USU and Cache Civic Concerts announce the 1983-84 Performing Arts Series, which contains an agenda of dance, ragtime and classical entertainment. ......... Page 24
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Gym Kimball , moving to USU from an unpromising BYU football career where he ' hated every minute ,' now owns th e Aggi es starting quarterback slot. .... . .. Page 19
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'LC@ lC~~ m~@ V o-ed program denied accreditation By PAULA SMILANICH Statesman associate editor USU's vocational education department has been denied accreditation from the state and until the program complies with all the standards set by the State Board of Education the blessing will be withheld. The stamp of approval is not being given by the stat e board because it says the vocational program is being administered improperly and is suffering personnel and funding cutbacks. The program, which has been placed on provisional accreditation, meaning with time and some changes accreditation could occur, will continue to exist unchanged. Th e approval , however, is desired to show people that the program is able to properly train students. The accreditation is also needed to obtain federal funding for the depanment. The problem, said Kent Worthington, assistant state supenntendent of vocational education, is present because the current director has neither the time nor the authority to set tht program in the right direction. uwe prefer that that it be one person on campus who is identified exclusively as the vocational director," said Worthington. Gilbert Long, a~ric.:ultural dcpanment head, is now doubling as the vocational education director. He said the state is crying to force USU into making the department director more prominent than hl' needs to be. Long said it ii;n 't the quality of the program the edu cation board is objecting to, but rather how it is being administered, a matter he feels should be decided by the university and not br the- state. But Worthington said the state is not crying to tell USU how co run its program. He said the board feels that with a new full-time diret:tor, the program could develop into something larger. Disagreeing, Maurice Thomas, head of the Industrial Technology and Education Department, said it is not feasible to appoint a full-time director because the program isn't large enough to warrant the employ of one person, and that before trying to expand the program, more funds should be available. "The state would like us to play a larger role in vocational education i.n the state, and right now they don't think we have that thrust," said Thomas. "But it isn't wise to expand when there are no funds available during this economic frustration. They 1ell us to expand, yet they don't financially support us.'' Right now the state adds about $5,600 to the depanment's budget to help sustain the seven vocational programs, said Wonhington, With the accreditation and a "well-versed" director, the program could enlarge and become eligible to obtain federal funds, he said. Still, Thomas doesn't see the appointment of a new director as a solution, and said that as Jong as the department is turning out wcU-trained students, it shouldn't matter how the programs arc administered. 1 'The real critical question is not how the programs are being administered," said Thomas. "The real question is whether or not wc arc auracting good students and teaching them the righ1 skills."
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Dennil Pepenon, USU Meat Service training instructor, one ofthe three hired through the Bridgerland Area Vocational Center, prepares a cut a beef. Programs like the Meat Service are jeopardized by the state's refwal to fully accredit USU's vocationaleducation department. EndiGmssephoto