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The Student Newspaper of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Volume XIII; Number Five
Charlotte, North Carolina
September 27,1977
University Officials Disagree With Research Triangle Study
How Good Is UNCC’s Remedial Program?
By Les Bowen
Despite a Research Triangle Institute
study which reflected negatively on the
committment to “remedial” work at
UNCC, university officials say the school
has a good learning assistance program
that is getting better.
The study, commissioned by the
UNC Board of Governors, grouped UNCC
with UNC-Chapel Hill and
UNC—Greensboro as schools without a
strong committment to remedial work.
The sections of the report dealing with
UNCC place heavy emphasis on the fact
that there is no program for academic
credit in remedial work here; students
must seek help from the Learning
Assistance Lab, a part of the Counseling
Center, voluntarily.
But people involved with the
program say the existence of academic
credit is a questionable criterion for evaluation,
and they also take issue with other aspects , of
the reps’s conclusions.
Vice Chancellor Doug Orr.
(photo by Lisa Laney)
Lab Coordinator Dr. Evelyn Davis
just came to UNCC in July, so she wasn’t
here when the researchers visited last
winter. She was reluctant to talk about
the state of the program last year, but did
say she felt there were inaccuracies in the
report and noted that the report didn’t
mention that the lab was operating
without a full-time director last year.
(The director quit suddenly at the
beginning of the 1976-77 school year and
two part-time directors, Carolyn Johnson
and Sharon Williamson took charge until
Dr. Davis was hired.)
Ms. Johnson is Lab Instructor this
year. She said the researchers “...had a
rigid set of criteria and evaluated our
program on the basis of how well it fit
that criteria, when we were trying to do
something else entirely.”
Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs
Dr. Douglas M. Orr, Jr., said, “I agree
with Carolyn on that. Basically, what
they said was that we don’t have a strong
committment to remedial work...The
criterion they had a previous mind-set on
was the availability of academic credit for
remedial type courses. The issue of
academic credit hasn’t been fully resolved
here yet, but it seems to me that the
important thing is whether or not good
programs are available.
“Presently we have seven sections of
the communications skills series,
containing about 80 students,” Orr said.
“These courses don’t entail credit, yet
people are learning skills.”
Orr mentioned several reasons other
than academic credit that he felt
contributed to the unfavorable
evaluation.
“First, each of the 16 campuses (of
the UNC system) is in a different
geographic setting. Our setting is such
that there are two fine community
* (Continued on p.2)
?peed reading class taught by Carolyn Johnson.
Lab Has Changed A Bi
(photo by Lita Laney)
By Les Bowen
Even the sleepiest UNCC student
stumbling into the Learning Assistance
Lab during the new “early bird hours”
from 7:30-9:00 a.m would realize right
away that things look different down
under the library tower from the way
they looked last year when he took speed
reading or math tutoring or any of the
various other services offered there.
On the left as you enter the room is
the paperback exchange operated on a
“bring two, take one” system..
Approximately 300 books are available,
from classics to thrillers.
Near the entrance and to the right is
the Writing Resource Center, which ' formerly
operated in the back of the lab but now
has its own room. Students who work
there get academic credit for helping
other students with essays and themes.
Because of increased participation in the
Dr. Arrington Combines Two Tasks:
Professor By Day, Candidate By Night
By Nancy Davis
Dr. Ted Arrington will probably
never want to hear another “knock
knock” joke after November 8, the day
the City Council elections are held.
Arrington, an UNCC Political Science
professor and Republican City Council
candidate, has been carrying on a door to
door campaign in his district.
“People are very nice...I’ve never
gotten a bad reception,” Arrington said.
He doesn’t . eiijoy all of it, .but feels that it;
needsitobe done. , “Most people are just not
concerned, but those who are, seem to
appreciate it,” continued Arrington. The
lack of opposition in the primary doesn’t
keep Arrington from campaigning. He
feels the district is a “swing district” and
could go either way. There are four
Democratic candidates running in District
Four, but Arrington feels Laura Freeh
will win the primary.
Because the election will be close,
Arrington finds it more interesting. He is
very aware of the needs of the people in
his district. “Many are concerned with
taxes...property taxes. They are too high,
but we can prevent them from going up.”
He also sees a need for neighborhood
parks and more public safety. “The
county and city need to cooperate in
some of their services,” Arrington said.
He feels there is a problem with rival
ambulance and police services that could
■ be solved with more cooperation.
Arrington does favor consolidation
even though the merger wouldn’t directly
affect his district. He terms his proposed
method of consolidation as-“functionally
consolidating” which he explains as
“gradually putting departments together.
Some people’s fear of consolidating
would be overcome.”
Working with the Party Recruitment
Committee helped Arrington make his
decision to run. The committee couldn’t
find anyone in District Four capable of
running. Arrington has done a lot of work
with the party and in his district, so he
decided to enter the'race this summer.
He hasn’t found his job and campaign
conflicting at all. “I can feed the learning
into my teaching. It fits in for me...it’s
one and the same thing. It’s also helped
me understand vFiat' causes people to vote the
way they do.”
The UNCC community has been
quite supportive in Arrington’s campaign.
“Even radical and hberal students have
been positive. That makes me feel good.”
Some of his Democratic colleagues have
informed him that he may be the only
Republican they ever voted for.
With his experience in the classroom,
I Arrington obviously enjoys the speaking
part of the campaign. He enjoys talking
to groups and debating with other
candidates. But public speaking probably
isn’t all the experience he’s getting.
Arrington’s also getting in shape by his
neighborhood walks which may turn into
jogs as November 8 nears.
Ted Arrington
(photo provided by Dr. Arrington)
tutoring class the Center has been able to
expand its hours; if is now open 9:00
a.m. — 5:00 p.m weekdays and also
operates 6:30-10:00 Tuesday evenings in
the basement of Sanford Dorm
The middle of the front part of the
lab has been rearranged to better
facilitate group instruction, a concept
which points out a big change in the
Lab’s operating procedure from last year.
“We’re trying to do more and more
group instructional things ” said Lab
Coordinator Dr. Evelyn Davis. “We think
we can reach more people more
effectively that way.” Speed reading
Effective Listening and Notetaking,
and/or Briefhand, taught separately last
year, are now part of the
“Communications Skills Series,” which is
run like a class over an entire semester
and is offered seven different times
during the week.
The right rear area of the room
contains vocabulary development
materials. To the left of this area, toward
the middle of the rear part of the lab, are
test preparation materials and a reference
card file for various “professional” tests,
such as the LSAT. The card file contains
the sample test questions so that students
will have a general idea of how to study
for the tests.
The left rear section is devoted to
speed reading. Study skills and subject
review texts occupy a rack in the upper
left part of the room
“We’ve got review texts in lots of
different subjects,” Dr. Davis explained
“This is something not many students
know about but the materials can be
very helpful.”
In the middle of the lab and toward
the front is a table of reading
improvement materials dealing with
specific groups, such as blacks and
women. Davis said these materials were
an indication that ‘...we’re making a
definite effort to meet whatever
individual needs students have.”
Dr. Davis came to UNCC in July
from Memphis State University, where
she was Director of the Adult Education
Center and Coordinator of the masters
program. She is a native of Seneca, South
Carolina and got her B.A. at Furman
University, her M.A. at Converse College,
and her doctorate at Auburn. Prior to
coming to Memphis State she was a
secondary school teacher and a
department chairman in a community
college. She is currently teaching a course
in the HDL department made up of
students “...who are either running
facUities like this (the Leaminig Assistance
■ (Cbntinued on p. 3)