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The

Scarlet
& Black

Turner introduces “White
Paper” in convocation

by DaveWick

Preceded by a troupe oi
screaming raindancers running
wildly among Herrick’s pews,
President Turner presented a
twenty minute speech regarding
the administration’s “Grinnell
College: A Position Paper on the
Futuie.” Filling the chapel almost
to capacity, approximately 500
students and faculty devoted their
full attention to Turner's com-
ments and then responded with
warm applause.

However, verbal response was
somewhat cooler than the hand-
clapping and while many were
pleased just as many were
disappointed. Various comments
made by iaculty members in
dicated this diversity of opinion.

“The general notion he

y: presented was good. The idea oi
. change in a liberal arts institution

is necessary ior that institution to
merits health " stated one

pleased Faculty mamluii

.\no|her ielt, “Although Turner
didn’t get down to specitics, 1
approve oi the general idea

One teacher reacted positively

Q, by saying, “The document reﬂects

some or own basic
philosophies"

Toward the negative end at the
spectrum was the question “Who
around Grinnell has the time.
energy, and brilliance to bring
these programs into being? The
convocation itself was an-
ticlimnctic. A person would get
more out of just reading the White
Paper."

Another teacher was bothered
that: “Turner's purpose was to
stimiilale interest in the state of
the college and yet he stated iour
principles by which to do it. This
leaves no room for debate. I don't
understand why he felt compelled
to call the convocation other than
to give P.R. to the White Paper.”

The iollowing is the complete
text jof President A Richard
Turner’s remarks to the ell—college
convocation in Herrick Chapel on
September 3,

my

1 have called a convocation this
evening as much ior symbolic
reasons as to offer a iew thoughts
on the subject oi change. Several
year‘s have passed without an all-
college convocation. Not only have
we not met as a community, we
have not joined in con vouatiuni
work in common. i hope our briei
time together this evening signiiies
formal recognition of important
work lying beiore us, a rigorous
consideration of choxces cone
cerning the iuture shape oi the
college, That consideration can
succeed only ii it truly becomes
work in common,

Yesterday most of you received
a position paper irom the ad-
ministration on the future of the
college The paper is but our
departure pointon a journey whose
landscape will change over the
zinext‘ few months. The paper

 

pholcb o V‘MUV,

President Turner, heiore the recent convocation in Herrick Chapel.

identifies several areas of major
concern to us. It remains to be seen
to what extent other Grinnellians
concur in these concerns, how
serious they believe them to be,
and-what other problems Will be
revealed in the course of our
discussions. The paper also oiiers
specific courses of action as
models, yet we hope and expect
sound alternatives to emerge and
would not even venture to predict
what concrete strategies may
eventually be proposed through the
normal channels oi the college,

in short, our paper is only a
jumpingoii place, the beginning oi
a discussion the quality of which
will depend in large measure upon
how important we as a community
judge this endeavor to be,

Generations

A college, by its very nature, is
constantly on the iulcrum oi
change and by norm rather than
exception is a place where arriving
and departing generations do not
wholly understand one another It
is an institution committed to
conserving priceless cultural
memories in the face of a techno~
economic system which regards
the past with mere nostalgia and
mild curiousity while placing most

 

oi its energy upon future-oriented
options, simulations, and
scenarios. It is a community that
believes deeply what T. 5. Eliot
once wrote: “Someone said. ‘The
dead writers are remote from us
because we know so much more
than they did.‘ Precisely, and they
are that which We know."

But at the same time that it is a
cultural conservationist, a college
explores and celebrates the new
and heeds Apollinaire's remark
that “You can’t lug the corpse of
your father all over the place,” It
ponders Carefully Oliver Wendell
Holmes' irreverent observation
that “The ideas Of the classics. so
tar as living, are our come
monpiaces, it is the modern books
that give us the latest and most
proiound conceptions. it seems to
me rather a lazy makeshift to
mumble over the familiar." And it
takes note Ihat, of all the scientists
who have ever lived, nine-tenths
are alive today,

SO colleges are dedicated to the
complicated and ever-shifting art
oi marrying a receding past to a
moving present. Paradoxically,
while change is at the heart of all
we study, colleges are cautious and

(continued on page 6)

Grinnell College
Grinnell, Iowa

9/10/76 Vol. 85 No. 1

Administrative

Shake-up occurs
during summer

by Chris Lower

Over the summer months, the
Administration of Grinnell College
effected a major change in its own
structure, resulting in the
displacement oi a iew current
administrators and the redefinition
of duties for others. The rationale
behind this reorganization was to
cut college spending by reducing
the size and increasing the ef-
ficiency of the administration. This
was achieved through elimination
oi overlap in responsibilities, a
clearer definition of ad-
ministrative roles, and reductions
in areas of extracurricular student
services.

As explained in a statement
prepared ior returning students by
President Turner the plan has a
threefold purpos , Thctnst
concentrate matters regarding
faculty aiiairs. curricular aiiairs
and final responsibility for the
College budget in the hands or the
Dean of the College.”

The second facet of this
reshufﬂmg is to “focus in one office
many business concerns oi the
college, particularly those to do
with budget generation, cost
controls and efficiency oi
operation."

Finally, the third reason given
-is the reduction oi expenditures
“The cuts have been made on the
basis of a total review of the ad
ministration, analogous to the
review undertaken by the
Executive Council which earlier
resulted in faculty cuts ,,

Faculty cuts have indeed been a
sensitive subject ior the past iew
months as a result of extensive
paring down or a iew departments
last year. in light of these cuts
there developed rumblings irom
both students and facility that the
administration should take a good
look in the mirror before delivering
the ax to any more iaculty
positions.

The results of the overhaul have
received mixed greetings irom the
campus community. but beiore the
Criticism is examined a better
understanding of the logistics of
the reorganization is in order,‘

In President Turner’s exp
planation oi the changes, names
are conspicuously absent. For our
purposes, the names oi those in-

voived will make the reshuiiling
easier to iollow.

ignoring secretarial assistance.
the restructuring calls ior the
reduction of iive administrative
positions to three. The iive aiiected
positions are: Dean oi the
Curriculum (Mary Eysenbacli),
Director oi College Services
(Ralph Pomerenk). Director oi
Recreational Facilities (Tom
Latimer), Outdoor Recreation
Specialist (Kathy McClusky), and
Activities Counselor (Georgia
Dentel).

 

The bulk of Ms. Eysenbach’s
duties will be transferred to the
Provost and Dean of the College,
Waldo Walker. This was effected
because oi apparent redundancies
in duties between Eysenbach and
Walker, and because many oi Mr.
Walker’s duties were dealing With
plantmatters, etc., which might be
better handled by someone with a
managerial background, leaving
him free to devote more time to
curricular matters. Ms Eysenbach
has been with the college two
years.

One way oi looking at Grinnell
College is as an W's million
busmess, When looked at in this
way the present system oi
budgetary and cost controls
seemed in tile administration
inordinantly decentralized With
the reorganization, most oi the
duties oi determining budget
priorities. cost control, plant
management, energy con-
servation, and other budgetary
matters will be concentrated into
one office of the Vice Provost. This
will relieve Dean Walker at many
of the functions he is now per-
forming on a dayrtoday basis, and
will relieve Ralph Pomerenk of his
job. Pomerenk has, however, been
invited to reapply ior the new Vice
Provost position. Pomerenk stated
that he hoped that his previous
service would be taken into ac-
count in a review oi the applicants
ior the new post. However, Turner
stated that With regard to a brand
new job description, he did not
believe seniority to be an issue. Mr.
Pomerenk has been with the
College ten years.

The final facet of this plan is to
incorporate the iunctions that are
currently being periormed by
three “specialists" into one
posxtion,

Right now, Tom Latimer. the
Director of Recreational
Facilities, is in charge of
scheduling and personnel matters
for both the Forum and the PEC.
He also supervises the intramural
sports program. offrcampus
recreation program, the cratt
workshops, New Student Days and
teaches a [our-credit class in the
PE department.

Kathy McClusky is currently the
Outdoor Recreation Specialist, in
charge oi organizing outings such
as canoe trips, spelunking and
hikes and conducting workshops in
the accompanying skills. She also
spends much other day as an in»
structor with the Physical
Educational curriculum,

Presently, Grinnell has a full-
time Activities Counselor in charge
of booking for all campus cultural
events and preparation oi the
college’s activities calendar. This
position is held by Georgia Dentel

(continued on page 7)

 

