1976-08-30; Central Michigan Life

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>*    Volume 58 No. 1
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Monday, August 30, 1976
Presiden t forsees
good, bad news
by HOLLY HAYES \
LIFE Managing Editor
First the good news.
Central is a "healthy institution," moving ahead
with programs and planning. It also is the most popular
institution of higher education in Michigan,
The bad news centers around the words "budget"
.and "enrollment."
Such is the outlook from President Harold Abel's
office at the beginning of the 1976*77 academic year. Yet
amidst the problems, Abel finds room for both optimism
and solutions.
"In sum," Abel told faculty members at an Aug. 23
meeting, "The prospects for the year ahead are bright
where the academic program and its continuing im*
provem'ent are concerned," Abel also listed several key
areas of recent administrative action.
High marks on an accreditation review by the North
Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools
are one source of optimism, Abel said, adding the
preliminary approval given the new Doctor of
Psychology program reflects on "every academic
department and administrative unit of the University."
Faculty task forces studying additional doctoral
program possibilities, student advising and general
curricular problems have been meeting during the
summer, Abel told the gathering. These groups will
present their findings to new Provost John Cantelon and
the recommendations will be fed into University
planning processes.
Abel also reflected upon a recent Affirmative Action
study conducted on campus this year "The concern is
more than a matterof law and public policy. If one of the
values which ought to emerge from the educational
experience is a respect for one's fellow workers and
fellow human beings, then we ought to practice what we
purport to teach," he said.
Abel added the appointment of a University affirmative action officer has been authorized to "give full-
time attention to improving our performance in all
aspects of the endeavor."
But the decision to hire an affirmative action officer
was an administrative committment "we would have
preferred to delay," Abel said Tuesday, explaining
budgetary uncertainty earlier had placed the hiring of
such an officer on a lower priority until the findings of
the study were released. Abel added CMU's Women's
of certain governmental requirements, but we must also
admit that they have forced the universities and schools
to make changes which their own intelligence should
long ago have dictated," Abel stressed.
' The president also told faculty the governance,
processes of the University are effective, including the^;
Academic Senate, its Executive Board and Abel's qwn .
administrative team.
Also a part of the "Good news," Abel said, is the;
quality of this year's freshman class, numbering 3,700.;
"Their ability and, I believe, their motivation will justify ;
your own best efforts in the classroom," Abel told faculty
members.
"Less encouraging," Abel said, is the University's
state appropriations outlook, part of the "bad news."
"In highly uncertain enterprises optimism needs to
be well-guarded as a hedge against future disappointment. We hope for the best and plan for the worst,"
he said. ' "
In a recent interview, Abel said the current
academic year "is the tightest in Central's recent
history," adding he has requested Cantelon along with
Arthur Ellis, vice president for public affairs, and Jerry
Tubbs, vice president for business and finance, to
provide him with a list of cost-cutting possibilities to deal
with the tight budget.
1 "We are anticipating to be about $500,000 out of
whack at the end of the year," Abel said, stressing that is
a "ballpark" figure only. j
Abel also explained the University's current budget
situation in regards to the state's fiscal year change (see
related story, page4).
Also part of the "bad news" is the urgent question of
student enrollment, Abel said.
"What we are presently witnessing on this campus
is one small piece of what is happening all across the
nation. The bumper crop of children produced by the
exhuberant '50's is now of college age, That 18 to 21-
year-old population is at its peak," he said, adding from
1976 onward, the college-age population wiil decline
steadily.
Caucus and Affirmative Action Council had given input
to the decision.
In addition, Abel said the recent Title IX self-
evaluation concerning sex discrimination in educational
programs "has identified weaknesses and pointed out
the direction for needed improvement."
"We may resent the bureaucratic cumbersomeness
(See "Abel..." page 7A»
CM LIFE PHOTO BY SCOTT BELLINGER
HIGH SHOT—A panoramic view of Central's campus looks south toward Rose Center. While building construction has slowed, many improvements to the existing campus have been made during the summer.
Cantelon cites quality programs
New provo$t sees CMU as 'innovative
by PAM KLEIN
LIFE News Editor
The position of provost is
significant because it involves every
aspect of a university's teaching and
learning, according to John Cantelon, CMU*S new provost. Cantelon
said tne provost must have a broad
view of all the university in order to
function efficiently. .'  *
"And since the first year of a job
is primarily a learning experience,"
he added, "it will take me a while to
gain the 'broad view' that I need."
Cantelon, former dean of the
College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
at the University of California,,
declined to comment on what he
considered the good and bad points
of CMU because he said he has not
had enough time to* evaluate the
University's situation.
"Being a normal institution, I'm
sure CMU has its problems,"
Cantelon said. "But during my
recruitment was the only previous
time I had visited the campus, and
recruitment is like an elaborate
mating ritual—one never sees the
woman in curlers  until ,after the
marriage." .. . •
However, Cantelon said CMU
was a' "responsible innovator" in
educational programs, primarily in
its Institute for Personal and Career
Development-Program (IPCD).'
The IPC© program, a
"university without walls,.," offers
educational programs in states
throughout the country and ih two
foreign nations. Cantelon safe! CMU's
program "delivers high-quality
programs to non-traditional
audiences while allowing students to
get their money's worth."
He added the University should
be encouraged to develop such non-
traditional constituencies as IPCD
students in order to combat the
expected decreased enrollment of
traditional on-campus students.
• "CMU has been farsighted in
recognizing that this decreased
enrollment was expected and in
finding other areas in which to
channel their staff energies,"
Cantelon said.' , "
Another, benefit; of *sach  in-
Welcome back!
t.
1
With the beginning of the Fall Semester., 1976, the University
community is headed for another year of challenges and changes.
Among these changes is the recent appointment of John Cantelon as
CMU's provost and a big challenge Is the financial picture facing the
school in the coming, months. ,
CM LIFE'S four section back to school issue will feature various
aspects of University,-community and athletic life.
Included in the campus and community life section are stories
describing Various recreational and entertainment activities' in and
around the Mt. Pleasant area. , .
In this section are stories detailing the summer's events, student
involvement in collective bargaining and views toward the future from
University leaders and administrators.
./
novative programs as the IPCD
includes the potential to learn new
teaching methods from the non-
traditional courses and apply them in
the traditional university classroom,
Cantelon said.
. - • One problem area, Cantelon said
he observed*' both at CMU and
around tb*f country, was the growing
cultural .-trend toward "social
privatism," which he defined as
withdrawing allegiance , from
established institutions and concentrating on" an individual's personal matters. '
He said this trend toward social
privatism st CMU is something he,
as provost,- must work to balance.
"For example," Cantelon said,
"most students, today are withdrawing from such institutions as
student government and the
established church because they
don't feel these groups allow them, to
express themselves."
"The same is true of faculty
members who feel the university is
established for them to teach or do
research, or_ for the bureaucratic-
minded • person, who feels a
university is established for then, to
run an administration," he added.
, "The'provost must run against
the emotional ties of the time, such
as the trend toward social privatism,
and get people to swing back to
thinking of the institution' as a whole
rather than^ themselves," Cantelon
said. "Sometimes, this makes the
provost the bad ,guy."
Before coming to Central,
Cantelon hud been * member of the
faculty and administrative, staff at
tha University of Southern
California since I960.
During those 16 years, he
served as university chaplain and
associate professor, director of the
School of Religion, vice provost ahd
dean of the College of Letters, Arts
and Science's and vice president of
Undergraduate Studies.
Born in Minnesota, he received
secondary schooling in Canada and
earned his bachelor of arts degree
from Reed College, Portland, Ore.
Cantelon also has studied at
Oxford University, where he earned
his doctor of philosophy degree in
1951. He was then ordained jn
Portland and served pastorates
there and in Eugene, Ore. until 1953.
From 1953 to 1957, he was a
staff membec of the Christian
Association of' the University of
Pennsylvania. He was appointed
associate secretary in the Division of
Higher Education of the
Presbyterian Church in 1957 and
held that position until he'joined the
University of Southern California in
1960.
Cantelon is a member of Phi
Beta Kappa, the national honor
society; Phi Kappa Phi, the
American Academy of Political and
Social   Science,   Blue   Key,   the
Newcomen  Society   and   is, a   life
member of the Oxford Society.
He has been awarded the
honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
degree by the Hebrew Union
College-Jewish Institute of Religion.
Cantelon also has authored
several articles on religion, theology
and education, and has written two"
books, "A* Protestant Approach to
the Campus Ministry, and "College
Education * and the Campus
Revolution."
■^'UNDERSTANDING AMERICA "a-Central's Bicentennial celebration will kick off Sept. 13, culminating*
sever al months of Work by the University Bicentennial Committee.iFeatures of the, week-long tribute include a
Speech % Sen. Sam Irvin, D-N.C, on the constitution of today, a program in American folk music by Jean
Ritchie, a performance by the Buffalo. Symphony and Carole Howard and her dance company's performance of
'America Dances Through the Years" See related story Section D. .- .
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