University of Texas Austin - Cactus Yearbook (Austin, TX)

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olvers make doesn ' t! 1 the studi ' o7es Around Campus This year an emphasis was placed on jobs for the liberal rts student in public and private industries. We are also taking an effort this year to expand our handicapped seg- icnt in order to provide these students with more informa- ion pertaining to preparation for the professional work orld, said Michael Poindexter, minority student services. For the first time, the office offered a parents training pro- gram during the summer student orientation sessions. This A ' as to help prepare parents for crises that their son or laughter might go through as they adjust to college life. It as very successful. The parents were coming not as an ppendage, but came and actually learned something about nderstanding their child, Hurst said. The lack of a student government prompted the office to ake over the film program, the insurance program, the ppointing of students to committees, University councils nd to the presidential advisory committee, all of which the student government had done in the past. I feel like a stu- .ent body president again, and I ' m too old to be that. I ' ve onc ?Uflone that already, said Hurst. I would much rather have a .tudent president. Hurst, who served as an assistant professor in the depart- nent of counseling psychology in addition to his role as lanes C. Hurst ipe series and self-pai fating, student d t can develop services ' she said, Approximal am each year. I don ' t want to regulate or control. I would much rather develop. ' dean, enjoyed his job most when a program that we imple- ment worked and as a result, a student walked away better for it. I don ' t want to regulate and control, I would much rather develop. I would rather be in the business of ethical and moral development than in that of discipline. The Fall Career Conference gave students information on career trends. Dean of Students 131

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Program Planners, Problerr So The Dean of Students Office Performed Severa. In his third year at the University, Dean of Students James Hurst feels that the student services has the best program in the country in terms of what we offer and the sophistication in which we go about it. In charge of discipline and records, orientation, minority student services, handicapped services, studen t activities, volunteer services, the research and evaluation unit, students older than average, general information and referral services and the student resources development program, the dean of students office functions as an important part of the student community. The goals of the office are three-fold. The first is to help the student acquire skills, attitudes and resources for maxi- mum utilization of a learning environment. Secondly, Hurst ' s office tries to identify the factors in the environment that inhibit the teaching and learning process. The third goal is to carefully study the student, his needs and environment, in order to know how to accomplish the first two goals. Our actions are not based on hunches; we conduct surveys and studies, Hurst said. We work for teaching effectiveness. We set up a team to work with a faculty member on how to improve teaching. It isn ' t destructive, but constructive. For students to sit back and criticize is less mature to join hands and help is more mature, he said. Money is the student ' s first concern; influencing the administration is the second. The size of this university is huge. There are 43,000 students on this campus. If you plunk in a student who is too timid to interact, he doesn ' t know how to make use of the environment, and it doesn ' t do him any good, he said. We try to help this by the student resources program. The program was designed to develop effective listening and communication skills. The Student Resource Development program provides training to student leaders and paraprofessionals by means of small group workshops, videotape series and self-paced written modules, said Lou Ann Keating, student develop- ment specialist in the dean of students office. The peer advi- sors present us with input so that we can develop services to help the larger student population, she said. Approximately 500 students participate in the program each year. Providing a source from which minority and handicapped students can receive information on jobs and on career trends, the minority student services division sponsored the fourth annual Fall Career Conference attended by represent- atives from all walks of business and industry. FRONT ROW: Beverly Tucker. Almetris M. Duren, Gary R. Hanson, Sharon H. Justice, Lou Ann Keating. SECOND ROW: Sherilyn Allen, Maralyn Heimlich. David McClintock, Wayne Seipel, Margaret J. Barr. Mary E. Mayes, James C. Hurst. THIRD ROW: Patricia A. Barham, Michael Poindexter, John Ragle, Suz- zanna Cortez, Barbara Beach Sallaway, Rene Abelardo Gonzalez. 130 Dean of Students

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The University ' s Upper Echelon Three new regents help in presidential selection process The Board of Regents captured more than their usual share of attention in 1978-79 with the appointment of a new Uni- versity of Texas president and three new regents. Dr. Peter T. Flawn was chosen unanimously by the regents to succeed President Lorene Rogers when she retired in August 1979. Regents selected Dr. Flawn over Wayne Holtz- man, president of the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, and Paul Saltman, vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of California at San Diego. There was a feeling that we had three outstanding candidates for this job, with very, very little separating the top two. I wish I could have voted for all three, Regent Tom Law said. Dr. Flawn joined the University in 1949 as a research scien- tist and geologist. In 1970 he was promoted to vice president for academic affairs but later went on to become the first president of the University of Texas at San Antonio. Named to the National Academy of Engineering in 1974, he also served in 1977-78 as the acting director of the Marine Science Institute. Outlining his priorities. Dr. Flawn said he planned to declare a war on mediocracy. It ' s a truism to say we can ' t do third-rate or second-rate work, but the fact is that we must insist on high-class faculty and students, he said. Favoring a broad-based, liberal arts education, Dr. Flawn planned to attract and retain a top-flight faculty, granting tenure only to those professors who were considered excellent. He also supported a strong research program. Research is invalua- ble to tomorrow. Without research, you can ' t expect tomor- row to be any better and it is probably going to be a great deal worse, he said. Describing the University ' s faculty as better than was gen- erally recognized, he concluded by saying, In the 1950 ' s this (The University of Texas) was a very exciting place to be. Everyone was friendly and there was a feeling that it was going someplace. I am not trying to reminisce; I think those times can come again. Before leaving office, Texas Governor Dolph Briscoe appointed three new regents to replace outgoing regents Allan Shivers, James Bauerle and Edward Clark. With these appointments, all nine members of the Board of Regents were Briscoe appointees. The three new regents were former Texas Railroad Commissioner Jon Newton, legislative liaison Howard Richards and West Texas rancher James Powell. Both Newton and Richards were University of Texas gradu- ates. Powell graduated from Rice University but did graduate work at the University of Texas. In addition to choosing the new president, the Board of Regents dealt with issues such as tenure, raised the manda- tory retirement age of faculty from 65 to 70 and reviewed the proposed grading system of adding a plus minus scale to grade points. The Vice Presidents A team of six vice presidents worked to coordinate and control the programs and problems of the University. In charge of academic affairs, Dr. William L. Hayes made the Social and Behavioral Sciences 10 Most-Cited book list with his book, Statistics for Psychologists, which received 1,167 citations during the period 1969-77. As administrative services vice president, Dr. Ronald Brown dealt with many different University projects. He oversaw programs ranging from the Winedale restoration project to intercollegiate athletics. The business affairs office, under the direction of James H. Colvin, maintained the University police department, data processing facilities, business office, internal audit and the physical plant. Dr. James Duncan, vice president for student affairs, was in charge of student services including the Dean of Students office, the office of admissions, the Student Health Center and Texas Student Publications, which included The Daily Texan, The Cactus Yearbook and UTmost Magazine. Graduate Studies were under the direction of Irwin C. Lieb. In addition, he was head of the University Press and publications and the University Research Institute. Dr. Eldon Sutton coordinated the research units at the Uni- versity. Sixty organized research units operated under his office, with 16 directly under his control. He also dealt with outside agencies for research grants and contracts. 132 Regents Vice Presidents