who believes With the unique educational-in-
that students can be simultan- dustrial cross-breed, Stirton has
eously trained to "lead the good in five years developed substan-
life' 'through education and to tial ties of cooperation with the
"enjoy good living" through occu- statewide community college sys-
pation. tem, established a firm communi-
Industry Arouses Interest ty relationship with industry that
When a group of industrial may lead the University into for-
firms, led by Ford Motor Co., ap- eign labor training programs, and
proached high University officials helped the University become' a
in 1956, Stirton became interested. pace-setter in educational and in-
The metal-working companies dustrial training benefiting South-
were envisioning a joint work- eastern Michigan citizens.
study institution for educating Fusion in 1956
trained, well-informed personnel But the story of future expan-
-and Stirton was chosen to ma- sion must be preceded by the story
terialize their visions, of fusion back in 1956-and that's
He did. The Dearborn Center where Stirton begins telling about
admitted a pilot group of 37 stu- it.
dents in October of 1959, although "In 1956, industry came to edu-
the Legislature had allotted the cation," he commences. Specif-
campus no state appropriation. ically, a high-powered team of
Funded initially only by indus- southeastern Michigan industrial-
trial money which had procured ists conferred with University of-
land and built facilities at a cost ficials about their three-fold man-
of $16 million, the Center has ex- power problem:
panded to its present size of over 1) They were being plagued by
its "insulated, yet isolated" 212-
acre campus. Located in the heart
of the southeast industrial com-
plex, the four shining structures
rose amidst farmland and forest
01; .ort- 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-
eration. He was now ready to
build a good name for the Univer-'
sity.
Stirton vowed community ac-
ceptance as his top priority mis-
x Sion.
Today, he traces with his hand.
a symbol of that acceptance---the
are of a long sidewalk projecting
out towards the community where
it is joined several hundred yards
out by the Henry Ford Community
College.
This "cement epitome," which
physically bridges the state-sup-
ported and local-supported insti-
tutions represents only one of a
Specialties series of Stirton's measures aimed.
at convincing Dearborn citizens
Dents-studying at Dearborn and that the University wasn't a
working for industry." "ruthless" educational overlord
Their plan, to cost industry coming to take over from Ann Ar-
some $10.5 million for buildings bor, he explains.
and land, stressed the following Here to There
features, which the companies al- As he has brought a Center to
so found acceptable: the community, so also has he en-
1- A two-year senior college of- deavored to bring Ann Arbor to
fering limited graduate programs Dearborn.
expanding to a capacity,of 1,650 The walls of the classroom
on-campus students. building are decorated in maize
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."
i
Science and Retraining are Dearborn
insufficient numbers of "quality"
personnel;
2) They were unable to keep
instruction current before the tide
of rapidly changing technology,
and
3) Their productive capacities
,were being weakened by the ex-
cessive personnel turnover.
Future Employment Needs
An even stronger motivation!
stimulating these metal-working
companies to seek the University's
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.
William Stirton
I
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Residence Ratios Plague 'U'
By JUDITH WARREN
Personnel Director
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-Rosevilie)
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 SGC meeting cited
figures showing that the Univer-
sity accepts far more students
from New York, Illinois and Ohic
-tle 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 arehadmitted than ac-
tually attend, because many find
scholarships from prestige schools
more inviting. On the other hand,,
7
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the outstanding in-state applicant Industry Concerns
finds that even with other scholar- These needs, projected over a
ship offers, the University will be 15-year period, pointed to the con-
most economical, Straight said. cern which industries in the
southeast area were experiencing,
The Michigan state constitu- Stirton says.
tion specifies that no person shall To ease their employe shortages,
gain or lose residence in the state the firms had come to ask for
while a student or member of the the establishment of a joint pro-
armed forces. gram whereby the University stu-
Consequently, it's up to the dents would alternate between a
University to determine who is and semester working on campus and a
who isn't a state resident when semester working in industry.
the student first applies since his Fnentwolivesthmnearroot-
status can't be changed once he ment would give them early-root-
is admitted. ed ties with potential employes
and advantages for hiring evalua-
The University has always in- tions.
terpeted the law very strictly, un- But the University was not im-
like other state colleges, which mediately sold on the plan, Stirton
are often very liberal. It has main- recalls.
tained that, in order to, be r "Industry had come to us," Stir-
resident of Michigan, one must be ton emphasizes. "The University
eligible to vote in the state (or wanted to be in the driver's seat
one's parents must be eligible to to structure a step-by-step ad-
vote, as the case may be). vancement program for our stu-
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- ^.n 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)
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-Knownj
Independent, Record Dealer
inl Ann Arbor '
and blue stripes and the lunch-
room chairs also gives hail to the
colors," Stirton points out.
The community has not been
unmindful of this two-way Dear-
born-Ann Arbor association. TheUL
Zonta Club of Dearborn-an in-.
fluential women's group - offers
r*
Ar
Probably wondered
what the0
.1'STUDENT CO-OPS
arp all about ...
At Michigan there are four men's, five women's and one marred
couples co-ops which house about 250 students.
WHO OWNS AND RUNS HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?
THE COOPS ? 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. & Bd. $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 THE WORK
WHO MAY JOIN WEDO
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,
without racial, religious or political discrimina- It takes from four to six hours a week per
member to run a co-op. The exact work time
lion. There is no pledge or initiation period. is decided by house vote.
WHAT ARE THE LIVING There are no maids, janitors, or hired
AND cooks.
AND*
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
to milk, bread, butter, jam, and leftovers, over the world. Social activities are determined
II
wl/b&come 1'
~Ct
TO ALL OF YOU NEW
MICIHIGAN STUDENTS
Years of musically
intelligent
service
in
an
atmosphere
of congenial
informality have
earned
us an envied
position
among
record
Please make
yourself
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
JON LEIDY
Shops-and, good
luck
in Ann Arbor
(