Newsletter_19730315.pdf

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Part of The Evergreen State College Newsletter (March 15, 1973)

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March 15, 1973

REORGANIZATION, BUDGET PROBLEMS REVIEWED
The issue of staff and services reorganization at Evergreen and the problems of financial
cuts contained in the 1973-75 operating budget recently approved by the State Senate
have been the subject of campus-wide conversation during the past week. Though obviously
interrelated, the matters of reorganization and reductions in forces and services imposed
by possible budgetary limitations are in one respect, separate issues. The following
article looks at both:
POTENTIAL BUDGET CUTS
As explained last week by President Charles McCann, the Senate-passed operations budget
for Evergreen contains $10.9 million dollars for the next biennium and if held at that
amount involves "a considerable cut from what the governor recommended" and means that
spending in 1973-75 must be reduced by $1.7 million "under current levels." If the $10.9
million figure becomes a reality (the House of Representatives has not acted yet), Evergreen's response "must be reductions in force in every area and at all levels," according to McCann.
Commenting further this week, McCann said, "We are trying everything we can to get the
legislature to restore us to at least present levels of operation. At this point, we
have no way of knowing what will happen or when it will happen. However, we must plan
for the possibility that the amount of money approved by the Senate will, indeed, become
the total we'll have to work with in the next two fiscal years. We have to be ready to
function at that level if it becomes necessary. Contingency plans—and they do not at
this point represent hard-and-fast decisions—must be put down on paper."
Following is McCann's analysis of what is likely to happen if the Senate-passed budget
becomes a fact:
1. (a) Our first approximation of the effects on personnel would be a significant
reduction in administrative and staff persons, numbering approximately 58 individuals
as follows:
General Administration - 19 people
9 people
Student Services
- 15 people
Plant Operations
Library
6 people
Instruction
5 people
Computer Services
2 people
Auxiliary Services
- 2 people
This reduction reflects the change from an institution which was geared to grow
rapidly to 13,000 students to one which is to grow slowly. The reduction in force
reflects both an administrative reorganization to plan for slower growth and a
reduction of some functions against those formerly required. Although the Senate
was probably unaware of the depth of the cut made, our analysis suggests the reduction from current level of operations exceeds $1.6 million.
(b) Except for a few losses through attrition, there will be no reduction in
faculty because we have already agreed to operate at the same cost level (72%
of formula) as the other Washington public institutions. Further reduction would
squeeze the academic program below its present tight levels at which we have been
operating and doing a first rate job. It is pertinent to note that Evergreen's per

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capita costs for instruction alone do not differ significantly from the other
public four year colleges in Washington; our start-up costs constitute the significant difference. These start-up costs remain, but at a proportionately decreasing rate, until an enrollment level of 4,000-5,000 students. These seemingly
substantial start-up costs are less than half the start-up costs of other new
public institutions in a stage of development similar to Evergreen's.
2. The program effects would be a significant reduction and in some cases curtailment of services vital to the educational process in a college organized—with an
eye to significant future efficiencies—without separate academic divisions and
departments.
a. Administrative services: Mail, printing, telephone, stenographic services,
etc., which support the instructional services.
b. Plant operations: Cut facilities development staff, and curtail maintenance
and janitorial staffs. Curtailment of these latter two staffs means, as you
know, postponement of costs to a future—and more expensive—time.
c. Library: Reduction of open hours; reduction of acquisitions, already at a
level less than adequate to support a strong program of independent study;
reduction of staff who supervise hands-on student work with TV and sound
mechanics and production.
d. Student services: Reductions in counseling, in financial aid (70 percent of
our students depend on financial aid), and—very important—in career planning
and employment placement advising. For economic, flexible academic programs
that avoid set, ultimately very expensive curriculums, we find that good employment advising, started early, is a far cheaper and more efficient way to go.

3.

(a) Present projections on enrollment by level were those developed by the
Office of Program Planning and Fiscal Management:
Upper Division
Lower Division
No.
of
Students
Work
(42.5%)
Work (57.5%)
Year
1,351
1973-74
2,350
999
1,135
1,535
1974-75
.
2,670
If enrollment is frozen at its present level of about 1,900 full-time students,
the figures would be respectively, 842 in lower division work and 1,138 in upper
division work. With the cut we would plan to admit a total of about 600 students
(instead of 1,050) this year to replace about 200 who will be graduated and
an estimated normal attrition of 400 who will leave Evergreen for a variety of
reasons (transfer, failure, drop-out). Of this 600 students, about half will
be freshmen. In 1974-75 we would estimate enrolling about 800 new students,
replacing some 400 who will graduate and 400 lost by attrition;of that number,
about half would be freshmen.
(b) To keep Evergreen viable and growing slowly but steadily to economic operating levels (4,000-5,000 students), we would consider as minimal a growth of
about 200 students per year with about half being first-year students and half
transfers from other institutions.
(c) The additional dollars required to admit additional students can be only
roughly approximated by prorating a number of factors. Fixed costs decrease
per student added, while variable costs increase. Our best estimates suggest
the following costs for various levels of increments of students added above
1,900 beginning fall 1973 (about half these amounts for similar numbers added
in fall 1974):
100
$208,265
200
398,420
300
570,465
400
724,000
REORGANIZATION

Limitations on enrollment growth at Evergreen—whether at the level envisioned by
the 1973-75 operating budget submitted by the governor's office or at the total

spelled out by action of the State Senate—has prompted college officials to begin
drafting plans for staff and service reorganization, according to President McCann.
Discussing the matter at the March 8 Board of Trustees meeting, McCann pointed
out that slower growth or no growth in the immediate future means that "we need to
seriously consider reorganization." "There is no way to avoid it and to delay planning for it now would be a serious error," he added.
"We built an administrative and service organization capable of planning for and
responding to fairly rapid growth," McCann told the trustees, "That it did and did
remarkably well. But, no growth gives us a clear message. We must take another
look for the strongest, leanest administrative organization for our size and resources that we can possibly put together."
The president then presented the board with what he described as a "first and
tentative cut" at reorganization. He indicated the proposal would be studied, refined, and discussed on campus prior to submission for approval at a future board
meeting, perhaps as early as April 12. McCann said the matter of reorganization
has been the subject of preliminary discussion since it became obvious the college's
rate of growth would either be drastically slowed or—as mandated in the Senate's
budget—curtailed for at least a biennium. Moving ahead with reorganization plans
thus became imperative, McCann said.
CATALOG SUPPLEMENT BEING DRAFTED
A supplement to the 1973-74 catalog should be ready for the printer sometime next
week, according to Academic Dean Merv Cadwallader, who is now editing a final edition
of the document. The new supplement, which will follow the format of The Evergreen Symposium, the monthly magazine, will be "at least 100 pages long," Cadwallader said.
"It will also contain more information than the former supplement," he added. Included in the document will be any new academic policies which have been formulated,
.ncluding statements on leaves of absence, payments of fees, awarding of credit, evaluations of transcripts, and important data on summer quarter.
The supplement will also include complete 1973-74 program descriptions of Coordinated Studies and Group Contracts and will list faculty assigned to individual contracts.
Program descriptions "in rough form" were posted in the Information Center and the
Dean's Lounge Mar. 13.
MEETING CALLED FOR GRADUATING SENIORS
All graduating seniors have been invited to attend a graduation planning meeting
Mar. 19 at 4 p.m. in the Dean's lobby. Associate Dean Oscar Soule, who is heading up
plans for Spring Quarter graduation, named his cochairman this week. Student Terry
Wynkoop will head up the logistics and budget committee and Information Officer Judy
Prentice will coordinate plans for the program and/or festival.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR DEAN DUE FRIDAY
The Disappearing Task Force charged with the responsibility for nominating the top
three candidates for the position of Academic Dean will deliver their recommendations to
Provost Ed Kormondy Friday (Mar. 16). DTF Chairwoman Betty Estes said the committee
was originally asked to nominate candidates for the positions of both dean and associate
dean. "However, Kormondy has requested that we now nominate only three persons for the
one position of dean." Seven candidates remain on the selection list. Faculty Member
Carol Olexa has withdrawn her name, leaving Faculty Members Larry Eickstaedt, Cruz
Esquivel, Rudy Martin, Mark Papworth, Willie Parson, Lynn Patterson and Sid White still
in the running.
CALIFORNIA STATE CAPTURES SWEEPSTAKES IN FORENSICS TOURNEY
California State College at Hayward won the overall sweepstakes award in the first
annual Evergreener, a forensics tournament held at Evergreen Mar. 9 and 10. More
than 70 debaters from 13 colleges and universities competed in the meet, which was
sponsored by the Evergreen Forensics Association under the direction of student coordinator

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coordinator Mike Mobley.
Other sweepstake winners were Boise State College, which finished second and
Lower Columbia College, which took third.

^

a 100-mile walk first
THREE EVERGREENERS TO ATTEMPT 19,850 FOOT MT. LOGAN
The first 100 miles will be the easy part. Then the going will get rough for three
Evergreen students and an Olympia roofer who plan a Spring Quarter assault on the 19,850foot heights of Canada's Mt. Logan. The three students, Tim Gregg, Brian Woods and
Peter Hohn, and roofer Jack Lewis of Olympia, will hike the first 100 miles each toting
an 80-pound pack.
"Few people ever hike to assault points," Gregg, the leader of the group, said.
"Most climbers just fly in. But, we're going to walk in with 360 pounds of gear and then
have an additional 800 pounds of supplies dropped to us once we get to the foot of the
mountain."
Located in the St. Elias Mountain range in the Yukon Territory of Canada, the
mountain is the second highest in North America. The young climbers hope to pioneer a
route up its east ridge during their nine-week expedition. All of the climbers will
take years of experience with them when they leave Olympia Mar. 27. Gregg, the most experienced of the group, climbed Mt. McKinley two years ago and, like the others, has
climbed extensively in the Cascades.
The three students will not restrict their activities to climbing. Gregg's journey
is part of an academic study contract with Evergreen Faculty Member Naomi Greenhut.
"He'll be compiling an extensive study on the psychological dynamics of a group under
stress," Ms. Greenhut said. "This kind of experience is really a social and psychological experiment in group interaction. I can hardly \<ra±t for his full report in June."
Gregg, a native of Montclair, New Jersey, will also be documenting problems of
high-altitude stress. Woods, from Los Alamos, New Mexico, will document the organization/
and function of the expedition under provisions of a study contract with Faculty Member *
Pete Sinclair. Hohn, of Denver, Colorado, will study nutrition and high altitude
physiology as part of his work in the Mind and Body Coordinated Studies program.
All three expect to report back to their academic sponsors by the first of June.
BULLETIN
Students interested in pursuing individual study contracts in Northern
Europe next year are urged to contact Faculty Member Naomi Greenhut at
753-3951. She will be working on a group contract in Sweden next fall
and may be able to sponsor some individual contracts in Europe as well.
CHAN, GOTTLIEB SCHEDULE NOON CONCERTS ALL NEXT WEEK
Students in the music group contract will perform a series of noon concerts next
week (Mar. 19-23). A rock concert of original student compositions will kick off the
week Monday at noon in Lecture Hall Three. Faculty Member Don Chan will be directing.
More student compositions will be performed Tuesday at noon in the main lobby of
the Library, which will be the setting for the rest of the weeks' concerts. A classical
concert of piano and vocal trios and quartets is scheduled Wednesday, and the Chamber
Orchestra and Chamber Singers will join forces Thursday under joint direction of Faculty
Members Chan and Robert Gottlieb. The Small Jazz Ensemble will climax the events Friday.
POP POSTERS ON EXHIBIT IN LIBRARY
Thirty-nine American Pop Posters went on exhibit in the main reference area of the
Library last week. The exhibit, which will run through the end of the month, includes
posters by such artists as Jim Dine, Robert Indiana, Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein,
Marisol, James Rosenquist and Andy Warhol. The posters date from 1963 through 1971 and
1961, and "Earth Day," 1970, by Robert Rauschenberg. Other familiar images are Andy
Warhol's "Campbell's Soup," 1969, and "Self Portrait," 1966. The posters in the
exhibit are available for purchase.

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