Mr. Robin Lind, in his final
commentary (CD, October 5),
bemoans the "declined standards"
of the undergraduates at the
University which he blames
principally on its size; he makes
much of the fact that only 53.3 per
cent of the class that entered in
1965 graduated four years later and
that 70 per cent of that class took
five years to graduate. Not bad, as
he admits; as he and I know, only
53 per cent of undergraduate
students nationally ever arrive at a
degree.
He is exactly right on his
figures, as supplied to him by our
own Office Of Institutional
Analysis, but his conclusion that
standards have "declined" -because
of University size-may be
open to question. When the
University was smaller, the
percentage of four or five year
graduates was even lower than these
figures he thinks are now so low.
For example, only 40.8 per cent of
the 1961 entering class graduated in
four years and only 61 per cent of
them graduated at the end of five
years. In another context, if Mr.
Lind had chosen it, he could use
the figures of the class that entered
in 1965 to prove that standards
were improving.
He taus to mention other
aspects of undergraduate progress
over the last few years-when the
University was increasing in
size-that might indicate something
other than "declining standards."
For example, in June 1961 about
17 per cent of the College was
named to the Dean's List, but in
June 1971 over 42 per cent made
it. And the academic attrition rate
in the Session of 1961-1962 was 5
per cent, for 1970-1971 it was 1.9
per cent. When the percentage on
the Dean's List rises and those who
flunk out comprise a lower
percentage, I don't think a very
good case can be made statistically
for Mr. Lind's pessimism.
From student comments that I
hear in this office and from the
comments of my colleagues, I do
not share Mr. Lind's assessment of
the quality of education here as
"appalling." Indeed, even a casual
scanning of the course evaluations
given by students over the last five
years will indicate the encouraging
and appreciative student response
to the College's offerings. As
grateful as we all are to Mr. Lind
for his very conscientious grappling
with some real problems that face
the University, I felt I must point
out what seems to me to be some
hopeful signs of academic
improvement over the last several
years.
I. B. Cauthen, Jr.
Dean of the College
