Institution and Its Role in Society. the Growing Permissiveness of Scholar
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DOCUMENT RESUME HE 000 499 ED 027 828 8y-Henderson, Algo D. The Administrator/Student Conflict. Pub Date Nov 68 Note-13p. Journal Cit- AdministrativeLaw Review; v21 n1 p65-77Nov 1968 EDRS Price MF-S0.25 HC-S0.75 Responsibility,*HigherEducation,*Student Descriptors-*AdministratorOualifications,Administrator Alienation, *Student Attitudes,Student School Relationship,*University Administration Colleges are undergoing a transitionfrom having responsibilityfor the protective students in loco parentis tothe position of treatingand counseling students care of not prepared as youngadults. Many administrators areacademic specialists, but are basic questions raisedby students aboutthe university's role as to respond to the permissiveness of an educationalinstitution and its role insociety. The growing to today's communicationsmedia have produced more parents and exposure administrators can no longer assume sophisticated college-agechildren over whom authority. Administrators areusually confronted withproblems arising an arbitrary institution from 1 of 2 sources:(1) militant studentand. faculty insistence that the social action, and (2)student pressures forchange in the should take leadership in be institution itself. The numerouscriticisms that evolvefrom these sources seem to ideas and maintained justified. Unfortunately, manyadministrators have resisted new administration,, actions thathave turned student agressions bureaucratic modes of It is from the solution ofeducational problems to theachievement of student power. be more qualified fortheir responsibilities.It is felt suggested that administrators scholar or a that they should havequalifications in addition to areputation as a scientist, in order tocommunicate effectivelywith modern students.(WM) U.S. DEPARTMENT Of HEALTH, EDUCATION& WELFARE OFFICE OF EDUCATION 1.........1.... THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRODUCEDEXACTLY AS RECEIVED f ROM THE POINTS OF VIEW OR OPINIONS PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGINATING11. STATED DO NOT NECESSARILYREPRESENT OFFICIAL OFFICE OF EDUCATION POSITION OR POLICY. to preoccupy t informs them ity enhances the THE ADMINISTRATOR/STUDENTCONFLICT d, must relate /two D. HENDERSON* fable is in order, conducted some Universities foster change, and they react toimpacts from change. The he experimenter president and other administrativeleaders are caught in the middle. As the organization on liaison between the folk culture andthe super culture, they become ents to contrast squeezed by the pressures towardconformity, on the one hand, and rcular, or very toward social evolution, on the other. The two groups The egalitarian movement in highereducation is another factor. The by exchanging institutions are being pressured to respond tothe needs of students of lar pattern was varying ages, abilities, and interests, and forservices to the disadvantaged segments of the population. Thisintroduces problems relating to thecivil ial organization liberties of the students and to the designof the educational program. On uous with their these, there are profound differences ofopinion. iversities are to Too many of the administrators are notprepared for what is happening. members of any They are academic specialists, whereas theproblems with which they have 'dental to their to deal are general andpervasive in our society. The administratorslose The academic sight of the university as a collegium.They use authoritarian methods; ose environment they become captives of the physical andfinancial aspects; they fail in s heavily upon intellectual leadership and become timid inasserting the functional role of s to educational the university in society. They havehad no training for administrative pm it, continued responsibility or for educational leadership. ling or unable to Students, in spite of instances of irritating anddisturbing actions, are he placation of raising basic questions about the university as aneducational institution not be made a and about its role in society. if colleges and The Transition from "In Loco Parentis" stead, the reform t be guided by the Colleges are undergoing a transition fromhaving responsibility for the cies ofour time. protective care of the students "in locoparentis" to the position of treating and counseling students as youngadults. Presidents and deans are *Dr. Algo Donmeyer Henderson is a researcheducator and professor at the Centerfor Research and Development in HigherEducation at the University of California.Berkeley. Dr. Henderson graduated from GeorgetownUniversity in 1918. received his L.L.B. from the University of Kansas in 1921, his M.B.A. atHarvard in 1928, and L.L.D. fromAntioch College. He is the author of a book titled Policiesand Practices of Higher Education published in 1960 and a frequent contributor toeducational journals. f 65 i 1 66 SECTION OF ADMINISTRATIVE LAW caught between opposing forces that represent strong views on the respective sides of the subject. To appreciate the chanee that is taking place. it is necessary to consider dbit of history about colleges and universities. In the earlier periods of our history before the public secondary school became universal, the ages of the students were much youneercommonly fifteen to eighteen. Also, most colleees had preparatory departments and thus large numbersof students who were adolescents. Until comparatively recently, colleges were predominantly private and often church-related. Theidea of having a lay person rather than a cleric as president is recent. In the past, therefore, colleges had been strongly oriented toward the inclusion of religious and moral teaching as a part of the curriculum and as influencing the moral behavior of the students. Students were disciplined, fined, or expelled for violations of rules and regulations. On the ground that they should not learn to be playful, Cokesbury Colleee fined students who remained in their bath for more than one minute! Today the typical entrance age of college students is eighteen and the average age much older. Indeed, among urban universitiesthe mode is well above twenty-one. Prep schools have been eliminated from the college campuses, but at the other end of the aee continuum therehave been large additions of students in the professional schools and in graduate education. Proerams in adult education have grown by leaps and bounds and especially in urban situations where the commuting is easy. This means an infusion of part-time students of older age, mostof whom are married, have families, and live at home. Since World War II, the percentage of students attending public institutions of higher education has been rapidly enlareing and they now considerably exceed those going to private colleees. The public universities do not view the teachingof religion and morals in the same light as do the church-related institutions and indeed are prohibited from indoctrinating in particular religions. With automobilesand parents provide themit is impossible to "keep diligent watch" over the co-eds, as Horace Mann once advised The University of Michigan to do. Two other trends have been affectine the college situation. One has been the growing permissiveness of parents and the parental discarding of older disciplinary forms. The other is that the children have become more sophisticated. This is in part the result of today's methods of communication and transportation, plus such exposures to knowledge and ideas as.come through the radio and television. But parents typically treat their own children of college age as adults in that they serve them with THE ADMINISTRATOR/STUDENT CONFLICT 67 intoxicating liquor, discuss sex somewhat freely, and admitchildren to the discussion circle when ideas are being weighed. When fathersattend fraternity parties, they become just as drunk as do their sons, sometimes more so. Some mothers are nowgiving to their daughters in college the "pill." It should be remembered, too, that young men and women are eligible for, or, indeed, being drafted into the armed services at age eighteen. Currently there is a growing belief that the voting age should be lowered to eighteen. It seems clear from this brief recital that the practice in loco parentis is no longer tenable. On the otherhand, parents continue to expect the college to maintain this relationship. As one parent said: "If my son dates a Negro girl, I want the university totell the." They permit their eighteen- year-olds to accept a job in a distant city without fatherly supervision; but when the youth goes to college, the older imaee of the institution prevails. The general public, at least those who become agitated about student behavior, also think that the college should "crack down" on the students. Unfortunately for them, itis the role of the president and his administrative associates to protect and extend the image of the university. The image needs to be good. not necessarily in the academic sense, but good in whatever sense the public expectsof it. This is necessary because of the dependence of the institution upon the public or public bodies for funds and the need to have environmental conditions that attract students and permit good operation. The president and deans find themselves confused because they have not sufficiently analyzed the changes that have been taking place. In their zeal to defend the institution against hostile attacks from the parentsand the public, they paint an image of the campus and hence arouse an expectation that is inaccurate and rnisrepresentative. In the days when smoking by women was highly controversial, I recall