Alternative education options grow
Innovative schemes abound—funds don’t
By DEAN BALL
Of the Emerald
Alternative Education.
Students in the 1960s
demanded changes in higher
education, changes relevant to
their needs and applicable to life
in the “real” world. What’s
happened since then?
“Alternative education,”
sometimes called “ex
perimental” or “innovative,”
arose to meet the demands
nationally. Sometimes it took the
form of student-run colleges. In
other cases, colleges altered their
traditional curricula or
legislatures created new in
stitutions. These colleges em
phasized individual learning,
programmed studies, community
involvement, interdisciplinary
studies and a lack of grades and
credits.
Meanwhile, at the University,
changes in some individual
departments also took place.
Some courses moved out into the
community to solve problems.
Students began to initiate their
own courses through SEARCH.
The Honors College, once of
fering only strict disciplines
students with high grades or test
scores, initiated an independent
studies program, in which
students could design their own
curricula.
But, the majority of depart
ments seemed to remain the
same.
University President Robert
Clark has been criticized by some
faculty members for not actively
supporting experimentation.
Qark said, however, in a
recent interview, “I’m very
much in favor of our ex
perimenting somewhat as the
Evergreen State College in
Olympia did ... I favored (last
year) the developing of another
unit similar to the Honors
College, but experimentation
wasn’t much in favor at the
time.”
Clark returned to the question
of an experimental college at the
University. He told how HPUP
(last year’s Hearing Panel on
University Priorities) recom
mended cutbacks for the Honors
College.
Clark said he had set aside
$90,000 for the creation of the
college, but that it had to be used
elsewhere at the University.
"Merit in standard cuniuclum"
Although he said he favors
experimentation, Clark em
phasized there is “great merit in
the standard curriculum.” One of
the problems in innovative
colleges, Clark said, is "to
achieve long-range stability.” He
added that people may lose their
motivation over the continuous
introduction of innovations.
Richard Littman, vice provost
for academic research, pointed
out that there are “a. number of
interesting (alternative)
programs” at the University.
One main problem Littman
finds in his own point of view is
that “freshmen are reluctant to
take advantage of these field
programs. Neither students nor
faculty have fully explored
alternatives. Hiere is a great
deal of capacity for student in
ventiveness ... They can arrange
programs that are relevant to
their goals.”
Littman also viewed the
Honors College as a potential
experimental college. HP UP last
year recommended cutbacks in
the Honors College.
“With growing concern of
elitism on campus, the program
lost salience. Also, there was a
growing lack of interest in the
faculty, but, for the most part,
among students,” Littman said.
He added that Eld Diller, director
of the Honors College, is “con
sidering a number of alter
natives,” including a specialized
institution for “student-oriented
individual field work and study. .
for students with education -or
research objectives.”
Diller is currently considering
four possible alternatives for the
Honors College, including a
“rejuvenation of the Honors
College along the traditional
lines.”
However, Diller viewed, “It
depends on where the students
are.”
John Wish, associate professor
of marketing, has been involved
in implementing the Beachhead
College, within the College of
Business Administration.
Students use research and
seminars to complement field
work, usually in Portland. Past
investigative projects have in
volved bait and switch ad
vertising, campaign ex
penditures, health care, etc.
Wish, along with Jan Newton,
assistant professor in economics,
and David Sonnenfeld, a senior in
independent studies, put forth a
“Proposal for an Experiment
with Undergraduate Education in
the State of Oregon” last term.
The proposal was planned to
expand the Beachhead program
in order to transcend depart
mental boundaries in in
terdisciplinary study.
Wish said there is a need to
“try to establish a department
where nothing is defined” to
“work out new organizations of
experience.
“The spirit of the thing is more
important than the money” in
establishing alternatives, he
added.
Wish anticipated problems in
setting up University-wide in
novations “unless we change the
incentive system around the
University. It offers no incentive
to step out of the rut.”
me wrA iL,ua Acneson
Wallace School of Community
Service and Public Affairs)
began in 1967 and offers similar
community involvement.
Students majoring in the school
enter near the end of their
sophomore year with field ob
servation. During junior and
senior years, students earn up to
18 hours of credit for field work
which is integrated with class
work.
Field experiences range from
involvement with welfare
agencies, to poverty agencies,
correction institutions, art
centers, and many others.
James Kelly, dean of the
school, expressed some of his
views on community involvement
in a 1970 article in American
Psychologist, entitled “Antidotes
for Arrogance: Training for
Community Psychology.”
Interaction asks a lot
Kelly said, . . This type of
interaction asks a lot of both
students and faculty—it means
Bill limits computer access
SALEM (Special)- A bill
drafted by two University law
students, Lois Portnoy and
Maureen Fitts, was introduced
into the Oregon legislature by
House Republican leader Gordon
MacPherson and five co-sponsors
Tuesday.
The bill would create a
Criminal Justice Information
System Control Commission to
watch over so-called “com
puterized criminal information”
used by law enforcement
agencies throughout the state.
Under the provision of the bill,
the commission would be
responsible for approving the
operation of the crime data
systems and insuring that the
privacy of those individuals that
are listed on them would be
maintained.
The bill is intended to limit
access to computerized law in
formation. The bill states, “No
agency other than a law en
forcement agency and no person,
other than the person or his at
torney requesting the criminal
information relating to himself,
shall have access to criminal
information without specified
authorization of the com
mission.”
The bill is the first of a series of
student requested bills to be
introduced by the Republicans.
Asked if the Republicans aim to
garner student support by their
sponsorship of the bills while
introducing valid pieces of
legislation, co-sponsired Mary
Burrows (R-Eugene) com
merited, “Probably both ... no
matter how much merit, no
matter how sincere the students
are, it would be difficult to
sponsor a bill I didn’t believe in.
“I sensed it was a good bill, she
said, “and after I talked to Lois I
was convinced it was a good bill.
The idea of a suspect being on a
computer list really frightens
me.”
mzm
, FEBRUARY 22
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VIDAS SECAS
Written and directed by Nelson Pereira Dos Santos. "Barren Lives" is one of the
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the professor drops his Socratic
ways, his citations, and his
defensiveness about being
professional, and even says quite
frankly that he does not un
derstand a particular problem
better than anyone else.
“The student can no longer
hide behind padded
bibliographies, simulated
silences, and he is not allowed to
‘cop out’ and be uninvolved in his
own graduate career. Shedding
such role sets can make a whale
of a difference to faculty and
students independent of sub
stantive interests.!’
ESCAPE (Evbry Student
Caring About Personalized
Education) and SEARCH
(Student’s Exploratory Actions
Regarding Curricular
Heterodoxy) are two ASUO
funded alternatives.
ESCAPE has 800 students
involved in tutoring in the
Eugene area in schools, nursing
homes, day care centers and
other agencies. Students receive
one credit for each two hours of
field wrok and hour of
preparation. They also meet in
weekly seminars to discuss
mutual problems and concerns.
The program began in 1969 with
65 tutors and is student-run and
student initiated. Credit is earned
through the department of
curriculum and instruction.
SEARCH began in 1967 “in
response to student interest in
having some form of direct in
volvement in and contribution to
the Univerity’s continuing goal of
curricular improvement.”
With SEARCH, students
initiated new credited courses
every quarter, sponsored and
sometimes taught by a faculty
advisor. Other times, however,
students or community members
serve as instructors. Courses this
term ranged from “Experience
in a Psychiatric Hospital” to
“Basement Lapidary.”
The EEII (Educational Ex
perimentation, Innovation and
Improvement) committee was
set up by the University faculty in
1967 to “initiate and administer a
program of grants to faculty
members for the encouragement
of research and development in
educational experimentation,
innovation and improvement.”
No funds ever received
However, according to Fuller
Moore, assistant professor of
architecture and co-chairer of the
committee, this goal has been
difficult to carry out as “no funds
have ever been given to the
committee. It’s been unable to
carry out its basic charge
because the University ad
ministration nasn’t seen fit to
give us the funds.”
The EEII has been working on
several programs, including an
“in-service training program for
all incoming faculty members
specifically dealing with in
novative techniques,” but “it’s
going to take money to im
plement or it’s doomed to
failure,” Moore said.
“I’m very pessimistic of in
stituting innovative education,”
Moore said, ‘‘unless the
University and the Legislature
commit some funds to developing
innovative teaching.” The
roadblock to innovative
education, .according to many
who were interviewed, seems to
be both a lack of money and the
lack of unity among the in
novative departments to develop
one over-all University program.
However, some effort is being
made to change this. A portion of
a $10 million federal grant for
improvement of post-secondary
education may be available if a
University-wide proposal is
developed'by mid-April.
Twelve students and faculty
members, who have been in
volved with innovative education
at the University met initially on
February 16 to begin developing
such a proposal (see “Federal
funds eyed for innovation” in
Tuesday’s Emerald).
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