THE MICHIGAN DAILY atcher Speaks Out on FederalAid to Educa tion e*> 4. TOR'S NOTE: This article, d by University President Hatcher, appeared in the an Business Review, Vol. XIV, May, 1960. it is reprinted a part, with the permission L J. Philip Wernette of the s administration school,bed- the Review. Figures have been I Y HARLAN HATCHER kRT with a truism: This is st-moving era; It is hard to t in focus or in perspective. must take some specific mark in time, like the ate Europe in 1947 and the r1y Act or Marshall Plan April, 1948, and measure it t the present prosperity of Germany and the debate on 2th-year extension of the vith a budget of over $4 bil- you weigh the fact that we ger control the A-bomb, but it with Great Britain and France, and are in danger ng surpassed by the USSR. And we consider the new debate touched off by the missile and space age. In industry we have only to measure the magnificent General Motors and Ford research centers in their campus settings against these same establishments when I became president of the Univer- sity nine years ago. Pre-World War II plants are largely out of date and have been replaced with new ones making products that were only in the research stage a; few years ago. These are only three random samples of the nature of our changing world environment. You may add your own. They will touch every detail of your person- al, community andy national life. * * * THE UNIVERSITY helps cre- ate changes. It must also respond to the changes which it has helped to effect. There are perhaps a dozen or so pace-setters ,among the universities in the world to- day. Without trying to rank them in order of distinction and serv- ice, the University must accept the honor and responsibility of being one of them. Our University would have to undergo constant change merely to retain its relative position. It must move aggressively forward to provide the research and training on the rising levels which the safe- ty and welfare of the nation so ur- gently demand. We are having some trouble get- ting really conscious of the nature of these demands and adjusting to the rising level. We have all been so busy trying to keep up with the needs of our growing children on their way through nursery, kin- dergarten, the grades, and now the high schools, that we haven't actually attacked the problems confronting the colleges and uni- versities. We haven't much time, and we can't put it off much longer. We still seem to think that it is just a matter of some more teachers and classrooms and a TV program to accommodate more undergraduate students in our colleges. It is that, of course, but in this decade and for this gener- ation a baccalaureate .degree is only a beginning. It is now rough- ly the equivalent of a high school diploma in our fathers' day. Of the (25,000) students en- rolled now at the University, al- most 40 per cent already have at- tained their first degree. On this one thread you may unravel the story of the swift pace of change in our time. And from it you may deduce the problems which we must proceed confidently to solve. * * * THE UNIVEItSITY is a consti- tutional corporation with a budget for all operations for the year end- ing June 30 (1962) of (practically $110 million). Of this amount, (about 27 per cent) was spent for research and (about 45 per cent) in the general fund primarily for U Books and Supplies salaries and wages. This general fund item is the heart and center of our budget. Of this (general fund), 25 per cent comes from student fees and (the rest) as a direct appropria- tion by the State Legislature. Another vital part of our pro- gram is capital outlay. We were making good progress on over- coming obsolescence and adding urgently needed space for our 16 colleges and schools. But in 1957 the program came to an abrupt halt, and (very little) money has been provided by the state for new construction since that time. THESE FEW FACTS will help pose the most pressing problem the University has confronted in many years. When and how will we be able to regain our tradition- al place in faculty salaries to guarantee the retention of, and addition to, our distinguished fac- ulty? When and how can we get started again on building the fa- cilities needed by all units, but especially by engineering and the sciences, by medicine, dentistry, education, architecture and music? Under the special stresses of our time, and the resulting American psychology, it has become natural to turn to Washington and ask for federal aid for a great variety of services - including some aspects of education. The American tradition has been, and still is in theory, that full responsibility for education rests in the community, the dis- trict or the state. By and large these local agencies have done a fair job, and in some cases a most outstanding one. But, the problem is big and get- ting bigger; the needs are now pressing and becoming critical and national in scope. We have been edging into, or drifting into, or backing into stronger and stronger federal involvement. The national government is al- ready spending heavily for re- search. The research demands of the country, especially in all as- pects of defense, have become as stupendous as they are urgent. The scientific personnel in our universities have been called upon for help. The federal government enters into contracts with the uni- versity for this research service, and the universities have respond- ed, often for patriotic reasons at some expense, and sacrifice of mission to themselves. Ever-increasing sums of federal money go to the support of this effort. The program has become so intertwined with the institu- tions that serious consequences would result if this support were. suddenly cut off. It amounts to + MEDICINE Our store is specially NATIONAL ASSISTANCE-University President Harlan Hatcher analyzes the problems of federal aid to education. II DENTISTRY equipped to fill your every + NURSING HEALTH need and a well informed staff including MEDICAL and DENTAL students will serve you about ($25 million) a year at the University. . The government has taken on some major responsibilities in the field of health and medical care for the nation. Research, medical training and patient care are ex- pensive. The federal government has given substantial aid to medi- cal colleges and schools of public health to provide buildings and laboratories and to support cer- tain programs of training and re- search. Grants from this source have enabled us to keep moving in the last (several) years at the University .. . * * * THE FEDERAL government re- cently extended still further its responsibility through the Nation- al Science Foundation and the Na- tional Defense Education Act. It gave some recognition to the teaching staff under the Fulbright Bill. It has also given aid to com- munities where its activities have required a large number of people to take up residence and, there- fore, imposed an undue burden upon the established schools, and where its installations removed property from the tax rolls. For many 'decades it has made sub- stantial appropriations to the ag- ricultural colleges for research and extension services of many types. And, in the days when the federal government had some- thing of its own to give away, it granted government lands to the states to establish schools .. . This, together with school lunch programs, teaching materials, and kindred items, is not an exhaustive list, but a fair sample of the na- ture, extent and magnitude of fed- eral aid to education as it has so far developed. The one critical final step that has not been taken is a direct ap- propriation by the Congress to pay professorial salaries and to build classrooms and teaching labora- tories and libraries on the cam- puses. Yet, as I have already pointed out, these two items, the operat- ing budget and the classrooms of all types, are right now among our most urgent needs, and our state legislatures are finding it difficult to finance them. Should the federal government' take the final plunge and give aid for these purposes?. One of these days, the Congress will have to give an answer for that one. It may not be one dra- matic act, but a series of smaller' ones that will drift us into a policy. * * * BY AND LARGE the states have. done well by their universities. But the individual states consider themselves handicapped by the present tax structure and the phil- osophy behind it. In any quest for taxes the federal government comes first. The Congress of the United States can and does levy and collect taxes in Michigan be- yond the imagination or practical power of the Legislature The Legislature says taxes are already too high, and that other. sources of revenue have been pre- empted by the federal government. They may recognize the' needs of higher education for staff and fa- cilities but they say they cannot find the money after the federal government has taken its levy. Increasingly the mood of the local units is to cut back or stand still, or to seek aid from the fed- eral government. Yet the hard fact remains that the Congress has no money it does not collect from the same people whom the Legislature says it cannot tax further. It is a head-on collision nearing a stale- mate. Some'accommodation to the dilemma must be found soon. It seems unlikely that the state legislatures will move far enough and fast enough to do what is na- tionally required. It is certain that the nation as a whole must have bold, vigorous and immediate action to protect its stake in education, particularly on the highest levels where the expense is the greatest. * 0 THE CONGRESS, therefore, has a limited number of choices. To be exact, it has three:d 11) It could make a direct appro- priation in some form to help sup- port faculty salaries, to provide laboratories, libraries, and class- rooms, and to aid the general op- erations budget. Serious problems of philosophy, tradition, law, and administration attend this one. This is the step not yet taken, and it has many pitfalls that should be carefully marked and labelled. 2) It could voluntarily and with stated intent relinquish certain sources of revenue, or allocate ear- marked funds, to the states on which they could levy for the sup- port of education. 3) It could enter into partner- ship with the legislatures in de- termining what Joint responsibili- ties they share on the national and state level, and it could then exercise its more potent taxing power to see that the national as well as the state interest in edu- cation is served. A possible fourth choice, that of a hands-off policy, has long since been exercised as we have already indicated. It is possible that any of these alternatives could be operated within the American tradition of local responsibility and control of education. It is no longer a ques- tion of federal aid, but of how much, in what form, for what pur- pose. We cannot permanently drift along in our new world setting without a more rational and as- sured plan of support for our uni- versities, and we should have a firm and acceptable rationale for federal participation. , OVERBECKBOKSTORE The Medica Boo Center Phone NO 3-9333... 1216 South University I e CI :pns c cos ol 1O ego d c to PREMIUM REDUCED BENEFITS INCREASED 12 Months for ~$2o A BAD FALL - AN ACCIDENT - an emergency operation - a battle with fever - each could result in hospital and medical expenses far in excess of the income or savings alloted to your education. It doesn't take long these days to spend hundreds of hard earned dollars for necessary medical treatment! *YOUR STUDENT HEALTH PLAN, written according to specifications of the Student Government Council, has been designed specifically to help defray these high hospital and medical expenses. This liberal Plan sup- plements the existing Health Service Benefits furnished you by the University. The Student Health Plan combined with the Health Service benefits provides more complete protection against the high costs of hospital and medical care. DESCRIPTIVE BROCHURES and applications have been mailed. Additional copies are conveniently located throughout the campus. Be SURE that unforseen medical Expenses don't cost you a college education - return your completed application and premium TODAY! Be prompt, the enrollment period is limited. I HIGHLIGHTS OF YOUR STUDENT HEALTH PLAN 0 Coverage in force 24 hours a day-on or Additional Information through .off campus (including vacation periods). " Eligible dependents can be included. lCnereA avrnnseqinc lud e-nital rorm ~t.mulnt 9nvomnmont (mine.1 , I w %.OVYCiC-wu G^pl Ii. ,vz 11lrIuu .11 1 mi.7fil 1 :11 1 wit l if , 1 A