St Edwards University - Tower Yearbook (Austin, TX)

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26 1973 Only the seventh year since the establishment of Maryhill, the third since, the initiation of Model Q. The second year of the Night BBA and MBA. programs, and the first year of CAMP. Only seven years away from 1966 | by the calendar, but a million light years away from it by Orfeed As the. | latter “60s matured aged us as a nation, so they likewise retired a Se] Edward’s that can never be again. Some comments of Brother Stephen | Walsh, addressed to the faculty while he was interim president, suggest the) erowing pains felt on this hilltop in its seventh year of adolescence. . | would like to propose for your con- sideration an institutional perspective which has the student as its primary focus. In fact, my first axiom of funda- mental change is that our willingness and ability to assess where students are at and to respond to their needs is a major factor of our present viability. This carries with it the poviso that consulting students’ needs and interests does not mean that we are surrendering our principles, and we must hold students accountable for the responsibility we have granted them. If we feel everything is up for grabs, then it might be that the previously highly structured requirements, rules and regulations were indeed a crutch for our insecurity, rather than a positive delinea- tion of our beliefs. We have developed a program which I truly believe responds to the needs of students. . [f you have studied the academic design Model Q, you are aware that stu- dent needs and interests play a large role in the thrust of our program. Another belief that comes through is that students are affected not by courses, but through contact with teachers. When you recall your Own experience you remember the great teachers, and not course numbers and titles. And among us there are a num- ber of great teachers. To return to my original point: we have a program and we seem to be meeting students’ needs. At least we are not suffering from revolving admissions | plaguing a number of so-called innovative colleges, whereby large numbers of stu dents enter with very high College Board) scores and revolve out after one semester. | I don’t think we’re being different just to be different, but rather that we're making | a difference. The second axiom of fundamental| change is very much related to the first=) our walling 2 and ability to respond to, the needs of society are a major factor for i In this regard the following programs | our present viability. have been defined, developed, and imple mented: the Bilingual—Bicultural Teacher | Education Program; Project Excel; the, Center for Continuing Education; Envi ronics; Criminal Justice; and Environ) mental studies. | An integral part of the design is | entitled The Critical Missions Program. Addressing ourselves to students, the | statement we adopted reads: Now then, what about the real world? a | ately, we believe that you will come to realize that your education is not for you alone. We’re interested in helping you to develop | your capacity to earn a living and make wiser | use of your leisure time, but we are aiming higher than a good job and a good life for yourself alone. We aspire to have you accept. one of the many critical missions facing our society. Therefore we have developed pro

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ee grams specifically geared to presenting this challenge to the undergraduates. We have also deversified and sought out new markets for our services. For 85 years, we have been sitting on the edge of Austin educating young men and of late young women who have come mostly from outside the City of Austin. Then, somehow, we discovered we were in Austin. In the past several years, the Center for Con- tinuing Education has sponsored programs that have served nearly 2,000 Austinites. These ventures have not gone un- noticed—the public relations have improved our image in the community. A university has three functions—teaching, research, and g, community service. Teaching has always been strong here; research outside of the sciences has been limited, and for a long time there was no real community service. ... Many of us continue to think of the institutional mission as one to under- graduates solely, and yet nearly one-third of our enrollment is comprised of adults. An- “There are some among us who feel that although we have adopted the letter of our academic design, we have not entirely accepted tts spirit. There are others who have shut their eyes and are gritting their teeth with the hope that, as with all other bad things, this too will pass away. I believe it is time for us to begin grappling with the design.’ other aspect of this Critical Missions orienta- tion is the fact that many of these programs tend towards the interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary approach, making their existence even more tenuous because they require the good will of several departments. Allow me to say that our ability to over- come what for other institutions is an insurmountable barrier in this regard has been miraculous. , Typically in academic circles we have tended to be conservative. We cringe at talk about diversifying our markets and the pub- lic relations impact of our programs... we have been brought up to distinguish sharply between town and gown. We fear that seeking out opportunities for significant public service is perhaps merely opportun- istic. . .. Before one can accurately and effectively ‘articulate the thrust of St. Edward’s University today, he must be enthusiastic “about it or at least understand it. There are some among us—both faculty and students—who feel that although we have adopted the letter of our academic de- sign, we have not entirely accepted its spirit. There are others who have shut their eyes and are gritting their teeth with the hope that as with all the other bad things, this too will pass away. | am reminded of Brother Fabius’ priceless remark, ““There’s not a bad man among us, just a lot of tired blood.” | believe it is time for us to begin grappling with the design... it has enjoyed the pro- tection of the Academic Dean’s office long enough. ... We have a program, we have ideas, we are doing something and we must tell our various publics in clear and articulate terms what we are about. We do not have to begin all over again from scratch. We must begin to look to the future, we must begin to plan for the future because, by God, the future is ours. 27