Profs and students suffering from honor roll boom
By KEN FULION
Kansan Staff Reporter
Rv KEN FULTON
For more than a decade the overall grade point average (GPA) at the University of Kansas has
been 3.24.
According to William Kelly, associate dean of admissions and records, the average GPA in the fall of 1973 was 2.93. Kelly said Monday the average GPA was 2.85. In the fall 1969 the average GPA was 2.43.
The trend toward higher grades is typified by the honor roll figures for the School of Engineering.
University administrators say they think that students aren't getting smarter, however. Most say that while students come to college with broader backgrounds than a decade ago, their grasp of the
During 1960-65, 10 per cent of the engineering students met the school's requirements for the honor roll; during 1965-69, 12 to 15 per cent were honor students; and by 1973, 25 per cent could claim honors, according to Donald Metzler, associate dean of the School of Engineering.
fundamentals of English, the sciences and the humanities hasn't improved.
Instead, most of the deans of the schools on campus agreed that the higher grades were due to what William Argingerstein, Jr., vice chancellor for the College of Arts and Sciences, called the popularity contest of the University.
Arargenian said the popularity contest included the indiedero credit and late withdrawal options, and the bank's own
Thomas Gorton, ed. of the School of Fine Arts, said, "I think one of the most significant reasons for the increased GPA is the new withdrawal system, which allows laureate in the semester and dodge getting Fs."
Gorton also said it was his experience that courses in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (LA&S) that might be considered "pop" or "relevant," had developed a string of As.
Martin Dickinson, dean of the School of Law, said a study was being made by the school to determine the reliability of the predictive capacity of the GPA versus the law school entrance exam.
3. 34, strikingly above the overall University GPA of 2.83.
The study indicates that the predictive capacity of the GPA has declined relative to the entrance examination in measuring students' abilities, Dickinson said.
Arersinger reported a similar situation in the graduate school.
Graduate schools are finding that they need to put less reliance on grades, he said, and are turning to coursework.
Most of the deans also said that at least some portion of the responsibility rested with the
Both Borton and Angersinger said they thought professors were grading higher than in the past.
Gorton said he thought the practice began during the war era when male students were susceptible to
the draft if their grades were low. Teachers were sensitive to the students' desires to avoid the draft, he said, and so they helped students as much as they could.
Dale Scannell, dean of the School of Education,
said teachers were grading easier and he referred
to his article in a newsletter published by the school last May.
In the article, Scannell noted that the increase in GPA was accompanied by "a steady and pronounced decline in the average (nationwide) score from high school juniors and seniors who have taken AP."
Though no professors questioned Monday said they were grading easier, they did say that they felt an increased pressure from students to give higher grades.
Roy Grydley, professor of English, said there was more pressure on teachers not to give Bs or Cs. He said too much of his time with students was taken for classes and defending low grades on papers, especially Cs.
Students today are more serious and industrious,
he said, but this attitude is too tied to the grade.
The standard for an A has been kept, but there is a need to ensure that the students are able to Aliyah Clerk, assistant professor of political science. If rigorous grading standards were enforced his department might suffer a drop in enrollment, because of this.
The department of political science at KU requires a thesis paper for a masters degree, he said, and as a consequence some students are lost to schools that don't require a thesis paper.
Cigler said he thought the student pressure for higher grades was caused by the competition for jobs and for entrance into professional schools. He said the greatest pressure came from junior and seniors.
Gridley, on the other hand, said freshmen and sophomores were more grade conscious, and that juniors and seniors were better able to rate themselves and recognize talent.
See GRADES Page 2
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
KANSAN
Vol.85-No.103 Tuesday, March 4, 1975
Groups named to lead searches
The University of Kansas Lawrence, Kansas
Two search committees have been named to find replacements for the head of the KU Med Center and the director of University Relations.
A 13-member committee was named Monday to find a replacement for William O. Rieke as executive vice chancellor of the Med Center. Rieke is leaving in July to become president of Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Wash.
Chancellor Archie R. Dykes said George E. Burket JR, associate professor of family practice, would head the committee to find Biek's replacement.
Dykes said the committee would review potential candidates from the Med Center and also would seek candidates nationwide. The committee will submit the names of three qualified candidates to Dykes, who will make the final selection.
Other members of the committee are: Margaret McDougall, graduate student in pharmacology; Merlin Olson, adjunct faculty in pharmacy and students for nursing; Norje Gerome, director of educational resource centers; A. H. Cromb, former member of the Kansas Medical School; E. Cuppage of pharmacology; Francis E. Cuppage, professor of pathology; Burton A. Dudding.
chairman of the department of pediatrics; Ronald Stephens, assistant professor of medicine; George Dyk, chairman of the department of psychiatry at the Wichita branch of the Med Center; Stanley R. Friesen, professor of surgery; and Clair C. Conard, a representative of the Kansas Medical Society.
The committee's first meeting will be at 10 a.m.
of the Medical Center, administration office.
Members of the committee are: Samuel Adams, associate professor of journalism; John B. Bremer, professor of journalism; Bruce McKinnon, drama; Rohan Eversole, catalog editor at University Relations; James Gunn, professor of English; James K. Hitt, associate director of institutional research; Lawrence Adams, institution Dobak, Lawrence graduate student.
The committee will meet today to begin work on the search.
A seven member committee will seek a replacement for David Dary as director of University Relations, according to Del Shankle, executive vice chancellor, Davie University. A faculty directive fund to return to full-time teaching duties in the School of Journalism.
Salary adjustments face rigid deadlines
Kansan Staff Reporter
15y DEBBIE GUMP
Many deans and department chairmen say they are running a race against time to comply with faculty salary adjustment guidelines released last week.
The guidelines require that a supervisor meet with all women and minority staff members to negotiate their salaries before the university budget is made final.
The deadline for department budgets,
however, is Friday and many of those in
charge of conducting the interviews said
last week it would be difficult to meet it.
leo Stankel, executive vice chancellor,
at Saturday that extensions of up to a
four-year term were approved.
"I think in some cases we will have to extend the deadline because we didn't get the budgets out as rapidly as we would have liked," he said.
Most budgets were sent out last week, he said, but the College got their yesterday.
Friday is the deadline for nominations for Friday KJ's distinguished awards. Several addresses should be addressed to Vice Chancellor Ambrose Sarick, Office of Academic Affairs, and should include a resume.
Deadline nears for nominations
Any KU teacher may be nominated by any faculty member, student, school, department, campus organization or group of individuals.
Funds for each of the awards were donated by H. Bernerd Fink of Topeka, a 1931 alumna, for whom the award is named. The funds are financed by Almco Foundation, Inc.
The four awards, each carrying a $1,000
compound will be presented at Compound
The selection committee is anonymous and comprises both faculty members and adjudicators.
The procedure was devised to correct possible instances of salary ineqities after more than a month of conferences between the administration and the Office of A<sub>L</sub>-Action.
David Hardcastle, acting dean of the School of Social Welfare, said the procedure was cumbersome because of the tight time limitation.
Hardcastle said that because it would be unfair to talk only with women and minorities, he would confer with every member of the staff.
"It assumes all schools have very few minorities and women, which in our case is not the case."
In a department where there is only one woman or minority person, a salary adjustment could be made if needed, he said, and it couldn't cause problems for the rest of the staff.
"THE BEST THING about the Affirmative action salary procedures is that they stress the crucial point that 'distribution of salary funds should continue to be based on merit as the sole determining point.'" he said.
very much under the gun"
See SALARY Page 8
1 "question the wisdom of reviewing tactic affection only a portion of the firm's catalog"
Reasonable people may differ as to what constitutes 'merit', he said, and not all people are reasonable. The policy also requires that an extremely elaborate and delicate process, for which there even is no chance to become even more complicated, he said.
Worth said that several aspects of the policy statement disturbed him.
However, he said, to raise half the faculty, he suggested a significant increase in the salaries of the sailors.
George Worth, chairman of the department of English, said that although he was sympathetic to the goals of Affirmative Framing, he couldn't help feeling a little annoyed.
Even with a possible extension, Worth said, it will be hard to complete the job.
Broom masters
Building and Grounds personnel Jean Burges, Lawrence sophomore, and Robert Livington, 1815 R.I., sweep up a snow storm.
By Staff Photographer GEORGE MILLENER III
February snowstorms. Each individual pile of sand was later shoveled into a Building and Grounds truck.
Two tests ordered for Long
Two psychiatric examinations were or-
ganized by the Long, Chirg, Topeka,
Douglas County District.
Long faces 13 charges, including first degree murder and kidnaping, in connection with a Nov. 13 robbery-killing at the Sanctuary Club, 1401 W. 7th.
Douglas County Attorney David Berkowitz requested one psychiatric examination for Long. He said the defendant chose to enter a plea of usurability, defendant chose to enter a plea of usurability,
Gray ruled that the same psychiatrist could conduct both examinations of Long,
A competency examination for Long was ordered by District Judge Frank Gray. The examination is to determine whether Long is required to stand trial and to aid in his defense.
could conduct both examinations of Long. A jury trial for Long was originally scheduled to begin Monday, but Gray continued the trial to April 14 on a pretrial motion by Long's attorney, Edward Collister.
Collari said the recent death of his father had slowed his preparation for the trial.
SEVERALOTHER pretrial motions were presented by Collister.
Gray asked that factual evidence presented at the hearing not be reported to avoid any possibility of prejudicial pretrial publicity.
He presented evidence to support a motion to suppress evidence from a Nov. 14 lineup in Topeka, in which Long was allegedly identified by witnesses to the incidents at the Sanctuary Club. Two wittees testified.
Gray said he would rule on the motion to suppress evidence after Collisi presented a written memorandum to him explaining the motion.
A motion by Colllier for the discovery
See TESTS Page 2
City elections
Lawrence voters will decide today which city commission and school board candidates will be on the ballot in the city general election Anril 1.
Polls will be open until 7 p.m. tonight.
Voters can call the KU Information Center at 864-3506 to find out what ward and precinct they are in.
The Kansan will provide election results as they become available after 7.30 p.m. at the local office.
For a list of candidates and polling places,
see page 8.
Few grads express support for ticket subsidy
By DON SMITH
By DON SMITH
Kansas Staff Renorter
Student funding of the athletic ticket subsidy and forensics received little support from graduate students in a questionnaire distributed Friday during the election of the Graduate Student Council (GSC) executive committee.
The results of the questionnaire and the election were released Monday.
Approximately 90 of 4,500 graduate students enrolled in the University voted in the election. Of those voting, only 15.5 per cent said they favored funding the athletic ticket subsidy and only 17 per cent favored funding forsales...
In contrast, 81 per cent of those responding said they favored funding the concert series; 77 per cent favored it and 73 per cent favored funding University Theatre.
Responding to other activities funded by the student activity fee, 49 per cent said they favored funding the Senate, 37.5 per cent favored funding intramurals, 32 per cent favored women's athletics and 28 per cent funded women's bands.
The question voted on was, "If you had your choice, where would you want your children?"
Seven members of the GSC executive committee were elected.
Elected members of the committee are:
Bio Choiwit, Lawrence; John Dagenais,
Lawrence; Wily Dolob, Lawrence; Tom
Donaldson, Lawrence; Katy Dugan,
Lawrence; Charlotte Kimbrough,
Lawrence; and Bernery Williams, Hoyt.
Donaldson, former president of the GSC,
said the executive committee was responsible for implementing policy decisions made by the council.
He said the lack of support for forensics and athletics was significant.
He said the questionnaire results would aid the GSC executive committee and graduate school senators in evaluating the opinions of graduate students.
"You did get an indication that some graduate students don't think much of how their activity money is spent," Donaldson said.
Williams said the poll results reflected his open-ended activity of the spending by graduate students.
"Generally, graduate students will be asking that more money be spent on things that make a difference to them," Donaldson said.
"My inclination is that this is a valid
inclination, the option
within it will be good." I feel a little bit
1
more at ease about expressing my opinions after finding out the ideas of other graduate students.
Kumbridge said the poll represented the first attempt by the GSC to seek graduate education.
"The poll results will give us a chance to try to get a handle on which programs the graduate students would prefer to emphasize." Kimbrough said.
Kimuk could said that more questionnaires
kimbu were sent out in the future as new issues
(4)
Although he had hoped that more balloons would have been cast in the election, Donaldson said, some balloons were coming in to the graduate office Monday.
"The response to this kind of thing will pick up," Donald said, "but for our first