s The
1* Scarlet
& Black

Student input accepted

Grinnell College
Grinnell, Iowa

5/13/77 Vol. 85, No. 27

 

by Mark Mayer

Last Friday, a Student Input
Committee proposal was accepted
by the Administration, It provides
for formal student participation in
the selection and evaluation of
those administrative personnel
involved in the direct delivery of
services to students. The proposal
is now College policy.

The document states that
“students should be involved in
both the recruitment and
evaluation processes of these
personnel: ”

Dean of Student Affairs

Associate Deans

Resident Advisers

Director of Career Services

. Director of the Food Service

Assistant Director of the Food
Service

Director of Social
Recreational Programs

— Social Activities Counselor

Director of Academic Advising

Director of Off Campus Study

Administrative Supervisor of the
Health Center.

The document continues, “The
positions, however. vary in both
responsibilities and the type of
interaction they have with the
students and the recruitment and
evaluation processes should vary
accordingly."

The new hiring procedure calls
‘ or a separate student interviewing
team to be established when one of
these positions is vacated.
The size and composition of the

and

student lnterviewin team will
a g

vary depending upon the position
to be filled. In all cases, the team
will be made up or students
selected for their knowledge of, or
interest in,the vacant position

In all hiring situations involving
the above positions. with the ex-

Neiderbach discu

 

ception of the Resident Advisers,
the student interviewing team will
interview all candidates brought to
campus and submit a ”written
prioritized ranking of the cans
didates” to the “supervisor”~the
person responsible for making the
final recommendation, to the
President, as to who should be
hired, Either the Dean of Student
Affairs or the Vice Provost will
serve as the supervisor. “While
the President signs all contracts,"
Dean of Student Affairs Jim
Tederman explained, in almost all
cases, “the supervisor really
makes the final decision."

In the event that the supervisor's
decision differs greatly from “the
desires or priorities" of the student
interviewmg team, the document
directs that, “the appropriate
administrator Shall meet with
relevant students to discuss and
explain the decision. flf) there
remains considerable
disagreement after such
discussion, Hie-supervisor shall
seriously reconsider the decision to
hire the candidate”

The Resident Adviser hiring
procedure diiiers slightly. The
student interviewing team for
prospective Resident Advisers will
not only meet with all candidates
brought to campus, but will also
“meet With the Student Affairs
staff to decide who should be
hired.”

The document also states that
“thorough written evaluations"
should be made of the
aforementioned personnel, except
Resident Advisers, during his~her
second year at Grinnell and every
three years thereafter. The
evaluations will include written
statements from students and
administrators working for the

 

person being evaluated; students,
faculty and administrators who
serve on various committees with
himsher; and other “appropriate
administrators and staff.”

The Document stipulates that
Resident Advisers will undergo “a
thorough evaluation each year,”
An important part of this
evaluation will be written
questionaires “sent to all students
and hall officers in each of the
Resident Adviser‘s halls.”

“I think it's a good document, a
realistic document," Tederman
said, “but it’s just a Starting point.
Over the years we‘re going to find
out that some things won't work.”

The document was authored by
Tederman with help from mem-
bers oi a Student input sub-
committee, The other members
include Matt Cohen, Ruth Mon-
tgomery and Lei Ann Marshall.

The Student input Committee,
an ad-hoc student committee
formed as a result of the
reorganization, worked in cons
junction with Tederman, Dean
Walker and President Turner in
drafting the document to its final
form,

mm by one room

Lust Monday night. approximately fifty students. members or the
Executive Council and Dean Walker convened to discuss the new EPC
guidelines set lonvard by the Dean and recently approved by the
Executive Council. These guidelines dciine the role that will be played
by students in interviewing and hiring proceduries within the
department of their major. Both the Dean and the professors present
held last to the view that “professionalism" requires that no students
have access to applicants' transcripts and letters at recommendation
Thus. while they re~asserted their continued interest in obtaining
students impressions oi teaching candidates who come to campus,
there was consensus among those staff members present that students

are in no position to have an actual vote in the select

i process.

" Diverse fund-raising
procedures-prove successful

by Tom Areiiberg
and Bob Mitchell
Fund-raising. never a serious
problem at Grinnell, is an area in
which the college has an
aggressive, well-organized
program involving a large portion
of the administration.
These financial activities involve

sses plans

, _ SGA President John Neiderbach feels that too
lunch money has been allocated for “non
participatory” entertainment this year. He ex-
plains: “An awful lot of people think a party means
U keg of beer. That blocks a substanﬁal amount of
social and cultural involvement.” Next year he
plans to urge that SGA spend more money for
events that promote interaction between students,
In an interview with the 5&5, Jon discussed some
of his other social, curricular, and operational goals
and i eas for next year.

“Initiating educational reform, not just reacting"
amply sums up Jon’s plan for SGA curricular in-
volvement, He cited one way of implementing
curricular reform as establishing a women’s study
program. He also mentioned the possibility of ob
taining funds from the State of Iowa for a women’s
studies conference.

Describing EPCS as “fragmented," Jon ex-

ﬁained that this year the individual EPCs don't
know what the others are doing, He proposed
coordination and publication of various EPC ens
terprises. He also suggested creating a position for
a salaried EPC coordinator who could facilitate this
ﬁre interaction,

As SGA president, Jon will seek to improve towns
gown relations. he mentioned the possibility of
“expanding the block party idea to analletown block
party.” He reels that it is important to improve
communication between townspeople and college
students. Jon added that it might be worthwhile to
incorporate such an attitude into the curriculum
because, “Iowa has an incredible amount to offer in
progressive politics and local history.”

Jon feels that students who take advanLage of
SGA’S social function View SGA positively. With

_ _ mole uvcmairioci
student opinion as somewhat less favorable,

perhaps because “they fthe students) see the power
Structure of SGA as too close to the administration;
there are a lot of bureaucracies," he said.

While the SGA must collaborate with these
bureaucracies, Jon cautioned, “It’s possible to work
with them, but one must be careful in dealing with
them. The naive idea of a conspiratorial ad
ministration is harmful ’I‘lley'rc naturally going to
do what they can for (hoir own interests.” Jon
pointed out that the administration must be con
scious that the students can be easily mobilized to

not only PreSldent A. Richard
Turner but also an entire ad-
ministrative department, the
Office of Development, under the

direction of David Mur hy.
The Office of Deve opment is

reponsible for the coordination and
behind the scenes work of fund-
raising. According to Murphy,
keeping people informed about
college activities greatly increases
the chances of receiving a con-
tribution.

“People are wondering now
about liberal arts collega. Are
they going to make it? If they care
about that, and if we can show
them that we really do need money
to stay strong and lirst rate—if we
ask them, make the connection and
give them me opportunityithen
we have a better chance of the
money coming in,” he said.

With this in mind, the Office
sends out the Grinnell Maga ne
five times a year. Murphy said this
was the college’s principle means

\of communicating with people

outside of the campus community.
The office also keeps information
on alumni, parents and trustees.

But not all of me Office’s curls
cerns are with paperwork. It is also
in char of organizing various
fundsrai ing drives and came
paigns. Two major drives are the
townsgown drive and the annual
solicitation campaign,

The annual town»gown campaign
is run entrely by town residents
who have a strong interest in the
future of the college. This year‘s
goal in the driveis to collect $43,000
in unrestricted gifts. As of May 2,
the drive has collected $27,000
according to campaign chairman
Dick Poynter,

The other major campaign
conducted by the school to raise
funds is a yearly effort to reach

 

with the school, such as alumni and
parents. '

Besides these two campaigns,
the college also has an advanced
gifts division whose primary
responsibility is to solicit large
scale donations. Both Turner and
*Murphy work closely with this
division, visiting local industries to
report on the state of the college
and seek funding.

The Development Office is also
involved in handling bequose and
funds left to the school in estates.
This area has proved to be a rich
one for the college. Since 1961,
Grinnell has received $3.5 million
from bequests. This is “not bad,"
for a small liberal arts college,
according to Murphy,

The College also has a “deferred
gifts” plan which allows in-
dividuals to give Grinnell a sum of
money while retaining the interest
this sum produces. Following the
Contributor's death, the college
receives all subsequent interest. In
operation for nearly seven years,
this deferred-gifts-witheinterest
plan has brought the college about
$2 million.

The college clearly has the ad-
ministrative apparatus to solicit
donations. But according to both
Turner and Murphy. the key issue
is how successful the college will
be at maintaining the quality of its
education. Murphy commented
that small liberal arts colleges
have to be able to handie the rising
Costs of education in order to
preserve their quality.

“(Small colleges) are running
faster all the time to stay in the
same place, That’s the race these
kinds of institutions are running, to
preserve the quality (of
education).” While the race may
be difficult, urphy added, “It’s
not a questi of going out of

 

