Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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!MT VI. We recommend expansion of inde pendent study programs. Professors should be given more credit for their involvement in such programs. We also consider that Graduate Assistants may be a valuable source for advisors of independent projects undertaken by Freshman and Sophomore students and should be given greater use as such. VII. Wider use should be made of re search seminars at the undergraduate level. VIII. Since many innovative teaching programs require special funding, we hope that the University Research Com mittee and the Educational Foundation will accept part of the responsibility for such funding. IX. We recommend that opportunities to participate in interdisciplinary pro grams be expanded. X. We support student evaluation of the faculty, but we believe that this evaluation should be made to aid other students in their seleotion' of courses and faculty, and for no other purposes. XI. We recommend that an appro priate means be devised for students and faculty to evaluate the adminis tration. XII. We reaffirm the unity of good research and good teaching, and assert that good teaching should be a prime consideration in the granting of tenure and promotion. Living-Learning Experience Increased opportunities for living learning experiences on the campus will enhance the academic atmosphere. We recommend the following: I. Greater coordination between build ing designers and persons who will ulti mately use new facilities, so that utility and layout of buildings is more in tune with developing needs. II. Arrange dormitory assignments so that special interest groups, such as modern language majors, Law students,' etc., may have separate floors in resi dence hall.. As a similar experiment, honor dorms should be established. III. The Horseshoe should be com pletely restored, renovated and desig nated as a center for academic excel lence with a careful blend of classroom, commons, and residential space. IV. In addition to the earlier sugges tion of expanded commons areas for student-faculty Informal meeting, all new buildings should contain provision for such rooms. V. Student-faculty social gatherings Sare too infrequent. Residential areas should sponsor departmental drop-ins and more departments should hold studlent-faculty social events. Intensive Programs The attainment of excellence In edu cation at the undergraduate and grad uate level calls for a commitment to rigorous programs of both traditional and experimental nature. We believe that the following recommendations will help achieve the support of outstanding students and faculty. I. The Honors Program should be s'bstantially expanded so that it will constitute a full four-year program. IT. The Contemporary University pro gram should be expanded to develop greater interdisciplinary activity and in volve all colleges in the University. It should be retained in its present semi autonomous status. III. A more intensive effort should be made to upgrade the level of graduate students at the University as a mechan ism for attracting strong faculty and for providing better assistance to under graduates. An Academic Center We propose that a special center be established within the University to en courage creative achievement and schol arship by: I. Providing added recognition for scholarly and creative achievement of high merit; II. Providing support for faculty and students engaged in scholarly or crea tive pursuits of special merit capable of enhancing the intellectual atmosphere and scholarly reputation of the Uni versity; III. Providing coordination and spon sorship for colloquia, conferences, lec tures, seminars and symposia having special potential for stimulating intel lectual exchange and tdvancement without regard for disciplinary lines; IV. Providing initiative to promote increased exchange of ideas within the University and between the University and its larger community; V. Providing coordination and support for regular scholarly visits to the Uni versity by distinguished persons from public and academic life for exchange of ideas with faculty and students. We further believe that since stimu lation of thought and achievement in the whole University is the end desired in creating such a center, scholars on the center staff should be selected from persons of diverse experience as well as exceptional academic background. Intel lectual interaction and exchange of ex perience should be combined with schol arly or other creative activity by scholars during their appointments to the center staff. We ask that a planning staff be im mediately named and charged with drafting specific details for operation of a center as outlined above. Once a center is designed, its establishment should proceed with all speed. Non-Classroom Factors Out-of-class influences may be at least as Important as the classroom in de veloping a climate of -learning on the campus. Taken separately, the factors stressed below may not appear crucial, but the cumulative effect of the con tribution should be substantial. Five basic areas have been singled out for attention. I. Increase the number of commons areas on campus to promote greater student-faculty interraction. New facil ities should be established and improve ments should be made in the ut'Uty of existing ones. We propose that the present faculty dining room be desig nated as a coffee-house-commons room for faculty, students, and staff from 4:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. each weekday, with a limited menu of food and drink. Additional commons rooms should be established throughout the campus. We also propose conversion of the depressed patio adjacent to the Humanities enm plex into a sidewalk cafe to provide students and faculty with a common meeting ground. Groupings of benches to promote conversation should be sit uated at various points around the campus. II. The completion of the new library is recognized by all as a vital ingredient in improving the academic atmosphere, and we urge all possible speed in the construction of the new facility. III. A readily accessible, well-stocked bookstore, operated with the primary purpose of encouraging students to buy and read more books, could make an important contribution to improving the academic atmosphere. With this in mind, we recommend: A. Remove all textbooks to the Coli seum and sell books during registra tion at this location both for the c9nvenience of the students, and to release more space for trade books at the regular bookstore site. B. Relocate the bookstore (perhaps on the present I,nfirmary site). C. Provide a discount on all trade titles, and increase substantially the number of such titles. D. Remove all bookstore profits from the control of the Athletic De partment, and, if feasible, operate the bookstore as a non-profit enterprise. E. Employ a professional bookstore manager with purchasing experience in the trade book area. IV. Participation in intramural and intercollegiate sports provides oppor tunities for a different kind of learning as well as for diversion from the pres sures of classrooms. Neither the intra mural sport program nor the intercol legiate minor sport program has been adequately supported at the University. We recommend the acquisition of addi tional intramural fields and strongly urge increased financial support by the Athleti- Department for intramurals and minor sports. V. Lecture events on the campus should be better coordinated to receive maximum support and better attendance. More faculty participation in the pro gramming would be desirable. The Uni versity is at a great disadvantage in the lecture series since there is no adequate auditorium facility for audiences of 1000-2000 people. The existing audi toriums will seat no more than about 500. The next size facility is the Coli seum, which seats 13,000. We recom mend the addition of a 1000-seat audi torium in the Russell House and en dorse efforts to build a 2000-seat audi torium jointly with Richland County and the City of Columbia. VI. We also feel that conferences are frequently invaluable catalysts in the process of Improving the University and we strongly urge that facilities at R. G. Bell camp or an alternative site be de veloped to accommodate such gatherings. Additional Topics The breadth and variety of the recom mendations listed above indicate the wide range of topics we have touched upon. Many topics of discussion were not explored sufficiently to result in positive recommendations, and several were explored only as a means of achieving orientation to other problems. Many Ideas have not found their way Into the final listing. The committee on teaching effectiveness, for example, has discussed the possibility of an adminis trative reorganization to eliminate de partmental boundaries, and the idea of abolishing the present grading system entirely to replace it with the Idea of taking courses by contract. The re cruitment section has recommended the idea of reinstating honor rolls and re vitalizingr Awards Day it p.o...ti.. effect on our ability to recruit academic ally motivated students. We have also discussed the traffic and parking prob lems on campus and the frequent lack of coordination in scheduling University events to complement one another. The section on living-learning experiences has discussed certain residential regula tions which have potential to detract from the total educational experience. The intensive programs committee has examined the way the honors program is set up and explored the possibility of extending the philosophy of the program to other new approaches for segments of the student body. We have also had two sections whose reports were much more general in na ture than the listings above: a section on political influence and a section on the role of USC in South Carolina ed ucation. The first of these has concluded that although there is little room to doubt the undesirable impact of such influence, its presence is inherent in the nature of a state university. The section offers two suggestions intended to minimize misinformation: 1. Achieve greater coordination be tween Information Services and student media, using student media for official responses to political questions. II. Encourage quick response from authoritative spokesmen to reduce the spreading of rumors when public ques tions are raised. The section on educational role has observed that the state's unique educa tional problems deserve more careful consideration by the University so that the latter may better serve the needs of the state. Among means of achieving this understanding, we suggest innova tive programs to tie several disciplines to one another and illuminate current problems, and expansion of the Board of Trustees to reflect a broader base of University people as well as community representatives. Conclusion A university is a learning experience for all participants. The most desirable atmosphere occurs when students and faculty alike take advantage of the ideas and learning opportunities they offer one another. This involvement must necessarily penetrate every aspect of campus life, from the doctoral semi nar to the informal coffee break. A favorable academic atmosphere, then, includes more than the offering of a program and curriculum which are academically excellent; it includes the utilization of all facilities within the university, physical as well as intellec tual, so that the members of the univer sity cannot avoid participation in the intellectual way of life a university rep resents. By Its very nature a university must provide the community it serves with insights into reality. Its principle contribution Is not measured in terms of the specialized courses it offers, but in the opportunities it provides for the de velopment of the individual and In the total body of knowledge and Ideas with which it concerns itself. We believe that implementation of the recommendations included in this report will be a major contribution to the evolution of the University of South Carolina as a progressive, vital educa tional institution, an Institution aware of Its commitment to Itself and Its state, and constantly striving better to fulfill its Ideals and obligations. Respectfully, The Conference on Academic Atmosphere Camp Gravatt, S. C.