UNL given clean bill of health for next 1 0 years
By Ron Ruggless
UNL got a checkup this summer, and the institution
received a clean bill of health for the next 10 years.
The North Central Association of Colleges and Universities-no
doctors-evaluated the health of UNL and the
University of Nebraska Medical Center and accredited the
campuses for 10 years.
The last diagnosis was in 1971, when the accreditation
team gave a 5-year accreditation. UNL Chancellor Roy
Young said the university was in the process of reorganiza
tion that year, resulting in a shorter accreditation period.
The North Central Association sets down requirements
universities must meet to be accredited. Young said, and
UNL met those requirements. '
The chancellor said the good checkup was not without
Its health warnings, though, most dealing with money
problems.
Concerns
Among the concerns of the accreditation team were:
-Academic advising. It was considered weak in some
areas, Young said, mainly because of the lack of
manpower in advising. More money for more manpower
is needed, Young added.
-Salaries. They are not competitive with comparable
institutions, Young said. This is an age-old problem at
UNL, and Young said the university will be appealing to
the Legislature in 1978 for higher salary allocations.
-Teaching assistants. Stipends to teaching assistants
need to be raised to meet inflation, Young said. Again.it
is a matter of having the allocation from the Legislature.
-Instructional and research equipment. Funding is
insufficient in this area. "Operating budgets are low for
most colleges, and, again, they have not kept up with
inflation," Young said.
-Decision making. The involvement by the NU Board
of Regents and the Legislature was deemed excessive by
the team.
-Health programs. The accreditation team said the
geographical distance between the College of Dentistry
in Lincoln and the medical center in Omaha caused a
breakdown in communications and coordination of health
programs. Young said the College of Dentistry does not
see this as a concern. - '
-Research and creative work. Young said the team
believes the university needs to improve the atmosphere
for scholarly writing and research.
Good points
Good points in the team's accreditation report out
numbered the bad points. They include:
-a progressive and forward-looking chancellor and
staff.
-dedicated faculty. ' '
-articulate, interested students,
-good Student Affairs organization,
-excellent results from the "Areas of Excellence"
program.
outstanding faculty and good maintenance,
-balanced undergraduate education,
-good student housing program,
-ample extra-curricular cultural life-music, art and
recreation.
-continued improvement of library collections.
-sensitivity to the agricultural needs of the state
through the Institute of Agruculture and Natural
Resources.
-highly-qualified nonacademic personnel, such as
secretaries and maintenance workers,
-outstanding security program.
-a high degree of satisfaction and pride in UNL by
faculty, students and alumni. .
Young said the accreditation costs the university
$6,000 and is conducted by authorities from other
universities.
Accreditation effect
He said the good accreditation is frequent among
well-established universities like UNL.
Besides evaluating UNL and the medical center, this
accreditation included the School of Technical
Agriculture at Curtis, the State University of Nebraska
(SUN), the University-wide Graduate College and NU
governance and administration. .
The University of Nebraska at Omaha was evaluated
and accredited for 10 years in the fall of 1976.
Young said the accreditation does not directly affect
students or faculty.
The main result of the accreditation will be improve
ments in the weak areas of the university, which were
pointed out by the team,' Young said.
All of the areas, even secretarial, and maintenance
employees, in the evaluation reflect the quality of the
university, he said.
dailu(n)(sto
n
Wednesday, august 24, 1977 vol. 101 no. 1 lincoln, nebraska
UN Us academic programs sized up
Sizing up academic programs at UNL this summer was
a sizeable task for the North Central Association of Col
leges and Universities accreditation team.
They commented on the programs in their report to
the university. These comments include:
Agriculture
t The team found needs expressed by personnel to be in
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Photo by Ted Kirk
No, this isn't the tail end of an accident, it's only a mechanic making some last-minute adjustments. For
more squealing tires and flying dirt, see pages 40 and 41.
salaries, increased budget, improved instruction and a
more reasonable faculty-student ratio and problems
seen throughout the university.
Architecture
The performance of students in architecture has been
good and the record of placement of graduates equally
good. ' i
Arts and Sciences
The college needs a regular and solidly funded sab
batical program, increased resources for book acquisi
tions, additional computer funding for research, instruc
tional data processing, increased stipend for teaching as
sistants and attention to faculty workload and pay scales.
Business Administration ; .
Administrative leadership in the College of Business
Administration is impressive and a clear strength. Sound
management procedures have been established and have
been helpful in enabling a large student enrollment to be
handled With somewhat limited resources.
Faculty morale is high and there is large and strong
M.B.A. and M.A. programs. Research activities in the col
lege are improving and could be improved by the reduc
tion in faculty teaching loads.
Dentistry
Disparities in salaries against other dental schools and
private practice have, according to the college's records,
cost them 28 valued full-time faculty members since
1971.
Engineering and Technology
Engineering and technology enrollments on both the
Omaha and Lincoln campuses have been increasing
steadily for the last throe years.
With only a slight increase in instructional resources in
that period, the increase in advising load and the student
credit hours per faculty member has been significant.
Continued on p.7
We were a little squirrely once
, By Mary Jo Pitzl
(To the Tune of 'Deck,the Halls")
Deck the halls with shouti of ' golly I"
Fa la la la la la la la la
Tis the season of freshman folly,
Fa la la la la la la la la
Don they now their letter jackets
Fa la la la la la ! la la
Studying their freshman packets
Fa la la la la la la la la la.
Strike the dorms and join a frat
Fa la la la la la la la la
inside Wednesday
W21 they or won't they: The Lincoln Foundation
is studying city -county merger -P-38
Oh, give ine a lounge: Both men and women will be
looking for homes in the over-crowded residence
halls ; : -P-27
Seating in downtown Omaha? The committee studying"
the future of Memorial Stadium is looking towards
adding more seats , P-47
Eat the dorm food and get fat
Fa la la la la la la la la
Follow them to all their classes
Fa la la la la la la la la
They'll get lost and look like -
Fa la la la la la la la la la
See the blazing fire on "R" Street
Fa la la la la la la la ia la
Throw in your books end what a featl
Fa la la la la la la la la Id
(resounding chorus)
They're squirrelly now, but wait a year
Fa la la la la la la la la
You'll forget that they were even here
Fa la la la la la la la la.
Ah yes! It's the beginning of a whole new festive
season, that time of the year to buy a new pair of pajamas
decent enough to have your roommate see you in, when
all ambitious summer scholars make a frantic attempt to
cram their summer reading cou.se into one all-nighter,
when all the new albums are packed up for the return trip
to the Big U.
And accompanying all this fluny of uvtivity is the
advent of The Freshman on campus.
Armed with a year's supply of home-baked goodies
and their coordinated bedroom ensemble, they new fresh
man class descends on campus wiih enough squirreliness
to send everyone scurrying for acorns.
Continued on p. 13
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