Mirror - Vol. 01, No. 13 - March 3, 1978

              THE
FAIRFIELD Volume 1 No. 13 March 2, 1978
FAIRFIELD UNIVERSITY, FAIRFIELD, CONN. 06430 MIRROR ^ Incorporated 1977
Trustees O.K. Business School
Core Requirements Will Be Kept
Nonprofit Organization
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PAID
Permit No. 34
Fairfield, Conn.
Michael "Doc" Dougherty
[Ed Hatton photo]
Dougherty
To Be
Editor
by Marianne O'Connell
Michael "Doc" Dougherty has been
elected by the present Editorial Board
to serve as Editor-in-Chief of The
Mirror for 1978-79.
"Doc" a junior American Studies
major, has been active in The Mirror's
sports section for the past two years,
serving as both reporter and com-mentator.
"I'm very happy to have the job. It's
an honor to be the Chief of the best
organization on campus," he com-mented
on receiving of the Etoard's
decision.
"Doc" has some new ideas for The
Mirror, which he is anxious to begin
working on. Increasing research, and
regularly publishing the results of
surveys is one area he is. particularly
excited about. He is considering the
possibility of creating the position of
research editor to deal specifically
with this area. Another area which
Doc is interested in is the publication
of regular faculty contributions to the
paper.
"I'dalso like tostress how important
it is that Vinnie O'Brien and the
Administration continue to work with
the Mirror in improving the com-munication
at Fairfield.
'The newspaper has grown in the
last year to become the dominant
mode of communication at Fairfield.
With that in mind, I hope that I can
continue in this traditon and improve
upon what Ned and all the editors
have been doing already."
by Claudia Napp
The Board of Trustees has an-nounced
that the Department of
Business Administration will become a
separate undergraduate school
beginning next September. The
program as Dr. Griffin, (Business
Administration Department Chair-mans)
stated, will give "the students
who are business majors and future
business majors, the best possible
chance for excellence in education."
Dr. Griffin feels that the Business
Administration Department's new
status will help the university in three
key,respects. He stated, "first, it will
give a greater direction to work in
business. The future for students in the
job market will be enhanced.
Secondly, it will aid in the recruiting of
new faculty members for the
department. Thirdly, it will enhance
the program's reputation outside the
university."
The new undergraduate school is a
"natural evolution, not a revoulution,"
commented Dr. Griffin. The program
is "not a challenge to the Liberal Arts
but a continued cooperation with
them." Fr. Fitzgerald stated that the
new school "is not a change, but a
response to a change," in the direction
of today's student toward a career in
business administration. One third of
the students at the university are
currently opting for majors in the field
of business administration.
Dr. Griffin and Fr. Fitzgerald
stressed the point that the liberal arts
core requirements would not be
altered for Business majors. This is
partly due to the new school seeking
accreditation from the American
Association of College Business
Schools. In order to qualify, the
school's students must have at least 50
percent of the liberal arts credits
required by our current core
curriculum.
The Business Administration
Department has also restructured its
undergraduate program. Next year
they will not only be offering new
courses for business majors, but two
courses will be open to only non-business
majors. Three new business
professors are being sought this year.
The new school will "make a job at the
university more attractive to future
business professors," stated Dr.
Griffin.
There has yet to be a decision by the
Board of Trustees as to creating a
graduate school of business at the
university. Dr. Griffin feels though,
that "the Board of Trustees, Ad-ministration
and Business Ad-ministration
Department are looking
toward the possibility of a Masters
program," but nothing concrete will
happen for at least two years. "Right
now the focus is on undergraduate
studies" and making the new program
"the best possible stepping stone for
the students toward their future in
business."
There has been no decision yet as to
Dr. lohn Griffin
[Ed Hatton photo]
who will be the new Dean of
Business School next fall.
the
Concern Over R.A. Role Grows,
U. Council Explores Problem
by Gigi Byron
Recently there has been much
attention drawn to the role of the
Resident Advisor on campus. This
concern is the result of a series of
three events, the first of which was the
editorial in the February 15 issue of
the Mirror. Secondly, there was a
series of three letters to the editor of
the Mirror replying to the editorial,
each of which was signed by an R.A.
or R.A.'5 who expressed varying points
of view on the editorial. Lastly, there
was Student Services' reaction to the
editorial and the R.A.'s replies. One
R.A. reported that at their weekly staff
meeting the R.A.'s "were reprimanded
for commending the Mirror editorial.
Not only that, but Don Hastings (Head
Resident) refused to discuss the
problem. He said that any complaints
should be typed and submitted the
next day, but that he had no intention
of talking to us about it or listening to
what we had to say." These events
were coupled with the actions of the
Dean of Students, Bill Schimpf, who,
at Monday's University Council
meeting, voted against starting an
investigation of the role of R.A.'s,
saying that "this would only con-tribute
to the problem."
The subject was brought to the
attention of the University Council by
student representative Gerry Gunning.
He said "the position of R.A. has
vascillated from the role of advisor to
one of babysitter and maintenance
monitor." He called for a re-evaluation
of the role of R.A. and a re-definition
of their present function on campus.
Some of the issues which he felt
should be addressed were "required
rule enforcement of petty rules,
student input in the process of
choosing R.A.'s, the inappropriate role
of social director or disciplinarian,
wasted time dealing with maintenance
problems and communication
problems between the R.A.'s and Dean
Schimpf."
Dean Schimpf, an administrative
representative on the Council, retorted
that both the Mirror's editorial and
Gerry Gunning's charges were based
on "absolute inaccuracy and rumor."
He asserted that Gunning had a
"faulty idead of the original function
of the R.A." and that "Student
Services has made an attempt to
minimize the disciplinary role of the
R.A." Schimpf also said that he would
"plead guilty to communication
problems" but attributed it to "in-dividual
personalities". He stated that
"since the R.A.'s are employees of the
University it is necessary that they
take part in some degree of regulation
enforcement." Dean Schimpf said that
he's "sure the R.A.'s have legitimate
complaints but the letter in the Mirror
represented complaints based on
faulty information." Moreover, he
asserted that "since the problems
occurred in an employer/employee
relationship the University should not
be involved." Gunning disagreed,
saying that "Since it effects the whole
University it should be treated as more
than that" (that is, more than an
employer/employee relationship.)
Paul Davis, faculty member,
suggested that the Committee on
Community Life should look at the
problem. He felt that "since the
question involves all three groups-faculty,
administration, and students -
the faculty is in a position to review
the situation objectively, and a
statement from the University Council
Coughlin Resignation Leaves Questions
by James Endrst
University officials still refuse to
discuss the circumstances surrounding
the departure of Academic Vice-
President, Father James Caughlin, who
will leave his office in July. Father
Fitzgerald says, "we arrived at this
decision mutually, but it is our policy
not to make these matters public
because they may deal with personal
relationships or performances, and I
don't think it's a good idea to put them
up for inspection. We should respect
people's right to privacy."
Last week the University appointed
an eleven member search committee
to find a replacement for Coughlin.
Mark Dorigan, F.U.S.A. president,
named Kevin Collins and Mary Ann
Daly as the student representatives.
The faculty is purposefully balanced
in terms of departmental distribution:
Professor Meli of Physics, Father Elder
of Chemistry, Professor Long of
Philosophy, Professor Petry of History,
Father McGrath of Psychology,
Professor Heinz of Economics,
Professor Rinaldi of English. Two
administrators, one of whom is Dean
Porter, will participate.
The committee held its first meeting
last Friday when President Fitzgerald
gave his "charge" (a charge is merely a
list of procedural recommendations).
This process is not ad-hoc and is taken
from a five year old Academic Council
booklet called "Selecting Academic
Administrators: Search Committee,"
which the President says is applied
frequently in other universities
nationwide. This is the third com-mittee
that Fitzgerald has charged.
Each member will be supplied with a
copy of the pamphlet. A suggestion
included in the charge is an April 20
deadline by which time the field of
candidates must be narrowed to three
before the President makes his
recommendations. The committee
will screen ten to 20 applicants in
what is described as an open search.
"Anyone will be eligible," said Fit-zgerald.
"And I will request that I be
left out of the screening process until
the three candidates are chosen." By
doing so he hopes to rest any fears
that he might strong arm the com-mittee.
"Since Dean Porter is the only
person who has been on a search
committee, this is to save time. These
are not detailed instructions," said
Fitzgerald. "They are just suggestions.
That way we won't re-invent the
wheel."
Much of the charge is concerned
with council housekeeping and
avenues of procedure. The April 20
deadline will be an important factor
since many of the potential applicants
may be renewing their contracts at
that time or shortly afterwards. Ad-vertisements
will appear in the
Chronicle of Higher Education, a
weekly newspaper distributed to
Universities across the country.
Much of the faculty is dismayed
about the departure of Coughlin, not
only in response to the loss of his
services but also in view of what it
might do to the Humanities. A letter
was delivered to Father Fitzgerald
Friday morning which contained what
was described by English Professor Leo
OConner as "a respectful note of
concern over the departure of a strong
and positive force in the University, as
well as what it might mean to the
Liberal Arts." There were a total of 73
signatures accompanying the letter,
and as of this date there has been no
response from the President. But
among his five suggestions for the next
Dean's qualifications, Fitzgerald says
he will emphasize the importance of
"his concern for the Liberal Arts and
his ability to rally."
might clear things up." Dr. Skutnik,
another faculty member, brought up
the question of the sub committee
talking to R.A.'s. Dean Schimpf
disagreed again, saying that "this
would .only contribute to the
See R.A. Role pg.2
Pres.
Advises
Council
by GiGi Byron
President Fitzgerald attended a
meeting of the University Council for
the first time in his term as President
of the University. He met to discuss
his view of the Council's role. The
President began by commenting that
he saw "the Council had no significant
authority, and the authority it did hold
depended on the degree to which it
was heard."
He also asserted that he had made
attempts to communicate with the
Council, but "early efforts to strike up
dialogue were not too successful. This
was due mainly to the fact that the
Council met in a somewhat haphazard
fashion." Regarding his view of the
present role of the Council, Fitzgerald
"would like to be able to refer issues to
the Council and receive what the
Council feels are the pros and cons of
the issue." When the future role of the
Council was brought up Fitzgerald
becmae more specific.
He feels that "it is a mistake that the
Council have a large jurisdiction. It
would be counter-p.oductive for the
Council to try to be a super-body." The
Council in Fitzgerald's opinion
"should limit itself to a few issues and
try to come up with worthwhile
suggestions."
Mr. Paul Davis, a faculty
representative on the Council, asked
whether it was the Council's role "only
to meet when critical problems arise,
or should they discuss them before
See Council pg. 3