University of Notre Dame - Dome Yearbook (Notre Dame, IN)

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ACADEMICS ADMINISTRATION The president of a large university today has to make his university present to the world in all the major ques- tions of the times. Feeling thus, Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., spends much of a busy schedule work- ing on important national and international committees studying such modern problems as the peaceful use of atomic energy, civil rights, Latin America and world-wide university development. Working with the most promi- nent men in education, politics, and many other fields, Fr. Hesburgh contributes greatly to the growing inter- national reputation of Notre Dame. As the foremost Catholic university in America, Fr. Hesburgh feels, Notre Dame must lead in providing a Catholic perspective on international issues. A modern Catholic university has to be in the mainstream, and much of the responsibility falls on the president. Thus Fr. Hesburgh this year traveled around the world ten times outside of the United States for meetings of the Atomic Energy Commission, Jerusalem ' s Ecumenical Institute, which Pope Paul asked him to organize, the United States Civil Rights Commission, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Inter- national Federation of Catholic Universities, and the Rockefeller Foundation. He was also named to the most important committee on higher education in the U.S., the new Carnegie Study of Higher Education, which is headed by ex-University of California president Clark Kerr. On campus, Fr. Hesburgh considers the developments toward a faculty manual and the reorganization of the Board of Trustees as the most significant internal de- velopments this year. Long work on the manual was completed with its approval in late spring by the Aca- demic Council. The manual enlarged the faculty ' s power in guiding the university academically and estab- lished a new faculty senate. The changes in the structure of the University ' s government were prematurely announced in the Ave Maria, explained by Fr. Hesburgh in a 12-page letter to the Notre Dame family, and finally approved at the January chapter meetings of the Indiana Province of Holy Cross priests at the Kellogg Center. The six clerical trustees will elect six of the thirty present lay trustees to serve with them as the Fellows of the University. They will elect themselves and the other members of the lay board to a single Board of Trustees of the University, which will govern the University and elect the president from nominees presented by the congregation. Although in many ways the changes simply legalize the existing situation the two boards had not met sepa- rately since Fr. Hesburgh became president in 1952 the move will deepen lay interests in the University. The new board reflects the kind of world we are send- ing people into, he adds. The progress of Notre Dame, Fr. Hesburgh empha- sizes, must be attributed to the efforts of all elements of the community; the faculty manual and the change in government represent the strengthening of two of these elements. His favorite phrase for this teamwork is The Notre Dame Family The total enthusiasm and spirit of the place is what moves it forward. Yet the vision which directs the University is largely that of the President. From here you have to dream a few dreams, and Fr. Hesburgh ' s dreams include a doctoral program in every department and complete on- campus residence in good living conditions. The foreign studies program begun two years ago will be expanded next year to include Japan, and could someday include Chile and China. Notre Dame will also cooperate much more on graduate level studies with other universities in the Midwest, which is rapidly growing in importance as an educational area; he points out that 30 per cent of the American science doctorates are granted from mid- western institutions. In our own graduate school, there will be a necessary focusing of studies. A school of this size can ' t do everything, Fr. Hesburgh realizes but it must do everything it undertakes extremely well. 20

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search, draws heavily from its sister departments, notably electrical engineering. Con- temporary emphasis on particle research brings together all the science disciplines, em- phasized most recently by the linear accelerator being added to the Radiation Building and the Van de Graaff accelerator extending behind Nieuwland Science Hall. Beyond the intercourse between graduate assistants and undergraduates in the teach- er-student relationship, numerous courses also join the two levels, allowing shared insights drawing from their difference in milieu. Graduate level research provides a professor substance with which to update his undergraduate lectures. More generally, the develop- ment of several graduate departments has attracted new men and resulted in new courses whose benefits most often filter down to the undergraduate students. A closer relationship is likewise developing among the administration, faculty, and stu- dents. Discussions on a faculty manual and senate highlighted the year ' s interchange be- tween the Golden Dome and the various colleges, similar in many ways to the successful attempt to provide lay representation among the trustees of the University. A faculty mem- ber was chosen to direct the library, and faculty members continue to provide counseling in the Freshman Year of Studies. In the four colleges, advisory systems have been widely adopted, while the library ' s faculty lounge continues to provide an informal meeting place with students. Notre Dame-Saint Mary ' s relations are decidedly one-sided at the academic level. While the Notre Dame enrollment at the girls ' school has declined from an initial spurt of curiosity, Saint Mary ' s enrollment at Notre Dame has considerably increased. An ad- vertisement seeking a finance major to handle the economics of student government served to indicate a closer contact between the curricular and extracurricular. Finally, the Continuing Education Center began last year and continues as a very promising and flexible channel for dialogues often directly related to undergraduate education. The entire scope of these relationships is perhaps best seen in theology, a department affecting as many students as any other on campus. Notre Dame ' s theology department has noticeably improved over the last few years. Increasing student interest in theology led to the department ' s extension beyond its traditional service role, especially with the recent offering of a major in theology. This addition has brought new and excellent pro- fessors to the department, who in some cases are teaching a lower division course as well as courses in the major sequence. Over last year, undergraduate theology electives increased from seven to eleven, whole the number of graduate courses grew from four to sixteen. The more specialized students take Rabbi Karff and Father Blenkinsop to study the theological implications of Jewish literature and language or Stephanou for a view of Greek Orthodoxy. The department head, Fr. Schlitzer, has indicated an interest in adding a Protestant theologian to the department. At the more basic level, undergrad- uates point to Fr. Hegge, Fr. Burtchaell, and Dr. Ford as a few of the more stimulating teachers. Reacting to student interest in all aspects of the theological, the law school this year opened a course in natural law to a number of capable undergraduates. And last March, the academic focus of the university at all levels was the discussion of issues growing out of Vatican II, a conference that most appropriately inaugurated and exercised to its ca- pacity the Center for Continuing Education. With growth resulting as much from student interest as from departmental initiative, the theology department in its disciplinary and interdisciplinary as well as extracurricu- lar aspects is indicative of the development which characterized the University this year. A MADDENING MOVEMENT FOR THE STUDENT WHO LACKS ORIENTATION . . 19

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Above, Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., President of the University 21