1971 Utonian

Page 103

A burgeoning Graduate program combined with a growing University emphasis on research as a source of support makes Dean Sterling McMurrin of the Graduate School ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL men on campus. Utah's graduate study program is large and rapidly getting larger, a trend that is nationwide. New degrees continually are added, (over twenty have been created in the past two years alone) and even with streamlined programs, an excellent grant system and continuous graduate registration, there is not enough money to admit all those who apply for Graduate School. Admission to the graduate program is further limited by the current lack of jobs (there are quite a number of PhD's working as janitors in Salt Lake) for graduates, a fact which makes those in the program less eager to hurry themselves out of it. The pressure may lessen in the future, however, as undergraduate students learn that too much education can be a liability in obtaining jobs (industrial recruiters in Engineering, for instance, often advise prospective employees not to go beyond the Bachelor's degree). Perhaps in the next few years, there will be a lessening of the trend to go on into Graduate research produced by lack of funds, the backlog of unemployed scholars and the need for higher-paid employment on an under-graduate level. Certainly there is no way for higher education to support an intelligentsia of professional scholars. We may be approaching the day when a scholar must be so on his own time, and cannot secrete himself within an institution. The College of Fine Arts is at last out of the barracks in which it was "stifled" for years and is into a completely new facility, the Arts and Architecture Complex. So now the Student Bohemia is complaining about the lack of freedom in the AAC. Artists are like that. But, according to Dean Edward Maryon, the facility is adequate and well-programmed, an exciting space to work in. Now all Fine Arts needs is space to house Music and Dance properly. The Dean told Utonian that art schools across the nation are over-enrolled. The University of Utah turns away thousands of eager and able students a year and the Art Department is still proportionately the most crowded department on campus. He feels that this has happened because Art is one of the last places left for a student to be creative, express individualism and have direct participation in his education. The College of Fine Arts has a dual function. Primarily, it serves as a school for professional training in the visual and performing arts; but it also has a great deal to do with General Education, developing an appreciation for the arts in average students. In close league with this function are the professional and semi-professional Theatre, Dance and Music programs which are sponsored by the College of Fine Arts and are available to the University student for reduced prices. A well-rounded, disciplined and thorough training in artistic expression awaits the student of Fine Arts. The College of Business has the distinction of being one of the top five business colleges in the west. For two years, Dean George S. Odiorne has been leading the four departments in the College: Management, Accounting, Marketing, and Finance. The graduate program contains more than three thousand students, making the College largest on campus. It is also the only accredited Business School in Utah. "We're not a parochial school for business. We're not here to defend business. We're here to teach management, " stated Dean Odiorne. He also had great faith in the graduate as well as the undergraduate program. With new teaching practices, the students have more freedom to work on their own ideas and even try to incorporate them into real business situations. The efforts of the College of Business have helped at least one hundred and fifty local businesses and by doing so, greatly contributed to the community. Some of the faculty in the college hold posi- tions as members of the board of directors for local businesses. The undergraduate business students can also benefit from helping various business concerns. Dean Odiorne remarked that they not only gain valuable experience but receive scholastic credit as well for their business labor. With this active porgram for teaching undergraduates, this college will have difficulty in selecting those students who will be fortunate to become involved with the flexible graduate school, out of the many with a GPA of 2.75.