■Refunds planned for 1983 SEARCH class
By Alan Contreras
Of the Emerald
Student services may suffer as a result of
[money improperly collected from students who
| enrolled in a SEARCH class held last year, accor
I ding to ASUO and University officials.
University Vice Provost Paul Holbo, who has
[been involved in resolving several disputes in
volving SEARCH, says that SEARCH collected
the fees after being told that such fees were imper
missible under University regulations governing
credit-granting classes.
Kevin Lewis, ASUO assistant finance coor
dinator, indicated that the refunds, for students
who enrolled in Special Studies Arabic 1 during
the fall term of 1983, would probably total no
more than $800, but said “we aren’t yet certain
where the money will come from ” The ASUO
Executive had no plans to ask the SEARCH pro
gram to refund the money from its 1984-85
budget, he added.
ASUO Vice Pres. Marc Spence said that the
amount would be closer to $1,400 and said that
"the Incidental Fee Committee may be asked to
allocate the money to be paid back to students.”
A memorandum from University Registrar
Herb Chereck to W.N. McLaughlin, director of
the University of Business Affairs, indicates that
the refund is expected to be $50 per student
enrolled in the class,
Holbo is supportive of the new SEARCH
director, Dianna Fischer. He says the program is
doing a lot better and speculates that Fischer’s
“good educational skills and public school
teaching experience” will be an asset to the pro
gram, as will her experience in student govern
ment at Eastern Oregon State College.
Holbo and former SEARCH director Steve
Myers exchanged numerous acerbic memos dur
ing the 1983-84 academic year, including several
dealing with the fee issue. Holbo objected to “the
political circus” of a public gathering at the EMU
in defense of the program.
In a later memo, Myers termed the relation
ship between SEARCH and Holbo's office as one
of “mutual distrusi and presumed hostility.”
Holbo was not the only University official
upset by last year’s SEARCH management.
!
In a memo to Myers, Celeste Ulrich, dean of
the College of Human Development and Perfor
mance, expressed her sorrow at having to work
with individuals who have no integrity”
especially ‘‘when the individuals are student
leaders.” She perceives last year’s problems as
perhaps arising from “intentional” failure to
follow University procedures.
According to ASUO Finance Coordinator
John Dreeszen, Associate Provost for Student Af
fairs Gerry Moseley is now involved in trying to
resolve the issue of how much money is to be
refunded and for which classes.
The University “originally said that moneys
shouldn’t have been paid for several classes, but
has amended its position” after discussions both
internally and with the ASUO Executive, Spence
says. He noted that the University “has decided
to write off as tuition some of the money for other
classes, even though it wasn’t.”
He says SEARCH should “not be used as a
vehicle for non-student community people to
earn money,” and admits that part of the problem
last year was that processes weren’t as clear as
they should have been.
Holbo says that some of the problems with
certain SEARCH classes have arisen due to
“inadequate checking of instructor backgrounds
by regular department faculty before they sign-off
on the forms.”
He also believes that credit-granting pro
grams like SEARCH are rare in U.S. higher educa
tion, and he is more comfortable with non-credit
workshops.
The SEARCH program has offered non
traditional credit-granting courses and non-credit
workshops at the University since 1967. Course
offerings have ranged from topics such as Finnish
and other foreign languages to subjects of ques
tionable merit such as “Paganism and Wit
chcraft” and “aerodynamics of the Frisbee.”
The program has been somewhat cyclical, of
fering many courses some years and as few as ten
during one term in 1981. ASUO and University
officials are hopeful that this year the SEARCH
program will be successful and back in its usual
arena — academic, not bureaucratic, inquiry.
Representatives of SEARCH have been
unavailable for comment.
MICROCOMPUTER CLASSES
_ UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
The University of Oregon Continuation Center is offering
regular credit introductory microcomputer applications classes
in many fields of study. If you want to know how computers are
being used in your field, get in touch with us at the Continua
tion Center.
Students enrolled in Continuation Center microcomputer classes
will use Macintosh, Apple IIE, IBM and Hewlett-Packard
computers.
OU Continuation Center 233 Oregon Hall 686-4231
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MICROCOMPUTER CLASSES
Introduction To Microcomputer Applications 03
Introduction To Graphic Software Tools 03
Introduction To Image and Word Communication 03
Introduction To Microcomputers and Business 04
Journalism Microcomputer Applications 03
Law Microcomputer Applications 03
Computers In Art 04
Basic Computer Programming 03
Computer Graphics 04
Data Management and Analysis 03
Microcomputers In Public Administration 03
Survey Of Microcomputer Applications 03
Business Microcomputer Applications 03
Personal Computers For Geographers 03
For detail information on Continuation Center microcomputer classes, see
the University Of Oregon time schedule available September 10th.
CIS 199
AAA 199
ARTV 199
BE 199
PPPM 407G
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ARTV 410G
PEP 410G
ARCH 410G
ACTG 510
PPPM 510
DSC 510
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GEOG 410G
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