The Prospector (El Paso, Tex.), Vol. 44, No. 70, Ed. 1 Friday, April 28, 1978 Page: 4 of 12
twelve pages : ill. ; page 16 x 10 in.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Student deficiencies prompt
"• • • T 1 leg •
enate rejects committee report on librarians
proposal for 'elitist’ learning center
incompetence.”
Marchino contends the committee implied the senate was
not competent to make a recommendation. “The issue was
being stalled and the Faculty Senate has every right to make
an opinion about an issue,” she said.
Hall maintains the senate should do what it can within the
University to help the librarians. We should do what we can
here without forcing the administration to take the issue to
the regents.”
The senate committee’s proposal states that librarians can
be granted representation in the senate if a change in the
Faculty Senate bylaws or constitution is made. However, if
the librarians were given representation, it would be only as
non-voting delegates.
Disagreeing with exofficio representation, one librarian
said, “If we cannot vote in a committee, then we don’t want
it—we are not interested in being second class citizens.”
The proposal states tenure and terms of appointment “are
not under the authority of the Faculty Senate and, therefore,
the senate cannot make any recommendations.”
Although the senate committee was tormed to make
specific recommendations on the librarians proposal, many
faculty members think it did not accomplish its goals.
John Dick, assistant professor, says he agreed that the
librarians’ proposal needed to be more detailed. Yet, Dick
adds he is against the alternate proposal submitted by the
faculty committee because it, too, was not detailed and did
not make concrete recommendations.
Dick is referring to sections of the proposal concerning the
writing and speaking the language plus a 51
minimum of mathematics proficiency.
“This will take time and grow tedious
Etheridge stressed that if both elitism
and egalitarianism are not present, not
only is the University in trouble, but the
larger community as well.
“If egalitarianism is a worthy goal in
society-and I believe it is-then in the.
educational structures of that society,
egalitarianism must be expressed in
meritocracy, not mediocrity.”
less than the primary condition of
entrance.”
But, Etheridge asserted, “We must
accept the fact that elitism and
egalitarianism can live together, that they
have coexisted in one form or another in
the past, and both will continue to be
conditions of our academic life in the
future.
by Amy Smith
Major Staff Writer
A proposal to establish a “learning
center” for underprepared students
entering UT El Paso prompted rousing |
applause and a standing ovation from
faculty members Wednesday at the fourth
and final State of the University Address.
Charles Etheridge, associate professor
of drama and speech, suggested that
students admitted to the University with
“serious deficiencies’' be removed to the
center which would be equipped with its |
own special curriculum.
But for the learning center to be I
effective. Etheridge warned that the 1
faculty must have full responsibility in |
supervising and monitoring the program, 1
and that all courses only be taught in an |
“elitist” manner; not by beginners or |
indifferent teachers, but rather by the |
“accomplished.” 1
Such a program for the University is |
necessary, Etheridge noted, because of
the serious decline in the quality of I
student’s preparation for college.
“SAT scores, entrance exams and 1
placement tests indicate it,” he said, j
adding that beginning this fall, the SAT
will include an essay to its examination. :
implementation of a rank structure, internal governance and
the definition of faculty. In each section the committee
recommends the implementation of these, but does not cite
specific details or courses of action.
Members of the senate committee said a rank structure for
the librarians can be implemented by the administration
without having to go to the regents. But, University librarians
maintain they want a parity with faculty, not faculty rank.
Still there are some faculty members who are confused by
the librarian’s requests.
“If they don’t want academic rank, then I don’t know
what they want,” James W. Whalen, chemistry professor,
says. “They are not academically qualified to hold faculty
status in an academic department.” 1
Many librarians at the senate meeting expressed
disappointment with the senate in its attitudes toward
professional librarians receiving parity.
“This body should explore the possibilitiesand either make
supporting recommendation or not but they should leave
the details to the administration,” Mary Nieball, associate
director of libraries, said.
Most of the senate members supported the librarians,
voting for the resolution tabling the committee’s proposal
until the next meeting.
“I think they mainly wanted moral support,” Lawrence
Ellzey, associate chemistry professor, said.
Cesar Caballero, assistant head of Chicano Services,
contends the senate’s resolution is “all encompassing, and
there is no need for the rest of the proposal.”
feed our paranoia, we see even those
universities like Harvard, Yale, Princeton
and Cornell, traditionally associated with
elitist education and protected by closed
or restricted admissions policies,
nowadays adopting ethnic quotas and
other modifications of admissions
standards, all of which have relegated
excellence of preparation to something
by Johnnie Medrano
Last of a series
The University Faculty Senate ignored a recommendation
from a special senate committee to deny librarians faculty
status, and instead drafted a resolution giving support to the
professional librarians in their struggle for faculty parity.
The senate’s resolution states, “We recommended that
faculty status be granted to the professional librarians if it is
consistent with the Regent’s Rules, we recommend that tire
administration make all possible effort to see that the
Regent’s Rules be changed so that such status may be
granted.
“Faculty status is understood as including all faculty
privileges and responsibilities except a nine-month
appointrnent and professorial rank.”
Carl Hall, chairman of die committee studying the
professional librarians’ proposal for faculty status,
recommended the senate not pursue the issue. The special
committee submitted an alternate proposal explaining that
the librarians cannot be given faculty status because it would
require a change in the Regents’ Rules.
“I don’t think the Faculty Senate should make a
recommendation to change a rule which would change the
whole UT System,” Hall said, adding that he thinks the
senate is not competent to make such a recommendation.
Conversely, Lois Marchino, assistant professor of English,
said she thinks the faculty should make a recommendation to
the regents to give the librarians equal parity. “I have heard
no objection to this except you (Carl Hall) expressing your
before the final academic profile is
established, but it is long overdue,” he *
said. S
“Until we do it, we cannot really know S
what we expect of the fully qualified
freshman and therefore cannot know how S
to identify the inadequately prepared or
how to diagnose his specific areas of
underpreparedness.”
What Etheridge sees as the culprit in
academic decline lies in the open
admissions policy of universities
committed to egalitarianism.
“We have assumed that elitism is
impossible and gone forever as a
university concern,” he said. “And to
Etheridge also noted that the faculty
should establish a new set of admissions
standards, some of which might include a
minimum score (Etheridge suggested 500)
on each of the objective parts of the SAT;
or a minimum proficiency in reading,
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
University of Texas at El Paso. The Prospector (El Paso, Tex.), Vol. 44, No. 70, Ed. 1 Friday, April 28, 1978, newspaper, April 28, 1978; El Paso, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1621032/m1/4/: accessed June 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting University of Texas at El Paso.