Behrend collegian. (Erie, Pa.) 1971-1988, April 27, 1972, Image 1

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    Volume XXII i No. 20
Discussing Behrend Future
Doug Leichliter, Editor-in-chief of the Behrend Collegian,
discusses the various proposals brought up at the Task
Force meeting with Dr. Stanley Ikenberry, - President
Oswald’s representative to the Task Force. The Task Force
puposes 2000 students by 1976 and 5000 by 1985 for Behrend.
Proposals Too Vague
At Task Force Meeting
Students, faculty and ad
ministration expressed criticism
of the lack of specifics presented
by the .Task Force during the
meeting held in the Reed Lecture
Hall Tuesday. April 25. The lack
of facts and figures made the
entire discussion quite vague, as
was evident in the type of
questions raised.
No definite proposals have been
instituted concerning the changes
in administration or curriculum
to take place at Behrend in the
coming years. Although many
questions were raised, several
Gehrlein
To Speak
On April 27,1972 at 8 p.m. in the
Reed Union Building, the Behrend
Campus Library will present
Norman J. Gehrlein, Jr. to speak
on “Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. - New
Folk Hero” as the next program
in the Library’s current lecture
series. Mr. Gehrlein, who has
taught English at Behrend for
five years, holds a Bachelor’s
Degree in Psychology and a
Master’s .in English' from Gannon
College.
JRC To Sponsor
All-Nite Party
The Joint Residence Council
(JRC) is sponsoring an all-nite
party on April 29 starting at 12:00
a.m. It will be held in the RUB
and the price is only 50c. Four
fabulous films will be shown,
including The Raven, starring
Boris Karloff, Vincent Price and
Peter Lorre; Spanky and Our
Gang; The Three Stooges; and
Laurel and Hardy.
lehreiti) CoUtaiatt
went unanswered because of the
lack of concrete plans.
Dr. Michel Small instructor in
English said that the Force “. .
.should have reached an idea of
the administrative changes that
will be necessary.” He also feels
that “there must be a fair amount
of autonomy as far as academic
planning is concerned.”
Dr. Kenneth Deutsch Assistant
Professor Political Science also
expressed concern in the area of
academic planning. “I would
have preferred that the Force
had been able to state more
clearly what kind of academic
changes they are considering. I
had hoped the Force would ex
press their views in particular as
whether or not the two year
Associate Degree programs
should be shrinking and the
professional programs growing.”
He feels the Force failed to en
tertain discussion of these critical
areas. Deutsch said that “a
quality Liberal Arts college is
what this area lacks.”
Student concern also played a
major part in the discussion. Pam
Babcock (9, Spec Ed., Erie)
seemed to sum up the meeting in
one clear statement- “I felt I was
participating in the theater of the
absurd.” She did state later that
“I feel I got some points out of
Mr. Koehel that will be very
interesting to the education
majors. It is inconceivable to me
why there can’t be student
teaching in Erie. Facilities are
here, members of the School
Board want us to teach here,
teachers and principals want us
therefore, why don’t we have
student teaching?” She ex
pressed concern that a student
teaching program be in
corporated into the expected
Published by the Students of the Behrend Campus
of the
Pennsylvania State University
Station Road, Erie, Pa. 16510
Academic
Discussed
The Behrend Task Force held
an open meeting last Tuesday
during Common Hour in the RUB
Lecture Hall. In attendance were
all but one member of the Force:
Dr. Stanley Ikenberry, Sr. Vice-
President for Planning, Dr. David
Stewart, Head of the English
Department at University Park.
Dr. Marvin Rozen Professor of
Economics, Dr. Richard Schein,
Director of the Office for
Programs for Environmental
Studeis, and Dean Spalding, a Dr.
Ed Masteller and Philip lobst, all
of this campus. Approximately 60
interested members of the
faculty and student body were
present.
Irvin H. Kochel Director of
Behrend Campus explained that
the purpose of the meeting was tc
review the work of the task force
on the plan for the academic
development of Behrend, and to
meet with, question, and make
suggestions to the members of
the Task Force.
Dr. Ikenberry, mediator bet
ween the Force and University
President Oswald, mentioned the
Force’s desire to work with and
gain input from the faculty,
administration, _ and students of
both Behrend Campus and
University Park.
expansion program at Behrend, if
not in the immediate future.
The general consensus of those
present at the meeting was that
the Force did not present a
concise picture of things to come
at Behrend. Dr. Ikenberry stated
that the Force is working to
gradually narrow their plans by
May 1 to present to President
Oswald.
If there are any further
questions or suggestions in
terested persons can contact any
one of the following Task Force
members at University Park:
Ikenberry - 203 Old Main - 865-
9533
Stewart -117 Burrows - 865-6381
Rozen -11 Kern - 865-8514
Schein - After May 1 109 Car
neige - 863-0371 - 865-6331
Lozier -109 Rackley - 865-4442
Zimmerman - 5233 Frear - 865-
3867
Behrend Task Force
Pictured are members of the Behrend Task Force. From
left to right: Dr. Ed Masteller, Assistant Professor of
Biology; Dr. David Stewart, Chairman of the University
Park English Dept.; Philip lobst, Instructor in Philosophy;
Dr. Stanley Ikenberry, Sr. Vice President of the University;
Dr. Marvin Rozen, Professor of Economics, Dr. Schein,
Professor of Environmental Qualities; and Mr. Lozier, staff
member and co-ordinator for the Task Force.
Development
At Meeting
Dean Spalding then reported on
the progress already made by the
Task Force. “Essentially, our job
is to develop a plan to make
Behrend a 4 year college. We
found it necessary to define four
subtasks to this end“
1. Define the mature institution of
1985.
2. Define the interim institution
from 1976
3. Develop the academic plan for
the interim period.
4. Develop the academic plan for
maturation.
Spalding listed five major
points of consideration with which
the final Masterplan must be
consistent:
1. The Erie area as an asset of
Penn State University.
2 The needs of the Erie com
munity.
3. The goals and standards of
higher education nationally.
4. The long range plans of the
University.
5. The long range plans of the
commonwealth.
Thus, the goal of the task force
is to formulate the plan which will
take Behrend from its present
position, to first, an interim status
beginning in 1976, with continued
growth and development, and
final maturation by 1985. The
interim institution, as explained
by Spalding, would be a period of
planned development in four
major areas: the physical plant
or facilities, student population
up to two thousand, faculty and
academic programs.
The mature institution, as
Behrend will be by 1985, was
defined as a comprehensive
college offering many types of
specialized programs along with
Liberal Arts and General
Sciences courses. Accordingly,
four’ major program divisions
will exist: 1. Social Sciences 2.
Arts and Humanities 3. Physical
Sciences and 4. Associate Degree.
Behrend’s projected enrollment
for 1985 will not exceed 5000
students, with roughly 60 per cent
being commuters and 40 per cent
being residents. The Task Force
pointed out that the senior class
will always be smaller than the
freshman class due to transfers to
University Park, but as the
programs offered become
broader and more diverse,
Behrend still end its present role
as “feeder” to the main campus
and become a viable four year
institution.
The Task Force has not yet
finalized plans for academic
Thursday, April 27,1972
program development, but its
members stressed the criteria by
which these decisions would be
made. The unique opportunities
and advantages of the Erie
Community and the Behrend
Campus, local state, and national
educational needs, money, and
available facilities have all been
analyzied.
Dean Spalding’s summary of
the progress made by the Task
Force was followed by a question
-answer period. It was brought to
the attention of the Task Force
that it would be advisable to
define in the near future the
programs of study which will be
offered in entirely at Behrend,
and those which will not.
When asked about the degree of
autonomy which Behrend will
achieve along with its growth, Dr.
Stweart replied. “Administrative
autonomy is necessary. The
director (of Behrend) must be
quickly responsive to local needs
and developments, and this is
impossible when he is completely
under the thumb of the University
president.” Dr Stewart favored
independence in the areas of
spending funds and hiring faculty
members. But both he and Dr.
Sehein expressed the continued
need for the University to specify
course material as a means of
academic quality control.
The question arose as to
whether the University would
back the May 1 recommendations
by the Task Force to President
Oswald. Dr. Stewart expressed
complete optimism. “The
University realizes that a com
mitment must be made of
faculty, administration, and
monetary resources. We (the
Task Force) want to push this
ahead as quickly and as far as
possible.”
Circle K
Convention
The Tenth Annual Pennsylvania
Circle K convention was held at
Harrisburg the weekend of April
21-23. The purpose of this con
vention was to recognize and
present awards for the
achievements of the various
clubs across the state; but more
importantly it was to exchange
ideas and set new goals for
becoming involved with others
through community and campus
service projects. Four
representatives from Behrend’s
Circle K attended the convention.
They were: Jack Richebacher,
Terri Sue Hites, Beverly Levine
and Terri Rich. Jack
Richebacher, past district
secretary, was appointed at the
convention to the post of
Lieutenant Governor of Circle K
for the 1972-73 year.
Behrend, although one of the
smallest clubs represented, has
been involved in such service
activities and fund-raising
projects as sorting mail on
campus, collecting for Multiple
Sclerosis, preparing daily
bulletins of student activities,
selling popcorn at Sunday
movies, volunteering for con
struction work at the Erie Day
School, and selling plastic meal
ticket coverings.
For the members, the outcome
of the seminar was the desire to
build bigger and better Circle K
clubs throughout the state. This
can only be achieved with the
help of students by “involving
youth” - the theme of the club.