THE MICHIGAN DAILY CONFLICT WITH COMMUNITY COLLEGE? TUESDAY, A rU'Branch Expansion Provokes Controversy in Flint Area With the prospect of an addi- tional 40,000 students seeking en- rollment in the state's institutions of higher learning by 1970, Michi- gan's educators have been faced with the need to expand. But for some time now, a good deal of controversy has raged over Just how this expansion is to be carried out. On the one hand, the two-year post-high school ed- ucation community college ap- pears to offer a viable sol-ition-- either to prepare students for further study at four-year univer- * sitie s or as terminal education to develop technical and occupation- al skills. At the same time there are arguments which favor the es- tablishment of four-year degree- granting branches of universities in some of the state's larger com- munities. The controversy has loomed large in recent months in Flint, a community which has offered local citizenry the advantages of a junior college curriculum--offer- ingfreshman-sophomore instruc- tion--since 1923 as well as the benefits of an additional two-year junior-senior year institution, the University's Flint College, since 1956. I The "two-two" plan has been a complementary program since its inception eight years ago. Students who attended the community col- lege for two years were given the opportunity to move up to the senior college and graduate with a bachelor of arts from the Univer- sity. Over 70 per cent of the current Flint College enrollment was once registered at the community col- lege. The schools also have more immediate structural affiliations, including a "cross-over" plan whereby a student may in spe- cial cases supplement the educa- tion he is receiving at one institu- tion by enrolling in courses at the other. In addition, the colleges share many facilities such, as the ap- plied sciences building, an ath- letic building and the library. Minimize Friction But the structural ties them- selves were not of prime concern to Flint and University officials in the course of deliberations con- cerning the viability of expanding the University branch. Rather, the chief consideration was whether the transformation could be ac- complished with a minimum of friction and without debilitating effects upon the junior college. To determine whether the Flint community could supply enough qualified students to stock two freshmen post-high school classes, a six-member inquiry group of Flint and University officials was appointed last October. A further task, which was ulti- mately up to Flint citizens, junior college officials and University administrators, was the evaluation of the roles-conflicting or com- plementary - which community colleges and large university ex- tensions may play in the state- wide educational picture. Provide Finances When Flint residents gave mor- al and financial support to the es- tablishment of the University branch in 1956, they demonstrated what had been community sen- timent for almost a decade-the desire to improve Flint's system of higher education. The sentiment took strong hold in the mid-forties when interested' Flint citizens and University of- ficials began talks on the possi- bility of establishing a four-year college there. The movement for quality four-year education pro- DEAN DAVID M. FRENCH m i l l- " - i ATTENTION UPPERCLASSMEN! SORORITY RUSH Will Be Explained for You ataq MASS MEETING on SEPT. 1 ceeded to grow when a survey, taken in 1948-49, statistically dem- onstrated a "real need" for state- provided higher education. It cul- minated when a Board of Educa- tion study in 1951 took special note that Flint was one of a di- minishing number of cities its size that lacked a four-year state in- stitution for post-high school training. The final catalyst appeared when a long-time advocate of bet- ter higher education, Flint phil- anthropist Charles Stuart Mott, promised to give $1 million from his foundation to the Flint four- year institution efforts if the com- munity's voters would approve a $7.5 million higher education bond issue. Begin Planning With the passage of the bond issue, Flint and University offi- cials were able to consider means of going beyond the inadequate junior college education then of- fered; the final decision resulted in the establishment of a two-year Structurally, Flint College re- lated to the University like any of its then-sixteen colleges. But at the same time, it developed loose organic ties with the community college. With this precarious structural balance, Flint College opened in 1956 with an enrollment of 167, under the hands of a nationally- known educator, Dean David M. French. Work To Do As an "upper division" unit, the college "found its work cut out for it," French relates. The Flint Community C o 11 e g e members flocked to it, fairly certain of their major academic interest. "It was our job," French ex- plains, "to bring these students to baccalaureate levels of competen- cy in the two short years they were in attendance." As he set up about his task, Flint citizens felt confident at last that their city had a strong program of four-year college edu- cation. Since then, the Flint College story has been one of continued growth-from 167 to a current population of 600. But Flint's im- pact has been much more than lo- cal. As the only degree-granting college institution within 50 miles of Flint, and affecting 370,000 people, the college enabled stu- dents to qualify for medical schools and professional training who might never have received any college education at all. Taking Advantage Further, it has permitted over 200 students enrolled at other higher education institutions to enroll for summer sessions. In total, French estimates that more than 2000 individuals from all over the state have participated in an educational experience orig- inally intended for local consump- tion only. Yet in achieving the prescribed task of educating Flint students, Flint College professors and :":v:'i: j}Fondtio ad Fin ciizns le.vel to 3000: studentsm~." .".": . . ..r:: v"".: ,; ..i ..A....« ..............w.....1rAV:f.":Nl'::1'."::: .'::':J:::::"."::.'1'.":N:::.''::::11 ::