DEVELOPING
Much of the educational development of Montreat-Anderson College in the past
two years has been related to special activities funded by the U.S. Department of
Health, Education, and Welfare. Title III of the Higher Education Act of 1965
provided for the funding of imaginative, soundly conceived programs of educationa:!
improvement in colleges classified as "developing institutions," colleges that are
isolated in somie ways from the main stream of higher education, but that show
potential for development into excellence. The Act requires that the activities
funded draw upon another educational institution to cooperate with the developing
institution. Teachers College of Columbia University agreed to serve as the
cooperating institution for us, and Dr. Walter Sindlinger, Chairman of Teachers
College's Department of Higher Education, has been serving as Teacher College's
coordinator for the project.
Although students have not been directly involved in most of the activities of
this project (and probably should have been involved more), it has had a
significant effect on the nature of their educational experience at Montreat-
Anderson College. After groundwork was laid during the summer of 1967, the
project formally began with a faculty retreat-workshop at High Hampton Inn,
Cashiers, North Carolina, in September, 1967. At the workshop, three m.ajor
objectives were set: (1) to clarify and articulate for the entire college
community the purpose of the college, (2) to conduct a program of institutional
research that would clarify the main characteristics of the college - its
student body, its faculty, its administration, and its intangible environmental
characteristics of attitude, value and ethos - and (3) to improve faculty
understanding of the learning process with a view to the improvement of teaching
and learning in the college.
The effort to clarify the purpose of the college led to considerable discussion
in the faculty, administration, and board of trustees, that resulted in the
trustees adopting, in February of 1968, a revised statement of purpose for the
college. This statement of purpose emphasizes the college's intention to provide
an excellent program of liberal education for students of average ability, this
program to be strongly rooted in the Christian faith, to which the college is
committed.
The program of institutional research involved a variety of efforts to get
a clearer understanding of the characteristics of the college. A "Committee of
Nine", made up of nine students, was established to help the faculty get a direct
knowledge of student views through conversation with these students about matters
of importance to them. An extensive questionnaire to former students who attended
the college during the past several years provided a picture of their thinking
about a wide variety of phases of the college experience. The program provided
for use of the University of Alabama's computer center to tabulate and correlate
responses to the questionnaire, and a faculty workshop in the fall of 1968 was
devoted to studying these responses and considering their educational implications.
The 1967-68 student body and faculty took a standardized test (the College and
University Environmental Scales, or CUES-^ that gave us a picture of how the
current college community saw the college. The result of these studies is that
the faculty and administration now have a Solid base of factual data about the
college, to serve as a foundation for educational planning.
The effort to improve faculty understanding of the learning process and to
utilize this improved understanding to produce better teaching and learning was
implemented by having consultants work with the faculty in on-campus study
sessions and in a spring 1968 retreat-workshop at High Hampton. Faculty members
from Teachers College visited Montreat-Anderson College and informed us of
nation-wide developments in teaching and learning, and an Agnes Scott specialist
in learning, Dr. Lee Copple, spent several days in Montreat and conducted a
number of discussions of learning theory with our faculty. At the workshop
several very stimulating consultants led the faculty in a consideration of how
they attempt to help students learn in their courses. They dealt with questions
of what sort of learning faculty members expect students to do in their courses,
how they help them do this learning, and how they construct the kind of tests
that will actually determine the extent to vjhich the students have learned what
they are expected to have learned.
The 1968-69 project was designed to build upon the activities of 1967-68.
The fall faculty workshop (mentioned above^ at the Green Park Inn in Blowing
Rock was devoted to a study of the results' of the institutional research conducteid
last year. In an effort to increase the value of the out-of-class experiences of
Montreat-Anderson College as a resident liberal arts junior college, an intern in
student activities, Mr. Elbie Conard, was provided in the grant; and funds were
provided for the dormitory tutors, who'werp chosen to help individual students
with their academic problems, to try tO improve the overall academic atmosphere
in the dormitories, and to provide somb of; the intellectual stimulus to freshmen
and sophomores that upperclassmen provide in a senior college. To provide a
strong base of administrative support for the educational plans being developed
by the faculty the 1968-69 grant provided for consultants to be provided by
Teachers College in all areas of academic administratioii to visit the college and
confer with out administrative officers, and for Montreat-Anderson College
administrators to visit other colleges and* study their administrative procedures.
The grant proposal for 1969-70 calls for a new approach in cooperation.
Rather than continue to rely on an outstanding institution like Teachers College,
we propose in 1969“70 to enter into a program of joint planning with other
junior colleges in the region (Lees-McRae,: Brevard, North Greenville, and
Spartanburg) to develop cooperative programs that will be of value to all the
member colleges. The project requests a full-time planning coordinator for the
group, to be called The Western Carolinas Junior College Consortium. Unofficial
reports from Washington indicate that this program will be at least partially
funded.
These activities have added and are adding dimensions to Montreat-Anderson
College's development as a college that would never have been possible without
the financial assistance provided under the Higher Education Act of 1965. Every
student now attending the college has benefited, at least indirectly, from the
"Developing Institution" programs, the main highlights of which have been described
here.
ehoruses of "Elijah”, Mendelssohn,
will be presented. Modern selectiohs
include "My Shepherd Is The Lord",
Gelineau; "The Paper Reeds By The
Brook", R. Thompson^; and "Alleluia",
R. Thompson. (Selections of American
Folk Music concludes the program at
the high school concerted)
The Choir is directed by Lawrencf
M. Skinner. Well known among
Presbyterians in North Carolina, he
has taught at Flora Macdonald
College, and St. Andrews Presbyterian
College. He holds the B.S., B.M.,
and M.A. degrees from Ohio State
University and has done post-graduate
study at Union Theological Seminary
in New York City.
The following officers have been
elected by the College Choir and
will serve for the rest of this
semester;
Pat Sheehan, President;
Jim Sutton, Vice-President;
Marty Plank, Secretary
treasurer; Mickey Thompson,
Tour Manager; Elizabeth Bass,
Assistant Tour Manager; Mike
Thompson, Librarian; Cheryl
England, In-Charge-of-Robes;
Meg Grote, Chaplain.
Linda Armstrong is Accompanist
and Stebie Wells, Assistant
Accompanist. Carl Ballard is Studeilt
Conductor. The Choir is under the
direction of Lawrence M. Skinner.
HUNNICUTT
BROOKS
The curtain came down on the 196,8-
69 basketball season at Montreat
when the Cavaliers were honored with
a banquet on March 13 at the Lake
Tahoma Steak House near Marion.
Sharing the honors with the
varsity cagers were many of the teanfc's
loyal supporters from the faculty and
the local community.
Athletic Director Walter Hughes
began the post-meal ceremony by
introducing the various guests and
supporters. Coach Jim Halstead then
introduced each team member and
presented varsity letters to them
and to the managers.
Coach Halstead announced that Bob
Hunnicutt had been selected by the
coaching staff as the team’s most
valuable player. Hunnicutt, the
team’s leading scorer and rebounder
and the only player to start in every
game throughout the season, was
presented a game basketball decorated
to signify his award.
Curtis Brooks, the team’s second
leading scorer and a season-long
stalwart, was named by Coach Halstead
as honorary captain of the 1968-69
team.
The banquet was concluded with a
surprise presentation in which that
team members gave handsome plaques
to both Coach Halstead and Coach
Hughes in appreciation of their
efforts.
The Cavaliers finished the season
with a record of 12-12, the best
record in Montreat-Anderson’s brief
basketball history.