Ecology, community involvement:
Chalmers views campus trends in 70's
By MARILYN McMULLEN Kansan Staff Writer
Chancellor E. Laurence Chalmers Jr., said he believed that student participation in forming university policies would be responsible for a movement away from overt protest demonstrations on the KU campus this spring.
His statement came during a Kansan interview Feb. 10. Chalmers discussed expected trends on American campuses during the 70's.
"I have had no occasion to veto any measure which students have voted on," Chalmers said.
KU students have a hand in forming university policy through votes cast in Student Senate and University Senate. Chalmers said KU has been one of the first universities to grant students so much decision-making power
He added that there would still be incidences of student action during the spring, but said they would be concerned with extending social concerns beyond the campus.
KANSAN
--characteristic of the 50's. There will be more educators than jobs, enabling universities to weigh the relative merits of prospective instructors rather than constantly struggling to fill job openings.
"I expect to see students active in two main areas. There will be cleanup campaigns and other community projects such as the New Jersey Street Project last spring. More students will be active in establishing legal and medical aid outlets for low income families."
The second area, Chalmers said, would be on a nation-wide scale. It is the area of environmental improvement.
"I don't think the public is quite prepared for the momentum, persistence and energy with which students will attack this problem," he said. "Students can help the situation by organizing constructive campaigns designed to inform the public of the seriousness and immediacy of the problem, and what can be done to alleviate it."
Chalmers believes higher education will see great changes in the 70's. He said America was returning to a buyer's market
Feb. 13 1970 KANSAN 3
"Different colleges will be looking for different qualities and abilities in the instructors they hire."
E. Laurence Chalmers Jr.
Chalmers said he expected to see a change in the style and content of instruction on the college level, but added that specific changes would differ with individual schools.
Speaking of grading systems, Chalmers said he believed letter grades sometimes interfered with effective learning.
"Some measure of progress is needed," he said, "but perhaps we are ready for some innovation in the area of grading."
Chalmers suggested the possibility of written evaluations of each student as a more effective method of judging a student's abilities.
He expressed concern over the growing number of university students, and the accompanying shortage of funds necessary to
operate school facilities.
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"Funds must come from increased supports from state and federal governments," he said. "Recent cutbacks have been difficult to adapt to." Chalmers added that anticipation of increased financial need depended on student and faculty help.
the growth rate of a state university the size of KU. We will need $100 million worth of new buildings by the end of the decade."
"Our present road leads to disaster. We have built half the number of facilities required for
"Students who attend two-year colleges and decide they want degrees greatly increase the number of students enrolling."
While Chalmers agreed that city colleges and community junior colleges will play an increasingly important role during the 70's he said they tend to compound the problem of the large state university.
Chalmers said there was a possibility that the time required to complete a bachelor's degree might be extended in the future. "We're in the age of the information explosion," he said. "Formal education might someday develop a life-long phenomenon."
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