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

Page 146 text:

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

Page 145 text:

Dean James Doluisio Pharmacy In a professional school, it is important to give the students theo- ries or facts, and to also have an emotional involvement with the pro- fession. This is perhaps best demon- strated to the student by the faculty ' s emotional involvement in the profes- sion, said James Doluisio, dean of the College of Pharmacy. In keeping with this philosophy, the college had a curriculum strongly oriented to pharmacy practice. Stu- dents were placed in patient-care areas under faculty supervision. In this way, students learned how to integrate classroom material in hos- pitals, community pharmacies, clin- ics and medical units of the Univer- sity of Texas System. Construction of a new building for the pharmacy school began in Janu- ary. The building is intended to be almost entirely for instructional use and contains classrooms, student affices, lounges and instructional laboratories. Dean Robert King Social and Behavioral Sciences Few major changes were made in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences in 1978 due to its merging with the College of Humanities and the College of General and Compara- tive Studies to form the School of Liberal Arts in January, 1979. Social and Behavioral Sciences Dean Rob- ert King, who became dean of the new school, stated that the old col- lege had a lame duck status due to the merger of the three colleges. The college ' s Population Research Center moved its offices into the Main Building in fall 1978 after the Main Library relocated. Dealing with demography, birth control and migration as well as many other aspects of population study, the Pop- ulation Research Center was only one of the college ' s programs. Throughout the year, the anthro- pology department restored and pre- served historical items from a Span- ish galleon discovered off the Padre Island coast in 1968. King, in his third year as dean, noted the college ' s attempt to con- tribute to the sciences by making a good program and good departments better. We have tried to hire top- flight personnel and encourage cre- ative research. Dean Joseph Heffernan Social Work Dean Joseph Heffernan of the Graduate School of Social Work said that a person involved in social work needs first and foremost, a sensitiv- ity to the needs of a population that is underserved by the community. Dean Heffernan also noted that con- cern alone is not sufficient, and that this is where the graduate school comes in. By providing education to practitioners of social work, the school has been of service to the state network of social work. The school also provided professional certification to its graduates. Heffernan, in his first year as dean, pointed out that the school had the largest and second oldest program in Texas. He added that the school played important roles in state and national legislation dealing with social work programs. A Center for Social Work was operated by the school, along with an extensive program of practical education in the community. The dean stated that the major concern of the school was to add depth to its programs. We have a vibrant school and an excellent faculty, and this should help us strengthen the already existing departments and programs, he said. Schools Colleges 129

Page 147 text:

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