Western Michigan University - Brown and Gold Yearbook (Kalamazoo, MI)

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SIS- T ie neu) married student apartments. training, and those which are terminal, and pre pare the student for his life work in a special area. The prc ' professional courses have changed little, but have been lengthened to three years, with the exception of business administration. The terminal curricula have grown rapidly. In addition to the general degree, there are twenty four courses offered, half of which are four year and half two year. The four year courses lead to a bachelors degree and the two year terminal cours- es to a certificate. Many of the veterans who came to college after the war sought courses that had the practical advantage of giving them skills to work with, and increasingly high school graduates look to the college for short courses. The variety of courses offered at Western is in keeping with the motto of the school, adopted in 1944: That all may learn. But in addition to specialized courses there is a serious need for per ' sons who have a broad general background of in- formation. That reali2;ation was the reason why a series of general education courses was instituted at Western. These are inter-departmental, and stress the individual ' s relationship to the world. Foundations of western civili2,ation, offered by the history department, shows the past history of man and how it has contributed to the modern world. Introduction to contemporary society, offered by the departments of economics, poHtical science, and sociology, consideres the world about us to- day and its meaning. The science departments offer an interdepartmental course in physical science. The general education movement will un- doubtedly increase in the future. Jb OUF College Services Besides providing buildings, teachers, and equip- ment for the students, the college also provides a number of services that are of great value. The service that all students come in contact with is the guidance program, which assists the entering student in making his decisions about what to take. Until 1918 undoubtedly the guidance of students was done by all of the faculty members, but in that year the first candidates for the bach ' elors degree were advised by the head of the Eng- lish department, George Sprau. With the larger number of courses offered, Lavina Spindler be- came a freshman counselor in 1928. From 1932, all entering students have been given the Ohio State University psychological tests. In 1941 the division of Student Personnel and Guidance was established, and it has continued to provide spec- ialized counselors for all students. The Health Service began in 1927, but since all students lived in boarding houses, the nurses 16

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article in the national Education Review en- titled Should the Two Year Normal Schools Become Four Year Teachers Colleges? Why? He offered 14 reasons why they should, and ar- gued his case well. The stature of Western was rising. In 1927 the legislature changed the name of the school to Western State Teachers College. The state continued to tighten up certification requirements, thus automatically forcing the ad- vancement of Western as a college. On April 27, 1934, the State Board of Education gave the state colleges of education the right to grant general degrees of bachelor of arts and bachelor of science to students who had taken four years of approved work even though they had no courses in pro- fessional education. science, and education, ended with a wide variety of courses in education from kindergarten to high school, many courses in pre-professional two and three year curricula as well as a few four year, nonteaching degree courses. In 1904 twelve departments offered seventy- eight courses. In 1936 twenty-three departments offered about 580 courses. The faculty mcreased accordingly, and today Western has more than 300 faculty members in 29 departments that offer more than a thousand courses. When Paul Sangren was appointed president in 1936, the standards previously mentioned were beginning to change the college. In 1938 the University of Michigan began graduate divisions in each of the colleges of education, and the mas- ■ »te =s ai» «!Bjii-}»Jlir, - A recent air view of the new campus. Upon this ruling the future development of the college rested. Western started in 1904 by en- rolhng students who had gone through the eighth grade, and after seven terms it graduated them as rural teachers. In 1936 it enrolled no one but high school graduates, and could offer them both education courses and non-education courses. The first four year non-teaching curriculum was social work. In thirty years Western had seen professional education standards raised to a high level, and finally, the beginning of the granting of non- teaching degrees. In both of these areas the col- lege enlarged the number of subjects taught. As a result this thirty year period which began with rudimentary courses in drawing, music, natural ters degree in education could be worked for at Western. In September of 1952 graduate work was entirely separated from the University, and Western granted its own masters degrees. In the field of undergraduate education curri- cula the greatest change came in the business edu- cation, music, home economics, and the special education areas. The most important changes were in the non-teaching curricula. In 1936 there were only two four-year courses, social work and the general degree. Pre-professional curricula were offered in medicine, business administration, den- tistry, engineering, forestry, journalism, law, and pharmacy. Today the non-teaching curricula are divided into two groups — those which prepare the student to go to other schools for professional IS

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m Model oj the latest Western addition, Davis Hall. visited the students who were sick. This became quite an operation, reaching a climax for the Waldo era in 1931 ' 32, when the total number of calls amounted to 3933 and the home visits to 1046. The building of the health and personnel building in 1939 was the beginning of a real clinic at Western, which occupies the whole second floor of that building. The Psycho ' Educational clinic began in the fall of 1931, with the aim of providing psychological service for maladjusted children and adults, both students and non-students. The clinic helps num- erous college students who have problems with slow reading or faulty study habits, and its ser- vices are available for tests to supplement the counseling program. The Speech Correction clinic is very famous at Western, both in aiding those with speech de- fects and in training special education students in speech correction techniques. Western has always encouraged foreign stu ' dents to attend, and since the end of the war an increasing number have done so. To advise and assist them the college has provided a special for- eign student advisor. The library is the oldest service to the students, and has been a most important factor in the growth of the college. Its value to the whole stU ' dent body and to the faculty is great, and the his- tory of the library is one of steady growth. It will mark the semi-centennial by the accession of the 100,000th volume. The campus store began in 1912 and has since served the college in many ways other than selling text books. The invaluable one, to many of the students (and faculty) is .the mid-morning and afternoon snack! Five Western ' s Students Turning from services to the students, we shall now consider that part of the college which is the most important of all the things that we have mentioned before. The foundation of the college, the buildings, the classes and the services all were aimed at one thing — the students. Western was established for the purpose of providing trained teachers, but as we have seen it soon evolved into a college whose purpose was preparing educated people for all walks of life. The student body and its activities is the subject with which we shall close this commentary upon 17