The Grinne
Scarlet and

Profs Sel Quorum Rule

by Anne Walter

Adoption of a quorum rule,
approval of the athletic sche-
dule and a change in the ca-
lendar for the academic year
highlighted Monday's faculty
meeting. Deferred to the next
meeting were proposals toad-
opt certain portions of the
faculty reorganization legisr
lation, which was voted down
last spring.

After several announce-
ments, including a definition
of clean paper and a plea
for contributions to the Uni»
ted Fund, the major business
of the meeting began.

First on the agenda was ap
proval of the cross country,
wrestling, and swimming
schedules for the year. Since
the schedule had already
been published and two of the
events listed had already [a’
ken place the faculty saw fit
to approve the schedule. There
was one strong dissentingvote
from Dr. Ken Christiansenw
informed sources indicate that
he objected on the grounds
thatlthe legislation was ex
post facto.

The major piece of legisla-
tion passed at themectingwill
require a quorum ofvotingfa-
culty members to be present
for votes on major business.
Unless a faculty member calls
for a count of members, bu-
siness can be conducted and
votes taken, even if a quo-
rum is not present. Presu-
mably, on any controversial
items, a quorum call would
normally be made.

The original proposalwould
have given the Executive
Council of the faculty autho-
rity to take action on business
it deemed important, if the
faculty had been unable to act
for lack ofa quorum.

Mr. Kleinschmidt’s amend-
ment, which removed this au-
thority from the legislation,
was adopted; if the faculty is
unable to reach a decision for
lack of a quorum, no one is

Silhouetted against the light of the afternoon, two Grinnellian women cnjoya coffee break.

authorized to act in the fa»
culty's behalf.

There seemed to be little
real question of the desirar
bility of a quorum rule, al—
though it was noted that half
the faculty could permanently
block consideration of legis-
lation by their absence. Mr.
Walker pointed out that last
year votes were taken on such
important issues as faculty
reorganization when as fewas
thirty voting faculty members
were present.

The real question was what
percentage of the faculty sho-
uld constitute a quorum. This
was a difficult number to cho-
ose, as it had to be low enough
to insure the presence ofa
quorum at least once a year.

After a statement from Gene
Wubbels to the effect that
fifty percent was as good as
any other number, the faculs
ty imposed this rule on itself.

Mr. ClOtfelter then asked
the faculty to change the fir
tial exam schedule for second
semester, by shortening the
exam schedule and setting
Baccalaureate and Commen-
cement a little sooner than
last year. Students and pa-
rents would be saved from
the necessity of driving du-
ring the Memorial Day weer
kend, and Clotfelter said he
felt the exam period could be
shortened because of the pre-
valence of take>home exams
and forms of evaluation other
than formal, in-class examiv
nations.

The College would also save
a little money; since Alumni
weekend will beheld the week-
end after Memorial Day, B&G
will have to clean out the dor-
mitories and spruce up the
place before they arrive. If
Commencement were held the
Friday before Memorial Day,
the College would have to
work B&G employees during
the weekend, at time»andea~

See FACULTY Page 6

3
3

photo by Dan Henry

Professor Gale proposes that Spring vacation start
a day earlier at Monday’s faculty meeting.

Women Continue Talks

During the past week a group
of eight Grinnell women con-
tinued their discussion on the
education of women at Grin-
nell college. The discussion
thus far has centered around
four major areas of concern:
(I) the Grinnell liberal arts
education and its role in SEU‘
dents’ lives, (2) professmnal
counseling and placement, (3)
the need for more women
faculty members, and (4) the
dropout rate of women stu-
dents at Grinnell.

According to participants
Shelley Floyd and Terry Clif-
ford, the group is not a pol-
icy-making body but is only
an informal group“ trying to

l

i
l
i.
E

Photo by onn Henry

discover what issuesneedfur'
that study. Discussion part-
icipants also include Kathy

Guroff, Bonnie Hampton, Kay
Jordan, Beth Noble, Beatrice
Wall, and Marv Cee Wyly.

The group is presently exa-
mining the questions of why
women enrollhere, whatGrine
nell womens' expectations are
of a Grinnell education, and
what reasons the women stu-
dents, have for transferring
fronLGrini-iell or dropping out.

A panicular point of concern
is the fact that the education
here seems to be oriented to-
ward graduate school prepar-
ation. Several members ofthe
group feel the need for a pro-
fessional counseling and
placement service, especially
since graduate school admisr
sions and the job market are
tightening up.

A questionnaire isplanned so
that the group an obtain the
opinions of women on campus
concerning the sort of role
such a placement service
Could take in the Grinnell
College community.

Friday
September 24, 1971

Volume 80 Number 5

FormCommilleo
To Seek Blocks

A special committee for the
purpose of recruiting more
black faculty members for
Grinnell was recommended in
action taken by the Executive
Council on September 15. This
action is the result of meet-
ings held two weeks ago bet-
ween the Council and Dr. Rant
dall Morgan.

The committee will consist
of Dean Wall, two members
from the Black Community
from outside the college, Mr.
Kimbo, the three divisional
chairmen, one of the faculty
members from the Black Slur
dents Coordinating Commit-
tee, and the chairman of the
department which is seeking
candidates (ex cofficio). ‘

In other action, the Council
agreed that the recruiting of
women facultymembersis se~
cond in importance only to the
recruiting of Blacks, and is
preparing a formal statement
to that effect.

Next on the Council's agenda
was a discussion of the pro-
cedure to be followed for re-
viewing the performance of
faculty members whose con-
tracts are up for renewal,
Evaluations will be submitted
to the Council by October 15.
Dean Wall is expectedito re<
lease full details of the new
review procedures, including
the role to be taken by sni-
dents, within a few days.

Several details on the new
procedure were available,
however. Foremost, among
these was a Council resolu-
tion, approved by a vote of 5
to 4, which reserved to the
Council the right to reject a
department‘s recommenda-
tion on faculty members if
those recommendations donot
meet the Council's stated st-
andards. "The Council re-
serves to itself the right to
either return the departmental
recommendation for further
consideration or to undertake
an investigation of the indi-
vidual or individuals whose
contracts are under conside»
ration.”

it is believed that Mr. Wall’s
proposals include asking De;
partment Chairmen to involve-
majors in their reevaluation.
either through interviews or
letters of evaluation.

Interview President Leggett:

Teach 0r Perish Al Grinnell

Have you ever wondered how
faculty members get promoted
at Grinnell? President Leggett
explained some of the policies
of the school ina recent inter
view with the 58:8.

“Grinnell is essentially a
teach or perish institution.
Unlike a large university, we
really do not have a place for
people who are extraordinar-
ily good researchers, but for
some reason are not able to
attract and keep good stu-
dents."

To Leggett a good teacher is
one who can “work his stu*
dents hard but Excitingly, ate
tract them as majors, and be
sure that some get into good
graduate schools.“ Such fac-

tors "are not reflected only
in the number of students who .
enroll" in his courses.

in Leggett’s view “Grinnell
has always operated on the
assumption that a man who
does that ends up as a pro-
fessor sometime, though the
length of time depends some-
what on the department and
somewhat on luck."

Of those who teach well, the
President thinksfaculty mem-
bers who publish scholarly
work should be promoted be~
fore those who do not. “I
think that anyone who takes his
discipline seriously will want
to make his opinions known in
writing eventually. A college
like Grinnell "needs a half

 

