North Carolina State University - Agromeck Yearbook (Raleigh, NC)

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Dr. Howard G. Miller psychology We live in an extremely complex society. That state- ment is a truism. Its constant reiteration has made it a banality. Yet it remains a profound statement because it communicates a truth about modern life that is little under- stood or heeded. The most significant factor in modern complex society is its dynamism, its ever changingness. We have some vague understanding of certain elements in this dynamic world, particularly of the pace of develop- ment of science and technology. But we have very little understanding of the effects of such dynamics on human existence. Unless we learn more about these effects and how to control them and prepare for them we are probably in for an ever accelerating set of problems each level becoming more sever and more difficult to deal with than preceding problems. Human society normally develops certain social institu- tions as instruments to stabilize and control the world. The family, the church, the government, the business firm are such institutions. The university is also an institution with such purposes. The pattern of development of human society has been such that its institutions have been basically conservative. They have stabilized and organized the wisdom and practice of the past and carried them on into the present and projected them into the future. Most of these established institutions have been poorly adapted to adjust to change and because, until recently, change came slowly, unchanging institutions had not so many crisis situations as are occuring today. If it was wise in a static world to develop institutions to preserve the conven- tional wisdom it is necessary in a dynamic world to de- velop institutions which enable us to understand and control change. My view is that the university is such an institution. It should be so conceived and it should be so developed. It might be useful to examine some of the basic func- tions of the University in the light of this interpretation. Most of us see education as the central function of the University and I would not disagree. There are different views as to how this education should occur and concern- ing what its product should be. I see education as the preparation of students to assume an active role in a changing world. That is, the educational process should produce graduates who are adapted to change. This means that the educational process is one which brings students into direct contact with the world into which they will go. Seen this way the University is not a sheltered ivy covered retreat, but is a part of the world. Unless the student has direct contact with the world during his uni- versity days he will be unprepared to deal with the kinds of problems he will meet in whatever career he may

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that we most of ( attend 1 in tlie fltli oor actively ortand boi.tlie isk any ipomics if it ' s a lie road experi- afouf- id new lyways, beyond iai suli- and the fn college you can change your career identity each semester, and elect courses which will allow you to ' play-act ' the real-world identity you choose. Perhaps even more importantly, college offers you an opportunity to experiment with a range of ways of living, and with a range of groups to belong to — again, an opportunity to try on for a while a series of identities, to see how they fit, to see what kinds of satisfaction they bring. You can be a long-hair or a Frat-rat, a Commune member of a Cam- pus Politician, and you have no committment to it for longer than you want to dress and behave the part. It ' s all very temporary, very Now , and makes no obligation on the future or the future for you. Perhaps the secret of involvement is somehow tied up with the recognition that the University is really in the business of giving you the freedom to fail, where failure costs are minimized. To learn, to grow, to create, to move beyond what you were, means to risk a little more than you ' re sure about, to gamble on yourself a little bit beyond your own qualities. If, as students and teachers and ad- ministrators we can recognize this, then the University experience will be a fulfilling one.

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follow. There is no reservoir of knowledge with which a student may be stocked in college which will enable him to encounter the problems of a changing world. His edu- cation needs to be more a process of acquiring ways of understanding and solving problems than one of acquiring knowledge. Such an education requires an active inter- change with the world. Conventional education from kindergarten through col- lege and perhaps on to graduate school keeps young peo- ple too long in a dependent sequestered condition. To be 22 or 23 years old and never to have lived on one ' s own in an adult responsible society is too much. I would favor an education that puts young people into responsible adult positions well before they graduate. There is no good reason why more students should not move freely from jobs to the campus back again during their col- lege careers in such a way that job and education interact and influence one another considerably. In this way the working world becomes part of the university and the university is more closely allied with the world in carrying out its educational functions. In its research function the university should be more closely involved in problems outside its walls. There is a traditional belief that scholars and students should carry on their work in a protected, quiet eddy of society; that the independence and disinterest necessary for effective scholarship requires the ivory towers or the ivy covered walls. Traditional scholarship does flourish m such sur- roundings. The task of the university, though, is not merely to preserve the old tradition but to be the major institu tion enabling a modern dynamic society to understand and control change which involves human relationships and human aspirations and frustrations as the central prob- lems. Understanding of such phenomena does not come from quiet scholarship in cloistered halls. It can only come from the direct study of these problems as they occur. We need to learn better how to do this research and how to relate to the more conventional scholarly research we do in the laboratory. The third function commonly named for universities, particularly one such as ours, is extension. So that even traditionally land grant universities are deeply involved in the affairs of the world. And it is a great tradition — one that has contributed more than we can count to the wealth and productivity of a highly developed society. But we need now to extend ourselves beyond the problems of agricultural and industrial productivity into providing ser- vice and education of all sorts to the great mass of poor and victimized people in this State — much more than we have before, even though our contribution has been great. So 1 conclude that North Carolina State University and its students must if we are to serve a useful purpose become deeply engaged in the problems of the modern world as a bold and enterprising institution.