The Vista June 11, 1987

Page 1

T i,

e 1 HE

Jun

1987

Vol. 85, No. 55

VISTA

Thursday Edition

Central State University, Edmond, Oklahoma

AAUP endorses task force overhaul

of Oklahoma higher education plan By J. Money Summer editor The Executive Committee of the Oklahoma Conference of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) voted last week to strongly support a report released by the Higher Education Task Force, chaired by James R. Tolbert III. The task force was formed and ordered by the state legislature to investigate Oklahoma's higher education system. The report of the task force, called "Oklahoma's Secret Crisis," said Oklahoma's higher education system needs several changes to bring it up to a level of excellence. The task force report calls for several changes to propel the system toward a level of excellence. These changes include the use of standardized testing to measure student achievement during their schooling, the establishment of merit scholarships for both graduate and undergraduate students and the enforcement of core curriculum for all students. Assistant Professor Jimmie L. Rogers, local AAUP chapter president, said the task force has made good recommendations for getting higher education back on track, especially by calling for testing to monitor students. "Too many students can get around the classes which require them to write research papers, or use another form of high level skill communication. "Even though this country has a 98 percent literacy rate," said Rogers, "not every person can comprehend, and students who don't have to work with these things often can't communicate."

Rogers said the standardized testing along with more stringent enforcement of the core curriculum would stop these problems. "One test should be administered before the student starts to school, just to find out where their communications skills are at. The other test should be administered to students during their junior year. If they needed help in any areas, they would have time to go back and get that training before graduating," Rogers said. Rogers said merit scholarships would help motivate students to try harder in classes, and do away with the "need" portion of most scholarships.

"Almost all scholarships are based upon need. For example, is the student female or male, how much money does he/she make, how much support does the student receive from home, and other questions are taken under consideration before scholarships are awarded," Rogers said. "What we need is a number of good scholarships for students based on their ability to do well in classes, regardless of the careers they have chosen or their genders or financial status," added Rogers. Rogers said CSU does pretty well in maintaining a core curriculum for students, and added a lot of thought goes into a decision before allowing a student around

Employees receive awards

Watson said the committee has taken into account how much extra money has come in so far during the current calendar year, as well as the revenue expected to be generated by the new tax package passed recently. The extra money, Watson said, will be set aside into a special trust fund. He said the state really won't start to feel the money from

The task force also made recommendations to the legislature concerning the recruitment and retainment of highly professional faculty members, and a modified role for the regents in the system. Dr. Lillard said CSU has variety and quality that attracts the kind of faculty and staff members the report calls for. "We advertise regionally as well as nationally for our open positions. One position we advertised recently drew 68 applicants from across the nation," Lillard said. Press Secretary David Blakeman of the Oklahoma State Regents for. Higher Education said Monday the Regents agree with most of the recommendations made by the task force for improving the higher education system. Blakeman said the Higher Regents met with the task force during its evaluation of the system and, after the report was released last January, to try and work out solutions to the problems. "The Regents agree with the task force on most solutions to these problems, except for three things," Blakeman said. "The task force wants to close the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma, consolidate three Oklahoma City institutions, and put all the institutions in the state under one board of regents, except for O.U. and O.S.U.

Four CSU employees received Employee of the Year awards, presented by former Governor George Nigh (pictured far left) and Dr. Larry Williams (far right).

Pictured from Left to Right are:

Christopher Liggins, Lawanta Mace, Carlos Billen and part-time employee AnseIm Effiong. Mace was elected by her fellow employees, and the others were selected by the maintenance department administration.

Budget constant By J. Money Higher education will be allotted the same amount of funds with next fiscal year's budget as this year, said Senator Phil Watson, a member of the General Conference Committee on Appropriations. The committee was formed by the legislature to work out a budget for the next fiscal year before July 1.

a core class. "Those classes are there because that's what students need to learn in addition to their majors," said Rogers. CSU President Dr. Bill Lillard said this school does a very good job of maintaining a comprehensive core curriculum. "In fact," said Lillard, "CSU is the role model of all the institutions in the state in this area. Our core curriculum is constantly undergoing change, it's evaluated each year. One recommendation we are considering right now is adding the requirement of a foreign language class to the core. Computer language is also considered foreign language," he added.

the tax bill until next year, however. Watson said unless anything unexpected happens, the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education would be allocated approximately the same amount of money as during fiscal 1986-87. "We didn't want to make any cuts in education, and the tax package passed recently will make that possible," said Watson. Press Secretary David Blakeman of the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education said that even if appropriations to the system remain about the same as last year, there are some other factors which could influence the amount of money a school will get. "We have to take into account the amount of students enrolled in

each institution, and other costs must be taken into consideration as well," Blakeman said. Blakeman said if all these factors remain similar to last year, then CSU will have about the same budget for this following year. He added, however, if appropriations to higher education are cut, the slack will have to be picked up at the expense of students. "A tuition increase would be necessary to counter a budget cut," Blakeman said. CSU President Dr. Bill Lillard said CSU will operate next year on a "stand-still" budget, and added if the budget is cut, it will only be a slight one. "If we do get the budget cut, students will have to pay more tuition, but not any great amount," Lillard said.

"But," Blakeman continued, "the regents are working with the task force for different solutions to problems those actions were designed to help, as well."

Ryan stays here

Dr. Barbara Ryan

By J. Money Dr. Barbara Ryan, scheduled to retire June 30, will stay on at Central State University until the resolution of the South Eastern Oklahoma State University (SEOSU) president search, said Dr. Bill Lillard, CSU president. Lillard said he plans to ask the Board of Regents for Oklahoma Colleges during a meeting later this month for permission to keep Ryan on. Lillard said Ryan agreed to stay on for the good of the institution until Dr. Larry Williams either returns from SEOSU or appears not to be returning. Ryan was hired to the school 28 years earlier as an instructor of physical education, and has since advanced up the ladder to associate vice president of administration.


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