No one else
can give US;
whatyou 1
can.
+
The American
Red Cross.
The Good
Neig^tbor.
CHANGES IN GRADING SYSTEM
Changes in the grading system
and other related policies were discus
sed in a memorandum of August 16
from Laurence Dorr to the faculty,
students and staff.
1. The former grading system is no
longer in effect. The University has
moved to a system of A, B, C, D, F.
2. Withdrawals will be recorded only
as W (not WP or WF). The dead
line here is crucial since late with
drawal will always be recorded as F.
3. Studends are required to complete
(pass) a certain number of semester
hours each semester. This applies
both to full-time and to part-time
students.
4. New rules for suspension are
cited on p.52.
5. No student will be admitted to
any class after the last day of late
registration.
6. It is the instructor’s responsib
ility to make the effort to see that
no student is allowed in class with
out a class admission card validated
by both the Registrar’s Office and
the Business Office.
7. I intend that all administrators
take seriously these policies devel
oped by the faculty and request
that individual faculty members
assist the students in understand
ing them and in meeting the dead
lines. It would help if all realized
that we will be operating on the
principle that exceptions to these
policies will be very rare and only
when the circumstances are not just
plausible but compelling.
jheridgerunnertheridgerunnertheric the RIDGERUNNER Volume XIV Number 1
WEST SELECTED
On AprU 20, 1978, the UNC-A
Publicaitons Board selected Mark D.
West as the 1978-1979 editor of the
campus newspaper, the RIDGERUN
NER
Mr. Vii$t is a junior, and has
past experience with the RIDGE
RUNNER, holding in the past the
positions of photographer, photo ed
itor, layout editor and managing ed
itor. He is a Literature major and has
in the past been a broadcast journ
alism major at UNC-Chapel Hill and
was editorialist for the Enka High
School JETSTREAM. He also served
on the news staff of WXYC-FM, a
Chapel Hill radio station, and as a
photographer for the DAILY TAR
HEEL.
West’s plans for the RIDGE
RUNNER is to increase the credibil
ity of the paper.
Give
Ihe
world
a little
gift
today.
Blood.
+
The American
Red Cross.
The Good
Neig^Uxx:
m
DR. WILLIAM HIGHSMITH
bigger is not always better
photograph and story by mark west
Dr. William Highsmith is a man with plans for his university. When asked if
his plans included any large increases in the size of the university, however. Dr.
Highsmith answered with typical candor.
“We’re not out to see how big we can make this university. We’re trying to
see how good we can make it. It’s a lot easier to make a school bigger than it is to
make it better.”
It would seem that Dr. Highsmith has been reasonably sucessful in his quest
for improvement. At this point, UNC-A is led only by the three schools — UNC-
Chapel Hill, UNC-Greensboro, and N.C. State — which offer graduate programs in
the Scholastic Aptitude Test scores required for admission. For the past ten years,
the National Teacher Examination scores of the teachers at UNC-A have ranked in
a similar position - and in fact the gap between UNC-A and UNC-Greensboro is
now only a few points. But Dr. Highsmith is not content with the good reputation
of UNC-A. He says that by 1983 maximum enrollment at UNC-A will probably be
little higher than 2,300 students, not drastically increased from the current 1,800.
Since UNC-A is primarily an undergraduate institution, the size of the school can
be kept down since there is no need for the vast hordes of undergraduates with
the resultant revenue necessary to fund a graduate school. As far as money goes,
UNC-A has one of the highest per student appropriation rates of any school in the
state. It is, instead in the area of facilities where Dr. Highsmith has plans which
will benefit both the school and the community.
Dr. Highsmith hopes that the new Art and Management building will be
completed in the fall of 1979. Sometime during next year, appropriations will be
made fora 100,000 square foot student center/dormitory building which will cost
SVi million dollars. This building, whose earliest date for completion is Fall of
1981, will contain housing for 300 students, a student activity and recreation cen
ter, extensive dining room facilities and a campus store.
The Lipinsky Student Center would, upon transferral of its occupants to
Mie new student center, would become a continuing education center, a benefit to
both the community and students. The Lipinsky building would be a center for
conferences, classes, meetings and programs where adult educational planning and
continuing education could be conducted. Some continuing specific programs Dr.
Highsmith mentioned which would be carried out in the new center would be a
continuing education program for, of and about women and a program for and
about the aged, which could be of great value to the community. The building it
self would be rennovated considerably, the majority of it being transformed into
office space and conference areas.
All the changes Dr. Highsmith hopes for would not occur on the actual un
iversity campus. There are plans for the transfer of both the Nation Climactic
Center and the regional Forest Service Center to construct new buildings on the
hill opposite the Botanical Garden. The forestry center would be the headquarters
and the labs for the Forest Service in five southeastern states, and the meteor-
logical center would house the records for the entire United States. This center
wold at the time of its completion probably employ over 500 people. The benefit
for the University, however, comprises more than that. UNC-A could, in cooper
ation with the facilities, offer a joint degree in environmental study, just as it al
ready offers a joint forestry program with N.C. State. Intern programs and faculty
research opportunities would also open up. Students would also have access to a
UNIVAC computer system as large as the Triangle Universities Computation
Center system which is jointly operated by UNC-CH, Duke and N.C. State.
Through cooperative programs, the possibilities for both the University and the
community are almost endless.
UNC-A does not seem destined to ever rival the bigger state-supported
schools in size. With men like Dr. William Highsmith in charge, it would seem
nothing could prevent UNC-A from posessing the same high standards for quality
education.