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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 11, 1974)
Second year plan of Toward Excellence' told By Greg Wees In an effort to catapult the Nebraska University system into the ranks of elite universities across the nation, NU has announced the second year strategy of its five-year "Toward Excellence" plan. The 135-page report will be reviewed by the NU Board of Regents at its next meeting Saturday at Regents Hall, formerly the NU Systems Build ing, 38th and Holdrege Sts. The revision of the five-year plan, adopted in 1973, makes 13 recommendations which, it says, will affect not only students, but also all Nebraskans. Foremost is the encourage ment to increase the quality of NU faculty by "judicious use" of funds for compensation, faculty' travel, sabbatical leaves, ex change and visiting professor ships. New funds must be budgeted "in order to permit the Universi ty to compete with any institu tion in the country in attracting additional teachers and scholars of national and international stature," the report states. Improving evaluation methods Another plan goal is improv ing methods used to evaluate the effectiveness of teachers in the classroom and to eliminate those teachers who do not meet minimum requirements. One per cent of NU's instructinoal budget would be used "for improvement and experimenta tion in instruction." Quality teaching must be regarded with salary increases, promotions, a system of aca demic leaves of absence and peer recognition, the report urges. Too often such calls for improvement of undergraduate education are just "pious ac clamations,' ' the report notes. Students would continue to participate in the decision making process of the University from departmental committees to the NU Board of Regents. They "should 'continue to work with faculty and administrators in developing a better under standing of the teaching-learning process," according to the report. In an effort to make NU one of the nation's leading institutions, the research and graduate pro grams must be bolstered, the report recommends. doilu Wednesday, december 1 1, 1974 lincoln, nebraska vol. 98 no. 51 Faculty Senate dislikes five year plan Dy Randy Wright After more than an hour of discussion Tuesday, the Faculty Senate passed a motion expres sing dissatisfaction with the revised UNL five year plan "Toward Excellence." The motion, brought forward by English professor Paul Olson, recommended that the admini stration request the legislature give the University time to have maximum faculty participation in suggesting revisions for the plan, especially through the academic planning committee. The motion further directed to the administrative personnel of all three University campuses a request for a standard format for the plan on all campuses that enrollment figures for the three campuses be' standardized, that a clear distinction be made as to the "missions" of the University department, and that priorities be assigned to all recommenda tions in the plan. Olson"s motion followed a statement by English professor Lawrence Poston that the re vised plan was not drafted on the basis of mutual cooperation between' campuses, that If was not likely to be effective for long because of potential small col lege mergers and that its style was "redundant." The plan was "not concrete enough to build on but specific enough for us to be hanged on," Poston said. Sociology professor James Kimberly told the Senate the document ignored efforts at input into the faculty's choice of the 10 areas designated for excellence. Edgar Pearlstein, professor of physics, said that in expressing dissatisfaction, the Senate would be "intellectually forthright" and called the revised plan "unrealistic." , Olson added, "We ought rY6t be cyYircarabout thr aenwmstra- tion responding to our requests." Senate president Richard Gil bert will present the Senate viewpoints at today's hearing conducted by Stephen Sample, the vice chancellor of academic affairs, in the Nebraska Union. The revised plan is to be presented to the Board of Regents Dec. 14. "This means that particular emphasis must be placed on regaining national stature in See related story pg. 8 those areas that have not fared well in recent nation-wide evalu ations of graduate programs and research," the report said. First graduate coHege NU was the first University west of the Mississippi to formally establish a graduate college, the report says. But the quality of the gruaduate pro gram has been allowed to slip in recent years, according to the report. Making University services available to the entire state by extending programs is another goal of the five-year plan. Outreach programs such as SUN (State Universities of Nebraska) and agricultural extention must be expanded, the report urges. During the next five years, NU "will strive to make the intellec tual, artistic, cultural and practi cal resources of the University more accessible to Nebraskans in all walks of life." The plan also calls for the implementation of the Regents' Affirmative Action Program, which seeks to attract more minorities and women to Uni versity jobs. This involves a proposal to employ special Affirmative Ac tion officers in the Chancellor's office to eliminate "any practice which results in invidious dis tinctions or discrimination In the treatment of any person associ ated with the University." The Upjqam eraj, already, , , has,, beep asked for money to finance these jobs. ' --' - ..-.,.. s-Five-state consortium' ' The report recommends' the establishment o a consortium linking NU with the Universities of Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State and Missouri. This "may bean important first step in the development of extensive coop erative relationships among these five institutions," the report states. Continued on pg. 6 Moststudentsseek employment self-satisfaction There are more Cratchets than Scrooges on the UNL campus, at least when students consider the importance of money to their choices in making career plans after graduation, according to the Daily Nebraskan Superpoll. Almost eight out of ten of the nearly 400 students responding to the poll said that achieving self satisfaction from their future work was the most important factor in making their career plans. Making a lot of money was the most important consideration to 10 per cent of the students interviewed, while eight per cent said that living and working in a city or town they 'Iked was most important. The poll found self satisfaction from work was more important to women than to male students. Almost nine out of ten women said self satisfaction was their most important consideration, while 73 per cent of the male students cited the same reason. Making money was twice as important to men responding than it was to women students (12 percent to six percent). Students in the colleges of Pharmacy, Law, Arts and Sciences and those in Graduate School were most likely to respond that self satisfaction was their most important con sideration when choosing future employ ment. Dentistry and Business Administration Colleges students were the most likely students to cite the importance of money in their career plans. Superpoll also states that nearly half (48 per cent) of UNL's students plan to go directly into work after graduation. But a large number of students (22 per cent) are still undecided about their postgi aduation plans. Most of the undecided group included younger students, mostly trv ,e under 19 years old. The poll found that the older students are, the more likely they are to have definite postgraduation plans. Twelve per cent of the students responding said they planned to enter a professional school after graduation, while 11 per cent said they planned to attend graduate school. Six per cent said they planned to travel. The number of students planning to go directly into work rose as the student's age increased. Thirty-two per cent of the students 18 years old or younger said they planned to go directly into work, while 70 per cent of students over 30 years of age said they planned to work immediately after gradua tion, according to the poll. Superpoll '74 was conducted by SRI Community Response, Inc., a Lincoln polling firm. The students interviewed formed a proportional representation of students based on age, sex, colleges, class levels and living units. Key: A Making a lot of money; B -Self satisfaction from work; C Job benefits (travel, car, expense account, etc.); D Working with a prominent firm or organiza tion; E Living and working in a city or town you like; F Enger a professional school (Law, Medical, etc.); G Enter graduate school; H Work; I Travel; J Don't know. From this list below, which one is the most important to you In your career plans? ABODE SEX ' Male: 12 73 2, 3 10 i Female: 6 83 1 5 AGE f 18Younger: 14 76 1 1 7 19: 18 75 - 2 6 20: 8 82 5 2 3 21: 4 85 2 - 10 ' 22: 3 89 - 3 6 23-30: 9 74 1 2 14 n.rOrt. rtr r if I CLASS ' Freshman: 14 73 3 1 8 Sophomore: 13 78 1 9 Junior: 5 88 1 1 5 ! Senior: 10 78 2 2 8 Graduate Professional: 4 79 2 2. 13 COLLEGE ' Agriculture 11 82 7 i Architecture: 8 83 8 i Arts & Sciences: 6 88 1 1 5 Business Ed.: 15 70 4 4 6 Engineering: 12 61 3 6 18 ;' Dentistry: 20 40 40 Law: 8 92 j, Pharmacy: 100 . - . HomeEcon.: 12 60 4 4 Teachers: 12 75 3 10 j Undeclared: 10 76 14 Graduate: 100 TOTAL: 10 79 2 2 8 I (387) i t $ .A .' .1 t " O- . - i . . . 1 .4 4 ' ti 4 ,t j s J & j J j