A College Education: For Parent and Child

Of course “You want your child to select the best college,” says Daniel Walls, director of admissions at Emory University in Atlanta. “Define best”

“Does best mean that your child decides to attend your alma mater? Does it mean the number one school on the latest list of the 10 best colleges?” Does best mean the school that will most impress her friends, or yours?

The best college for anyone should be the place where he or she can succeed and still be challenged, both fit in and expand horizons, prepare for the future and be made aware of many potential futures.

How to find such a place? And what should your role be in the search?

First a few encouraging words. There are more than 2,000 colleges available around the country, one for every stripe of adolescent. Some are thrilled merely to see a high school diploma. Others are more particular, but it is a myth that getting into college is difficult. Perhaps only 15% of colleges are highly selective. Three-quarters of students are accepted at their first choice college. In this region that figure is even more encouraging-close to 80%.

And repeated studies have shown that parents are the most important factor in a student’s choice of an institution.

How parents use that influence, and how children accept it, varies considerably.

“It’s best if everyone can see this as a long term process,” says Ruth Beene, a counselor at Arlington High School with 17 years experience. “Parents should start young, exposing children to many fields and possibilities.” It is also important to make sure along the way that the student’s high school courses will qualify him or her for college.

As the senior year approaches, both student and parent should be thinking. Does he want to live at home, or far away? What are her career aspirations? Would he like a small family-like atmosphere, or the anonymity of a large university? Public or private? Religious? Single Sex? Ivy league? And what is the family budget for education?

Expenses, however, are not always what they seem. Don’t reject a college out of hand simply because of its list price. One-half to three-quarters of students receive financial aid. And apparently more expensive private institutions can end up costing you less because their financial aid resources may be better.

“You can’t do too much communicating,” says Beene. “The goal is to encourage but not take over.”

Since there are so many colleges, finding that “right” one can be a challenging treasure hunt. Guidebooks, such as Barron’s, Lovejoy’s or Peterson’s, can be helpful, if sometimes overwhelming sources of information. High school counselors are very valuable. Talk to everyone: friends, aunts, uncles, alumni groups, neighbor children who have recently started college.

And. depending on your circumstances, you might want to talk with an independent counselor, one of the newest players in the college admissions game.

“A size 8 dress is a wonderful thing,” says Rhea Wolfram, one of the first independents to be accredited by the National Association of College Admissions Counselors. “But not everyone is a size 8. Some of us are sixes and some of us are fourteens. It’s the same with colleges, you don’t want a ’name’ that sounds nice, you want the best fit for the student.”

The way different sets of parents and children go about finding that best fit is as different as families are themselves.

It is unusual for a high school student to independently plan his or her college future. Janice Newhoff-Hopkins talks of her daughter, Bethe, now in her first year at Tarrant County Junior College.

“Going away to school was an important experience for me and I wanted that for Bethe. For the past couple of years whenever we’d go on vacation we would stop and have a look at the local college, where Bethe would tap her foot and look at the sky until it was time to go have fun somewhere else.”

As it came time to decide things seemed to fall into place. Both Bethe’s parents had attended University of Alabama and Bethe enjoyed the athletic atmosphere, the visits to nearby relatives, and the friend who was to be her roommate in Alabama.

Everything was settled until Bethe went alone to Birmingham last spring for some rush parties,

“She decided that she didn’t want to be so far away from home, that she wanted an atmosphere more similar to high school. That decision seemed a great relief to her,” according to Bethe’s mother. “And I took it much better than I expected. I like having her around, and since she doesn’t have a specific idea what she wants to do it does make more sense.”

This”all things turning out for the best” is a common theme from parents I spoke with. Nearly every experience during this time can turn around to the positive, and even indecisive students are often able to make good choices when the time comes. Very few stories are truly unhappy. The only one that comes to mind is of the area boy who had his heart set on Harvard. Nothing wrong with wanting to go to Harvard, except that it is one of very few schools with so many exceptionally qualified applicants that it is impossible to predict who they will admit. Four point grade average. Valedictorian. Super test scores. Play the violin like Itzak Perlman? Do flips like Mary Lou Retton? Do flips like Mary Lou Retton while playing the violin like Itzak Perlman? Doesn’t matter. You still might not get in.

The boy was well qualified. His problem was that since Harvard was where he wanted to go. Harvard was the only school he applied to. He was not accepted and after that rejection had a difficult time being enthusiastic about finishing high school.

To avoid that situation Paulo De Oliveira and Steve Cohen, authors of Getting In, recommend dividing institutions into three categories: reaches, possibles, and sure admits.

“Reaches are those schools that admit students with grades and board scores substantially above your own Possibles are those colleges that admit students with grades and SATs near or slightly above your own.” The sure admit cluster includes public institutions which guarantee admission, as well as schools that accept students whose qualifications are notably below those of the applicant. (Make sure the college reference you select includes information on average test scores and GPAs.)

One local student whose parents helped him apply to a selection of schools is Chris Reed, currently a freshman at Westpoint.

Carlton and Bernice Reed have been through this before. Chris is the fifth of their six children to head off to college.

“With the first one,” Reed said, “we were living in Virginia. Dawn knew the sister of a friend who’d gone to Texas Lutheran and someone called her from the college a couple of times. So she decided that’s where she wanted to go. We didn’t even know where Texas Lutheran was” – it’s in Seguin -“but she told us how much the plane ticket was and when the flight took off. We took her to the airport and she said ’see ya.’”

The Reeds, who practically qualify as counselors after seeing off five, said that that level of independence is uncommon. “More often as twelfth grade comes, children who have been demanding more and more independence become less sure of what they want.”

“Chris changed his mind many times and in fact Westpoint was the last place he wanted to go.” Chris applied to UT Austin, Harvard, Princeton, Dartmouth, Texas A & M, and, obviously, Westpoint. He was accepted everywhere he applied. Money was one important issue. Another was Chris’s desire to attend college in the east.

“Even with scholarships, the money was definitely going to be a problem,” says Chris’s mother. “It wasn’t, however, a question of having to take second or third best. Chris was fortunate enough to have choices that were all good. And he was mature enough to realize that.”

Know thy child.

It is the one piece of advice that comes from everyone. And it also is important during the nuts and bolts part of the application process. Counselors and admissions directors recommend not sending for application forms. The student should do that. Likewise in an interview situation-whether at a college fair or in a more formal setting – it is the student who should take the lead.

Charles J. Shields, author of The College Guide for Parents, compares the search and application process as being very similar to that involved in buying a house-Others have compared it to completing income taxes. Both are somewhat tedious and involved tasks, but definitely do-able.

The other thing both tasks are is adult. Finding and applying to colleges is often the first adult task required of adolescents.

Some 17 year-olds are thrilled about the idea. Others think that being a kid and not having to worry about things like paying heating bills -or going to college-is a good idea, at least for a while longer

The New York Times in a recently completed series on the college applications process, told of one father’s frustrations. The man’s only daughter was bright, tops in her class, and had good scores, She only had one minor flaw: procrastination.

The father tried to engage her interest in colleges. But to her the deadlines sounded a long way off. Going to college was a forever away. Finally the frustrated father, having gotten qualified interest in several institutions, sent for catalogs and application forms.

He placed the materials on the coffee table, with deadline notices on the top of each application. No one said a word, or made a move, until two days before deadlines. Then the daughter furiously set to work filling out forms, writing essays, staying up all night, and charging a huge Federal Express bill to that same father. Obviously not the best way to go about applying to colleges, and the story is told at all only because, for her, it worked. The girt was accepted by some prestigious colleges.

That is one example of how a parent correctly analyzed his daughters strengths and weaknesses, not, obviously, an example of the best way to apply. It’s always better to be early. Baylor University, for example, almost guarantees that if they admit a freshman at the deadline that there will be no student housing available.

So what about the application forms? And what do colleges want anyway?

Most forms are straightforward, require certified copies of high school transcripts, college board scores. ACTs or SATs and perhaps achievement tests. Some colleges like, and a few selective colleges require, personal interviews. Recommendation letters are more common. The college wants to know what kind of person your son or daughter is. Private colleges, particularly those with religious affiliations, maybe looking for students of particular philosophical bent. Other colleges want a well-rounded student body and so they will be looking for so many athletes, so many bookworms. . . so many jazz guitarists. , . you get the idea.

The other thing colleges are looking for is overall quality. Higher educational standards are already being reflected – and demanded-at the college level. UT Austin, for example, recently reinstated its foreign language requirement.

Cynthia Driessen, a counselor to the college-bound at Lamar High School, didn’t even pause when asked what colleges are looking for today. “Admissions people tell us over and over they want students who can write.”

Edward G. Boehm, Jr., dean of admissions at Texas Christian University, concurs. “It doesn’t matter what the official weighting, the essay is extremely important. It not only shows how a student thinks, it is also the one part of the application that the student can control.”

Winning examples of college essays are reproduced in Essays that Worked: 50 Essays from Successful Applications to the Nation’s Top Colleges.

The book, a product of entrepreneurial Yale undergraduates Brian Kasbar and Boy-kin Curry, is both an interesting and practical guide to college essays. It includes a range of approaches, including the traditional thoughtful tack, but some of the essays included are truly unusual -one is on eating Oreo cookies, one on mismatched socks, yet another uses a recipe for Cranberry Bread as a metaphor for life,

Quirky, yes. Strange, yes. Well-written, also yes. The book includes general guidelines as well as the caveat that many “’witty’ essays are not funny, and admissions officers view them as inappropriate or even obnoxious.” These essays also have rewards, however. Every one of them helped the applicant to be accepted.

Filling out the multi-page Financial Aid Form will be no Saturday in the park. Dealing with the stress of SATs is never a picnic. And the wait for those acceptance letters, even if you’re sure they’re on the way, will probably be difficult Doubly so for your child.

No doubt, however, that this is an exciting time, filled with opportunities and possibilities. There are few other moments in life when there are such an exciting range of options out there, just waiting to be chosen.

College Sampler

Austin College (Sherman, Texas) Three admission announcement dates have been established at Austin College: December 1, February 1 and April 1. Students whose applications are completed prior to one of these dates will be considered by the admission committee and notified of its decision. Applications received after May 1 will be considered on a space available basis.

Dallas County Community Colleges {seven campuses in the D/FW area) Students may take their freshman and sophomore years at the DCCCD and transfer to a four year college or university. Or, there are over 100 one and two year career programs available in a variety of areas. The district also offers non-credit continuing education courses. Registration for spring classes at the DCCCD is January 12-15.

Hardin-Simmons University (Abilene, Texas) HSU is controlled by the Baptist General Convention of Texas. The major University divisions are the College of Arts and Sciences, Division of Continuing Education, Graduate School. Irvin School of Education, Logsdon School of Theology, School of Business and Finance, School of Music and the School of Nursing. Scholarships are available for students in the top 10% of their graduating class, with ACT scores of 24 or above or SAT scores of 1000 or above.

Kilgore Junior College (Kilgore, Texas) Known for its strength in Fine Arts and Engineering Science, this junior college also offers a full range of campus activities for students with football, men’s and women’s basketball, fraternities and sororities and over 40 student clubs. For admission an ACT test is required. Application needs to be made two weeks prior to registration.

Midwestern State University (Wichita Falls, Texas) An academic institution with a strong liberal arts curriculum as well as professional and technical areas of study. For example, the MSU chemistry program was one of seven academic programs cited for excellence and innovation by the 370-member American Association of State Colleges and Universities.

North Texas State University (Denton, Texas) Over 300 graduate and undergraduate degree programs are offered in NTSU’s eight colleges and schools. NTSU continues to be a leader in such areas as accounting, computer science and business information systems, gerontology, music and fashion design and merchandising. One of the newest programs is in hotel and restaurant management,

St. Edward’s University (Austin, Texas) Founded in 1885, St. Edwards is located on 180 acres just south of the State Capitol. The ] current enrollment of 2,500 students pursue academic programs composed of 27 majors and 8 pre-professional programs, St. Edward’s has a variety of financial programs designed to assist students and families with the cost of college tuition.

Tarrant County Junior College (Fort Worth, Texas) A junior college providing the first two years of general academic courses for students whose goal is to transfer to a four-year college or university, TCJC also offers more than 50 occupational or technical-vocational programs. Enrollment in TCJC is open to anyone who is a high school graduate or who is 18 years of age or older. Applicants are not required to submit scores from, or to take an entrance exam.

Texas Institute (Dallas, Texas) Tl has trained men and women for careers in the computer industry for 20 years. The school is accredited by the National Association of Trade and Technical Schools. Texas Institute offers courses in Computer Programming Operations. Automated Office Systems and Data Entry.

Texas Women’s University (Denton, Texas) Established in 1901. TWU is the nation’s] largest university for women, with an enrollment of about 8,000 students (93% women). TWU provides higher education in the liberal arts and selected professions especially for women, with strengths in graduate and health related programs. Qualified men and women are accepted in the Institute of Health Sciences and the Graduate School. Only women are admitted to the undergraduate General Divisions.

Tyler Junior College (Tyler, Texas) Tyler Junior College provides two years of transferable college credit courses; two-year technical programs and two-year programs in health-related fields, including nursing and vocational education. Tuition is low and a wide variety of financial aid is available, including scholarships, grants, loans and on-campus employment.

University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa, Alabama) The U. of A., is Alabama’s premiere institution of education and a noted research center The university offers extensive graduate studies, awarding over 100 masters degrees and 38 doctoral degrees. Applications for admission are accepted until registration. Early application is advised. Rolling admissions: December 1 for Spring Semester; May 1 for Summer School; August 1 for Fall Semester.

University of Dallas (Irving, Texas) A private, Roman Catholic institution founded in 1955, the U of D has developed a reputation for serious study. The Graduate School of Management is the second largest school of management in the Southwest, offering the MBA in eight specializations. A five-year “through plan” in which a liberal arts BA and an MBA are awarded is another option for the UD undergraduate interested in a business career.

University of Texas at Arlington (Arlington, Texas) UTA is the largest university in North Texas and the second largest component in the University of Texas System. Admission procedures are simple: students graduating in the first or highest quarter of their high school classes have no minimum score. Students graduating in the second quarter must score 700 on the SAT or a composite of 15 on the ACT. Third and fourth quarter students have stricter requirements. Deadlines (or the 1987 summer sessions are May 15. Fall registration deadline is August 1.

University of Texas at Dallas (Richardson. Texas) UT-Dallas offers only junior, senior, masters and PhD level courses. Undergraduates must complete 54 semesters hours of study at the freshman and sophomore level and have a 2.0 grade point average before applying to the university. Application, whether at the undergraduate or graduate level, should be made at least 45 days prior to the beginning of the first semester of study.

University of Texas at Tyler (Tyler, Texas) Recognized as a broad spectrum liberal arts university, UT Tyler provides programs oriented toward the professions as well as specialized careers. UT Tyler offers 45 bachelors and 23 masters degrees through day and evening classes at the junior, senior and graduate levels.

Austin College benefits from Its metro area connections



Most people in Dallas know that Austin College is located just a little more than an hour north of Dallas in Sherman. But what they may not know is that Austin College and Dallas are closer than they seem – in many ways.

The lone survivor of the 135 institutions of higher education chartered by Texas between 1845 and the Civil War, Austin College was founded in 1849 by Presbyterians and originally was located in Huntsville. The college was moved to Sherman in 1876 because of a yellow fever epidemic and the harsh realities of Reconstruction.

Many graduates have received diplomas from Austin College since the college’s first degree was awarded in 1854. Many alumni have distinguished themselves in their chosen professions from medicine to politics, to theater, to law. Their accomplishments have served to alert succeeding generations that a degree from Austin College is special.

From a pre-ministerial student at Austin College to a recognized leader of world Christianity, Dr. James I. McCord, ’38, received the prestigious Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion in 1986 from Britain’s Princess Alexandra. Dr. John F. Anderson, ’41, the retired pastor of Dallas’ First Presbyterian Church, served as moderator of General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (US).

In medicine, the late Dr. Truman Blocker, ’29, a pioneer in plastic and burn surgery, served as president of the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and of the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. Dr. Daniel Martinez, ’45, is an otolaryngologist associated with the Presbyterian Medical Center in Dallas.

In the business world, Dallasite Joseph W. Hight, ’38, is a former president of Dun and Bradstreet Companies Inc. Richardson resident Jack Jackson, ’38, served as president of the J.C. Penney Co. and Clifford J. Grum, ’56, has served as executive vice-president of Time Inc., and is now president of Temple-Inland. Dr. Barbara Williams, ’54, is vice-president of the Rand Corporation. Dallas brothers Steve, ’71, and Bob Schiff, ’74, own and operate Schiff and Co. and Schiff and Jackson Oil Producers, and Tele-Image Inc., respectively.

In education, Linus Wright, ’49, is superintendent of the Dallas Independent School District; Dr. Dan West, 62, is president of Arkansas College; Dr. C. Ellis Nelson, ’38, is former president of Louisville Presbyterian Seminary, and Carol McDonald, 72, is president of ICUT (Independent Colleges and Universities of Texas).

Former student-athletes have also distinguished themselves professionally. Gene Babb, ’58, is an administrator for National Football Scouting Inc.; Donnie Duncan, ’62, is athletic director at the University of Oklahoma; and Kedric Couch, ’55, is an assistant athletic director for the DISD.

Austin College graduates have recorded accomplishments in other professions as well. Attorney Jim Rolfe, ’65, is a partner with the Ravkind and Rolfe law tirm in Dallas and is a former U.S. federal attorney. Luis Man-ueco-Jenkins, ’62, is a senior official of the United Nations based in Vienna, and Tom Evans, ’69, is director of research for the NBC Radio Networks in New York City.

Artist Nancy Chambers, 74, has been named as one of the “six rising stars” by Texas Homes magazine and Margaret Desmond. 75, is a design associate with Wasserman and Associates in New York.

Five members of the college’s senior board of trustees are Dallasites-Dr. William M, Elliott Jr., Cecil H. Green. J. Erik Jonsson, W.C. (Dub) Miller and Ed E. Sammons.

Six more Dallas-area residents are members of the board of trustees. They are Toddie Lee Wynne Jr., Charles (Bo) Miller, Robert J. Wright and alumni Anderson, Hight and Jackson.

The Dallas connection has left its mark on campus as well in the forms of Wynne Chapel. Caruth Hall, the Ida Green Communication Center, Margaret Jonsson Plaza and the Hoblitzelle Computer Center.

Maintaining contacts with the Dallas community is important to Austin College which operates a regional office located at the Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church at 9800 Preston Road. Approximately 1,400 alumni in Dallas form the largest chapter in the college’s growing National Alumni Association.

Not only do alumni help in fund-raising efforts, but they also take an active role in the lives of current students through the Austin College LEADS Program (Letting Effective Alumni Direct Students). Designed as a networking system to provide career assistance in securing jobs after graduation, the LEADS Program also provides opportunities for sophomore or junior students to explore different career fields.

Related by covenant to the Presbyterian Church (USA), Austin College takes its role of education in the Judeo-Christian tradition seriously That relationship extends closer to home through the churches in the immediate Sherman and Denison area and to Dallas as well. Three Dallas churches, in particular, have had mutually beneficial relationships with Austin College through several generations: the Highland Park Presbyterian Church, Preston Hollow and the First Presbyterian Church.

Jana Bryant

Students add a special dimension to campus life



Mary Coley of Richardson explains that one of the main things which drew her to Austin College was the college’s reputation for pre-medical studies and successful admission of its students to medical schools. Mary is now a sophomore at AC majoring in art. See the connection? No. this is not a case of a student who found biology too demanding and decided to change majors. Mary hopes, in a few years, to enter graduate school and study medical illustration.

Mary’s story is just one of many which tells how the liberal arts education offered at Austin College fits the needs of students. The college’s small size and flexibility of course schedulings offer students the opportunity to pursue career goals while developing a well-rounded educational base.

Austin College is home to 1,175 students (as well as 80 full-time and 15 part-time faculty members) who are “typical” in many ways. The latest fashion trends are evident on campus, and students enjoy socializing and having a good time. Issues that concern college students all over the world are important to Austin College students, too. While the Austin College population fits into many of the national patterns, there are areas in which Austin College’s “typical” students are unique.

A few statistics provide a closer look at AC students. Women outnumber men by four percent in the class which enrolled this September. Of the 286 members of that class 88 percent-or 251 students-are Texans. Among those students, sizable percentages arrived at AC via Dallas. Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, Austin and the Sherman area. Eleven percent of the freshman class hail from other states, representing every area of the United States. Three percent of the total student body are residents of foreign countries including Canada. China. Columbia, Germany. Great Britain, Hong Kong, India. Jordan, Korea, Libya, Malta, Mexico, Pakistan, Puerto Rico and Vietnam.

Each year a quarter of the freshman class at Austin College comes from the Dallas area. The class of 1990 is no exception. This fall, 90 freshmen from 18 Dallas-area high schools enrolled at AC. Skyline, Hill-crest, Highland Park. Lake Highlands, Jesuit College Preparatory. Arts Magnet High and Ursuline Academy are represented by two or more current freshmen. A number of freshmen from Richardson. Piano and Duncanville also enrolled at AC this year, and 20 first-year students came from the Fort Worth area this fall. And how do these students from major urban areas adjust to the small, 60-acre campus and the Sherman community of 35,000 persons? Trace Haythorn. a Dallas senior majoring in psychology and business, pointed out that for most students the 60-mile trip to Dallas is a viable recreational option. “I even held down a job in Piano for over a year driving back and forth. It’s really not that far.”

Cheryl Jones, a Fort Worth senior says she probably averages one trip a week to the Dallas area. “Sherman is smaller,” she said, “but you’re so busy you don’t have time to think about it, The students here seem more devoted to their studies than their social lives and seem to have a lot of long-term goals.”

Devotion to studies is evident when you examine the high school performance of this year’s freshmen. Sixty-six percent of AC’S freshmen this fall graduated in the top 25 percent of their high school class. Their Scholastic Aptitude Test results show mean scores of 508 for the verbal section and 538 on the math portion of the test.

The aspirations and future goals of Austin College students are high. An incredible percentage of students will go on to pursue masters and doctoral degrees. In fact, one in five reported their probable career occupations as physicians, one of seven plans to go into law, and for each prospective attorney there is a future business owner. Additionally, one out of 20 freshmen plans to go into engineering.

Those aspirations may seem a little unrealistic until you take a closer look at a few other facts about the college. Nine out of every ten Austin College students who applied for admission to medical school this fall were accepted. Students who apply for admission to law and dental schools also have a highly successful acceptance rate.

Many students report that the overall academic reputation of Austin College led to their enrollment. Mary Kerrigan, a Dallas history major, said that when she first began to consider AC it didn’t seem that many people were aware of the college. “But the more I began looking,” she said. “I found AC had a very good reputation. Many people 1 talked with didn’t know about the college, but those who did thought very highly of it.”

Austin College is a small campus, but that doesn’t mean options are limited. Students participate in theater, musical groups, social and service organizations, student government, college administration councils. intramurals, intercollegiate athletics, religious organizations and other activities, plus a rigorous academic schedule. “I’ve been a member of at least 15 organizations from administrative advising committees to Greek organizations to intramural sports. The opportunity for involvement here is more than adequate,” said Haythorn. who transferred to AC after one year at SMU.

After going to SMU and watching football there, Haythorn found a different approach in Austin College athletics. “But there’s a special pride in knowing that when our teams do something worthy of national recognition (including a national championship in football five years ago), there’s real quality there,” said Haythorn. “The team members also are making excellent grades in one of the best schools in the country”

Athletics, like class sizes and campus buildings, may be on a smaller scale at Austin College, but the size does not speak for its quality. “I’d say Austin College is the best school in the Southwest in terms of total academics,” said Haythorn. “I attribute that to the small size. We deserve the national recognition that we get.”

Each year, as more students graduate from Austin College and become successful community members, more and more people discover the quality education and preparation signified by an Austin College degree. Many are surprised at the record of this small college. But many Dallas students are discovering that size and numbers are not everything and an opportunity for personal growth and advancement can be found just a short drive north of home.

Vickie S. Kirby

Austin College’s faculty enhances the liberal arts

At Austin College, where teaching effectiveness and faculty-student interaction are primary concerns, the responsibility to assist the student in the transition from high school to college is taken seriously.

“Austin College,” says President Harry E. Smith, “encourages students to explore values and meaning, formal reasoning, historical and social perspective, literature and written languages, social issues and decision-making. Our educational program is based upon the conviction that college should be a time for personal growth and development, a learning experience in which students accumulate not only course credits and grade points, but also gain an understanding of who they are, what will be required of them in the future and the ability to cope with new demands and expectations.”

Austin College’s Mentor Program helps accomplish these goals. This special relationship between faculty member and student begins in the freshman Cl (Communication Inquiry) classes where faculty members provide students with basic skills for adjusting to college and in using its resources effectively.

Once students are assigned to a Cl group, the faculty member then serves as the students’ mentor until graduation. Through this program students and faculty are able to develop a personal relationship that can extend beyond graduation day.

Faculty members of Austin College are committed to students and the liberal arts. “Here, faculty members are expected to teach not only introductory and advanced courses in their fields but also to be involved with interdisciplinary work in the Heritage of Western Culture Sequence, the Contemporary Policy Studies Program or the Honors Program. It’s quite different here from the larger university where faculty are more specialized,” says Dr. David Jordan, dean of the faculty and vice president for academic affairs.

Faculty also are encouraged to remain active in their professions through research and other activities, but that activity does not come at the expense of classroom teaching or the individual development of the student.

“Austin College is not a ’publish or perish place,’” says Dr. Jordan. “Our first concern is for teaching effectiveness. To be an outstanding teacher calls for not only pedagogical knowledge, but also continued intellectual vigor in one’s discipline.”

Austin College faculty members have distinguished themselves in their professional fields. In 1986, Dr. Light Cummins, the Guy M. Bryan Jr. Professor of American History, was awarded Spain’s “Fifth Centennial Prize” for his manuscript on the foundation of diplomatic relations between the United States and Spain.

Sigma Delta Pi, the honorary Spanish society, awarded Dr. Nelson DeVega the prestigious 1986 Premio Jose Martel for his outstanding contributions to the study of Hispanic culture. Another language faculty member, Dr. David Stout was named as Texas’ outstanding language teacher a couple of years ago by the Texas Foreign Language Association. As another example, Dr. Bernice Melvin and Dr. Cynthia Manley of the language faculty spoke to a national convention of language teachers meeting in Dallas during November about teaching techniques.

Dr, George Diggs, a plant evolutionary biologist, continues to conduct research on plants in Mexico and Central America that could have applications for use in erosion control in parts of Mexico.

Business management, is the specialty of Dr. Jerry Johnson, holder of the Ca-ruth Chair of Management, endowed by the Hillcrest Foundation in memory of Mr. and Mrs. W.W. Caruth Sr. Dr. Johnson is a specialist in Japanese management techniques and regularly presents workshops and lectures in the Dallas area.

This year the college is hosting Hiroyuki Taniguchi, a Fulbright fellow from Japan, who is teaching courses on Japanese and Asian topics. A political scientist, Dr. Taniguchi is a professor on the faculty of law at Kobe Gakuin University in Japan. He will participate in a symposium on modern Japan which Austin College will host Feb. 2-6.

An impressive international studies program also has been strengthened through student and faculty participation in the National Model United Nations. AC’s residential language house program facilitates the study of foreign languages, and language competitions on campus attract students from across Texas and Oklahoma. In addition, January Terms provide opportunities for study abroad and specialized, concentrated research or studies.

The same philosophy of commitment of faculty to students is echoed in the commitment of the college to its faculty. Through 17 endowed professorships, a number of other endowments in the instructional program and career development funds, faculty members are encouraged and supported in independent and group research projects.

The smallness of Austin College encourages flexibility and creativity among the faculty to respond to student needs and interests as well. For example, communication arts professor Dr. Dub Narramore 10 years ago took a summer theater company to Mo-Ranch in the Texas Hill Country, and with the help of other faculty and students in the intervening years, established a tradition of summer theater experiences for students.

Social science students under the direction of Dr. Ken Street, Moseley professor of government and public policy, participate in the Social Science Laboratory whose work this academic year is supported in part by M/A/R/C Inc., a Dallas-based marketing research firm. The lab regularly conducts opinion surveys on campus and in the surrounding communities.

Students at Austin College also are exposed to a number of other experts in various professions through the college’s schedule of lectures and convocations that have included Oscar-winning playwright Norton Foote and Newsweek editor Jerrold Footlick in 1986.

The number of faculty members at AC has grown -from three when classes began in 1850-to over 80 today. Many things have changed about the college in the intervening 137 years, but the vision of a distinctive living-learning community that provides a quality liberal arts education has not.

Jana Bryant



Facilities reflect AC’S Dallas ties



On a residential campus of more than 60 acres. Austin College’s facilities feature areas for study, living, recreation and meditation.

Many of the facilities on the campus are tied historically to the generosity of leading families of the Dallas-Fort Worth area and provide yet another dimension of the relationship between this small liberal arts college in Sherman and the people of Dallas.

Situated on the north central portion of the campus is the state-of-the-art Abell Library Center. Officially dedicated in October, this 60,000 square-foot learning center provides a traditional library setting with “extras” including a microcomputer lab, media distribution center and learning resources center. The library, with 469 titles in microform, still has shelf space to hold 240,000 volumes-enough for 25 years of growth. Partially funded by a grant from the Meadows Foundation of Dallas, the library center will meet the needs of Austin College students well into the 21st century.

Nearby is the “Solstice Calendar,” a 70-ton granite sculpture used to determine the longest and shortest days of the year Mr. and Mrs. Heywood Clemons of Fort Worth contributed significantly to the project. Clemons is chairman of AC’s Board of Trustees.

The Moody Science Center, directly to the east of the Abell Library Center, houses the biology, chemistry, mathematics and physics programs. The building includes laboratories, classrooms, offices, shops, reading rooms and a 160-seat lecture hall. It also houses Hoblitzelle Computer Center, funded by the Hoblitzelle Foundation of Dallas, which is a creative asset to the whole educational program. The Moody Science Center is functionally tied to Thompson Hall, which prior to 1965 served as the science building on campus.

Directly west of the Abell Library Center is Craig Hall, the music and art facility. The music wing features classrooms, sound-proof practice rooms, faculty offices and a recital room capable of accommodating an audience of more than 200. The art wing contains a gallery, lounge, faculty offices, a lecture demonstration room, a visual laboratory and studios for work in design, ceramics and sculpture.

The Caruth Administration Building, named in honor of the W.W. Caruth family of Dallas, is located in the center of the campus. It features an executive suite of offices, administrative and faculty offices, lecture rooms, laboratories and classrooms.

Situated on the eastern edge of the campus are two buildings which date to the early days of Austin College’s Sherman history. At the northeast corner is Luckett Hall, a three-story residence hall for men, Completed in 1908, it is the oldest building on campus, but a major renovation of the building was completed in 1984.

Sherman Hall was given to Austin College in 1914 by the citizens of Sherman to replace Old Main, the first permanent building on the Sherman campus, which was destroyed by fire in 1913. Old Main was set on fire by a homesick Oklahoma student who figured if there wasn’t a building to hold classes in, he, no doubt, would be allowed to return to his home. Located south of Luckett Hall, Sherman Hall includes faculty offices, the Faye Loving Shelton Language Laboratory, theVinson Conference Room and Hoxie Thompson Auditorium.

Hopkins Center, adjacent to Sherman Hall and a gift of the Arthur Hopkins family, served until the completion of the Abell Library Center as the college’s library. It has been transformed into a building which houses classes and offices related to the social sciences. It features faculty offices, the Social Science Laboratory with computer capabilities, the Experimental Psychology Laboratory and the World Affairs Office.

The Lyndall Finley Wortham Center, located on the southeast corner of the campus, is a two-story multi-purpose center which houses offices for admission and financial planning, public information, alumni relations, annual funds and development. Nearby is the Austin College Honors Court, where the names of every graduate and board member in the college’s history are etched on bronze plaques, and the Zauk Circle Drive and Garden which was funded by Mr. and Mrs. William W. Collins of Fort Worth.

Wynne Chapel, named for long-time board chairman Tod-die Lee Wynne Sr. of Dallas and a focal point of religious activities on campus, is across from the Caruth Administration Building. The chapel’s large auditorium is used for worship services and college functions. A smaller chapel is utilized for student devotionals and lectures. The building also contains the office of the college chaplain, choir room and conference rooms. In the spire is the carillon, a cluster of 24 finely tuned bronze bells handcast in Holland which chimes each quarter-hour, half-hour and hour. Also in the spire is the Sam Houston Bell, named for the famous Texas historical figure, who was a member of the first board of trustees of the college.

Serving as the location for most student social activities on campus, the Student Union Building across from the Abell Library Center, recently has been refurbished and features the college dining hall, bookstore, post office, snack bar and lounge.

Adjoining the Student Union Building on the south side is the Ida Green Communication Center A gift of Mr. and Mrs. Cecil H. Green of Dallas, the three-story center houses a main theater accommodating 500 persons plus a flexible, functional arena theater The Ida Green Communication Center also features a studio theater, an art gallery, television studios and Cecil Green Conference Suite.

The Hughey Gymnasium and the Sid W. Richardson Recreational Center are located to the west of the Ida Green Communication Center Hughey Gym contains a double basketball playing floor equipped with telescopic bleachers, dressing rooms, offices, a dance studio, rooms for physical therapy, and a physical fitness center which has weight training equipment. The Sid W. Richardson Recreational Center, funded by the Richardson Foundation of Fort Worth, includes the Hannah Natatorium and has sauna baths, handball and racquet-ball courts, an auditorium that can seat 2,000 persons, dressing rooms, the Corrigan Guest Lodge and the varsity field house. The Cawthon Athletic Honor Room, another part of the recreational complex, serves as a lounge area for athletes and campus organizations.

Other sports facilities include the Elizabeth Russell Tennis Stadium, located in front of Hughey Gymnasium, which features six doubles courts, one singles court, practice backboards and seating for 750 spectators; Louis Calder Stadium for football which seats 2,500 persons; and Crowdus Baker Athletic Field, adjacent to the tennis stadium, which serves as a multi-purpose area for baseball, soccer, football practice and intramural sports.

Residence halls are centrally located on campus so students are only minutes away from classroom, library and recreational facilities.

A walk down Windsor Mall, which extends through the well-landscaped campus to the Margaret Jonsson Plaza completes the tour The plaza, a gift from Erik and Margaret Jonsson of Dallas, which features an amphitheater-fountain, a large plaza court and a second fountain, is yet another reminder of Austin College’s longstanding relationship with Dallas. That relationship has helped build a campus and a college which elicit a justified sense of pride.

Susan Stevens

A great reputation it nurtured by people, programs



“Reputation is an idle and most false imposition; oft got without merit, and lost without deserving.”

William Shakespeare

A reputation is a curious phenomenon. Shakespeare believed a reputation had a life of its own – independent of one’s actions or merits, dependent upon those who might sit in judgment, A reputation, like so many things in life, never remains constant. It either grows in a positive direction or it declines.

Austin College’s reputation has been growing in a positive direction since the college’s founding in 1849 by the Reverend Daniel Baker, a Princeton-educated Presbyterian missionary. The oldest college in the state still operating under its original charter, Austin College enjoys a remarkable heritage in Texas higher education. Sam Houston and Anson Jones, presidents of the Texas Republic, served on the college’s original board of trustees. Austin College opened the first law school in the state in 1855, and it was the first college in the state to award graduate degrees in 1856. The first college in Texas to have a chapter of a national fraternity (Phi Delta Theta) on campus, Austin College also was the site of the first college YMCA building erected west of the Mississippi River.

Historical “firsts” and traditions are important, but reputations in higher education aren’t based on events that happened a century-or even a decade-ago. Austin College’s faculty, programs, students and alumni make the college’s excellent reputation a reality. It is a reputation, however, that must be nurtured every day or, as the bard of Avon put it, it may be “lost without deserving,” Without dedicated faculty members who love to teach and who enjoy seeing others learn, AC’s reputation as an outstanding liberal arts college would quickly fade. Innovative programs and a value-centered educational approach within a classic liberal arts framework provide the raison d’etre for Austin College’s faculty members. Our diverse and talented students respond well to the challenges of learning-by striving to reach their potential and seeking to understand valuable lessons about their own worth and creativity. No matter how dedicated the faculty or talented the students may be, the reputation of any college depends, as well, on the accomplishments of its alumni. Despite the relatively small numbers of alumni to earn degrees at Austin College during the past 137 years, a disproportionate number of the college’s alumni has garnered remarkable acclaim and won outstanding achievements in a wide variety of professions. (Please see the brief listing in the introductory article.)

Austin College’s reputation continues to grow because of the men and women who are associated with the college and because of its academic programs. But, aside from generalities, what is that reputation? Perhaps the best way to focus on that issue is to examine what independent evaluators have said about Austin College during the past few years.

●Austin College has been included in every editionof the Selective Guide to Colleges, com piled by EdwardB. Fiske, New York Times education editor. AC was oneof only eight Texas schools included in the first guidepublished in 1982, That first edition came under attackfor using a controversial star system to rate categoriessuch as academics, social life and quality of life Despitebeing only one-tenth the size of the other seven Texasinstitutions included in the guide, Austin College wasrated lower than only the University of Texas at Austinand Rice University. Austin College has been includedin every succeeding edition of the guide The 1986 edition says this: “Good private liberal arts colleges are fewand far between in this state where bigger is better. Buttiny Austin College, located an hour north of Dallas,turns isolation and small size into virtues by offering ahighly personalized education. . .. Preprofessionalareas are Austin’s specialties. When it comes time toapply to professional schools, Austin’s pre-medstudents have the highest acceptance rate of any Texasschool, and dental and law hopefuls also do well.Science, education and language departments all winhigh marks.”

●A couple of years ago, Changing Times ranked Austin College as one of the best bargains in college education and ranked AC among the 50 colleges in the nation that offer high academic standards and below-average prices.

●U.S. News and World Report published an articlein November, 1985. that rated Austin College as one ofthe top 15 regional liberal arts colleges in America.

●Peterson’s Guide to Competitive Colleges includesAustin College in its current edition along with 296 of themost prestigious, competitive colleges and universitiesin America.

●Included in the Best Buys in College Education,which is also edited by Fiske of the New York Times,Austin College receives high grades for its academicquality and the value of that education. The editor says:”Austin College students get a lot of professor for theirmoney. Its program rests on the idea that the studenthas the continued help of a faculty ’mentor’ in designing his or her education. This Individualized Development Program helps make Austin what one studentcalls ’the most liberal-minded college in the Southwest!”

The cost, incidentally, for the 1986-87 academic year at Austin College is $8,875, which includes tuition, room and board, and a student activity fee. More than 80 percent of AC’s students qualify for some form of financial aid. During the 1986-87 academic year, applicants from families of four or more (with two in college) and with family income of up to $55,000 qualified for some financial assistance Students and parents seeking admission information should contact the Admission Office, 900 North Grand Avenue, Sherman, Texas 75090 or AC’S Dallas Regional Office, located at 9800 Preston Road, Dallas 75230. The phone number of the Dallas office is (214) 373-1070 or you may prefer to use our toll-free number (Texas only) 1-800-442-5363 to call the Admission Office at Sherman.

Austin College’s teacher education program continues to receive national acclaim for its positive impacton the teaching profession. Last spring, in the firstadministration of the ExCET-a battery of examsgraduates must pass before receiving a teachingcertificate -Austin Teacher Program students outscoredthose from the other 65 teacher education programs inTexas. Austin College was one of only two institutions inwhich 100 percent of those taking the ExCET passed.,

Most recently. Austin College was the subject of afeature in the Dallas Morning News. Although not originally included in a survey sent by the newspaper tochief academic officers around the nation asking themto rate the most influential and visible institutions inTexas, Austin College received the lion’s share of write-invotes by educators as a college that should be accorded special recognition. The newspaper reported: “In atypical comment, one survey respondent called AustinCollege ’a really good, solid small liberal arts collegethat has and deserves an excellent regional reputation.”’

The examples could continue, almost ad infinitum. But you get the idea. Austin College’s solid reputation is not illusory. It’s real, and it’s widely recognized. As Publilius Syrus once noted, “A good reputation is more valuable than money.” While that opinion was voiced in much simpler times, perhaps most graduates of Austin College would be quick to point out as well, that, should they desire it, because of one it is easier to accumulate the other.

J.D. Fuller