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The Student Newspaper of the University
of North Carolina at Cliarlotte
Volume Xl, Number 21
Charlotte, North Carolina
February 10, 1976
Critical Issues program opens
By Les Bowen
Approximately 100 community
leaders from the Metrolina area attended
a syinposium on “Urban Land Use and
Neighborhoods” sponsored by the UNCC
Institute for Urban Studies on February
The symposium which was held
(“Critical Issues ’76" is) .
...“A community environmental
education program centering on
the topic of land use.’’-Mary
Davm Liston
downtown in the Jefferson First Union
Tower was the first of four meetings
scheduled in February as part of the
Institute’s “Critical Issues ‘76” program.
Project Director Mary Dawn Liston
called the federally-funded pilot program,
“A community environmental education
program centering on the topic of land
use.” She said the Institute was “trying to
educate the public on very relevant,
extremely important local issues.”
“Critical Issues ‘76” is .a three-phase
program. The first phase is the February
symposium series. In the first symposium
UNCC professors lectured on such
subjects as “The Lure of the Land; An
Historic Perspective” and “Why do
Neighborhoods Change?”
The February 13 Symposium will
concern Hooding, the February 20
symposium teatures transportation and
the final symposium is entitled "Land
Use Decisions.”
The middle phase of the program will
afford ordinary citizens an opportunity
to discuss local issues in study groups.
For a two-dollar fee any group of eight or
moF^^ people can order a “Critical Issues
76 packet including a program
workbook. 35 millimeter slides and a
cassette tape.
This phase of the program, billed in
the “Critical Issues” brochure as "a
four-week multi-media program for
citizens of all ages, interest aful political
persuasions,” is being heavily publicized
in newspapers and on local
in tervie w-format television shows,
according to Liston.
Liston called the final phase of the
program the “concensus or feedback
.stage.” She said the various study groups
will arrive at conclusions regarding the
problems they have studied, and the
conclusions will be made available to the
media and to the County Commission.
Liston said the current phase of the
program, the symposium series is “an
outlet for people in the various disciplines
Class Scheduling
is headache
By Steve Bass
“1 would like to sign up for. .
“Sorry that class is closed.”
“How about..
“I’m sorry every class at UNCC is
closed for this semester, if you try
coming back next year we may have just
what you want.”
Frustrations such as these are
common for many UNCC students during
registration periods, leading students to
wonder what sinister mind created the
class schedules. Bob Gwaltney, UNCC’s
registrar , explained the procedure.
Basically, it is done in the individual
department* by the chairmen of the
departments. Depending on the size of the
‘‘The chairmen will
determine the class schedule
based on their previous
experience. They will think
about volume increase, and get
the agreement of the faculty on
the schedule.’’-UNCC registrar
Bob Gwaltney
department, sometimes the chairman will
be assisted by a member of the staff.”
”The chairman will determine the
class schedule based on their previous
experience, they will think about volume
increase, and get the agreement of the
faculty on the schedule,” said Gwaltney.
schedule is then sent to Dr.
rhillip Hildreth’s, Vice Chancellor for
Academic Affairs, office to insure the
schedule is meeting with approval. This
clement of the procedure is crucial. As
Uwaltney said. “(Dr. Hildreth) checks to
see that all the classes the chairman,
suggest are approved classes, and to make
■sure^that the classes are spread over the
The tentative schedule is then sent to
Registrar Gwaltney. "We just build the
schedule, and print it.”
The registrar’s office main,
^uniribuiion comes during the
preadvising period. "When our students
pre-advise we take* the cards and
key-punch them. We then have a
print-out which we send to the chairman
of the department to give the
departments an idea of what to expect,
before registration day. If the print-out
shows that a certain class will be over the
class limit, then the departments will be
able to shift the schedule.”
“Of course the print-out is not very
accurate, because it’s speculative, and
students very often change their
schedules when they get to registration,”
said Gwaltney.
The final problem with determining
schedules is department heads are asked
to set a schedule a inonth before students
are ready to register. During the spring,
when the departments are scheduling fall
classes, this is an extremly difficult
problem. Gwaltney said, “that increases
in enrollment is the most difficult
problem, as the chairmen must determine
their schedules based on previous
enrollments. This year the freshmen class
increased only two or three students so
the English department hit it near
perfect. Our transfer population increased
some 13 percent and departments that
transfers tend to enter, like Business had
a big problem.”
Gwaltney feels the answer to the
problem will be the installation of the
“When the new system
conies in we will be able to
know class demands in advance.
This is extremely important,
because it is much easier to get
the schedule adjusted...’’-UNCC
registrar Bob Gwaltney
new computerized registration system.
“When the new system comes in we will
be able to know class demands in
advance. This is extremly important,
because it is much easier to get the
schedule adjusted, and gel part-time
teachers in June, instead of August 29. to
start classes the next day.”
to work with community people on these
issues.”
“The program originated two years
ago,” Liston said, "When we wrote the
proposal, we wanted to do an
environmental education program dealing
with either land use or energy use. We
decided land use would have a greater
potential tor interdisciplinary
discussions.”
The program will continue in 1977
with different topics still related to land
use according to Liston. She said the
institute will apply tor additional federal
tunding to expand the program into a
five-county study.
Photo Courtesy of Rogues Ti Rascals
J
Associate Dean of Students, Betty Chafin
Betty Chafin:
UNCC needs increase
in community visibility
By Les Bowen
“One of the main things we need to
do to improve our relationship with the
city is to increase the school’s visibility. 1
think the upcoming bond referendum is a
golden opportunity for the University to
tell its story to the whole Metrolina area.
I also think we need to look toward the
day of having a downtown
campus.’’-Betty Chafin, UNCC Dean of
Students and Charlotte City
Councilwoman. Ms. Chafin was
responding to the question “What is the
University doing to improve its
relationship with the Charlotte
Community?”
“We’re going to be trying to involve a
lot of people in the bond effort,” she
said. “We need to make people aware of
the fantastic resources we have out here.”
Chafin said the Cone University Center
addition will draw many local and
regional conferences to the campus,
increasing public awareness of UNCC.
“The basketball team has had a
tremendous impact on public awareness,”
Chafin said, “and the Urban Institute is
going to be doing a number of things to
aid City Council, such as helping with the
transit planning process.”
Chafin said she thinks the University
has a tremendous expansion capability,
“And the community will grow out to
the University, particularly if a hospital is
located out here...I think there will
definitely be a hospital located iti this
area soon.”
Chafin mentioned in her campaign
for City (’ouncil tlie need for UNCC’
people to become involved in local
govcrnmcnl. Last week .she said, “I’ve
already nominated one person from
UNCC to a board (Political Science
Professor Dr. William McCoy, nominated
to the zoning board of adjustment), and I
hope to get more of our people involved
in the future.”
“I think one of the main problems is
“...we need to look toward
the day of having a downtown
campus.’’-Betty Chafin
not that people have a bad image of
UNCC, but rather that they have no
image of it at all. Getting people out to
the campus for things like basketball
games and conferences would certainly
help the school,” she said, “the
International Festival last fall was a good
example of this.”
Chafin also mentioned the Urban
Institute’s “Critical Issues ’76” program
as something helpful to- UNCC’s
relationship witli the community.
“They’re putting together a quality
program that speaks to the critical
issues-al least from my perspective,” she
said.