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Neb. state colleges caught in money crunch
it
1
By Mark Hoffman
The telephone rings and Max Lundstrom excuses
himseif from the interview to answer it.
Today he is his own secretary. Strange?
Maybe not, except Lundstrom is the Wayne State
College (WSC) vice president for administration, and
two days a week, Monday and Friday, he is without a
secretary.
That, he said, is one of the ways WSC is trying to
make ends meet with a $3.4 million budget for the
1 973-74 academic year.
WSC, like many small college! acre the nation, is
feeling the impact of smaller.enrclfment, less financial
support and the .need to reduce programs and cut
instructors.
According to The Chronic le of Higher Education,
a national collegiate publication, the four Nebraska
state colleges Chadron State, Peru State, Wayne
State and Kearney State might have to dismiss 50
faculty members after this academic year because of
declining enrollment
Chadron State College (CSC) has announced that
it will drop if, foreign languages program. Don
Deselms, CSC vice president for academic affairs,
cited lack of student interest as the main reason for
dropping the program.
But "if we had all the money in the world, we
wouldn't worry about dropping programs," he said.
Although WSC enrollment has dropped from a
peak of 3,063 in the autumn of 18C8 to 1,802 this
semester, WSC has not had to cut programs, but
program sizes have been reduced and teachers have
been cut, Lundstrom said.
In the autjrrm of 1971, WSC had the equivalent of
110.9 full time teachers for 2,668 students. Now
there are only 81.39 full time teachers, Lundstrom
said. ,
How Is this teacher reduction felt in the
classroom? Russell Rasmussen, chairman of the WSC
Physical Sciences Dept., said that his department has
the equivalent of 1 1 instructors.
The department includes 13 programs "including
pre veterinary medicine, prepharmacy,
prc-engineering, premedicine and preoceanography.
The Chemistry Dept has two and one half
instructors because Rasmussen, as departmental
chairman, is supposed to be teaching only half time,
"but I always teach full time," he said.
Instructors not only teach class, he said, but help
in the laboratories, are responsible for checking
inventories on chemical stocks and service equipment
'Because! .,the; school,' jiannoT affortfltd;. taki out!
maintenance contraction equipments jp
A maintenance contract allows equipment buyers
to take out a contract similar to insurance. If the
equipment breaks down, the company pays for
rttntairf - - ' '"
Rasmussen said, "our manpower is 1 1 people, but
with these other jobs, we have about eight doing the
work for about 14 people."
He, like many WSC instructors, could be found
working at their offices on Saturday.
Not just instructors, but the materials to work
with have been in short supply. ,
Last year, the WSC Chemistry Dept. received
$1,000 to buy chemicals for about 400 to 450
chemistry students, he said.
The Chemistry Dept received $3,000 this year for
chemicals and equipment repair.
"This year we fed our budget is half (of what tt
should bit), but we fsel we are at the helm of a gravy
ship," he said.
, The budget for UNL undergraduate chemistry
instruction for 1973-74 was $46,614. About 2,500
students are involved in the program, said George
Sturgeon, UNL associate professor of chemistry and
chemistry laboratory director. Included in this
budget, he said, are expenditures for chemicals, minor
laboratory equipment and maintenance.
Niel Edmunds, WSC dean of Applied and
Professional Studies, said that inadequate finances to
meet inflation has resulted in fewer instructors and'
heavier workloads in such areas as industrial
education.
"We have lost buying power for material and
equipment, and have had to rob the instructional
budget for maintenance," he said.
A new industrial arts building is under
construction at WSC, but "if we don't have the
finances for the equipment, we are cheating the
student" Edmunds said.
Irvin Brandt, WSC dean of Arts and Sciences, said
WSC's financial situation has resulted in a
reevaluation of current programs and classes.
As a result of that reevaluation, some classes are
offered once very two years, to economize with larger
enrollment in each class, he said.
Even with declining enrollment and financial
difficulties, Lundstrom remained optimistic about the
future of WSC. WSC is neccesary "to meet the needs
of this area," he said.
For example, Wayne Public High School started a
program for training mentally disabled children that
has won it national recognition, Lundstrom said.
Other area high schools are developing similar
prograrns'and "eventually we wili be moving into an
area.hjwe;wilf have to prov$53 teachers (for these
programs)," he said.
WSC also hosts weekend workshops for area high
schools teachers. The subject of the workshops might
rariyc from courses on csreef education to bcCOuimy
acquainted with the metric system.
In view of declining enrollment, Val Peterson,
WSC distinguished professor of political science, said,
"sheer size is not what counts."
Peterson, who has been U.S. ambassador to
Denmark and Finland, Nebraska governor and
University of Nebraska regent, received his first
college degree at WSC.
He said the quality of college education is "not a
mass production thing. You can't measure it like you
do in selling seats to a football game."
1
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Max Lundstrom
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Historical visit
There is a chance that in April a UNL residence hall will
have a resident who is more than 70 years old and who is
able to pass any American history test without studying.
The man is Henry Steele Commager, professor of
American history at Amherst College in Amherst, Mass., a
private liberal arts college for men.
Comma ger's visit is being sponsored by the State
University of Nebraska (SUN) program and the UNL
History Dept He will be on the UNL campus April 8
through .23.
- Edward Homze, acting chairman of the History Dept,
called Commager "probably the most distinguished
American historian living today."
Homze said the often outspoken Commager will give 15
lectures on the American Revolution. Students may receive
one hour of credit for attending the lectures. Nonstudents
also may sit in, he said.
"Ha (Commager) insists upon living on campus while he
is here," Homze said. "He believes this will give him a
better chance to communicate with the students."
He said Comma oer miaht be able to staw in the Noiharrft
Residential Center.
FEB. ZB, 1MB. 1-2, 7-9r 14-16: rosr t.Mi. 2pm -0 nets '
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LAUNCHING PAD
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page 6
daily nebraskan
Wednesday, february 27, 1974
