Lycoming College Report, February 1972

              LYCOMINQ SrCOND CLASS POSTAGE PAID AT
WILUAMSPORT, PENNSYLVANIA 17701
COLLEGE REPORT Februar) 1472 \ nluim- 25. Numbci
1972 THE YEAR OF RECKONING
PRIVATE COLLEGES DOOMED . ! ?
Thi punctuation of the above headline will depend on
mam factors \ml thi headlines which can follow in
M ng months of 1472, should the correct
] in .
i in in turn out to be an emphatic exclamation
I t,couldrcad UJI COLLEGE CLOSES!, JKL
i \l\l i;sin FORCED TO ELIMINATE MAJOB
PROI RAMSI XYZ COLLEGE BANKRUPT! The
I
eai ol i' ckoning ma) havi arrivi d
Your lirst reaction to the foregoing headlines might
be in the nature ol —"Scare I actios", "Here comes
a pitch Foi mom j ',oi Things i an'l bi thai bad
"
Now, on the surface there are indicators that
. vi rything should be "eomfng-up roses" in the
decadi of the seventies fur institutions of higher
education Aren't then more people of college age
than ever? And as long as enrollments are kept high
Isn't it jusl .i 1 1 1. lit i r i 'I hard work and determination
to solve tin problems?
n thai were the case the 1070 ci osusdata could
glv< I "it Reports indicate that the number ol
eighteen and i> i n • ar-olds living in the U. S.
will continue to increase until 1976 In 1970, there
were 7.449,000; In 1976, then will I- S 169,000.
Small dei rcasi • occui until 1983 when thi numbi t
again drops bi low eight million ( m this basis one
could ass thai j oung pi oplc will be entering
college, provided of course ili-itilnpiniNt.rji ol
eai 1
1 age group ntti ndinc dins constant or
increases. The gi ncrnl trend during thi lastcentur)
shows thai the percentage ol the age group attending
collcg sedfroin IS in I870to353 in 1970.
During this same centur} enrollments doubled e\ erj
fourti en I Bfteei i ["he < tarnegic C ission
. .iiKi.it . tii.it (hi p. n entagc ol i ollegc-agc
populal actunll) enrolled will level oul al about
. .11 Jtn h > \s wi -..nil. this should be verj
i forting to thosi Involved in higlici education
Bui as in thi i ase of all statistics- tin si
require some ftnal) sis and interpretation. There are
1 1 i,i ik influential factors be) ond th< head count; some
ut them will be mentioned latei t mi cannot assume
thai i In upward trend will continue oi show nice
s th increases year after yeai Then havi always
In i ii hills plateaus, and valleys on tins i urvi . and
(peel th.it patti in to continue \\ ithln the
memorj ol man) ol us World War II virtual!) closed
down man) institutions followed a few years lotcr
by returning veterans w ho bursl the seams ! those
lieges and universities Twenty-fivi years
ago .i trend 1» gan thai ma) have rcai hed it-- peak in
In 1946 afev ovci tw Uion students
populati d our colleges and universities Except foi
inothcj valle) fron
national enrollmi
Jh mitil 1971 whi n il i
something unexpected
happened Freshman cnroltmenl dcclin 1 .7 H i
need i»"i attempt t.i expla shmen
the (ignil that
the "flood of students" we saw in the fifties and
sixties showed the first sign of having reached its
crest and may have started to recede.
During most of (lie twenty-five year period referred
tn above, the demand for higher education exceeded
the supply, There were more students seeking
admission than facilities and faculties could
accommodate; some students were turned awa\ in tin
seller's market. It must be said in the same breath
(hat gre.it effort was mounted to provide additional
facilities; .i fantastic building boom occurred on
campuses all over this country, The bricks and
mortar problem was s< <\\ • <l b) hard work and the
expenditures of billions of dollars
Qualified faculty were in very short supply during
most of tins period I he imbalanci created another
sellei s markel leading t<> substantial salary
increases for college personnel and higher tuitions
for students. The graduate schools of the large
universities tooled-up to satisf) the demand and il
ii' i« appi ars tli.it the) have tinned out more than
enough M A 's and Ph.D. s to satisf) the needs of
higher education < alleges are, perhaps, both
overbuilt andovi rstoffi >l for the immediate future.
Institutions, apparently like the humans who operate
them, gel into habits and thought patterns. Some
i ,iiin to believe that significant annual increases In
i "i "II it. instructional and administrative
personnel, budgets, construction, etc., had be tan
established pattern for higher education Counting
on this, man) institutions continued to build ni «
Facilitii s and add to thi ii staffs
Thi year of reckoning ma) be 1972. There an 5
signs that must not be ignored. Thi ( lamegie
Commission estimates that 110.00U openings for
freshmen went begging in 1971. New York State's
private colleges have 15,000 vacancies tins year.
Reports from admissions directors and high school
counselors suggest strongly that the "getting into
college" hysteria on the part of high school seniors
has aln a 'St disappeared Thej are applying to h we:
colleges and are taking their good old time in
filing applications Virtuall) all four-year
institutions are slum Ing decreases in the i bei ol
applications received to date. The students seem to
know that they are in a buyer's market now and that
tin \ can shop and deal a bit.
Some bewildered people Ore asking. ' What is
happening?" All the Inn-easts assure us tli.it the
population is still growing and the pen entfl
Continued on page 2
Share your enthusiasm about
Lycoming College «iili a
prospectn e student this w eek.
Dwn James H /.>-> t-mtgnuulutt'< ihrre promoted pnfouwt,
toft i.i right, Dr /...; Robert il
Lotion to atrittont, and Dt J)<ji id I Loomit to associate.
i
: in
J, Loomis, and Roblut
H. LARSON, have been promoted effective in
September I Irs Schaeffei and 1- s tn associate
professor and Mi Larson to assistant professoi
1 effei on th. staff sun.' I982and now
i !i in in in ol the Education Department, is an alumna
1 arts from
Buckncll 1 loctor ol education from
The Pennsylvania SI I A Wdliamsport
native she taughl in the Loyalsoi I Township School
District before joining thi- facult)
Dr. Loomis, a 1961 I Ids a master
.-I arts from Bu< km 1! I. nh ersit) and a doctor of
philosoph) fromS i ichingat
Bloomsbui _
l
l*67 and is now Psychology Department chi
Mr I trsen onthetustor) staff since 1969, is a
graduate of The Citadel and earned a master of arts
at the 1 oi Jtei serving three
ui work on his
doctorate at th. I pnia.
UNCONVENTIONAL
COURSES OFFERED
FOR MAY TERM
Iiy Brute L. Swanger
Plans for the first May Term under the new
calendar areprogn sing \t this writing I February I j
lifts -five courses man) "I the m-tradltional,
i: been uggested to students for the four-week
term which will open May -Stll and close June 2ml
i if th< fifty-five proposed '' es forty-fivi
an considered non-traditional ranging from
Black musi( . through a course that will investigate
occult phenomena, to one En spcleolog) Several
offei travel to foreign countries including Russia
One will take students to New Mexico and a number
involve fii'l'l trips t<. various metropolitan areas
\ hst ni proposed courses, including forty-tv
thi extended six-week summer session from June L2th
to [ul) 21st, was distributed to all students
Course Request Forms were attached to thi list and
students interested in specific courses have returned
theform tothe Registrar's office. Dr. Rabold, co-ordinator
of the Ma) l
' im. and the Dean's 1
currently tabulating the responses to determine
which can-., j if ill bi Dffi rcdal a formal
registration which will be held in the spring.
Enrollment « ill be possibli until the sessions
open in M ij ind [urn
Off-campus readers who think they might be
can i "ut. ii i tin
editor for more information which will \»- available
i- final course offerings ha<
determined- And the College would
an) personal pub!
give to friends and acquaint