California Western University - Loma Del Mar Yearbook (San Diego, CA)

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purposes inevifable wifh the massive influx of sfudenfs foday . . . what he wants and needs rather than impose an al- ready structured course outline upon him. Te get the degree-if thatis what the student wants e-he could choose the form of evaluation to come after four years for less . . . or morej of college. He could choose to have a standard or essay examina- tion, an oral interview with a review board, a research paper submitted for consid- eration, a demonstration of an experiment, or any other form or mixture thereof. If necessary, he could ask for as many chances as he may need to pass. During his period of stuofy, he could schedule exams for his own benefit to help evaluate his progress as he chooses. This way, a grade simply repre- sentg someone's evaluation of his work rather than a competitive mark for others to judge him by. Throughout the whole process, the professor would act more as a wise counse- lor who perhaps suggests materials to get the student started, and who offers his experience and foresight to help the student over diffi- cult points in his study. Also, he would act as a usupplementary source in the student's research. For this to be most effective, the professor would have to be more than just a special- ist that is expert only in his field in his department. To give sound advice, he fake responsibility would have to gain at least minimum competence in the basic concepts of most fields of study. For college administra- tors, a new approach in pol- icy would be necessary to effect this change in higher education. The admissions policies, hiring and firing practices, and budget prior- ities would all have to be changed. For instance, to fill the college with sufli- cient students and yet to keep from discriminating because of educational background, the admissions requirements would have to drop academic qualifica- groups to have an oppor- tunity for higher education. If students are allowed to live off-campus, then schools otherwise limited could accommodate more tions as a part of the cri- teria. Instead, the letter of application explaining why the student wishes to attend and what he hopes to ac- complish, plus his letters of recommendation would be the critical factors. students. If instead, the faculty were to live on-campus with cheaper housing and room and board, and if they were willing to meet in their apartments with students, then OHA-campus in the crucial areas of policy . . To deal with the eco- nomics of such a wide-open policy twhich could involve financial diHf1culties for the student as welll, two fac- tors could be consciously developed. One is less class- room time and the other is non-resident students. With more students helping to pay for the same number of professors, tuition could be lowered considerably, allowing lower economic students would be doubly attracted to the university for intellectual interaction. With the faculty position thus altered, the hiring and Hring practices would also have to change. A dynamic, fluid curriculum would go against having static, ten- ured senior professors dom- inant on the faculty. A large percentage of the fac- ulty should be kept on a temporary basis to meet the needs of the curriculum for a given year or so. Special speakers could be brought in on a weekly basis to sup- plement the offerings of the teaching staff. The firing of professors would be based not so much on academic grounds as on the teaching needs of the following year and on the interest of the students in what they have to offer. To have these changes work effectively, the stu- dents and faculty must be intimately and meaningful- lyainyolved in the decision- makingx processes of the university. After all, the administrators are responsi- ble for executing the poli- cies set by the university. As part of that university, students and faculty should begin to take responsibility in the crucial areas of pol- icy that determine the character and future of any college. Those who oppose stu- dent participation in run- ning the university claim that young people are too inexperienced and imma- ture to do so. I would agree with them to a certain ex- tent. I-Iowever, I do believe that students are experts in education because they ex- perience directly the effects of university policies and are able to give immediate feed-back on defective areas. And how else are they to become mature than by the raw, abrasive experience of having their best and most mature qual- ities tested and demanded to the fullest? They are people, and they resent as much as any- one else being ordered to do things and being kept so helpless and humbled that they can do little about their situation. They want to survive as people in a world of metal machines and people machines. They donit want to lose their humanness, their moral concern. their young ideal- ism, and their live emotions to lifeless sheets of paper with words on them. Stu- dents want a chance to par- ticipate in the dynamic process of life-fto become truly educated people.

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