Coastal Carolina University - Atheneum Yearbook (Conway, SC)

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Coastal. Drive For Four Year Statu In anger By MARK IIODGES News Editor V Rep. Charles Hodges has criticized the SB. Higher Education Commission for what he describe as an at- tempt to keep Coastal Carolina from becoming s four yur college. He made thse remarksat a County Delegation meeting at the courthanse in Conway Monday. The Higher Educatno: Oomnnission recently denied Coastal Carolina? requst to count studqnta reghtened in the regional campus' Myrtle Beach Air Force Base program as toll-time equivalents of the school. Without the Air Force Base students. the college is 13 short of l0 l0 full 'fine equivalents needed to earn four year status. with these students. Coastal would have l0l3 full-time equivalents, According to the Loris representative. the Com- mission has previously allowed the regional cam- puses ol the University of South Carolina to include students in military base programs with regular students in any head crsint taken. Hovreve this year the group created a new- depart- ment of extemioo campuses, the Department of Military Reservations. he said. Hodges argued that since Coastal Carolina professors teach students regular college courses at the Air Force Base, the students in this program should be counted aa regular students. To me it's obvious they di! it just to keep Coastal from readnirng the ll-D0 he said .Hodges said that the Commission is trying to smll theCoastaldiiveua they get the power to stop it. He explained that last year. over the Commissions ob- jections, the General Assembly ruled that regional campuses can beuntne four yur institutions if they reach an enrollment ot' 1000 lull-time equivalents. At present, there ls a hill which has been introduced in the Senate giving the Higher Education Cominiasidn broad powers for regulating state- supported colleges and universities. ll lt pales the Senate and then the House, the Commission will have the authority to approve or disapprove these schools' curricuhnn changes and any changes in status, Hodges sa . Since the last bill passed on a given issueis the one which islaw. tlnensuoh a propmal. is approved. would nullify the 1000 student nnle asa standard for granting tour year stains to USC regimal campuses. he said. Hodges believes the Commission would use this power to keep Coastal from becoming a four year college and that thek reluaal to count Air Force Base students as lull-time equivalents is essentially a stalling tactic. Hodges hit close to home in his attack on the Higher Education Commmsion. He claimed that Dr. Cathcart Smith of Conway. chairman of the Commission, favored the deckion to dbcount Air Force Base students as full-time equivalents. Hodges stated llatly: He tl'Jr. Smithlhdoes not have the interest of the people of Horry County at heart. Smith was out of town Monday and could not be reached tor comment. Hodges also criticized the Higher Education Com- missions recommendation to the State Budget and Control Board that state funds not be used to pay for building done on regional campuses. Since all of state-supported colleges and universities have granted the Commission the status as their official spokesman in these matters, no other view except theirs will be heard by the Budget and Control Board. he said Hodges predicted it will be difficult for legislators op- pfsed to the Commissions recommendation to fight its passage in the General Assembly. Whether their recom- mendation becomes law or not. the ll.3 million allocated in state funds last year for the construction of the new Coastal Carolina claasrow' building will not be Wilh- dmwn. he said. Our first two students to earn their baccalaureate degrees: Wayne Chestnut and Mrs. Joann Wiegand.

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Dedicated people - area businessmen, parents, professors directors and students - their desire for a higher education - made Coastal Carolina happen. Students in past years have fought hard for the fourth year here. Now, Coastal Carolina has 1,013 students! Enough people to offer courses for bache1or's degrees. 8

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