Page Two
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Page Two THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Battling
for
change
ir
By SARA RIMER
Compiling the report of the
Commission on Graduation Re-
quirements (GRC) was a gruel-
ing year-long process that in-
volved lengthy meetings and ex-
tensive research, but student
member Jonathan Klein, '74,
can only shrug his shoulders
despondently a n d s a y, "It
doesn't amount to a hill of
beans." He cites sparse attend-
ance at the LSA Governing Fac-
ulty meetings, held during the
'74 winter term to review the
report, as indication that most
faculty members share his view.
Former LISA Dean and Uni-
versity Vice President Frank
Rhodes appointed the GRC in
the spring of '72, charging it
with a comprehensive review of
the undergraduate degree. .
THE COMMISSION, composed
of six students, ten faculty
members, the president of the
Alumni Council and two mem-
bers from the Center for- the
Continuing Education of Wo-
man, carefully scrutinized the
quality of undergraduate educa-
ti(n for one year.
The LSA Governing faculty,
which retains the power to
either reject or accept the GRC
report, has completed examina-
tion of the first three sections
which focus on admissions, de-
grees, and sources of credit.
Sections dealing with degree
requirements, pace of study and
evaluation, courses, undergrad-
uate life, teaching and economic
concerns remain to be evaluated
by the faculty.
T h e commission consulted
scores of leading education ex-
perts, held open hearings on
specific topics, and maintained
close communication with LSA
departments in a concerted ef-
fort to explore every possible
avenue of change and innova-
tion.
AS HISTORY professor and
GRC chairman Raymond Grew
explained, "We tried to lock
at every facet of curriculum
and study what' all other places
had done, w h 11e proposing
things that made sense for this
University."
The commission deliberately
avoided formulating a statement
of educational philosophy, de-
fining the purpose of the report
as one of "seeking some con-
sonance between the daily prac-
tices of a university and the
high principles of education."
Commission m e m b e r John
Lande, '74, labeling the final
report a "creampuff," deplores
the lack of philosophy as one of
the report's major failures.
ALTHOUGH Rhodes and the
GRC's faculty members believe
the report is "innovative and
comprehensive," t h e student
members of the commission
have decried what they consider
to be the shortcomings of the
report.
Lande labeled the GRC pro-
posals as "bookkeeping kinds of
concerns; not something intend-
ed to improve the educational
experience."
Faculty member Grew, how-
ever, believes one of the re-
port's strong points is that it
encourages "more student in-
volvement in planning their own
curriculum all the way
through."
IN ACCORDANCE with his
view is a proposal, already ap.
proved in principal by the fac-
ulty, that allows students to
earn up to 16 credits for an-
alytic studies outside the regu-
lar listed courses. Also provid-
ing greater flexibility for stu-
dents is a proposal for revised
distribution requirements that
calls for students to file a writ-
ten plan- of distribution that
could be changed at any time.
However, not all the GRC
proposals recommend radical
reforms. Students have angrily
lashed out at proposals that re-,
tain the present language re-
quirement, extend scholarships
partially on the basis of ability
rather than solely on need, and
stiffen the residency require-
ments.
WHILE STUDENT GRC mem-
bers clamor for more far-reach-
ing change, and blast the re-
port's neglect of grading, tenure,
LS h
and the governing system of the
faculty, some faculty members
foresee the present report as;
leading to unnecessary change
and upheaval.
Apparently fearing devaluation
of the degree, they defeated one
of the report's more radical pro-
posals that most courses carry
either two or four credit hours.
The repackaging of credit h>urs
was designed to encourage stu-
dents to concentrate more en-
ergy on fewer courses per term
by eliminating three credit nour
courses.
Although most of the faculty
overwhelmingly agreed that the
new credit hour .system would
precipitate more intense studies,
a determined group of profess-
ors rallied to block chances for
implementation of such a pro-
gram.
STUDENTS. characterize their
experience on the GRC as one
of intense excitement and grow-
ing awareness coupled with
growing frustration and disil-
lusionment.
Pessimistic about the GRC's
consequences from the begin-
ning, Weinstein says, "Since
grading reform and tenure pro-
posals had already been voted
down, we realized the GRC was
merely a pacification measure."
Students, anxious to see tan-
gible evidence of change during
their four years at the Univer-
sity, express impatience with
the faculty's slow deliberationj
of the report. Klein expects that
nothing will be implemented
until 1976, viewing the faculty's
caution as indication that they
"r e aly aren't interested in
change, but are content with
things as they are."
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,
tenure is the pinnacle goal of
most academic staff at any Uni-,
versity. Tenure is an official
recognition given to an academ-
ic professional considered out-
standing ,in teaching and/or re-
searching by their department.
The University defines tenure
as technically meaning that one;
who has it cannot be fired with-
out going through a specific due
process and then only for a
limited number of reasons, such
as moral turpitudeor gross
teaching incompetence.
TENURE IS job security a
prestigious pat on the academic
ment. It is an academic and
economic. security blanket, giv-
en by -maternal departments to
the professorial children who'
have behaved best or show the
most promise.
The 'awarding of tenure to the
worthy individual is highly per-
sonal and at times political. ToI
determine which podiumists and
researchers receive it the Uni-
versity has a .three-pronged tri-
dent of criteria that is fairly
standard nationwide.
The- University's handbook,,
Tenure Policies and Practice in-
sists the prospective recipient
show outstanding performance
in teaching, research and serv-
ice. The applicant must be judg-,
ed "excellent" in two of these
three areas and at least "ade-
quate" in the third.,t
BY CONTROLLING who is
offered lifetime membership in-
to their exclusive tenure club,
departments can insure their'
academic boat will remain firm-
ly anchored in the same social
and educational waters it has
traditionally floated in, to the
exclusion of change and im-I
provement.
Aside from choosing the in
dividuals who are to be award
ed tenure, each university mus
grapple with the sheer number
of tenured faculty.
The University does not hav
a tenure quota system that fixe
the percentage of tenured facul
ty allowed in each department
as do some of the Ivy Leagu
schools. Under the University'
more flexible tenure system, th
percentage of tenured faculty ii
each department is unlimited.
If tenured professors a r'
welded into a majority of a de
partment's existing openings
the number of new people th
department can gainfully ab
sorb is rigidly limited. Ani
without the opportunity to a
sorb new academic blood, d
partmental circulation a n
growth can slow, with the ons
of academic rigor mortis
threat to the educational body
At its organized best, tenure
cause for congratulation and t
sanction for a, 'free and op
academic mardi gran. At its u
regulated worst, tenure is bo
a patrolled Berlin Wall preve
ing the infusion of sufficient n
talent to the department and
bruising blow to the pituit
gland of both individual dep
ments andl the progress of ed
cation generally.
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