DOCUMENT RESUME ED 077 432 HE 004 254 TITLE Proceedings of 1St Annual Conference on Higher, Education Institutional Research
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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 077 432 HE 004 254 TITLE Proceedings of 1st Annual Conference on Higher, Education Institutional Research and Planning. INSTITUTION Maine State Higher Education Facilities Commission, Augusta.. PUB DATE 3 Nov 71 NOTE 48p.; Conference proceedings of 1st Annual Conference on Higher Education Institutional Research and Planning, Thomas College, Waterville, Maine, November 1971 EDRS PRICE MF-$0.65 HC-$3.29 DESCRIPTORS Conference Reports; *Educational Facilities; *Educational Planning; *Educational Research; *Higher Education; *Institutional Research ABSTRACT This document presents the proceedings of the 1971 Conference of Higher Education Institutional Research and Planning, sponsored by the State of Maine Higher 'Education Facilities Commission. The text of the main address and conferenceprogram are presented. Results of a follow-up questionnaire anda list of conference attendants are also included.(MJM) PROCEEDINGS OF 1ST ANNUAL CONFERENCE on HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH and PLANNING held at Thomas College Waterville, Maine November , 1971 State of Maine Higher Education .?acilities Commission State Department of Education Building Augusta, Maine04330 FILMED FROM BESTAVAILABLE COPY PROCEEDINGS OF 1ST ANNUAL CONFERENCE on HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH and PLANNING held at Thomas College Waterville, Maine November 3, 1971 State of Maine Higher Education Facilities ComMission State Department of Education Building Augusta, Maine04330 THIS CONFERENCE WAS UNDERWRIIIEWBY THE STATE OF MAINE HIGHER EDUCATIONFACILITIES COMMISSION UNDER THE HIGHER EDUCATION FACILITIESCOMPREHENSIVE PLANNING GRANT PROGRAM 1963 PURSUANT TO TITLE I OF THEHIGHER EDUCATION FACILITIES ACT OF STATE COMMISSION FOR THE HIGHER EDUCATION FACILITIESACT OF 1963 Christo Anton, Biddeford,Chairman Charles F. Bragg, II, Bangor Chester L. Dana, Bangor Lincoln T. Fish, Gorham Paul V. Hazeltoa, Topsham Frank S. Hoy, Lewiston Ernest C. Marriner,Waterville Mrs. Margaret M. McIntosh,York Harbor Charles J. O'Leary, Bangor Carroll R. McGary, Commissionerof Education Wayne H. Ross, ExecutiveSecretary ACKNOWLEDGNENTS The idea of having a conference onhigher educational research and planning all was discussed in our office manytimes, by many different people, and we were waiting for someone else to startsomething.Finally, Wayne Ross and I decided that we had some planning moneywhich could be used for this purpose. We thought we might get an organizationgoing which could perpetuate itself and really give some direction to institutionalresearch and planning in the State of Maine. -We needed a mailing list and wealso needed, we thought, an idea which would get things going with a bang. Thus was CHIRP born. We were fortunate ingetting Frank Newman as our keynote speaker,and he did a terrific job keeping the audience spellbound during his talk. I regret very much that, because of time limitations, we didn't really get a chance to talk to, or questionhim more. His talk follows and I hope you remember that it was takenoff the tape and not from a typewritten speech. Impossible to catch were the questions from thefloor as they didn't come through at all. Shortly after the conference, we sent out aquestionnaire. We were pleasantly surprised at the number returned. Most of the comments were constructive and some critical. These are also listed. I want to thank John Thomas, of ThomasCollege, for being such a gracious host. His beautiful new campus served as a wonderfulbackdrop to the conference. The faci- lities were comfortable and the meal was done verynicely. I'm sure everyone was satisfied. I also want to thank the committee who gavewillingly of their time and talents: Madelyn D. Alexander, Edward Y. Blewett,Bernard R. Carpenter, and Henry C. Merriam. Also deserving of thanks were Mrs. JacquelineFoley, our faithful secretary, who also served as a receptionist, alongwith Mrs. Harold M. Grodinsky. Harold M. Grodinsky Director Higher Education Facilities Planning TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Acknowledgments Address Given by FrankNewman 1 30 Conference Program Response to Questionnaire 35 Attendants at Conference 39 Transcript of Address GivenBy Frank Newman Stanford University the separation of space here. It's Say, ye may actuallyin fact be happy about is sitting next to you on theplat- sort of an unusual programwhen the commissioner and picks up his small bagof form here and, as hefinished talking, comes over in the first row. We may actually tomatoes and says to you,I'm going down and sit Actually I was in Maine, I havebeen in be delighted at theseparation of space. that get to this state.You may not Maine once before. There are a lot of people delightful opportunity to spendseveral think so, it seems remote,but I did have the since the subject that you aredealing months here once. I'd like to, if I could, raise a number of questions with you - with is research andplanning, I'd like to questions, but on the whole,having many of them perhapsreasonably embarrassing point in my life, I amfamiliar with one run a largeresearch organization at one which I think applies to university old axiom of research inthe physical sciences question in research is nothow research as well, and thatis, that the most crucial So it seems to me it'sworth asking ourselves, to go about it but whatto research. look ahead, we ought to befocusing on. in considerable detail,just what is it, as we not in any sense ofdisparage- And as I say, I'd like toraise a number of questions, I am a firm believerin it, I have spent ment of higher education,far from it. married to a professor of much too much of my lifein it. If nothing else, I am And as you know in today'sworld, anthropology at the Universityof California. only our own opinions, soI am it's no longer possiblefor us guys to represent the world today, represent my forced tn. if only in lightof the true nature of make, I'd hope it would becriticism wife's opinions as well. So in any criticism I Not that I suppose thatprelude is really neces- of a friend of highereducation. inhabitants voluntarily vote anincome tax has to be some sary. Any state where the think.In California, if somebody sort of a state filledwith realism, I would income tax, it would pass. If somebody put on the ballot thechance to abolish the state, it would pass. As you know, put on the ballot thechance to abolish the self-searching examination. We have higher education is goingthrough a tremendous I think in some sense thatresponse been astonished at theresponse to the report. is far beyond an-rthing we had anticipated. I think, in part, that comes from the today. We were talking just before . very unsettled conditions in higher education we started up here this morning about the nature of votersupport of higher educa- tion and legislative support of higher education, and it's obvious that there is a new questioning, a mood of questioning, that hasn't beenaround in higher educa- tion since about 1919-1920, when there was a sort of anti-reaction for a very short period. But today's, I think, is very different from that temporary phenomenaof the ta.--nties. This strikes me as a much deeper sense of questioning of the values of higher education, maybe that is inevitable.We started out in this twenty-five year post war period with such an unrealis+ic perception of whathigher education could be and should be. And during that 25 years, we built in the public mind a deeper and deeper image that higher education would solve almost every problem in national life, so, in a way, I suppose we ourselves are to blame for the sudden fall from grace, and I think it's going to be a lot worse before it's over. I don't mean worse in the sense that what will result will be bad, I mean worsein the sense that we are going to have to answer some very embarrassing questions. I mean that things are likely to get tougher for us intellectually before they begin toget easier. since we are all the way in the far corner of the country, a long way fromthe wild west, I feel that I can tell you the story of Big Mike if you're not familiar with that story, because out here you probably don't know much about - I know that communication is difficult up here - and probably what happens in the west doesn't Irift back to this end of the country. But when one thinks about the situation of higher education, it's very much like the story of the tenderfoot who got out to tie wild west. He really wanted to see what life was like in the big bad west and finally got himself in the traditional saloon, and he was standing at the bar just enjoying the atmosphere when all of a sudden some cowboy broke into the saloon and said, "Big Mike is coming."There was tremendous panic and everybody ran and pretty soon he was all alone standing with the bartender. The bartender said, "you better 2 what was going on in the west." get out of here." He said, "I came out here to see here." "Not The bartender said, "listen, BigMike is coming, you better get out of So he me," he said, "I came to see." "Well at least get way backin the corner." soon up rode a zot as far back as he could inthe shadows. Sure enough pret this clump fellow on a horse - you could hearthe horse coming, then you could hear two swinging clump as he came up to the door,and then this huge man grabbed the He came up to the bar doors, just ripped them off and threwthem aside and came in. and just poured in all the and pounded on the bar, andthe bartender put a bucket on The bartender said, "do you drinks.