Contents
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Professor Donald F. Forster - Guelph's third president
UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH
A lengthy interview with President Forster provides a personal look at the man and the issues that fa ce him at th e Univers ity .
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GlIELPH
Spring , 1976
AWMNUS
Volume 9, Number 1
"Guelph Today"
This pilot program was a new approach by the Department
of Alumni Affairs and Devel o pment in an attempt to
reintroduce a s mall number of grads to th ei r Alma Mater.
For three days and two nights, 22 alumn i and s po uses were
immersed in the University's many face t s .
page 8
PI CTURE CREDITS :
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The mood on campus at mid-decade
Fronl Cover. pages 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 16, 18. 20 (lower) . and
22 (right) Audio Visual Services: pages 8. 20 (centre)
and 22 (left) David Smilh : page 20 (top) Haro ld
Ralhlou . back cover Ramon Hat horn.
" Economi c co nditi o ns, a compe titiv e jo b market , parental expectations, rising tuiti on and the influence of the media have forced most young pe ople to plan for the future beyond university. They attend university for a specific purpo se."
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UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH ALU MN I AS SOCIATION
HON ORARY PRESIDENT : Pro fessor D. Forster .
PRE SID ENT : Mr P. D. (Peter) Ander son, B A . '68 .
" Family Summer Campus '76"
SEN IOR VICE· PRE SIDENT : Dr . H . J . (Howard ) Neel y, OVC '51 .
The Un iver sity of Guelph prov ides a new exper ie nce in summer vaca t ions.
VICE·PR SIDE NTS ' Dr D. A . (Donald) Barnum . OVC '41. Mr . John Gillespie . OAC '7 4: Mr . Gordon W HarriS. B .Sc . 7 5: Miss Miriam Ostir. B .A . '68: Mrs . A . L. (O live Thompso n) Thompson. Mac '35.
14 Career Planning and Placement - dealing with dilemmas Andr e A uger attempts to answer our studen ts ' most pre ssing question: "Is there life after graduation?"
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SECRET ARY : Mrs . D. J. (Jean Fuller) Hum e, Mac '64. page 12
The Graduate Survey
" Where have all the young grads gone?"
19 James Allan - Alumnus of Honour The Honourab le James Noble Al lan is one of those rare individuals who has unselfishly devoted h is life to serving his fellow man. Du rin g Homecoming Weekend last year he was awarded t he A lumnus of Honour Citation for his distinguished service.
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page 14
Alma Mater Fund - 7th Annual Report
A record 3, 427 donors con tr ibuted $151,224 to the 1975 Fund . The report contains a breakdown o f the amounts received by the Alma Mater Fund and a desc ription of where fund s were allocated.
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01 Alumni A ff airS ~ond Develo pmen t. in co -opera l ion
WIth th e Deparlmen t o f Informal io n. Uni versity of Guelph
Con tributors to th is issue
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EX· OFF ICIO DIRECTORS : Mrs . F. T . (Joann e Gl over) Cowan. Mac '67: President Mac-FA CS Alumni Asso cia tion : Mr . R. J (Bob} Esch. B .Sc . '70. PreSident, Co llege o f Ph ysical Science A lu mni Associatio n: Dr . H J . (Howard) Neely . OVC'51 President . O.V.C. Al um ni Association : Mr . L J . (Lloyd) Ross. OAC '54. Presi den t. O.A. C. Alumni Assoc ia tio n: Mr M. C. (M ike) S relb . B .A. 69. President. Arts Alumn i Associa tion : MISS Jan Watson . B Sc '7 5. PreSident , College o f Biolog ical Science Alumni Assoc iation : Mr . Pelf'r Mf'l senhelmer President U. G . C.S. A .: Mr . Wayne A . Kay. B. Sc. '7 4. President, Un iversity 01 Guelph Graduate Siudent s' Associa tio n: Mr. J. K . (John) BabcoCk. OAC '54. Director, Al um ni Affairs and Develop ment
The Guelph Alum nus IS p ubli shed by th e Department
Campus high lights
Mary Cocivera has been a part-tim e feat ure writer for the Depa rtm ent o f Information fo r six years during whi ch time she has co ntr ib uted many articles to this publi ca tion . Mrs . Coc ivera ob tained a B.A . in Chemistry from Whitman Co ll ege , W all a Walla, Was hingto n and a M .S. degree in Jo urn ali sm from Boston Univers ity before coming to Guelph wh ere her husband M ike is a profes so r in the Chemi stry Department. Her previ o us w o rk experi ence includes writ ing for films and exhibits fo r th e Bell Telephone Laboratories in New Jersey. In addition to her writ ing , Mrs . Coc ivera has two ac tive c hildren, Tracy 4'/2 and Todd 2'/2, to contend with and s he is o n the Board of Direc tor s of the campus Child Ca re Co-operative. Andre Auger is the Director of th e Department of Career Pl ann ing and Placement and Lynd a Haywo od is a career co un se llor in that department. Cover and ce ntre spread design by Er ic h Barth.
DIR ECTORS . Mr . F T. (Tom) Cowan. OAC '65: M r. John A. Eccles . OAC '40: Dr . Wm . C. (Bill ) Hac kin g, OVC '69: Mr . Gordon W . Ham s , B. Sc. '7 5: Mi ss JUdi lh A. Main . B .A . '7 5. Mrs. J . P. (J anet Th ompson) Mc Nally . B Sc '69 : Mr . Jim Rule . B .A '69, Mrs. Kathy Sall d( old. B.Sc. '75: Dr D. I (David) Sil ver. OVC '72: Mrs. G . (Ann e Patrick ) Thompson. Mac '69
The Ed it Orial Commlttce IS comprised o f d lto r - Davi G . Sml h . PublIca tions Ol licec: Art 0" cor - ECich H. Barth J K . B bcock . OAC '54. Direc tor of Alum ni A ffairs nd De>elopm n t: Rosemary Clark. M ac '59 . ASSIstant DHe l or. Alumni Programs , D. L . WatCrston . Di'ector o f In lorma l lon : W Jose . OAC '49. ASSist an t DICector o f Information.
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The Edlto"al Ad VIS ory Board of the Un i verSity 0 1 Guelph Alumni ASSOCiat ion IS compri sed 0 1 Dr . D. A. (Dona ld ) Barnum . OV '41. chairman: Dr. Alla n Aust in W. J. Bow les . BA '72: Dr. W. C. Hacking. OVC '69 : Robert Clcer , OAC '59: G B . Powell. OAC' 2. James RUSk . OAC '65: Mrs. J. W . (Joan Ellering ton) Tanner . ac '57 . Ex·offlc lo J K. Babcock . OAC '54. Mr . P. D. We er) And erson. B A. '68 : Correspond ing members: D. A . Ba! es. OAC '69 : G . M . Carman. OAC '49: and H G . Dodd . OAC '58
Mary Co ci vera
Undeli vered cop ies should be re turn ed 10 Ihe Departmenl 0 1 A lumni A ff airs and Developmenl, UniverSit y o f Gu elp . Guelph . Onlario N1G 2Wl .
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Professor Donald F. orster
-Guelph's third president
hen Professor Donald F. Forster became president at the University of Guelph on July 2, 1975, he was viewed by the university com munlty with much anticipation and a great deal of curiosity . A brief sketch of the 41-year-old bachelors background reveals very extensive and impressive credentials for the position of chief executive officer at this University. Born In Toronto In 1934, Professor Forster was trained In the field of Political Science and Economics. He took his B.A. In 1956 at the University of Toronto and his A.M. from Harvard University In 1958. He advanced rapidly at Toronto going from lecturer In 1960 to Professor in 1970 while distinguishing himself both as a teacher and a scholar. He Is co-editor (with M. H. Watkins) of Economics: Canada, Toronto, 1963 and Is co-author also, with J. W. Pickersglll, of three volumes of The MacKenzie King Record. In addition, he has published many articles In the field of economics and political science. From 1964 to 1967 he was Review Editor for the Canadian Journal of Economics and Political Science. From 1964 to 1970 he was Assistant Editor of the Canadian Annual Review. In 1970 he spent the summer as Economic Adviser to the Minister of Economic Affairs and Development Planning, Government of Tanzania. Professor Forster held a succession 01 important administrative positions at the University of Toronto . From 1965 to 1967 he served as Executive Assistant to university President, Claude Bissell, from 1967 to 1971 as Vice-Provost and Executive Assistant to the President. In 1971 he was promoted to the position of Acting Vice-President (Academic) and Provost. In 1972 he was appointed Vice-President and Provost. During his administrative career he continued to teach economics In the university's Department of Political Economy . The position of university president is an extremely important one In our educational system and obviously the man chosen to fill the position at Guelph Is highly qualified to act in the academic community's best interests. After enjoying the 'anonymity' Inherent in the high-rise Iile 01 Toronto, Professor Forster has comfortably settled into the president's quarters on College Avenue and has had the opportunity to Immerse himself in the day-to·day activities at Guelph . We thought It was time to take a look at the number one man on campus - his life style and his thoughts on matters of importance to this university. A series of questions were posed to President Forster. The questions and his replies follow:
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Was th ere an y ea rl y influence in your life that m ight ha ve d irected you into a par ticular fie ld of study? President Forster - Mos t of my teachers in high school ca me to the co nclusion th at I was going to be a law yer. I had do ne some voice theatre - not acting but using my vo ice. I was always ac ti ve in public speaking and I think that led to the conclusion that I was going to end up in law . Is the theatre a form of relaxation fo r you? Pres ident Forster - Not particu larly, I don't go t o th e theat re as much as I wo uld like to . I read plays qui te a bit but I don't go to the t heatre ve ry o f ten. That'a a very interesting phenomenon actually because I often will get the text of a rea so nably new play and read it th rou gh . Do you c onsider yourself a crea tive person ? President Forster - No, not rea lly . I have never potted, sculpted or pa inted . I used to draw but it was a highly stylized , mechanical kind of drawing - not w hat I w o uld call artist ic. Do yo u eve r try you r hand at writin g ? President Forster - Well, I enjoy the kind of writing one does in an academic sen se and at that kind of writing I thi nk I' m reasonably good but when you refer to creative w riting yo u're referring to something quite different.
Wh at about being creative in your adm inistrative pOSition ? President Fors ter - Oh yes. I think that 's part of the test of success of an ad ministrator - creativity in what he does either in handling people or handling situations or handling problems. That 's for others to judge - not me.
President Forster - eminently qualified to lead the University.
Are you co ncerned about your image or do you simply carryon in your own way an d not worry about it? President Forster - That kind o f question is a hard one to answer because I think anybody who is in a semi·public or a public role is worried about image in the sense that there is concern about the impression one is making , concern about the quality of performance and so on. A II are elements of image. Being concerned with my image in the sense of going ou t of my way to seek opportunities to create an image? No , I don't do that. Do you feel that you're a print'oriented person ? Pres ident Fors ter - Yes, for example, whenever I've appeared on televi sio n I have always looked terrible. Ye t others think you look ver y distinguished. Pre sident Forster - Oh, I think Iloo k ter rible. Perhaps that was in my "fat phase". I've lost 30 pounds. I can remem ber being asked once to attend a breakfast news conferen ce during one of the interminable number of times Toronto was considering a new stadium complex and the university people were invited because university teams, it was hoped , would use this facility and I can remember having a hand-held television camera 3
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stuck in my face and asked to say a few word s . I was appalled at how I looked on t he television sports news later. I did do some radio w o rk w hen I was younger and again, partly be cause of my voice . Your stamp collecting hobb y was mention ed during you r in stallation - is this a form of relaxation for you ? President Forster - Yes, very much. I enjoy mounting pages and albums and filing stamps away in envelopes. It's a mechanical thing and I enjoy doing it. I.suppose it is a release. Do you have any o ther hobb ies? President Forster - Yes, I have developed a recent interest in Japanese prints. I find them intricate, extremely good from the point of view of design and there's always something new to see in them. I don't have a very substantial collection but I have about six and enjoy them immensely. I enjoy them much more, for example, than modern art. I don't tend to react very well to modern art. What about the art collectio n here on campus. How do you rate it ? President Forster - First-class . Do you enjoy realist pain ters such as Danby, Colville, - that typ e of pa intin g? President Forster - Some of their work I don 't find very appealing frankly. It 's too realistic. I suppose my interest in what one cou Id call modern art stopped with the impressionists. Ilike the splash of colour and t he sort of cloudy, almost hazy art iculation of the painting - that does appeal to me. I suppose it's the general appeal of the mix of colour and the style. The ex treme realists don't particularly appeal to me. The Group of Seven paintings - I enjoy. Again for the same reason - the colour and the mix of colour and in that sense I react not terribly emotionally to painting - simply vi sually , if you like , in terms of colour and mix of colour. Any in terest in music ? President Forster - I enjoy music too. have an extensive record collec tio n which I don't get enough time to lis ten to. But I do enjoy sitting down in my spare time listening to a symphony or ope ra. I am interested in opera and have been fo r some time. Aga in, not from the point of view of an expert ; if I knew more ab out music in the sense of becoming reasonabl y expert in the interpretat ion or whatever , I would cease to en joy it. I've always enjoyed music bu t don't particularly enjoy concerts. My reaction to music is bet ter when listening to it by myself than when I'm crammed into a concert hall. Some exceptions - it depends on the kind of performer, the quality of per former , but I would much rather listen to a performance of say, Beethoven 's 4
Ninth Symphony on a record , than I would sitting in aconcert hall . What about leisure time in the areas of good food, good friends , etc. ? President Forster - I wouldn't class m y self as having an enormous number of friends but the friends I have are quite close. Ilike to see them and I try to see them as often as possible. I enjoy good food but not as much since losing all the weight because I have to watch my diet much more carefully now. However , I have a list of nice restaurants Ilike to go to. You a·ttended Guelph's homecoming foot ball game. Do you participate in athletics yourself? President Forster - Football appeals to me in some ways but I've never played football and don't know all the intri cacies of the game. I enjoy watching hockey. I haven 't skated for years but I enjoy the sort of rhythm and motion of hockey. I know a fair amount about the game and am interested in it. Beyond that I don't have much interest in sports. I just bought a pair of cross-country skis but have only tried it once before with some friends near Barrie and I enjoyed the experience immensely . You've had the opportunity to tra ve l exten sively . Do you recommend the experience for s tuden ts? President Forster - Yes , of course when I graduated from high schoo l and uni versity, it wasn't common for a student to travel I was in Tanzania for a few months in the summer of 1970 and in East Africa in K enya, Uganda and Tanzania the spring before on a holiday. I travelled in the South Pacific , particularly Pap ua and N ew
Guinea , and two countries in Eastern Europe - Czechoslovakia and Bul garia. I've been pretty well through France and Germany an d I spent a fair amount of time in England, but mainly around London and surrounding com munities - Sussex and so on.
At your installation on Octo ber 3 , Dr. Joh n Evans, (President of the Uni versit y o f Toronto) said you have a "co m mitment to the academic process ". I can't help b u t wonder why and ho w you chose to work in academic adminis tration when you r back ground in political science and economics might very well have led to a more stimu lating career. President Forster - Almost pure accident. The notion of having all sorts of career options open to you at a certain pOint of your life holds for some people but not for others, and for the majority it doesn't hold. In my career one thing seemed to lead to another. I did reasonably well as an undergraduate at the University of Toronto , well enough to get scholarship support to go into graduate school. I went into graduate school as I'd always enjoyed the university environment and it was almost inevitable to come back as a member of the teaching staff at To ronto. I enjoyed the teaching and the writing I was doing and then drifted into administrative work in the mid sixties. I enjoyed that and found m yself go ing alon g sequentially in something - buildi ng on previous ex periences. I've had opportunities in the civil service and in business but they've never, at least at this stage of my life, appealed to me particularly be cause I enjoy universities too much and university people . I don 't find uni
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President Forster has entered into th e sp iri t of the Universi ty as evi denced b y a co w milking contest during Aggie Week and the sno w sculp tu re j u dgin g during Win ter Weekend . He's seen here with (left) Bill Gra y, fo rmer President of the UGCSA, an d Clay Switzer, OAC '51, Dean of OA C.
versity environments frustrating as some people do. I'm quite happy doing what I'm doing and don't feel serious ly tempted to get out. Wh o knows - a few years from now I may feel quite differently and may want to try something new . I may want to go into a civi l service department or into business. I' ve been asked to go into politics on seve ral occasions. Ho w ever, if you're going to be successful in politics you have to have some experience and more importantly I think you have to have some reaso n ably solid financial base before you go into it. My interest in politi cs waxes and wanes; but again, wh o kn o w s? At some point I might bec ome interested in that. Some of my friend s think it has been my ambition to go to the Senate l I guess it's a commentary on me . I enjoy the sty le of universi ty life - the s tyle of doi ng things at a un iver sity. I get fru s trated with it in the sa me way that anyone else gets frus trated with committees and consens us decision -making but in the end, that sty le of management and governm ent in the university is the only style possible il nd I enjoy most o f it. I enjoy watching interaction amo ng peop le and seeing them arrive at deci sio ns on a n important set o f prob lems. Yo u ca n learn an awful lot about peopl e in a university env iron ment. It 's not as hierarchical as you would find in a civil service bureaucracy or in a corporate bureaucracy. It's m o re free-flowing and I enjoy that. During your speech at the Alumnus of Hon ou r presentation for James Allan you ment io ned that you "p icked Guelph ". Was there any particular rea son why you would select this university over others? President Forster - I've had opportunities to be president of universities else where but they didn't parti cularly at trac t me for a number of reasons. On e of the more posit ive things abo ut Guelph tha t interests me is that it is an in stitution with a long trad ition in agriculture and veterinary medi cine and all the areas in the College o f Fami ly and Consumer Stud ies , and it has the streng ths that come from that history . It had an association, for a long tim e, with the Univers ity of Toro n to and so I wa s aware of some thin gs about the University that perhap s I wouldn't have been aware of in the case of other un iversities . Ilike a uni versity with pretty so lid connections or roots in communities as thi s one has in the ag ricultural community of Ontario, as well as in the City of Guelph . The University has been a well-m anaged one o n the whole and there are some c hallenges - even th oug h the finan c ial constraints are
Un iversities have often been labelled "i vory tower" wh en in re ality they have taken the ne cessa ry mea su re s to work for and with the general public . Is this one way in which universit ie s can influence government policy? President Fo rster - We ca n influen ce governm ent poli c y to a certain extent through the Council of Ontario Univer sities. In addition , within our local communities, we should be able to demons tra te to the public the va lue o f hi gher education and the val ue of the The Honourable Harr y Parrott , Minister of universit y as a comm unity res ource. If Colleges and UniverSities , paid a recent we can mai ntain the con fiden ce o f the visi t to Guelph to acquaint people with the fa c ts, and necess ity, behind the govern general pub lic th en governments will ment's efforts to stem the rapid escalation listen favorably. I believe that if the in public expenditures . ro le o f , and facts about, univers ities such that I'm not going to have the are presented accura tely and fairly, sa me op portunity to ope n massive people will respond favourably. numbers of building s orencourage The University of Guelph appears very significant program departures. I t o have a very good relationship with don't think these o ption s will be ope n the City and surrounding community. to us in the time I'm pres id ent. But , The University is a valua ble re source wherever possible I want to see us and we should increase our efforts to build on what we've got and make draw the community into more univer wh at we're doing better, and I think sity activi ti es, such as concer ts, that's obv ious ly a limited objective in pl ays , exhibits, athletic events, and ter ms of the experience or hi s to ry in non-credit courses. the 1960's. But s till, it 's an obj ect ive I Do you have any perso nal community find sufficiently cha llen ging to try to involvement? do so mething about it. President Forster - I have gotten involved University financing has become a well in activities o f that sort fro m time to worn topic of discu ss ion sin ce Jame s time but again , it 's a question o f time Auld, former Minister of Co lleges and Uni co mmitm ent . When I was at the Uni versities, announced the 1975-76 budget vers ity o f Toronto t hat tended to be re s traints . Just how severe will the the major focus of my life and now the financial situation be a t Guelph over the University o f Guelph is the major nex t few years? focu s of my life a nd I really do not President Forster - In the nex t few years have th e tim e to in vol ve myself with budget in creases will not likely keep any ass uran ce of continuity in a ny pace with inf lation. Our budget com activity. Obviously , I'm interes ted in mittee will have to ca ref ully assess community af fairs and particularly in needs and prioriti es to d etermine young people and people fro m disad where to make c ut s which will have a vantaged backgrounds, but I d on' t do minimal impact on our programs. The anything in a very o rganized way effects o f continued tight budgets will about it except cont ribute some become visible in maintenance o f money occas io nal ly and some time to buildings, library purchases, class th ese acti viti es . size, ac cess ibil ity to eq uipment, and " Access ibility " is a popular word the se faculty and staff appOintment s. With da ys . Whom do yo u think should be such restric ted budgets it will be ex coming to university ? tremely difficult to encourage innova President Forster - W e could do more in tion in teac h ing and research . term s of accessib ility . ln-coursecoun The formul a system o f finan ci ng selling would help stu dent s discover provincia l univers iti es probably what is expec ted of them. Pre-univer provides rough ju st ice in the alloca s it y co un se lling co uld start young tion of funds . De s pit e its many imper people fro m disadvantaged groups fe c tions , I prefer it to any other th inking abou t a university education. system of financing currently under Beca use of social a nd economi C discussion. If universities a re to re fact ors, many o f them simply do not spon d sensibly to changing need s, consider high er education as an the system o f finan cing must allow for option . Our semester system o ff ers planni ng over a three- to five-year students an important option in their period . Any large organi zati o n needs university educatio n . On the whole, such planning inf ormation. Univer st udent s seem to like it and faculty accept it, and by providing flexibility it sities have respo nded re markab ly well to changing needs in spite of the year may increase accessibility. by-year ad hoc planning necessitated Do you forsee changes in university educa by the current finan cing sy stem. tion in the near future ? 5
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President Forster - We will see changes in the student body as more old er people attend university , enrolling in single courses, pursu ing deg rees, or taking non-credit co urses. Universi ties shoul d p laya larger role in profes sional development and retraining programs as well as providin g broader academic opportunities to society as a w hole . University educat ion should not necessarily be caree r-ori ented. A uni versity education is a good in it self, teaching people to think, objec tivel y and critically, about themselves an d society. The Canadi an econom y has trem en dous gro w t h potential and the curren t tigh t job market faci ng university gradu ates w ill ease wh en th e econom y starts to recove r from the current rat her severe recession.
and in that sense history, too, equips people to think . It gives students a good deal of background knowled ge about where they are going an d t hat is important as part of this tot al obj ec tive of making people think . I al so think universities have a rol e in b ring ing art, whether it be vi sua l art o r an y other form, to people's at tention and perhaps some of them will learn to appreciate it. We live ina sort of homogen ized society where the assu m pt ion is th at everyone must benefit from every t h ing and I don't think this is so. It's m uch more important that those wh o can profit from an ex posure to art or sculpture o r w hatever , have t he opp o r tunity o f doing so. This is part of the theme I've been tryin g to devel op in
Step hen Lewis, leader o f the oppos iti on in the On tario Legislature, chats wi th President Forster while touring many o f the OA C 's dep artments. Steeped in the traditions of i ts th ree fo unding co lleges , Guelp h became a uni versity in 1964 and wi th th e new s tatus cam e a liberal ar ts program - much to the interest of man y me mbers and alu mn i of th ose fou nding co lleges. What is your view on the fun c tion of the arts program? President Forster - It's a trad itional view . Part of t he fu nct ion of art s programs is to open pe o ple's per spectives. For example, I thi nk the o n ly way to learn to write is to read and to read implies that you have to have some sort o f an exposure to good Iiterature w hether it be in Fren ch, Russian, German, English - whatever , and this can be extremely useful training. It was the way I learned to write - by reading. The study and writing of history involves an analysis , not a simple re cord i ng , but an analysis of what has happened and why it has happened 6
some of my speeches ab out residence life . I have no illusions that everybody in a residence is going to be equally interested in a fa cult y member coming in to talk about h is or her specialty . But if 14 or 15 people turn up for an informal gab-fest in the evening , a gab-fest organ ized around the facult y member or visitor's discipline or field - this is useful and I don't get alarmed if there are onl y 14 or 15 people there . Those 14 or 15 will benefit. Those that aren 't there won 't , but that 's their choi c e. Those op portunities should be opened up to people in residence who are interested in this kind of program. It could be a professional hockey player talking , for instance, about the problems of dealing with lawyers and accountants and the ethics of professional sport , violence in sport . Some of the hockey
players I know are highly articul ate on these subjects and worried about them and they welcome the opportu nity to come and talk with a group of young peop le about their profession. But agai n if only 14 or 15 or 20 t urn up , so be it. It's still worth doing.
This issue of the Guelp h A lumn us con ta ins on e ar tic le dealing with the va lue of a university education in our present socio-ec ono mic c limate and other articles which dea l with the scope of the Depart m ent of Career Planning and Place m ent - its function and what i t can provide for s tudents . Would you comm ent o n this? Presi dent Forster - It (the Depart men t of Career Pl anni ng and Placem ent) is a f irst-c lass ope rati on here fro m w hat I've se en. The question really gets back to wha t t he Uni vers i ty is abou t and I d o n't think yo u'll find any ag re e m en t outside the Universit y , or in sid e th e Un iversi ty , on th e ex ten t to which the Univers ity shou ld be trai ning people or prepari ng people for s pecific job s o r ta sk s in socie ty . I tend t o be a b it of a trad ition al is t in tt, e sense th at I bel ieve qu ite st rong ly th at the Univers ity is perform ing wel l if it 's tea chin g peop le to t h ink ob ject ively , cr it ica lly and analyti ca lly about p ro b lem s and g ivi ng t hem some equ ipmen t to so lve t hose p roblems , not in the specif ic job context neces sarily , alt ho ug h t hat' s part of the un i vers i ty' s ro le -- but on ly part . I thin k baS ically we shoul d be teac h in g people to t hink critical ly , object ively an d analy t ically and i f we're d o ing t hat w e are a success . If we're not, we've got to look at w hat we're dOin g . On e th ing that's im pressed m e about grad uates o f th e Ontario A gr i cul t ural College - t hey're in vo lved in a wide ran ge o f activi ties - an enormous range w ith in ag ri cu lture and the foo d ind ust ry b ut also beyond it in a variety of se nior exec uti ve posit io ns in organ izat ion s ess ent ial ly unrelated to ag ricultu re or even resource industri es . Th is d oes n't s ur prise me to any extent b ut it is a fact o f life th at we have to be aware of in te rms of t he kin d of train in g t hat t he students in th e undergrad uate pro gram s are gett in g . Graduate work traditiona lly has been a strong area at Guelph yet the budge t res tric t io ns will lim i t the initiatio n o f new p ro grams an d the expansion of existing ones . Wha t will happ en to these programs? President Forster - We've decided we es sentiall y won't go into graduate work in many areas and then of course we are constrained in the introduction of ne w grad uat e programs. Even those that are eval uated succe ssfully aca
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demically by all the appraisal mechanisms and so on, aren't funded and we have difficulty introducing new programs. Graduate programs in these areas are significant as they require usually more staff, more sophisticated laboratory equipment in the science areas and we can't go into these, with some exceptions, until they're fu nded. In that case, there won't be qualified $otaft for lack of program s to train them will there? President Forster - That's right. I agree that there should be perhaps more rigorous planning in the graduate areas within the Ontario university system. There has been a temptation fo r all universities to try to do every thing and this isn't very sensible. The universities trlemselves now recog nize this as not sensible and are pre pared to rationalize the system to some extent. However, I would hate to see the investment that's been made and graduate programs of pretty good quality turn out in the end to have been wrong because people's priori ties have changed or government priorities have changed, and again, getting back to the theme in my installation address (see previous issue), this question of dancing up to excellence and then being appalled by it and dancing back from it - this is what we tend to do too often as a nation. We're not risk takers. How do teaching and research interact? President Forster - Research has a spin off in terms of teaching. Faculty who are involved in research programs bring an excitement and sense of discovery to teaching. Those who do not have an active scholarly program may not be good as teachers. Teaching is exhausting and time con suming, particularly with large classes and the preparation of new courses. In basic and applied research I see a growing partnership emerging between government, industry, and universities. The role of university president is a stress ful one at best. He must cross everyone's party lines, arbitrate between warring factions on campus (both in a broad university-wide sense and the internal departmental sense), convey a certain "image" of competence and purpose to the university community and the general public, and through all this he must remain "human". Amidst all the responsibilities placed squarely upon his shoulders, he finds himself in an interesting position. He is situated between Senate and the Board of Governors. On one side is the Board of Governors consisting of men and women charged with the good management of the University and on the other side is the Senate, in charge of academic governance.
The president holds seats on both, and must act as a communication link b etw een them. Having said that, does he have power or influence? President Forster - Influence. On paper I think the president has a great deal of power in terms of committees he serves on or areas where he is tradi tionally expected to make decisions but any president that tries to exercise power without consensus or without assent from people within the uni versity is silly. I think the president in a very real sense is primus interparus. It is partly a leadership role, partly a gadfly role - trying to identify problems - trying to identify solu tions to the problems and persuade people - one, that there are problems and, two, that they are worth dealing with and perhaps aSSisting in how they're dealt with. Presidents now have a special obligation to try and explain what happens in universities to the broader public whether it be alumni, members of the government, civil servants or members of the public at large. There is a good deal of misunderstanding of what universities exist to do and what their problems are currently. We see all sorts of evidence - one, of ignorance and two, of misunderstanding. 00 you think that the "Guelph Today" program (see page 8) was of much value? President Forster - I think it was quite successful and I would like to see the program continued with groups of about that size (25/30). Not only alumni of the university, but also business people, people drawn from other areas of society. You bring them to Guelph; you try to explain what the University is doing and why it's doing it, and you get their feedback on what's being done. I think the first attempt at this was quite successful on the whole. Some very interesting ideas emerged. The people who participated in the program got a better comprehension of what the University was doing and we got some good ideas back and that was the objective. Guelph has long been known for its strong alumni support. One has only to attend College Royal, Green Thumb Day or Alumni Weekend to see the evidence first hand. To an incoming president it might seem a little overwhelming? President Forster - It amazes me. The extent of the support, financial, moral and political we get from the alumni is astounding and I hope it will continue to grow. Of course the alumni organi zations are based on the loyalties to the old colleges in particular but I have a feeling that more recent graduates of the newer colleges will end up having the same sort of
Peter Anderson, B. A. '68, Presiden t of the UGAA, presents President Forster with a University rocking chair at last year's annual meeting. positive attitude to the University that the OAC, OVC and the College of Family and Consumer Studies graduates do. This is one of the things that has impressed me about Guelph - the good feeling that exists among the people generally who have gone through the University. They are actively interested in the welfare of the University and this is very important to us. Would you care to comment on our department - Alumni Affairs and Develop ment? President Forster - I haven't received much feedback on the publications that are put out and the services that are offered to alumni groups but what I have got is good. The service is there for alumni groups to use and they should be using it to keep in touch with people who graduated roughly at the same time as they did, to get information on what's going on at the University now. It is a service to be used and I think they should use it. The length of the president's term at Guelph is five years - a rather short period of time when viewed in light of a person's entire career. What might the future hold for you? President Forster - I really haven't made up my mind yet.l was, at one point, the type of person who tries to plot out his life, but I gave that up because it's impossible to predict. People do go through a series of career changes in their lives and I expect that I will, but precisely what, I have no idea, and it doesn't worry me. 0 7
"Guelph Today"
.. "Guelph. Today" -a pilot program aimed at a small group of alumni, Was carried o{Jtla~t October complete with . guided tours of the campu s and a question/an swer .. . session with President For~ter. Twenty-t wo people , including ·a lumn i and spouses, were hosfedby th e Department of Aluriu;i Affairs and Development for two days/ three nights du ring the ·· program deSigned to give'ln-t erested alu mn i asucci nct view-of Guelph's many facets induding researc h proJects, undergrad uate programs, graduate studies, residen~ Hfe, and the Un iversity's aims and objectives. . .
Speakirig to the' viSitors during a _qu_esfi()n~answer ses-sion, President Forster commfmted,"we need more. .interdisciplinary relationships and resource sharing, This . university;s a trifle compartmentalized. We are aFso _ _ -fn teres ted in trading off executives w ith government and . -business." · . . .
Professor L yn Ka nnenberg, Department afCrop Science, qescribes s_ome of the res earch being done in . the crop science laboiatorles to Marion Kenney, Ken Hammond, OAG '37; JIm Ken ney, OAC '44;-and MjJc Cuddy, OA C '42, · '..
Wilfred Bean, ViCe-Preslden t ,Administra tion, explained "The Financial Picture" t6 . his listeners. (lefttorigbt) BO.b Kerr, OAC
'6!J; Bil/ChrtStner, OAe '49; Mrs-. - ..
Christner; Jack Georg e, OAC '48; ancjMrs .
SeM.
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.
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AI Bro wn, Directorof Ph ysical Services, exp lain s th e " Master Deve/op rr/en{Plan"which g ui des the p hysical appearance of ttie University.
Provos.t Paul Gj lmor spoke to the grotJP
on the subiecl of "Student Life at Guelph
Today';with theard olMary Donkin, FA C$
'76 and Bill Gray,1henPresident olthe
University of Guelph Central .S tUdent
Associa,tidn. Here, ·Mary givesa student 's viewpoint on current iSsues to EJill . Ca'mpbell, OA C '55 ((eft) and Mac ,CUddy . Looking oC/are (lett toright) Don liraldo , OAe :l1; Bob Miller, OAC '63; and Bill Gray, OAC ? 6. ' 8
A cheerful group assembled for the closinglunch'eon after,anintensive
- -look anheir Alma Mater as itexiststaday . (left loright) Jack George; .
, B.A. '69; Bob . Wait Hanbidge,·OAC '48;' Mary Hanbidge ; Mik€!Streib Milfer; Arthur Latournel, OAC '50; Fran Hammond; Ken Hammond;
.MarionFu7ler, Mac '35; George L. FUJ/er, OAC '37: Miriam Os tir, B.A.
'68; Jim Hule, S. A . '69; Bob ke'rr; and Bil/Campbell, · .
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.... .
The mood on campus at mid - decade
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by Mary Cocivera
he backpacks strain under the weight of many books ; conversations lean to exams and essays rather than pubs and play; the library is not only filled , but quiet as well ; and even eight o 'clock morning lectures draw a full house. Undergraduates exhibit the symptoms of serious competi足 tors playing for high stakes . Guelph is not unique - the mood on campuses allover North America is more sombre and subdued than it was a mere three years ago . Clenched fist demonstrators of the sixties gave way to the serious, relatively content, conscientious students of the seventies. Generally satisfied with "the system" , university students focus their complaints on consumer-related issues such as food, residence and student fees . Throughout North America the 1970's crop of college and university students shows remarkable differences from their sixties counterparts. The new attitudes are documented by Daniel Yankelovich whose social research firm has conducted cross-section studies of America's young adults - both college and non-college. When he did his first cross-section survey in 1967, he found university students critical of their education, disturbed over the Viet Nam War and concerned about mounting social problems. Activism and social reform were popular. While not widely embraced, the radical New Left enjoyed credibility on campus and students were drawn to new life styles , seeing their parents' mode of living is incompatible with their new values. The most recent survey, completed in 1973, pinpoints startling changes in university young adults. On the campus,
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interest has shifted from social reform to "the self and its private vicissitudes ," says Mr. Yankelovich. Students are less conce rn ed with changing society than with self-fulfillment . They are preoccupied with career planning and personal development and show little emotional commitment to changing society. Finally, they have reconciled the conflict between traditional careers and campus-bred values. Students today actively pursue caree rs that they feel are compatible with their own value system. The majority of young adults, ac足 cording to the study, have a new set of moral norms : more liberal sexual mores; less automatic obedience to and respect for established authority ; less reliance on organized religion as the guide for moral behaviour; and less automatic allegiance to their country . Their attitudes toward family, work, and marriage have changed significantly. The emphasis on self is reminiscent of the mood of privatism in the 1950's but the Yankelovich study points to several crucial differences The student of the fifties tended to compartmentalize private life and the working world . His job provided financial success and security, but while working he adopted the mores of the corporate structure. Today 's student rejects this dichotomy, attempting a marriage between private val ues and career goals. The second difference he found is today 's focus on self, rather than on the family . In the fifties, young adults sought fulfillment through " marriage, children, togetherness ." Students today tend to emphasize " self-expression , creativity, self-development, physical well-being,
self-fulfillment both on and off the job." They look to themselves for fulfillment. Unlike the youth in the fifties whose major criterion for a good job was money, today's students hope to find self-fulfillment and personal satisfaction in their careers while Simultaneously enjoying the kind of financial rewards that will enable them to live full, rich lives outside their work. They emphasize challenging work, self-expression, and free time for outside interests , as well as money , security, and the opportunity for advancement. Although the Yankelovich study was confined to the United States , his findings and conclusions are likely valid also for Canada. The mass media ensure that developments and trends do not stay confined to one nation or culture. Conversations with a few under足 graduates at Guelph reveal trends similar to those descri bed by Yankelovich. They are preoccupied with career planning and personal self-fulfillment. University is seen as a required stepping stone to a worthwhile career ; the degree, a necessary credential to any satisfying job. A major concern is the tight job market. Entering the work force directly from secondary school vividly demonstrated to Gwinne Tucker (Department of Languages) that she would have to get a university degree to land a challenging job."lt took factory work to convince me to take a stab at university as a mature student," says linda Walters (Department of Fine Art). "I had enjoyed painting as a hobby, but I wanted a qualified opinion of my work and enrolled in university to get it." Many students enter university with indefinite career plans and choose
"Some studied merely to acquire knowledge, which ;s curiosity; others to acquire fame, which is vanity; others still for the sake of gain . . . Very few studied for their own edification, or that of others." -Fourteenth century French cleric 9
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"It I were founding a unirersity I would found first a smoking room; then when I had a little more money in hand' would found a dormitory; then after that, or more probably with it, decent reading room and a library. Alter that, if I still had more money that I couldn't use , I would hire a professor and get some textbooks." ·Stephen Leacock
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programs which they feel will provide general, adaptive skills and a theoretical background. Peter Summers (O.A.C.) feels university will lead to a better job and give him some latitude in selecting a specific career. An ambition to teach led Marilyn McMillan to major in psychology. Although almost any undergraduate major could serve as preparation for teaching, Marilyn decided on psychology because she enjoys the courses and hopes to even tually delve deeper into child psychology . Similarly, Patty Burchell (Human Kinetics) plans to apply her university education to some form of rehabilitation work. At one end of the spectrum was Pam Archibald, B ,A. '75, whocameto university to "learn more ," and selected her major (English) because she enjoyed reading and literature. At the other end was Alex Campbell (Computing and Information Science) who studied market conditions and determined areas for expansion and new career opportunities in the computing industry. His university schedule includes only two electives; the other 38 courses pOint straight to a career in management of information systems . Professional programs at Guelph-Hotel and Food Administration, Agriculture , Veterinary MediCine , Landscape Architecture, Engineering and Family and Consumer Studies-enjoy growing popularity. Students in these programs opt for a university program which teaches specific skills and thereby enhances their chances for success inthe job hunt.
Three years ago the entering student probably didn't know where he was going . Today 's student entering directly from grade 13 wants to know precisely where this leads. Bob Williston, B.A. '72 , academic counsellor to the B.A. program , describes today's students as more mature and open-minded. They ' re abreast of current affairs, caught up in the economic situation and generally in touch with many different topiCS . Because of this awareness , st udents are more real istic about their immediate plans after university, They see the degree as a 10
necessary credential, not a guarantee of a good job . They expect a lengthy job hunt and are resigned to starting at the bottom and working their way up. While a student of the sixties demonstrated and called for social reform, he probably had no clear idea of how to bring this about. Today's student is realistic about how to effect change. "He plans to start as a resident counsellor in a home for disturbed boys at some ridiculously low salary," explains Bob by way of example. "By demonstrating his aptitude, he will work up the organization ladder . He knows he won ' t bring about many changes until he is in a position of authority. " Concern about finding jobs starts early for today's young adults, Grade 11 and 12 students ask about the options open to them after university and choose programs which will give them marketable skills . Pat Molnar, B.A. '70, formerly Assistant Registrar-Liaision, visited secondary schools throughout Ontario as Guelph's admissions representative. The students ask everything from "What colour are residence rooms?" to "Can I bri ng my goldfish?" Recently she has seen a mounting seriousness and concern about careers. "Many high school students no longer look just one step ahead to university ; they're concerned about what lies beyond ." It's a safe bet that entering students have at least casually surveyed the working world to determine which university graduates find interesting and challenging jobs. Social science graduates have fared relatively well throughout the job crunch, says Jack Skinner, Dean of the College of Social Science. Small wonder , then, that universities have seen a trend towards the social sciences. A growing number of companies and government agencies hire social science grad uates because they combine a theoretical background with specific skills like survey and testing methods and statistics. While choosing academic programs to enhance career options, students also show a seriousness in extracurricular pur suits . John Messenger, Director of Student Affairs , launches seminars on study skills, time management and leadership skills which attract growing audiences . In the future he hopes to cover such topiCS as values clarification, self assertion , and other personal-development areas . "We try to work on individual development through a community approach-workshops and seminars for instance." When career concern , anxiety about courses, and personal turmoil overwhelms
students, they seek help at Psychological Services. One of the counsellors, Gene Brailsford , explains that students have always felt " anxiety, depression and stress because these years are a very stressful period in their I ives. They are expected to develop socially, vocationally, and discover themselves. This process is always painful. " Superimposed upon these more-or-Iess constant problems is a growing concern with the future. "If anything, students today are too concerned with the future, while five years ago they were too caught up in their immediate experience. " If students at Guelph appear serious and diligent , it 's because they have to be. The 13-week semester doesn't allow time for slacking off, even for a week. Lagging behind will leave students sinking in a morass of essays, papers and projects from which they'll never recover. John Messenger feels that this constant pressure influences the actions of Guelph students-they simply do not have time to get involved in much besides their studies. Finding a good job is today's students' ubiquitous goal. And no wonder . The media have effectively and dramat ically presented deteriorating market con ditions for university graduates. The Ph . D. graduate driving a taxi, the teacher work ing in a factory, and the B.A.-invested construction worker have become symbols of the discrepancy between tenuous economic conditions and rising social values. Today's student, barraged almost daily with these demoralizing stories, has vowed " not me". Instead of studying phi losophy, he majors in economics and plans to pursuean M .B.A. (Masters in Business Administration) degree. Rather than dabble in languages, he enrols in Hotel and Food Administration and can expect not only good starting prospects but rapid upward mobility in the hospi tality industry. " In the brief span of about five years, the college job market has gone from a major boom to a major bust." So concludes Richard Freeman and J. Herbert Holloman in an educational study recently completed for the Centre for Policy Alternatives, Massach usetts Institute of Technology. The post-war golden age in education rode the crest of a bu II market for university graduates, Higher education promised high earnings, occupational statu s, and upward social mobility. The 25-year boom withered at the out set of the seventies when for the first time university graduates encountered difficulty in finding jobs and their relative incomes declined sharply.
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During the fifties and sixties, a university degree was a gilt-edged ticket to a prestigious job and financial well-being. Each year's graduates commanded higher and higher salaries, putting them significantly above non-university graduates , both in average income and starting salaries. The bottom dropped out in the seventies. In the first half of this decade , starting salaries of male graduates in industry fell sharply. Freeman and Holloman'also note that graduates have problems obtaining desirable work. In the class of 1972, more than 30 per cent of the male graduates and 25 per cent of the women held non-professional, non managerial jobs. This compares with just over 10 per cent of the 1958 graduates with roughly similar status. As a result of the relati ve decline in starting salaries for university graduates and continued increases in tuition and fees, the rate of return on a university in vestment has fallen significantly. The study indicates that the number of 18- and 19-year-olds entering university declined from 44 per cent in 1969 to 33.4 per cent in 1974. The authors predict that the United States and, by implication, Canada will "see a downward generational mobility, as many young people obtain less schooling than their parents." The labor force has undergone c hanges in this period that contribute to the job bust for university graduates. The number of professional and managerial jobs has leveled off as a percentage of all jobs after a century of phenomenal growth. With fewer prestige jobs to fill , employers can be more selective and raise the quali fications. University graduates can no longer coast into a work situation; they have to look for openings and then distinguish themselves from the thousands of other graduates searching for jobs. Students today can drift easily into university, whether because it offers the path of least resistance, their parents expect it, or they aim for a better job. But they cannot drift from university to a job. No more "gentleman's C" or majoring in extracurricular activities . Most students see universit y as a stepping stone, but only if they make the grade. Economic conditions , a competitive job market, parental expectations, rising tuition and the influen ce of the media have forced most young people to plan for the future beyond university. They attend uni verSity for a specific purpose.
The shrinking gap in incomes between blue collar and white collar workers means a more egalitarian income distribution. Money is a less important criterion for choosing a career, as many university graduates put greater emphasis on social concerns, personal growth and opportuni ties for advancement. A good salary is almost taken for granted . Young people feel they can find personal satisfaction and self-fulfillment in their careers while enjoy ing financial rewards . Canada's very high rate of inflation has created yet another pressu re on university students. They see themselves falling farther behind each year that they remai n outside the econom ic mai nstream. Many rush headlong through university, get jobs to payoff student loans and jump into the housing market. A ho use, they reason , will at least keep pace with infla tion . To dabble with the humanities or to satisfy a wandering curiosity by taking courses in different disciplines are luxuries many students feel they cannot afford. In view of students' attitudes towards a university's role in professionalism, snould universities change their role? Should they revise programs to meet new social and economic demands? "We do change in response to demand," comments H . D. Branion , Assistant to the President. "We're going where we 've always been going. What we see is a slow and reasoned change as permanent societal changes take effect." "There has always been a professional training aspect to university learning," says Tom Settle, Dean of the College of Arts. In the European tradition universities provided professional training as well as producing all-round , well-educated people. " An ongoing role of the uni ve rsit y is to train enlightened and creative citizens of a community which hopes to improve itself under their guidance and pressure. " A growing trend in the face of these developments is that greater numbers of older people return to university, either for non-credit courses or to pursue a degree. Young students may not be inclined to sam pie a variety of d iscipl i nes or pursue their curiosities . The pressure to finish to test their abilities in the real world interferes with learning for the sake of learning . Later in their lives , having grappled with the world of work , found a mate, burped and diapered babies, paid off student loans and saddled themse lves with a mortgage, young adults often turn to pursuit s of the mind.
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Enrolment in non-credit courses has risen d ramatically in Canada in the last decade and universities have developed programs to serve the needs of their sur rounding communities. Mark Waldon, Director of Continuing Education , says that continuing education courses here (a nd at other campuses) attract people with some university education. " Educa tion begets more education." Recently "updating" or professional development courses have been extremely popular, a trend Professor Waldron expects will continue to grow. Curiosity is probably the major reason people enrol in non-credit courses , as evidenced by the perennial favourites - Canadian and local history, agriculture , ps yc holog y, astronomy and back-to-nature topics. Today 's graduate will undoubtedly enjoy good working conditions - a shorter work week, comfortable financial rewa rds and early retirement. With more leisure time many will seek further educa tion for self improvement and pure enjoy ment. Whether students will change as abruptl y as they did between the late sixties and early seventies remains to be see n. It hinges in part on whether recent market conditions are relatively short-term trends or long-term fundamental changes in the fabric of society. I ncreased aware ness of the world and the options available to them will help many young people achieve a satisfactory personal equilibrium between learning for enlightenment and the acquisition of marketable skills. 0 For further reading : Yankelowich , Daniel , The New Morality. New York ,
McGraw Hili , 1974 .
Freeman, Richard, and Ho lloman, J. Herbert ,
"Declining Value of CO llege GOing," Change MagaZIne,
Vol. 7, Number 7 (September, 1975).
"This place, this unique context, this sytem is designed only as 8 beginning. It is designed to open minds a little, not to produce a final product, educated men and women. That takes the rest ot their tires. It is designed to create intelligent skepticism, not to turn out cynics or doctrinaire dogmatists. Its function is to create a respect for complexities, not to render complexities simple. It is supposed to point up the worthiness of the pursuit of truth, not to serre up, neatly wrapped, the truth itself." K. Ross Toole The Time Has Com e, 1971 11
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A living and learning experience Family Summer Campus offers something for everyone and is designed especially for families looking for a worthwhile alternative to their normal summer vacation. For one or two weeks this summer you and your family can plunge into a unique summer experience on the University of Guelph campus. Family Summer Campus offers an academic, cultural, social and recreation program for the entire family. Starting July 5 the University willwelcome families to its attractive campus to take courses in music, art, agriculture, bee keeping, textile crafts, outdoor education, horsemanship, drama, historical architecture, antiques or creative writing. Spri ng semester undergraduates will still be on campus, so participants will get a taste of mid-1970's university life .
YOUTH PROGRAM Living and Learning
TWO
Alumni! Looking for a little variation in your summer vacation this year? Tired of the same old - put the tent up 足 day at the beach - rent a cottage , routines? Well then, your Alma Mater may have just the thing to put a little zip into summer for you and your family. 12
WEEKS July 5 -16
The youth program w ill have something for every participant from pre -sch ooler to teen. Pioneer survival skills, arts and crafts, creative writing, goal setting, photograph y, music, marine biology , laser beams are some of the p rograms. For the budding at hlete there's swi mming, tennis, soccer, baseba ll, golf, squash , basketball, archery, and hockey. A n introd uction to the University 's academic and social environment awaits those young people consi de ring alternatives in post-seco ndary ed ucation.
The Summer Campus Touring the Guelp h cam pus is an educatio n
experien ce in itself . Se e ho rt icu lt ural green ho uses,
research barns, meat science la bs, crop science
building, veterinary surge ry facilities, a
dr ama wo rksh op, fine a rt stud ios, to name a few.
In The Evening
Part icipate in a fa mily barbeque an d casino nig ht ,
movie nigh t, see live theatre, ta kea t rip to the
Sha kes pearian or Shaw Festivals.
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COURSES OF STUDIES Courses appealing to a broad cross-section of interests will consist of 20 hours of instruction each week and are offered from 9-11 a.m_ and 1-3 p.m., Monday to Friday.
WEEK I
WEEK II
(July 5 - 9)
.Agriculture ·
(July 12 - 16)
Apiculture
An introduction to basic farming practices for stud ents, consumers, novice farmers. Topics include the future · of agr iculture and its relationshi p to the environment; landscaping and woodlot mallagement; and the beef industry at a .g lance ;
A basic courSe on management of the honey bee for production purposes. Topics include the biology and behaviour of the honey bee, p rocessing honey, pollina tion of.crops, and the hazards of pesticides .
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Helping Children with learning Disabilities Child Psychology for .Parents
This course is intended for parents and will discuss the development in children of such important abilities and skills as language, reading, number concepts and motor skills.
. An informal examination of the practical aspects of child development in t he contemporary family.
Drawing and Painting For the beginner and experienced student alike, the
course examines the fundamentals of drawing,
composition, colour, and painting techniques.
Horticulture - From the Ground Up Lectures include: principles of vegetable and fruit production, lawns, landscaping the home, flowers, and the ho bby greenhouse.
Education for Outdoor Living Develop an ap preciation of our natural world through the practical aspects of outdoor living. (At Wei l ington Place)
Architectural Conservancy Dr . Peter Stokes, Niagara architect, on the restoration of private homes. Usi ng the architectur e of Well ington Waterloo Counties as background, Dr . Stokes will discuss accuracy, authenticity, and quality in architectural conse rvancy.
Horsemanship A basic course on general husb and ry of pleasure horses for st ude nts with limited experience or who contemplate the purchase of a horse.
Modern Dance
Music Appreciation Bach to Bacharach . A course devoted to creati ng enjo yme nt of all fo r ms of music through intelligent listeni ng . A ll periods and genres are discussed , compared and contr aste d _ (At We ll ington Place)
An introduction to the basic principles of movement in dance techn ique, composition, and creative expression. . (At Wellington Place).
Stratford and Shaw The theatre o f Stratfo rd (Sha kespear ian Festival ) and Niagara-on-the- Lake (The Shaw Festival). wit h pa rticular em phas is o n current productions.
Writing for Fun and Profit The craft of writing and how to m arket it successfully . T he co urse d e mo nstrates how the serious writer can direct his wo rk towa rd particular markets, see his work in print and get paid for h is effort.
Wellington Place So me courses of study are also offered at Welli ngton Place, a picturesque , 125-acre site on the G rand River between Elora an d Fergus. In addition t o courses in ed ucat ion for outdoor living, modern da nce, and music ; the staff of the We llingto n County Muse um w ill offer Textile Crafts; The Work o f the Hands, an d Antiques and 19th Century Ontario.
Accommodation
Costs
Fam ilies are encouraged to live o n campus although limited accommodation is available thro ugh hotels, motels, and camp facil ities in the area . Accommodation - rates available on request
Courses - from $30 to $50 each . Youth Program - $21 / pe rson /week . Summer Campus and Even ing Program fee $5/e ach, $15/ fam ily .
For a detailed brochure and registration form, write to:
Office of Continuing Education , University of Guelph, Guelph, OntariO, N1G 2W1, or phone, (519) 824-4120, Ext. 3988.
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Career Planning and Placement - dealing with dilemmas by Andre Auger nrolments at many universities are up and predictions look good for the future. Job vacancies are down however, and graduates find themselves unem plo yed and underemployed for longer periods of time . A fairly extensive segment of the aca demic community considers that univer sity education is mandated to provide students with jobs or even to train them to fill them. On the other hand , students themselves are increasingly frustrated by their inabilit y to obtain meaningful employment after four yea rs in the class room. Students study anthropology, Boolean algebra, and philosophy, while employers wonder why students don't possess basic interpersonal and common sense skills. The list of dilemmas and contra dictions stretches. Somewhere in the middle of these various tensions sits a function on almost every campus called "Career Planning and Placement" "neither fish nor fowl" - often merely tolerated and sometimes ignored, hard pressed and criticized by both students and employers alike for not "getting the job done" - whatever the "job" is supposed to be. In this article, I'd like to look at some of the career issues facing students today, and how we in Career Planning and Place ment at the University of Guelph are faring in our efforts to cope with these apparently contradictory directions.
E
The labour market in the mid-seventies: Before we look more closely at the components of the problem as we see them , let 's remind ourselves of the backd rop to the issues we're going to dis cuss: the deteriorating labour market picture . Even the shortage of jobs in the early seventies , which prompted so much concern (Guelph Alumnus, January , 1972) was moderate compared to what is hitting us today . The difference , unfortunatel y, is that , while we all cried out in dismay then , now we seem to have dulled our senses to what's really happening, becau se so much else is affecting us at the same time : recession, inflation , wage controls, labour strife, energy cris is. My feeling however, is that we ought seriously to look at the facts, and judge for ourselves just how serious the situation is for university students these days. Unemployment in October, 1975, was running at 7.2 per cent nationally, and is expected to reach and to remain around eight per cent until late 1976; in Ontario, current figures have unemployment at 5.8 per cent while the national unemployment rate for youth 24 years old and under, stands at 12.9 per cent. In November, 1975, only 18.5 per cent of the 1,259 companies surveyed by Man power Temporary Services expected an increase in staff during the last quarter of 1975. This compares poorly with 21.9 per cent in the third quarter, and 23.2 per cent in the fourt h quarter of 1974. On the other hand, the number of companies expecting a decrease in staff rose to 8.7 per cent from 5.1 per cent and 4.4. per cent over the same time frame. For business, commerce, engineering and chemistry graduates, the news is that Technical Services Council, in its recent report in Supply of and Demand for New Graduates, anticipates "an excess of supply over demand through 1985 . In the case of chemistry, an over-supply is antici pated for all years of the foreca st period. For business, commerce and engineering graduates , supply and demand are in a relati ve state of balance up to 1978 . Beyo nd 1978 , supply exceeds demand in both disciplines ." Of course , we are unable to guarantee the accuracy of these predictions . We would, however, be wise to consider these data as indicating trends , the seriousness of which for students we should seek to minimize.
The student: Indeed, where is the student in all this? Let 's take a few minutes to draw a co mposite portrait of today's university student. Like any composite portrait, it's bound to betray the richness and variety of his or her real make-up ; it may , on the other hand help us cope with some of the data that 's available and indicate what's happening in the student world today. Unlike his counterpart in the late s ixties , today 's university student shows signs of increas ing awareness of and concern about economic security. A certain pragmatic twist has come to dull the idealism that we used to associate with the universit y student. While he is still fairly committed to pursuing personal ful lil lment . he now thinks he ma y achieve hi s personal goals within the framework of the more conventional world of work. The problem , however, sets in when we examine his degree of preparedness for assuming an effective role in the community after graduating. Our own con viction, based on the numbers of students who use our services, is that basically the student is as unprepared today to cope effectively with the world of work beyond the university as he was in the heyday of ant i-establ ish ment ideal ism. Students still seek a higher education in the belief that it will in some way contri bute to a more meaningful and effective life in the future. Now, this may not be erroneous in some professional areas, but it takes only a few painful interviews with recent graduates in liberal arts or pure sciences to discover the degree of dis illusionment among these individuals . Even the general belief that an aca demic program per se broadens the minds and matures the student, needs to be looked at more critically. The very value system implicit in the academic "way of life" is often at odds with those values operative in the typical work setting government or industry. Academic ex cellence , thoroughness , and vigorous logic may be values which no one would dare question in the classrooms , but assuming them to be universall y operative outside the academic environment doesn't always prepare for the shock of learning that expediency , efficiency , political alert ness , and pragmatism are often va lued more in most work se ttings. Thu s as the student learns to li ve by the academic model for four years, he does little to
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prepare himself to live by the values which ultimately, whether we like it or not, deter mine to some extent h is degree of success or failure . Daily we deal with intelligent and educated students who are unaware, not only of the potential opportunities available to them in the world of work after they graduate , but of the means whereby they can evaluate their own abilities and limitations to help them relate more realis tically to the world beyond the university. Graphically, if albeit a little over simplified, while the world into which the student is about to enter is radically changing its requirements for university graduates, the degree of unpreparedness of the individual student remains high, and the academic setting in which the st udent grows is, on the whole, unable or unwilling to provide him with the skills he would need to deal with the culture shock he is about to undergo. Let's read a vivid description of the years to co me , taken from the reports on Guidance submitted to the Committee on Post-Secondary Education in Ontario (COPSE) in 1971 . "In the past, under slow rates of cha nge , with stable familiar sub cultures, our children were provided with basic vocational and social skills that could last them a lifetime ... As the rate of change ac cele rated in the 1940's, fifties and sixties, and, as the present became less stable , and as the families and subcultures com menced to fragment, counselling of one form or another was provided fo r a growing number of people who were temporarily lost - personally, emo tionally , educationally or vocationally. Counselling in the schools became in stitutionalized. Now however , in the seventies, increasing change and rising levels of uncertainty make it in
creasingly difficult not just for the minority but for the majority of us to generate reasonably reliable images of even our near future, and so it becomes difficult to build stable yet temporary bridges into that future."
The employer: So let's face it; the student is in for some hard times. And the employer - be he businessman, principal, or government official - on the receiving end of gradua tion is not about to be able to help out. In the midst of his attempts to cope with inflation, labo ur unrest, and recession, it's no use to ask him to be particularly under standing with the issue of graduate employment or underemployment . As a prominent businessman and former member of the University Board of Governors once wrote: Many businessmen "are put off by the arrogance and the apparent lack of knowledge of many of their most vocal young critics . The arrogance shows in an assumption of superior righteousness and superior pe r ceptiveness ... The lack of knowledge and understanding is more disquieting .. Such lacks in knowledge and understand ing seem surprising in a generation that has had more instant communica tion and has spent more years in school than any before it ." Ronald Ritchie , in his article some years ago in the Imperial Oil Revie w goes on to talk about some of the fallacies and distortion typical of student attitudes . What is of interest to us in these extracts from Mr. Ritchie's argument is that it probably st ill represents the feelings of a large segrnent of the business community - wh,ich often tends to get expressed in more colourful language than Mr . Ritchie has allowed himself .. "I see employers as impatient, impatient with a system that keeps producing quantities of young men and women inadequately prepared to enter the work force ; impatient with the young people themselves, and with their critique of a system to which they are after all, pretty committed, and whose benefits they are enjoying; and impatient with student services for not being able to pull their weight and get done the personal skills training job that they feel needs to get done." So there's not much sympathy for student unemployment concerns on that side of the fence. If one believes what one reads, there's even less at the govern mental level. Let's quote a few lines from a report Job Opportunities and the Utiliza tion of College Courses prepared by Mr. Peter Ross of the Department of Manpower and Imm igration in 1971 " Let us consider university education from an econom ic viewpoint. It is generally accepted that some univer sity courses are specifically geared to turning out graduates with specialized knowledge - the cost ot these
!
courses and the foregone earnings of the student can be regarded as invest ment costs. On the other hand , some courses do not relate directly to pre paring a specialized person - these can be regarded as consumption courses . A person who has taken no investment courses and earns ze ro per cent on his university education can not rationally be regarded as under employed .. . If a student decides to take primarily a consumption program he should be counselled tha t basically he is making a decision to enjoy a period of leisure and should not there fore expect to fare much better in the job market than someone without a university degree ." While th ere may be some dramatic merit in stat ing the case so bluntly it certain ly gives the B .A. or B.Sc . students no comfort to be told that four years of hard work will be for naught in the so called "real world!" I'm personally not so sure that the issue is well-stated in terms of the dichot omy: "investment" vs "cons umer" cou rses. I'm inclined to believe that the crucial learning that should be taking place at university level, independently of course content, relates directly to what employers are looking for: aside from t hose employers who are hiring specialists and
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professionals, most seem to look more for personal attributes and skills: motivation, the ability to analyze and synthesize; the ability to communicate clearly and con cise ly, to relate to people, to learn; organi zational skills, planning skills. One recru iter for a very large telecom munications corporation told me blunt ly: "I really don't care what they learn at universityl I'll have to retrain them any hOWl I want them to know how to learn , to think, to apply what they've learned. " The real challenge for universities seems to lie around the question: What are we doing to promote the development of these skills in our students?
The University: But it's no wonder educational institu tions have a difficult time responding quickly and effectively to these issues. "Opinion about the objectives and philoso phy of higher education (is) divided into two groups ," reports the draft report for the Committee on Post-Secondary Education in Ontario , "those who felt that education should prepare people for employment and specialization, and those who were convinced that higher education should be uncoupled from the job-certifi cation process , and should not result in narrow special ization." The interesting pOint to note is that this bipolarity crosses traditional " party" lines: some large industrial concerns espoused the "broad" view, while some academics voiced their support of the "spec ialization-certifica tion" approach . The reality , of course, is that, tradi tionally, universities define themselves pretty much in terms of learn i ng and research , with "professionalization" the other major thrust in many academic settings . This leaves the other dimension of a student's learning experience, the one that we feel crucial - namely personal growth, goal-setting, and the acquisition of all the personal skills we were talking about above - in limbo, somewhere between the classroom, the pub, the playing field , and the residence.
Career Planning and Placement on campuses: So whe re does career and employ ment counselling fit into the scheme of things on most campuses? C learly the COPSE report quoted above, delivers a message heavy with om inous portent for the future of career and employment counselling services on campuses. "If guidance is to perform such vital functions (as the report has been describing) it must be refo rmed . While much good has been pe rf ormed by the present syste ms , it clearly can not cope with th e inc rea sed res pon si bilities that will be impos ed upo n it in the future . In many in stan ces 16
Andre A uger, "getting the job done." guidance is confused with counsell ing; in others guidance is performed as a second-string type of activity; and in most cases, it suffers from a lack of reliable information. Many of these shortcomings are due to the inclusion of this service within our educational instituti o ns, where it cannot fail to be but of secondary importance ." That's the critical perception of the researchers around the state of career and employment counselling on most campuses, secondary as well as post secondary. The fact is that on most campuses, student services such as these are the first to suffer cut-backs when finances get tight; other priorities are always found, and some of the basic edu cational responsibilities that we have described here end up being considered irrelevant to the basic mandate of the insti tution.
Career Planning and Placement at
Guelph:
How are we at Guelph responding to the challenge the COPSE report throws our way? By confirming that sound and relevant career and employment counselling can and indeed must take place within the university context, to enable the institution to service its student clients adequately and effectively. Our reasoning is, I suppose, fairly basic: whether or not the insti tution wishes to recognize career and employ ment counselling as legitimate tenant within its walls, it always comes through the back door, and settle s in, for better or for worse, in a number of oth er sectors of the com munity , w here it is perfo rmed with whatever ti me and res o urces are available there. The real quest ion is therefo re , not
"should we provide career and employ ment counselling?" but "how can we provide the most effective and professional service in that area?" In the development of our own service at Guelph, we've taken our c ue f rom the University's own Aims and Obiectives Report of September, 1972. My reading of this document concludes that the Univer sity of Guelph should "maintain a primary focus on a liberal undergraduate education of superior quality. (and) become more actively engaged in meeting the gro win g need for education throughout life. " B y giving itself "liberal education" as its prime objective , th e Un iversity recognizes that its goal s in that area are, "to promote the growth of kno w ledge, understanding and judgement in t he indivi d ual student." There is something in that statement which to me begins to address the issue of personal skills we've been talking about throughout. The University goes on to recognize that meeting its goal implies academic as well as non-academic respo ns ib ilities which it must meet: "Both phases of student life, the academic and non-academic are im portant to the student. In each we are dealing witt1 the same person and similar issues. Success in dealing with some issue of learning in one phase 01 the student's activity is often dependent on equivalent suc cess i n
the other . It is vitally im po rtan t, there
fore, t hat t he Un iversi ty d evelop an
integrated ap proach to learn in g,
utilizing t he non-academic reso urces
of the instituti on effectively in th e
learni ng process ."
I w on 't be so naive as to think t hat t he
st atem ent has th e fu ll support of all faculty
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and decision-makers within the institution , or that all read it the same way I do, but we feel that its very inclusion in a formal objectives pape r gives us reas on en oug h to feel that we too might have an important ro le to play in the learning process which the instituti o n promotes within the student. Essentially then, within this context, what services do we see the functi on o f Career Plann ing and Placement providing? To quote Dr . John Wyspianski, professor of Ps ychology at the University of Ottawa, and himself former director of a student placement o ff ice, the essential role of career and employment co unsell ing is to assist the individ ual student 1) to choose a career, 2) to prepare for that career, 3) to enter up on it , and 4) to progress in i t. This broad definit ion in turn defines a number o f operational areas around whi c h ou r department is designed . 1) To assist the student in choosing a career , we have developed an extensive Career Information Resource Area with some 3,500 titles, covering everything from printed material on literally hundred s of careers and occupati o ns, thro ugh calendars and directo ries o f post-graduate, undergraduate , and community co llege institutions, to directories of employers, and employer literature, as well as basic information on typical emp loy ment- related problems. Now , choosing one's ca ree r is no t o nly a matter o f a few directo rie s, o r li sts o f organizations wh o hire new graduates . A pers o n has planned hi s ca reer o nly wh en he's come to grips with his own in teres t s , wit h the skills he has to offer, with his personal values and his goals. And he's do ne a good planning jo b only wh en he has identified a broad, comprehensive spectrum of potential jobs, studied their availability, established who hires the talent he has to offer, reviewed the market trends in his fields of interest, loo ked at alternative courses of acti on, and compared that info rmati on w ith his own needs and interests . If that sounds unnecessarily comp l i cated, remember that if you graduated several years ago, university graduates we re probably more in demand than today; the scene is very much d ifferent now , and we believe that to surv ive w i th a degree, it pays to take the time to go th ro ugh thi s exercise. We call this "career p lanning ", and we do n't hesitate to say that it 's now an integral part of "gro w ing up educated". 2) Preparing for one's career includes identifying the program(s), co urse(s) helpful in getting there. We don't see o ur role as o ne o f giving advi ce around whi c h cou rse to take o r no t to take. On th e o th er hand , w e' re prepared to hel p th e student come to grip s with what he wants ou t o f hi s academi c program, as w ell as with th e academi c c hoices facing him by at least helping ask the right questi o ns, and
ident ifying the right resou rces to ans wer hi s questions. 3) Entering upon a career is becoming quite an art: job-search is not what it used to be, when employers were lining up in the "placement o ffic es" to disp lay their wares to students wh o had the luxury to pick and choose. Ever fewer organizat ions consider on-campus rec ruiting a profitable business: it's tim e-cons uming and costly, and in a labour market where there are more qualified applicants than vacancies, more and more companies are f indin g it quite sufficient to sit back and let the better applicant make it to the door . To us, job -hunti ng is a surv ival skill that students need to acquire . We've put together " Employ m ent Search Pr og ram", a two-and-a-half hour video-tape program in which we, along with some emp loye rs as well as some recent graduates o f Guelph, talk about the wh o le job- hunting process . Students following th e prog ram discover what they really want , what they really have to offer, learn to put a so und re sume together, to read job ads, to write letters o f application, and fin ally , to take an inter view. 4) Progressing in one's career: we feel that o ur ro le extends beyond the handshake and th e dipl o ma . A person creates his career thro ughout his life, and many of the career planning skills he acquires while at univers ity are vital at any stage of life : wh ere else can you go today to ob tain career plann ing assistance with ou t parting with a s mall fo rtune? Planning a job-change, reassessi ng a life's direction, looki ng for new career c hallenges , can all be harrowi ng experiences. But s uch "shifting gears" as the title of a popular book calls it is happening with greater and greater frequency, and, we're told , wi ll ultimately be a common occurence. We fee l that , while we can't help when the moment actually arrives, because we lack resources
to ex tend ou rse lves to alumni, we can impart to student s skill s which can be of use throughout their life , when a direction cha nge is imminent.
Some statistics: In all these activities we' re a busy department. The budget year 1974-75 saw the Dep artment of Career Planning and Placemen t take o n a higher profile than in the past. Staff ing was complete, objectives clearly defined, major programs under way. We average over 20 ,000 student-contacts a year , with 1974-75 experiencing a 43 per cent increase in student utilization of our fac ilit ies over the previous year; we are presently seeing an additional 25 per cen t increase.
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To date, 700 students have seen our Employment Search Program video tape series. Student satisfaction is high, and employer reaction to improved job-searc h skills very positive. The Career Inf o rmati on Resource Area served ove r 5,600 stud en ts - more than double the previous year. Last yea r, 90 employers availed them selves of o ur on-campu s rec ru iting facilities, and con du c ted more than 1,600 interviews with o ur graduating students . Over and above in-perso n recruiting, we posted over 200 full-time jo bs on our display boards. Our 1974 Career Semi nar Series , attracted 600 students, w hil e attendance at the series we held last autumn exceeded 900. Our Graduate Survey, laun c hed in 1974 is all bu t co m pleted fo r the 1973 resp o ndent s, and results are be ing analyzed no w ; o ur response rate to date from the 1974 graduates exceeds 59 per cent. We are now completing preparati o ns fo r launching a series of Career Plann i ng W o rksh o ps.
In Summary: The issue is not to take sides in th e debate that keeps raging aro und what a university is for; I don't think the is sue is to convert the university into a fa ctory to meet labour market needs; but on the othe r hand , I don 't think we can dissociate o urselves from the employment concerns of the student who comes here for four years. I simply feel that as long as we con tinu e to accept students who are still fo rging their own identity , w e have a re spo ns ibility to help them prepare them se lves to assume the kind of role they feel best sui ted fo r after they leave. Career planning and empl oyment search skills are merely beginning to acquire the importance I think they deserve in th e spectrum of learning experiences available to the university student. If anyt hing , th e next few years will see an increased demand for services in this area. W e plan to be around to "get the job do ne" . 0 17
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The Graduate Survey hey 've paraded into War Mem orial Hall, they've received their degrees, they 've heard the word of warm encourage ment. Books, records, jeans and memories are all packed and nobody's turned to wave goodbye as the y lea ve the campus. Where are all the recent graduates now? Almost everyone connected with the Uni versity is interes ted in what happens to the Guelph graduates. Profes sors like to know where their students go; academic and voca tional counse llors want to keep informed about the graduates' careers and work experiences; alumni wonder how much things ha ve changed since th e ir graduation and certainly, the students pre sen tly attending the University are eager to learn what their predecessors have done as they plan their careers, choose academic programs, or prepare to face the ta sk of finding work . When th e colleges were small and close ly knit, information about the graduates' activities was fairly easy to come by . Man y graduates maintained close links with their colleges and infor mation about their activities was passed along through an informal grapevine. As the University has grown , however, it has become increasingly unwieldy to keep personally informed about the graduates in this way . In 1974, we in the Department of Career Planning and Placement felt a real need, both for ourse lves and for others at the University , 10 try to sy s tematically gather data on the activities of the gradu ates receiving undergraduate degrees or diplomas from this University. Conse quently, a computerized mail-out survey was prepared. We were seeking answers to a number of questions such as - Where do the graduates from the various disci plines find work? How many go on for further education and training? How do the graduates loca te work? Which graduates get the best jobs? Are there differences based on sex , degree program , pass ve rsus honours degrees , past work experience or other such fact ors? So far the survey has been sent to all of the 1973 and 1974 graduates. We've been pleased with the response rate in both years - 56 per cent in 1973 and to date we've heard from 58 per cent o f the 1974's. All of our findings cannot possibly be presented in a short article here , but the following gives a feeling for some of our general results.
T
Where Did the 1973 Graduates Go? • Thirty-four per cen t of the graduates who re sponded went on fo r further training and education. Approxi mately half of those who did so 18
by Lynda Haywood
went to graduate or professional school programs , 44 per cent took teacher training, and the remaining six per cent took tec hni cal or secre ta~ial courses la sting si x months or longer. The reason given most frequently for continuing in school wa s that further training was necessary for the type of work the graduate wished to pursue. Very few stude nts indicated that the y stayed in school because they co ul dn ' t find work or didn't know what el se to do. • Sixty-four per cent o f the graduates decided to try their luck in the labour force . At the time of our survey o nl y four per cent were still looking for a permanent, full-time job. • Just a very sm all proportion (two per cent) ind icated th a t they were not interested in look ing for work or going on in schoo l at all , but had decided to stay home , travel, or not work for personal reasons .
What Kinds of Jobs Did the 1973 Graduates Get? As could be expected, we found that our graduates obtained work in almost all areas of the employment sector - educa tion , agriculture, trade and finance. Inter est ingl y though , 28 per ce nt of the respon dents found their first job in community , business and per sonal services, while another 19 per cent were in public adminis tration and 17 per cent in manufacturing. None of the o th er areas accounted for more than 10 per ce nt of the respondents. Looking from a s lightly different perspective, what kinds o f jobs did they obtain? Twenty-two per cent of the respon dents reported that they were already in a managerial o r administrative position. Anothe r 14 per cent were working in scienti fic , engineering or mathematical occupations . Medi cine and health-related occupations accounted for 14 per cent, while 10 per cen t were in sale s . A full eight per cent were dOing c leri cal jobs; 12 per ce nt of the males compa red with two per cent of the female s were se lf-employed . Geographically, the vas t majority (86 per ce nt) of the graduates found employ ment in Ontario. Three-quarter s of the graduates were working in urban areas, while the rest were in areas with popula tions o f 30,000 or less . Alm o st one-quarter of the respondents were in Toronto and over 16 per cent remained in Guelph, Kitchener and the Camb ridge area . The salarie s that were re ceived when the graduates first started working ranged from under $100 a week to over $14,000 a
Lynda Haywood .
year ; 41 per cen t of th ose who responded were in the $7,750 to $10 ,400 range . From our pOint of view the survey of the c lass of '73 brings both good and bad news . First the good news: we don ' t get the impression that the graduates of 1973 had a particularly difficult time obtaining employment , th ou gh thi s varies from college to co ll ege. Forty-eight per ce nt of the 1973 respo ndents sta rted work imme diately upon graduating. Almost one-half o f tho se who located work did so after making just one to five contacts with employers . While 10 percent of the re s pondents were looki ng for work nine months or longer after graduating, many did not start th eir job search until well after the time when they left university. Those who found work indicate a high level o f satisfac tion with their jobs . In fact, in terms of the t ype of work they were hop ing to receive upon graduating, 73 per cent indicated satisfaction with their job s . Only 10 per cent were highly dissatisfied. Eighty-tw o per cent considered their job to be oriented toward a caree r . Eight y per cent found their work to be intellectu ally challenging . Sixty-two per cent indicated that their position allowed them to cont rib ute directly to the decision-making in the organization and 64 per cent said their job provided good oppo rtunitie s for promo tion.
So what 's th e bad new s? Mainl y it relates to th e fac t th at th e grad uates' level of job sati sfac ti o n and ease o f fin d ing empl oy ment varie d depe nd ing u po n th e degre e wh ich w as obtai ned and th e sex o f th e grad uate. W hil e t he d iffere nces depend in g o n degree prog ram nee d to be interpreted ca uti o us ly, there we re c lear indi ca ti o ns th at th e fem ale gradu ate experi enced mu c h mo re diffi c ult y in loca tin g a good j o b th an di d her male co unt erp art. To beg in w ith , the female g ra d uate s were u nemp loyed muc h longe r t han t he m ale g radua tes - 34 per ce nt o f t he fem ales wh o res po nded w ere s till loo king for perm anent f u ll-time wo rk fi ve to eight month s aft er gradu ating co mpared to 19 per cent o f the male s . The mal e and female graduates wh o respon ded made ap proxi matel y th e sa me number of contacts with em pl oy ers wh en loo kin g fo r work; in fact, th e females m ade s li g htl y mo re. Never the less, th e ma les re ce ived mo re offers of em p loyme nt t han did th e fem ales , with 15 per ce nt o f th e males rece iving four or m ore off ers o f em pl oy men t co mpared w ith five per c ent of th e females . In th e area o f sa lari es femal e gradu ates fared poo rly as w ell - 68 per cen t start ed t he ir f irst j ob at a salary that w as les s than $7,750. In fa c t , 20 per cen t we re pa id les s th an $100 per we ek . A w hopp in g 18 per ce nt o f t he female re spo nd en ts ind ica ted th at th ei r fir s t permanent full lime jo b w as c ler ical in nat ure ! Alm o s t o ne-q uarte r o f t he fema le resp on den ts sa id t hat the ir jo b w as not oriente d toward a career . Twe n ty -s ix per cent felt t hei r w ork wa s not inte llectua ll y chall enging and 46 per ce n t indicated that the ir w ork di d not provi d e o ppor tun ity for pro mo ti on. O bvious l y , these find ings relate o nl y to the 56 per cen t of th e g radu ates bo th ma le and female w ho respo nded to o ur su rvey in 1973. Perhap s the no n-respo n d ent s had quite different ex peri ences. W e are no w maki ng a co nce rt ed eff o rt to get inf orm ati o n o n t he gro up w ho d idn 't respo nd to t he 197 4 s urvey in ord er to learn m o re abo ut th is gro up . In t he mea nti me, ho wever, th e data co ll ected by the 1973 surve y has start ed to g ive us a be tter picture of what happ ens to th e grad uate s when they leave thi s uni ve r s it y and has made us aware of a number o f poss ib le problem areas which sh ou ld be loo ked at in the near future. The 1974 d ata is no w being analyzed to find out how m uc h things have changed sinc e '73. W e susp ec t fro m a quick look at th e survey fo rms th at th e situation ma y ha ve w orsened but we'll no t know u nt il later in 1976 w hen th e repo rt on th e 197 4 grad uates is co mple ted . As was indi ca ted earli er , thi s arti c le has gi ve n o nl y a ve ry limit ed acco unt o f th e 1973 d ata. A main repo rt is now ava il abl e and we ho pe th at thi s inf orm ati o n w ill be o f u se to th e entire un ivers ify co mmunit y . 0
James A Ian - Alumnus of Honour
James N oble Allan. OAC '14, was the recipient of t he 1975 Alum nu s o f Ho nour Cit ation present ed at the ann ual meeti n g of t he Unive rs ity of Gu elph A lumn i As SO c iatio n d ur in g Ho mec om in g Week en d las t Oc tobe r . M r , Alla n has enj oyed a lengthy car ee r in pub l ic serv ice - a ca ree r he fe el s was init ia ted by hi s educa ti o n at th e O .A. C. Speaking to an audi ence of ap prox imately 100 alumn i and guests, Mr. A llan recalled his arr iva l at the " Colleg e o n t he Hill " - "I was a fri ghtened and bash fu l 15-yea r-o ld , I l ied o n th e ap pli cat io n and sa id I w as 16 so they 'd acce pt me. That was o ne o f t he greatest days o f m y life ." Com m ent ing o n th e im portan ce of hi s ed ucat io n at Gue lph he ad ded , " It was su ch a p ri vil ege; it open ed ma ny doors for me and all ow ed m e to serve m y fell ow man . In add iti o n it gave me so mu c h g reater bre ad th o f u nde r s tand ing. " Whe n I w as p rovin c ial treas urer," he aclded, " it w as my feel ing that ed ucati o n was no t an expen se, but an invest ment bec ause thos e people who rece ive an educat io n go out into th e w orl d anl1 c o nt rib ute to th eir communit y and nati on." He wa rn ed, " A coun try with o ut goo d ecl uca t io nal inst i tuti o n s ha s on ly o ne way to go." M r . A ll an's publ ic se rvice in c lu des over t wen ty years on th e Dunn vill e Tow n Co u nc i l and the Haldim and Co unt y
Cou nc il , be fo re hi s elec t io n to t he O nt ario Legisl at ure from 1951 u nt il 1975 . First ap po inted to the ca b ine t in 1955 , he serv ed success ive ly as m ini ster of h igh way s , tra ns port , pub lic w ork s, p ro vi nc ial treasurer , econ om ics and deve lo pm en t , and m in is ter w i tho u t po rtf o lio Since 1967 he tlas bee n cha ir man of th e Niag ara Park s Commi ss ion A s prOVin c ial tr easu rer, Mr . Allan endo r sed ma ny o f the o ut standi n g de ve lo p m ents tha t took p lace on th e Gue lph campus such as the soils, bio logy, ch em ist ry an d m icro bi o logy, ve terinary c li n ic, and the po u ltry path o lo g y and viro log y b ui ldin gs. W hen the fo und ing co ll eg es beca m e the U n iversi t y o f G uelp h , M r. A ll an s uppor ted th e On tari o M ini s tr y o f Agr ic u lt ure and Foo d in it s req uest to purc hase add it iona l land at El o ra for ag ri c ult ural researc h to repl ace land needed to accommoda te the expa ns io n at the main campus In 1961, Mr. Allan w as awa rd ed th e degree of Do c tor of Law s by Mc Mas ter Un ivers ity, Ham i lto n , and was si m ilar ly ho no u red by th e University of G uelph in 1970. An honour of a diff erent t y pe is hi s mem bershi p in th e M o hawk Trib e o f th e Six Nati ons Indian s as an ho no rary c hi ef . He i s pas t Grand Mas ter o f th e G rand Lodg e A. F and A M. o f Ca nada, in th e Province o f On tari o , and a 33 de gree Maso n .
19
ALMA MATER FUND - 7th ANNUAL REPORT
I
n 1975 the largest numberof donors in the seven-year history of the Alma Mater Fund achieved the second highest gift total. Alumni, faculty and professional staff contributed 3,427 gifts for a total of $151 ,224. " The six-week postal strike in October and November caught us right in the middle of the campaign ," says Dr. Donald S. MacDonald , OVC '57 , Campaign Chairman for 1975 , "and the fact that alumni responded so well in December enabled us to recover much of the ground lost in the heart of the campaign. "
recognize donors of $100 or more, the Century Club has had a positive impact on the success of the Alma Mater Fund . Members through their generous contri butions demonstrate admirable dedication and allegiance to the University. This past year has been no exception. Membership subscriptions increased to 601 members , with gifts amounting to $91,746,60.6 per cent of the Fund total. There were 84 new members welcomed into the Century Club in 1975. Campaign officers are planning to vi gorously promote the continued growth of
CAMPUS REC ORDS N EW HIGH The advance campaign in the Campus Division established a record of $31,679, up 5.8 per cent over the previous year. A total of 456 gifts were received from alumni , faculty and professional staff. Of these gifts , 149 were at the Century Club level.
FUN D ALL OCATIONS ANNOUNCED Funds allocated for scholarships in 1975 totalled $33,128. The expanded Iist of awards helps the newer colleges which lack incentives for undergraduate students . Scholarships awarded by the Fund cover three main areas: grants to maintain awards of the O.A.C . Alumni Foundation, Mac / FACS Alumni Association and OV.C . Alumni Association ; entrance scholarships at the Spring and Fall entry pOints to encourage outstanding students to enter the University of Guelph ; and in-course scholarships in the B.A., B.Sc. and B.Sc. (H.K.) programs .
ARBORETUM CENTR E AND COLLECTION Dr . Bob Hilton and his field crew at the Arboretum are working at top speed to take advantage of spring planting The Campaign Management Committee. (left to right) Jim Elmslie, Assistant Director for
conditions. A grant of $10,000 will enable Development; Or. Kats Okashimo, (Institute of Computer Science); Professor Bruce
further collection development to take McCraw (Pathology); John Babcock, Director of A lumni A ffairs and Development;
place . A building grant of $13 ,972 com Or. Donald MacDonald, OVC '57; Alex Ross, B.A. '69; Gordon L. Nixon, OAC '37;
pletes funding of the O .A.C. Centennial Professor Bruce Stone, OA C '53 (A nimal and Poultry Science); Mrs . J. D. (Virginia
Arboretum Centre which has become a Shortt) Bandeen, Mac '57, former President, UGAA; Ross Hay, OAC '45.
focal point of activity. President Forster praised Dr. the Century Club this year. Subscribers in MacDonald, and his colleagues on the 1976 will receive a " Sketch of Part of the Campaign Management Committee for a Town of Guelph, Canada West" (1850) by superb job under adverse Circumstances. David Johnston Kennedy which will be "In these years of reduced government suitable for framing . Although there are a funding the University will be depending number of other benefits, the most satis upon alumni more and more in the future," fying will be in seeing a substantial gift go he said . where it is needed, appreciated, and well Dr. MacDonald was strong in his used . praise of the 413 volunteers who were involved in the program serving on committees and as canvassers. "Involve POSTAL STRIKE ment is the key to a successful campaign Despite the six-week delay caused by and I have the utmost respect for the the postal strike 1 ,448 replies to the Class dedicated alumni who willingly gave of Agent appeal were received amounting to their time and energy to complete their $24 ,032, a marked increase over last year Professor Bruce McCraw, Department of assigments ," said Dr. MacDonald. and a substantial boost to the Fund. The Pathology, and co-chairman of the campus 187 Class Agents who participate in this division of the AMF presents John D. CENTURY CLUB EXPANDS phase of the annual fund help to broaden Smith and Paul McKee with AMF Since its inception in 1972 to the .base of alumni giving. In-Course Scholarships . 20
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Gift preferences. The top three projec ts favoure d by donors were the Arboretum development (Ie lt) . schol;lrshi ps an d awards . and cultural affairs (a rt. musIc . and library). in that order . Nearly 60 per cent of Ihe donors prelerred their gill to be used rn the area f grealesl need Dr . R. J. Hil lon. Direcl or ollhe Arbor etum . says lIle Arboretum is one otth e best In Canada because 01 the num lJer 01 pecles II conlain s. Approxi mat ely 2.850 woody plant species are test ed to see llOWth ey v/I! adapt 10 I he Guelph climate in whrch nearly one-quarter of Cana da $ pop ulation lives.
This tetter arrived al Harvard Hatogen s As I am an aluminum 01 two colle ges bes ides Harvard. 311(1 can nol. with my bismulh rn ils resent slate . pay anl lmony to all three. t hope you will not think me a cadmium if I do not caesium thrs oppo rtunity of making a donat ion So lar this yea r I have metal curren t expenses . !rut in these troubled lime s when the luture hol ds in stor e we know not phospllOrus , I couin not make a contrr buti on Without boron from th e ban k. It wOllld IlIckel out of my savmgs. A manganese spend hiS dollars Ihese days : a lin spOI is gone in no
ALUMNI STAD IUM AND ATH LETICS PROGRAM The sum of $20,000 was again a llocated to the Alumni Stadiu m project. Thi s was th e seve nth in sta lment and brought the tolal donations by the fund for this project t o$140 ,39 1.
CU LTU RAL A FFAIRS The University Art co ll ec ti on was fur ther enriched by a $5,000 grant from the Alma Mater Fund. The Art co llection now numbers 6 13 art wo rks and is the faslest growing col lection in Ihe Province ranking third in va lue behind Toront o and Que en's uni ver s ities . In s upport of the Library acquisitions program , $2 ,500 was granled from the 1975 fund with a p romi se of increa sed aSSis tan ce in future yea rs to help offset infla tionar y costs in books and periodicals. A spec ial grant of $3 ,000 ha s been set aside for a proposed tour of Germany and Austria by the University Ch o ir in 1977 .
PRESID ENT'S FUND Heading Ih e list of major grants in the Pre s ident'S Fund is the Clinic Seminar Roo m at O.V.C ., $25 ,000 This is the initial payment t owards thi s project w hi c h is now estimated to cost $35,000. SOrl' r: $3,900 in designated gifts complete d the Land Resource Scien ce Bui lding Mural Project. The Lo nd on House Prog ram was granted $6 ,000 to reduce the mortgage . Lo ndon H ouse serves as the ad m inistrati ve cent re for the B.A . program 's innovative Lond on Semester . The Wi negard V isiting Profe sso rship Progra m was allocated $15,000 to offse t ex pe nses incurred in it s fir st year. The first vis itin g pro fe sso r Dr. I. C. Potter, a Se n io r Lect u rer from the Uni ver sity of Bath, Englan d, ca rried out his re sea rch activity in the Departm e nt of Zo ology . The second, Dr. Haru o Mom ose from the Central Research Labo rat o ries o f Ajini moto Co , tn c , Japan, is presently working in the Department of Micro bio logy. President Fors ter hopes the Fund will expand this program to help enrich researc h and teac hing programs in the face of inadequa te operating grants. 11
time aile IS lead to leel he IS pouring Ihem down Ihe zinG. lIcil belter to sodium up In a stockin g. So doni be Si li con not ma ke a y con tribut ion thi s ye(lf unless d brom ine helps me out. Senior Clas s Agent . Birlild ay greellng s were tele phoned 10 tv rs Je ss re Ca rruit er . Mac '08. on the occasion 01 her 90th rrlhdi1 Yon March 25 . 1976 Mrs Ca rrut hers has been clas s agen l of early Mac classes since th e Incept ion 0 the Fun d in 1969 . She IS also a loundrng mem ber all he Century Ctub . When called . rs Carruth ers was enteriallllng 2 well -wrsll ers to afternoon tea .
HIGHLIGHTS • A record 3,427 donors compri Sing alumni , faC ulty and friend s co ntributed $151 ,224, seco nd high es t gift total in the seven- year history o f the Fund. • Overall partiCipation was 18. 5 per cent with a gift ave rag e of $39 .42. • Ce ntury Club members contributed 601 leadership gifts totalli ng $91 ,746 ,60.6 per cent o f the gift total. • Participation on campus was an outstanding 48 .9 per cent with a record high of $31 ,679. • A rts and Science gradua te s donations were up 28.6 per ce nt with a gift average of $12 .56 • Parti c ipati on by OA C A lumni was 22 .8 percent followed by OVC and Mac/FACS a lumni w ith 19.1 and 18.9 percent respectively. • OVC al umni , with a gift average of $54 .11, topped OAC Alumn i $39.19 and Mac / F ACS alumni $3205 • A to tal of 413 vol unteers served as commit tee members, or ca mpu s , Century CI ub ca n vassers and class agents to make the 1975 fund a s uccess.
Summary of Allocations Scholarships A rboretum Deve lopment Centennial Arbo ret um Centre Building A lumni S tadium Athl e ti cs Program War Memorial Hall Art Purchas es Library Acqui sitio n s Drama Music O.V.C. Clinic Seminar Room Land Resource Sc ience Mural Lond o n House W i ne gard V isiting Profe ssors hips Sundry Academ ic NeedS
1975
1969 -75
$ 33 ,128 11 ,100 13,972 20,000 248
3,000 25,000 3,900 6,000 15 ,000 10 ,71 2
$189,556 53,607 250 ,000 140 ,391 6 ,452 27,000 27, 560 12 ,480 1,000 17 ,782 25,000 5,07 0 8 ,519 15 ,000 38,768
151,224
818 ,185
5,270 3 ,894
Cumu ta tiv e Tota l
-
SUMMARY OF ALUMNI SUPPORT - 1975 1975 Alma Mater Fund No. of Gifts
Development Fund
Change 74/75 ( %)
Amounts Given (Do ll ars)
Change 74/75 (% )
+ 7. 9
66,004 22 ,783 20,833 4,497 20 , 154
- 5.2
OAC OVC M ac/ F ACS Ar t & Scie nce E x-Officio
1, 684 421 650 358 293
Other Credits
3,406 21
134 ,271 16 ,953
3,427
151,224
- 9 .0 - 0.7 + 10.9
Robert Walker Memo rial Fu nd Development Fun d A lumni Pledge Payments re ceived in 1975 Total Alumni Support in 1975
511 13 ,554
-16 .3
+ 28.6 - 2.5
Amo unts Given ( Dollars ) 2,767 801 80 63 9,843
-
13,554 Allocated to AM F 7.8
Spo n sored proje cts Endowe d Sc ho lar s h i p Capital proje cts
165, 289 21
campus highlights Jerome art donations on display (June 5 - July 1, McLaughlin Library) Some people will scratch their names on a rock or carve them in a tree for the benefit of posterity; Fred Jerome , OAC '33, was a bit more practical and indeed thoughtful. His "cutting his name in a tree" has resulted in a fine collection of Canadian art works for the University, to be added to in per pet u i ty. Fred Jerome , a professor of Genetics and Animal Science at Guelph from 1949 until his retirement in 1973, established a trust fund for art purchases in December, 1968, and each year since has added to the fund. Though claiming to be no artist him self, Dr. Jerome has always enjoyed art. One of his favourite artists - among others - is Ken Danby, a local artist of the realist style, whose work is included in the collection.
works have been acquired through the Jerome Trust Fund. Outstanding among these are the fine pencil drawing by Inuit artist Parr; "Diego Drawing", a lithograph by London, Ontario artist Jack Chambers; Ken Danby's silkscreen "The Skates"; "Sounds Inside" , a highly coloured silk screen by Robert Young; Gene Chu 's delicate " Spider Series" (set of four litho graphs); and a remarkable silkscreened journal of images and events by J. C . Hey wood. The F. N. Jerome gifts will be featured in an exhibition of the selections from the University Collection at McLaughlin Library from June 5 to August 1. "At first Dr . Jerome asked that the fund be anonymous" , says Mrs. Nasby "but later he changed his mind in the hope that others might be encouraged to set up similar trust funds". She explained that the interest on the $6,000 fund is used for purchases, however if the capital is dipped into for a special purchase, the amount used is replaced at the next interest payment. Dr. Jerome has enjoyed many high lights during a career that has taken him into foreign countries as a consultant with the result that he has visited every continent of the world with the exception of Africa. Included in these trips was one to Poland as a consultant for the United Nations. However , there is one period during his career at the University that stands out above all others. It is that period when he taught graduate students that gave him more satisfaction than anything he had done formerly. Overcoming time and distance, his 17 graduate students, scattered throughout the world, were able to put together a commemorative album of themselves which was then presented to their former professor - a much treasured memento of that period in his teaching career. Dr. Jerome and his wife Fae live in Guelph ; at present he is serving as Secretary for the O.A .C. Alumni Foundat ion.
Guelph Industrialist appointed to Guelph Board of Governors (left to right) Fred Jerome, OAC '33; Judy Nasby, University Art Curator; and Mrs. Jerome view a serigraph by Carl Heywood entitled "Beware of the Past". Mr. Heywood was a sessional professor at the University during the summer of 1974 . Judy Nasby, Art Curator for the Uni versity , comments "Fred Jerome has made an outstanding contribution to the growth of the University 's Canadian art collection - now one of the largest University collec tions in the province". Twenty-three art
Kenneth Hammond, Executive Vice-Presi dent of Hammond Manufacturing Co, Ltd . , has been appOinted to the University Board of Governors . Mr . Hammond was appointed February 16, by the Lieutenant-Governor-i n-Cou nci I to fill one of two vacancies in government appointed seats on the board. Mr . Hammond was a member of the Guelph Division Campaign Management Comm ittee for the OAC Centennial Fund in 1974 and was vice-chairman of the G uel ph Division in the 1966-68 Development Fund Campaign.
Howard C_ Clark appointed as new Vice-President , Academic Howard C. Clark, has been appointed Vice President , Academic, to succeed J . Percy Smith on August 1. Dr. Clark , a research chemist with broad academic experience, has been professor and head of the Depart ment of Chemistry at the University of Western Ontario for nine years , and will be a professor in the Department of Chemistry at Guelph.
Alumni News A. H. (AI ) Beswick, OAC '50 , Vice-Presi dent , Meat Division , Swift Canadian Co., Limited , Toronto , ha s been named the 1976 President of the Meat Packers Council of Canada.
Clark
Ham mond
Newma n
Bes wick
Donald Huff , OAC '51, has been appointed Vice-President (Farm Products Marketing) of the United Co-operatives of Ontario . He was formerly stores department manager and has had 20 years of experience in sales and product management with the company. John M. Lindley , OAC '53, has been appoi nted Vice - President-International, Campbell Soup Company in Camden, New Jersey - a division of Campbell ' s Soups International. This follows his posting as Chairman of Campbell's Soups Ltd. in Britain and President-European opera tions, Campbell ' s Soups International in Norfolk, Eng land. William G . (Bill) Newman. OAC '51, has been named M inister o f Agriculture and Food for Ontario succeeding William A . Stewart. Mr . Newman, M.P.P. for Durham North , was previously Minister of the Environment. Prior to his appointment as Minister of the Environment in 1974, he w as Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Transporation and Communications.
Minor offers more background in International Agriculture Recognizing the ever-increasing importance of international agriculture, the Ontario Agricultural College has established a program aimed at offering interested students an opportunity to Develop an insight into the problems and potentials of agriculture on a global scale. "For one hundred years OAC grads have found careers in International Agri culture," says Professor Jack Tanner, who, on July I will become Chairman of the Department of Crop Science. "In a way, this new program formally recognizes the need to give more background in international agriculture." This program, the only one of its kind in Canada, was developed by the OAC International Program Committee in conjunction with the B.Sc.(Agr.) Program Committee. The program is open to any student in the B.Sc.(Agr.) program who is planning or considering a term abroad or to other students, likely to remain at home, who wish to be better agriculturists and more informed citizens. Of the latter group, Professor Tanner says, "It gives them a better insight into their own major and really broadens their education." In order to qualify for the Minor, a student has to select courses from the agricultural area plus social science courses which deal with problems of inter national development. A typical course load could include the following: Field Trip in International Agriculture, Seminar in International Agricultural Development, Tropical Crop Production, Tropical Live stock Production, Economics of Developing Countries, and Politics of the Developing Countries. For the past seven years the OAC has sent students to a similar program esta blished at Cornell University. That course expanded to such an extent that there was no room for Guelph students, "therefore we started our own course," says Professor Tanner. Professor Tanner says the response from the students has been very favour able, especially where the field trip is concerned. "This field trip is definitely the highlight of the program because it gives so much meaning to the other courses. You can't give a straight textbook treatment to international agriculture. "The trip itinerary is set up to show the students tropical agriculture (horticulture, field crop and livestock production)" pOints out Professor Tanner, "but it is as least as important to let them see a different type of cu Itu ral and agricu 1 tural philosophy. The countries we visited are rather social istic. "We find the students are intrigued by the sociological, economical and political aspects as well as the agricultural areas. For most of them it's their first visit to a
tropical country and it's a real eye-opener." He emphasizes that this is" a real working trip" with an exhausting schedule including plantation tours; research in Iivestock; observation of com pany, government, and individual enterprise, and soils and crops. Our students met students in Trinidad and Jamaica and this proved to be a very usefu I exchange both for them and us." The College does offer some financial support in the form of scholarships (Gulf Oil Canada Limited Award and Frank E. Wolff International Scholarships) and travel grants to students in the Minor who are taking the field study tour but for the most part the students pay their own expenses. The College has a system of rotating faculty thus ensuring that different faculty are exposed and educated in addition to the students. The visiting group was continually surprised and impressed by the Guelph influence abroad. "OAC and OVC have a terrific name in the Caribbean," says Pro fessor Tanner, "you meet a lot of grads down there and they feel a special relation ship." One of the hosts on the field trip was Dr. Aston Wood, a former faculty member of the Department of Animal and Poultry SCience, now principal of the Jamaica School of Agriculture. "The people there bend over backwards for us. Also, we (Canada) have significant CIDA and IDRC programs there and I think people appreciate that." Seeking to satisfy an interest in tropical agriculture, Ken Hough, an 8th semester student in Crop Science, took the Minor in International Agriculture. "I found the field trip really opened my eyes regarding different cultures and agricultural methods," says Mr. Hough, "it gives you more appreciation of what is going on in the world. We hear of a food shortage in the world but do we really understand all the complications?"
Mr. Hough will begin working this summer for a world-wide herbicide company in Ontario. "I think eventually I'll work overseas; I've taken a lot of theory at Guelph but I want to get some practical experience before going abroad." Fiona Marson, a 7th semester student in Animal Science, took the Minor because she wants to combine travel with a career. "I'd thought of going with CUSO for only two years coming back to teach, but now I'd like to make a career of it." She would like to work for CIDA (Canadian Inter national Development Agency) eventually. Concerning the field trip, Miss Marson found that she got "a really good feel for the countries" during the hectic two-week stint in the Caribbean. "Also, the trip lets you see a completely different culture and it gives you some indication of your real interest in international agricul ture.I'm taking theseminarcourseand with the field trip experience I can now apply what the speakers are saying." Mi ss Marson feels the seminar course with its many different speakers would be of interest to anyone. "I'm recommending it to people who aren't even in the Inter national Agriculture Minor." Now in its second year, the Minor in International Agriculture program is still undergoing some development. A Food Science component may be added and this is the first year for the Seminar in Inter national Agricultural Development. "This is a vehicle by which we hope to tie together the social and agricultural aspects of the other courses in the minor," says Professor Tanner. "The big challenges in agriculture are in the developing countries," and as in years gone by, the OAC is meeting those challenges. For further information (;ontact :
Dean's Ollice, Ontario Agricu ltural College ,
Universit y of Guelph ,
Guelph , Ontario , Canada, N1G 2W1
•
The 1975 field trip took 13 Guelph students to Trinidad, Tobago and Jamaica to study tropical agriculture. This photograph shows Professor Tanner (with hat, at right) and students during agricultural field work in Jamaica.
23
1975 Choir Tour - a resounding success
GUELPH
AWMNUS Spring, 1976 Volume 9 , Number 1
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Choir members listening to their guide in the village of Lavenham.
"This choir can come back to C an terbury Cathed ral any time." These wo rd s from the Reverend K. W Den fo rd , Sacris t of th e Cathedral, marked the high point of a most succes sful tour by the Universit y of Guelph Choir late last summer. Guelph graduates turned up at many concerts. Matthew Barr , B .A. '69 and Mary (Sherman) Barr, B.A . '69 heard the choir in Scotland in 1973 and went to hear them in England. A friend of Alf Hales, OAC '3 4, J . G ri msey, OAC '34, came to one concert. In London , J. M. S. Usher-W ilson , OA C '32 madea point of telling the choir how proud he was of Guelph. The most remarkable surprise was M is s Norah Holloway, Mac '22 (aged 78) who came 80 miles by ambulance from St. A lban's General Hosp ital to hear the choir in Coventry Cathedral and sat in a wheelchair near th e front. Many members of the choir came to speak to her and she made a generous gift to the choir in recognition of their performance. For Nicholas Goldschmidt, directo r of the choir since 1968 , the 1975 tour wa s a great personal success and a fit t ing finale. The choir now has plans to tour Austria and Germany in August , 1977 .
coming events
June 18-20 18
Alumni Weekend OVC Alumni Seminars June Fest
19
Annual Meetings-O .V.C. , Mac足 FACS, and O.A.C . Alumni Asso足 ciations Official Opening-OVC Pathology Building Class reunions
July
4-17
"Family Summer Campus '76"
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