Newspapers / University of North Carolina … / Feb. 2, 1984, edition 1 / Page 1
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GNC acceptance standards stiffening By David Plunkett Inportant changes in admissions standards at the 16 University of North Carolina insti tutions are under consideration by the Board of Governors. They include the es-^ tablishment of a coniton minimum entrance re quirement for all of the schools, effective fall 1988. Presently each school in the university sys tem sets its own en trance standards beyond a high school diploma representing successful ccxipletion of 16 units. The Board meets this month to consider the recc«*oendations of The Canmittee on Education al Planning, Policies and Programs, said Ken Cagle, SGA president. In a letter to the canmittee, dated Jan uary 6, William C. Friday, president of the UNC system, said, "We should proceed to define a cotmon minimum requirement beyond the present general re quirement of the high school diploma or its equivalent for admis sion to any of our campuses." The ccranittee recon- mends establishing a minimum general admis sion requirement of a high school diploma or its equivalent and raising the number of required high school credit units from 16 to 20. Included in these units are a common core of four units of Eng lish? three units of math, including algebra and geometry; two units Continued on page 8 Serving The Students Of The Univerai^ of North Carolina at Asheville since 1982 lAolume 4, Number 3 Thursday,Febuary 2,1984 Growth pains plaguing campus By Penny Kranp Freshman enrollment is on the rise at UNCA and with it come pro blems of crowded class es and lack of facili ties to handle the growth. Dr. Kendall Rice, director of admissions and enrollment, said enrollment is up nearly 50 students from last spring to an approxi mate head count this spring of 2450 stu dents. This is a considera ble increase during a national trend of de clining enrollments in most universities. Dr. Rice attributed the growth to four main factors: 1. New programs added in the last five years. 2. Urban location convenient for commuter students. 3. Evening classes to acccmodate working stu dents. 4. An increasing aca demic reputation. While an increase in enrollment is a compli ment to a university, it can cause sane major problems. One problem is UNCA does not have the faci lities to handle an in creasing growth of this type, said Rice. "We are almost at the point where we can't grew very much more. A 3% increase is as much as we could handle next year," he said. Rice said higher ad missions standards for freshmen should help correct the problem. Another problem in creased enrollment creates is ballooning class size. Many fresh men had difficulty getting into required English classes this year. Dr. Jeff Rackham, chairman of the UNCA literature department, said the department had to add freshman conposition courses at night. He said in the spring semester of 1981 UNCA offered 11 sections of Lang. 103 and 5 sec tions of Lang. 102. There are 13 sections of 103 and 5 sections of 102 this semester. However, Dr. Rackham said,"the department could have filled 15 of 103 and 7 of 102," in dicating the freshmen language classes are currently over-enroll ed. "It's a bad situation to have 26 students in a class where you should have 20. It means less personal contact between the student and the pro fessor," said Rackham. Next spring the lit erature department plans to offer 14 sections of 103 and 7 sections of 102. "This is not so much to absorb new students as to keep classes at 20 students,"said Rackham, Rackham disagrees that higher admission standards will stabil lUIN's -4 in the Student Center Feb Snach Bar at 7 p.m. Feb place Feb. 11. 10. ize the increase. "The higher standards a university has, the more students want to enter the school.If is the same reason Chapel Hill turns away stu dents," said Rackham, Rackham does not see the growth as benefi cial to the quality of UNCA. "I think I can speak for mySelf as well as the rest of the faculty when I say we want the university to remain small. If growth cotes too fast then it re duces the personal quality." "After attending a school with 14,000 students and graduate school with 22,000 students it is a joy to teach at a smaller university," said Rackham. Rackham said he does not anticipate a pro blem in having enough classes next fall be cause the faculty will be prepared for an increase. "Alcohol Awareness Week" Begins Feb.6: Kicking off the week is a fair Feb. 7 in the Student Center Lobby featuring displays and booths by comraunity groups. Former Carolina football player Steve Streater is c^ing to lunch 8. A movie, "Calling the Shots" canres to the 9; and the Second Annual Moonshine Run takes Runners must register calling 258-6513 before noon Feb. Photo by Pot Walker
University of North Carolina at Asheville Student Newspaper
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Feb. 2, 1984, edition 1
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