MAY 16, 1980 Collegian Surveys Opinions On Bachelor Degree Requirements Revealed in a random survey, was what PSU's policy of required courses all for Bac calaureate Degree candidates is regarded by some as an un necessary burden and by others as an important step towards a career goal. To gauge what the opinions on the subject are, the Behrend Collegian conducted a random survey of students and faculty members. They are asked to answer the following: "Should students have to take classes that seem to have no direct relation to their majors? Dean Thomas Fox: "Every course a student takes as he approaches his career, will be needed and it will be important to his life. After graduation, many students' careers turn out to change from the one they began with. The courses that are im portant fifteen to twenty years into his career, are the -ones that gave him his ability to write, take command of the English language and to approach the humanities, so as not to think of people as machines. Classes that are not linked specifically to the student at the present may give him the general background for a different world twenty years from now. An example of this would be an engineer who aspires to only mechanical drawing. He has to get away from the drawing table when other things become im portant. A famous cliche is, ' All my life I wanted to be an engineer, now I are one.' "There are two major problems that face students. One is related to science and engineering majors. If they have inadequate exposure to the arts and humanities, they would end up narrow minded technicians. A second problem. is related to students in non-technical fields. If they are not given adequate exposure to science they may not see - for themselves the realistic view of technicological achievements." "Most students in college change their majors at least twice. During the earlier part of their college years, they find that their first major isn't the one they end- up electing. The more specific they get early in their majors, the harder it is to get oul ." Dean John Harshbarger - Dean of Student Affairs: "I support the liberal education approach. An important part of a college education versus trade Spring Term 1980 Graduates SPRING TERM 1980 GRADUATES TWO YEAR GRADUATES Maureen P. Alleman Deborah A. Allison Jane E. Bartlett Joni M. Biletnikoff Roger M. Blair Barry G. Blystone Suzanne M. Bulman Roberta Burns-Brown Eugene W. Dolfi Russell G. Fisher (Jr. ) Karen L. Flatley Kenneth Fleischer Cheryl L. Geist Jerry R. Gray Grant H. Haller Wendy S. Heath Gayle M. Hemenway Thomas M. Hesch Richard P. Hiegel Joanne L. Hoover James R. Houser Daniel L. Johnson Kenneth P. Johnson Gregory M. Kenrich Valerie J. Kerner Kimberly M. King Charles E. Kozik Diane M. Kubasik Dennie R. Ledden Dale H. Leopold Clint L. Logue Michael J. Maher Anna B: Ma 49,11 education is the different ex posures to courses. A broader education helps the students learn to think of many different things. It exists so that instead of their being ignorant of various subjects, it is a general way to acquire knowledge." "The University has what it calls basic degree requirements. The rationale behind this is so that a graduate has had at least some exposure to a wide variety of subjects considered important. It doesn't mean that he'll ever have a lot of interest in the subjects, but in the long run the result will be better knowledge of the world." "I would like to see more electives added and to have the student choose a wider variety of courses. They should have room in their majors to schedule more classes than before that are not in relation to their majors. There should also be a system to orient the times the student takes his classes. The basic courses could be spread out over the four years instead of being taken only during the first few years." D. Richard Psychology: "I feel that almost any of the classes are relevant to a, psychology major. Even math is important, although I think that the usefulness of geoscience, phys. ed., and the languages can be gotten another way. I believe in the liberal arts. There are technical schools for a person who doesn't want the background of a four year liberal arts college. Many employees prefer to hire four year college graduates over the technical school graduates. This shows that there must be a difference, and that the dif ference must be what employees want." _ _ D. John McDiarrnio - Eng)ich Dept.: "The answer depends upon a much larger issue involving the liberal arts. The liberal arts is what Behend is all about. If the student goes to a vocational school, then he won't have the traditional liberal arts education. The liberal education should generally cultivate one's mind." Mr. Bake - Physics Dept.: "Students should not only take courses within their own major, but take courses out of their field. An engineering major should have to take general and specific courses. He should take philosophy or even art history to broaden his mind and he also gets to meet other people. These Alan C. Morean Denise L. Morrison Joanne F. Muccino Pamela S. Neckel Julia E. Publicover Daniel E. Reese Gary D. Rexford Diane M. Rigazzi Christine M. Ritchie Mia Sands Daniel J. Schlimm Nancy J. Seifer Beverly J. Shaffer Cheri L. Sherry Shelly J. Spencer Susanne Taylor Raymond R. Zielewski Deborah A. Zill David J. Zondlo Todd A. Smith 2NURS 2NURS 2NURS 2NURS 2LAS 2BA 2NURS 2NURS 2EET Robert A. Agasti ACNTG BS Jeffrey J. Amami ACNTG BS John A. Bauman MA ST BS Craig J. Bixby MANGT BS Bonita K. Bohman ECNS BS Gary J. Bunting BIOS BS William A. Burkley ACNTG BS Florence C. Busbee POLSC BA Haywood J. Clement MANGT BS Cindy S. Coleman PSYCH BA Sandra J. DeLellis ELISH BA Jean M. Dever ACNTG BS William G. Dunkle MA ST BS 'Robert J. Eddy (Jr.) PSYCH BA Quarton 2MET 2BA 2NURS 2NURS 2NURS 2BA 2EET 2NURS 2NURS 2NURS 2BA 2NURS 2NURS 2NURS 2NURS 2NURS 2EET 2BA 2EET 2MET FOUR YEAR GRADUATES ' i BEHREND COLLEGIAN 'courses broaden the horizons of a college degree. The main judgement about courses lies within the school's emphases and 'the type of school. Having no exposure to fields beyond one's own years, might make one wish he had taken more general courses. If you had never taken any other courses outside of your major, you'd be a dull and narrow minded person. After all, the definition of a university is to broaden a person specifically and generally so he can later fit into several niches." Melanie Thompson - DUS 3rd term: "I used to think that students shouldn't have to take the basic requirements, but I've changed my mind. I thought it wasn't fair to make people take a humanities course if their major was biology. If you take only courses that pertain to your major, than that's probably all you'll know in life. If you go to a party, and everyone there is an engineer and you are a business major, what will you talk about. You must know things outside of your major." Mark Marshall - Political Science 12th term: "I believe students should be required to take so called "extra classes". The reason for going to college is to get an education, not to learn a particular skill. If that is what a student wants, he can go to a trade school." "There was a time when I resented having to take classes that seemed to have nothing to do with my major. Now that I have been through them I am" gladl was forced to expand my horizons. It scares me to think of how shallow my education would have been if I hadn't taken any English, music philo - sophy, or physical education. You never know what you are going to need in the future. The classes that seem so important to us now may prove to be the insignificant things we studied. Specialization has its advantages, but so does flexibility." Gary Gasperich Civil Engineer 6th term: "It is hard to say because you can't tell until you get out into the real world to know what you really need to do your job. The classes give you a general view of many topics, some of which you would never have taken (voluntarily). Many students are not sure of what they want to do with some of these broad ideas; such as philosophy and political science and many finally find Eric M. Ekstrand MANGT BS David B. Evans ACNTG BS Terrence J. Forish POLSC BA Fiona J. Fox Carla G. Fryling PSYCH BA Mark M. Fuhrman COMMU BA Valerie J. Gibbens MANGT BS Dulce J. Glaz PSYCH BS Michael E. Glover MANGT BS Daniel L. Hrechun ACNTG BS Timothy M. Jares GAS BA David L. Keppler PSYCH BA D. Lincoln POLSC BA Deborah A. Lojewski PSYCH BA Susan J. Lorei APLSC BS Mark G. Marshall - POLSC BA Thomas G. Miller COMMU BA Pamela M. Olenski PSYCH BS David T. Rodgers PSYCH BA Robbin K. Ruhl PSYCH BA Marc A. Sargent MANGT BS Linda A. Schweinitz PSYCH BA Scott N. St. Clair MA ST BS Mark S. Silverthorn COMMU BA Sue Ann Spanos GAS BA Todd V. Stahley ACNTG BS Kurt A. Stephenson ACNTG BS Bruce D. Thomas ACNTG BS John J. Tuzynski ACNTG BS Jeffery N. Webster POLSC BA Ronald S. Williams PSYCH BA James J. Winschel MANGT BS Anne E. Wykoff APLSC BS Janice M. Stryker BIOS BS Bruce A. Gray ACNTG BS William Mark Gornall interest or eventually change their major to one of these in terests. There is no doubt that imany of the courses will never directly be used while on the job." John Bana Geophysics term 3: "Mandatory classes are a waste of time and energy. Students would be able to leave college earlier if they didn't have to take the extra classes. This would save time and money. I that there are as many pr_oponents as opponents of it. There are even those who feel that tenured professors should be re-evaluated according to the present standards. Even as a grad student she "knew the competition was fierce" and that it "did take publications to stay in and I would say that most of us had published before we got out of grad school." Most new grads realized that it wasn't a "cakewalk" once they were hired. This has treated an "under the gun" mentality foreign to some professors tenured during the fifties and sixties. "The rules of the game have changed," she said, "and they've changed drastically and I suppose they will change again." She warned that it was "certainly something that one should be very aware of." Professor John McDiarmid, a recent employee of .13ehrend was "disappointed" - *heti he was informed of the denial of tenure to Dr. Michel Small and of similar action against Dr. Phil lobst. "I was surprised that it occurred as this level in the • process," he remarked, but that "given the precedent of Phil lobst, last year, I wasn't altogether surprised." He did feel, though, that "its a good thing" for a major university like Penn State to have "fairly specific guidelines _ for tenure," to prevent---any - in consistencies caprious or not. He concured though that any standard should be "applied, flexibly" "A blind following," he went on, "of just reading down categories and checking off boxes . obviously isn't going to serve the purpose of an educational institution." He sensed that it is preferable if committees of review follow basic guidelines "with some kind of latitude" to fit these ECNS BS POL_SCL BA PS 23 Continued from page 1 Behrenders enjoy the newly renovated Commuter Cafeteria. The Library Free Day The Behrend College Library is pleased to announce that Monday, May 19, 1980, is the LIBRARY FREE DAY. There is no charge to all overdue books regardless of how many volumes you borrowed, if you return them to the Library on that day. Please take this opportunity to return all your overdue books. The Library hours for the Final Exam Week will be as follows: Sunday, May 18 Monday, May 19 Tuesday, May 20 Wednesday, May 21 Thursday, May 22 Friday, May 23 think that the selection of clasSes not related to your major should be left up to the individual to decide. I am paying for the classes, so why shouldn't I take the ones I like? Carolyn Marshall Nursing term 7: No, I don't think that students should have to take as many subjects unrelated to their majors as they do now. More time should be spent in the area of their interest which would motivate more students to learn more about their major. Other subjects can be correlated to the major also, and this would still give the student a "well-rounded education." It would make these other subjects more interesting to the student." By Sue Bentz requirements to individual cases. He also felt that the guidelines of PS-23 were written "mainly with University Park in mind" than for a college like Behrend where undergraduates teaching is its "main purpose." "There are some teaching differences bet ween the values of this place," he added," and the values of University Park, mainly having to do with the increased emphasis on teaching." He also cited that the resources necessary for research weren't "as great" and "the amount of time available is not as great" at Behrend as at University Park. Chairman of Behrend's Faculty Council, Dr. Bernard Scott strongly urged that Penn State should not offer new teaching faculty members limited - terms rather than tenure-track positions.-If the new professor does well in his position he may then be offered a tenure track position, he said: "Now then people would know" that their job wasn't permanent. "How can you in all con sciousness employ a person for twelve years" (referring to Dr. lobst) "and then say "Well, I'm sorry, we're - terminating `yoll because your standards are not good enough for us? He prefers that the University explain the economic reasons behind the denial of tenure. Otherwise, he claims, "Ws nonsense." he and PSU's reputation he felt, were being affected by some of these recent. tenure decisions. "I think that these things do reflect unfavorably upon the institution as a whole." During the course of the in terview he dug up two faculty appeals to the University Senate from the Dußois and Beaver campuses. Each dealt with the effect of recent tenure-policy decisions upon the reputation of 2:00 p.m. - 12:00 Midnight 8:00 a.m. -12:00 Midnight 8:00 a.m. -12:00 Midnight 8:00 a.m. - 12:00 Midnight 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. 8:00 a.m. - 12:00 Noon 1:00 •pmi: -• • 5:00 pin. PAGE 3 Continued on page 4
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers