page 2
daily nebraskan
thursday, march 12, 1981 1
Professors lament closing of Centennial in May
By Kirsten Nielsen
The Centennial Education Program,
unique in that it was founded by students
in 1969, ends this May. Started as an alter
native to regularly structured UNL classes,
Centennial offers a variety of integrated
courses in a small and communal atmos
phere. 4,It was started by the students original
ly," said Dr. Betty Carpenter, a fellow in
the program. They wanted something
different than the regularly offered cours
es, she said.
"It was kind of an attempt to get back
to the original idea of a university -the idea
of following the master."
Centennial started as a residential pro
gram. All the students involved lived in
Neihardt Residence Center.
"You had the same group of people
eating, living and learning together. It was
really a community experience," said Dr.
Robert Bergstrom, a Centennial fellow on
leave from the English department.
He said that at the time the program
started, students had more voice in choos
ing the curriculum. In recent years, the cur
riculum has been decided mainly by the
faculty.
"Of course, there's always the danger in
an unstructured situation of geting trivial,"
Bergstrom said, "but I think it's well worth
the risk. There have been some very origin
al and creative ideas come out of the pro
gram ."
He added that Centennial has frequent
ly been reviewed by the university, and has
never had any problem in justifying its
existence in the time that Bergstrom has
been affiliated with the program.
Strong integration
Bergstrom said the integration of studies
is one of Centennial's strong points.
"If, for instance, a class is offered by
the English department of the university, it
has to approach the subject from that
particular point of view. Here, we can look
at the sociological and scientific sides of
the subject as well."
No longer strictly residential, the Cen
tennial program involves about 300 stu
dents, most of whom take one or two class
es in the program per semester.
"At one time, there were only about 80
students in Centennial," Bergstrom com
mented. It gained a reputation in the mid
1970s as a shelter for kooks, both faculty
and students."
He said residue of this attitude is partial
ly responsible tor Centennial's closing.
Dr.
Political problem
Robert Fuller, senior fellow ot
Cen-
i i .i
tennial, said ne sees tne problem as a
political one.
"When the regents threaten cuts, the
weakest programs politically - will go first.
That means undergraduate programs," he
said.
The decision to discontinue Centennial
was made during the summer, he said,
when most of the students were gone.
"It was easy to eliminate it. We have no
research or graduate program, no tenured
faculty. Centennial has no political clout."
Mike Roegner, a physics major and Cen
tennial student, laments the ending of die
program.
"The university is interested in building
up things like the Business College, or the
football team, and that's fine. That's the
body of the university. But when they let
Centennial go, they lost a little of the hear!
and mind of the university. That's kind of
sad."
UNL officials: hiring unqualified is not likely
By Sue Jepsen
While it is unlikely UNL would hire a faculty member
or administrator who was not qualified, it is possible.
Recently, UNO administrators discovered a teacher
had been hired who allegedly falsified his academic cre
dentials. Larry Andrews, UNL assistant vice chancellor of aca
demic affairs, said to his knowledge there has not been
a similar incident at UNL during the 1 2 years he has been
here.
Andrews is the author of an affirmative action plan
specifying procedures for filling academic and administra
tive positions. The plan, adopted by the NU Board of
Regents in 1980. is "roughly the same thing" as what was
used before, but it is now formalized.
"One of the most important decisions we make around
here is to hire a faculty member," he said. While there are
emergency exceptions, he said the plan for the most pail
is followed.
The procedure calls tor official authorization to fill a
position, a 30-day advertising period, the formation of
search committees for each department, candidate inter
views and finally the hiring or rejecting of applicants.
Andrews said the screening committee has the respons
ibility to analyze materials submitted with the applica
tion. He said it was not unusual for someone on the
screening committee to personally know the applicant or
one of his references.
These committees depend a great deal on the integrity
of the applicants or their references, he said.
Safeguards
To guard against hiring an unqualifed person, a com
mittee may check references, contact the dean of graduate
studies at the university or college the applicant graduated
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from, or obtain an official copy of the applicant's trans
cript . bearing the registrar's seal.
"Tin not going to say it's impossible (hiring an unquali
fied candidate . but it is mot unlikely." Andrews said.
Norman Hosteller, associate professor of Lnglish and
chairman of the department's recruitment committee, said
he agreed that while he could imagine it happening, it was
not a likely possibility.
He said his job begins when he is notified by the de
partment head that a position may be filled.
Next, the opening is advertised in at least two national
professional publications, other more specialized publica
tions that might attract applicants, and at about 200
placement offices at other universities.
A committee then is loimed to screen the applications.
He said committee sie varies, but a standard committee
has seven members, five professors, a graduate student and
an undergraduate si udent .
The committee eliminates "obviously unsuitable ' can
didates on the basis of their applications, resumes and
othei matei uiK submitted.
I 10m those candidates who appeal qualified, the com
mittee icquests a dossiei with letters ot recommendation,
brom these the committee selects six to 10 candidates
to i picliniinaiA mteivieus.
"Virtually all of the dossiers come from placement
offices and aie no! seen oi handled by the candidate," lie
said.
Aliei the prcliminaiv interviews, the committee selects
its fust choice, who is then brought to the campus foi
interviews with the dean, the faculty and the vice chancel
lor or his staff.
"It is very rare that we don't get (hire) our number one
choice." Hosteller said.
Rely on integrity
The screening committee gets most information from
sources other than the applicant, he said, and therefore
must rely on their integrity.
"We trust the reliability of the placement office t
send us reliable credentials," he said.
Hosteller said that in the two years he has chaired the
committee, he has never asked on applicant to produce
a diploma, athough occasionally a transcript has been
requested. Other precautions, including more thorough
checking of the applicant's letters of recommendation
may also be taken.
Hostetler said each opening has attracted anywhere
from 43 to I 53 applicants. Out of the 1 .000 applications
he has seen, none has given him reason to doubt its valid
ity. He said that while he had heard of cases of falsified
credentials, they involved plagiaried publication,, and
were very rare.
"It would be utterly stupid to tell out-and-out lies in
an application." Hosteller said, adding tha. it could "ruin
their career."
Max Larson, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences,
is also involved in the hiring process, said the univeisity
is very careful to "hire the very best people" possible,
he said.
liirsen interviews the candidates along with depart
ment representatives during the applicants' visits to
campus.
"We get to know them as well as we can," lie said.
Lirsen called the I NO situation "an isolated incident"
and said it was hard to explain why it happened.
o
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