Daily Ip Trojan
University of Southern California
Volume L(VIII, No. 21	Los Angeles, California	Wednesday, October 15, 1975
Faculty Senate committee to study enrollment size
By Julie Fosgate
A Faculty Senate subcommittee investigating the increasing size of the student body and its possible effects on the quality of education will meet today foi the first time.
Last month the senate passed a resolution stating that “runaway increases in the size of the student body in the past two years have had a deleterious effect on the quality of education.”
Figures obtained from the Office of the Registrar showed full-time undergraduate enrollment for fall, 1973, at 8,915. Totals for the fall of 1975 have not been tabulated, but the number for spring 1975 was 9,386.
Total university enrollment, including graduate and part-time students, increased from 20,289 to 21,215 for the same period.
The Faculty Senate proposed that this question of quality in education should be the primary consideration in future decisions regarding the size of the student body.
“I don’t think any member of the administration wants to downgrade the quality of education, but sometimes they lose sight of this objective,” Norman Cliff, professor of psychology and chairman of the senate committee, said.
faculty became aware of the
problem through increases in the size of their classes and the fact that even when classes are full there are often more students who want in, Cliff said.
Observations such as these led some faculty members to wonder if perhaps the university was accommodating more students than it had planned. 1
Paul E. Hadley, associate vice-president for academic administration and research, said, “We are vitally concerned that academic quality be preserved.”
The Committee on the Impact of Enrollment on Teaching, comprised of Cliff and four other faculty members, will examine the distribution of class size and the number of classes which are held in rooms unsuitable for their size.
Hadley said the administration welcomes this kind of study. “We would like to see the results of the investigation to know where facilities are overtaxed and what devices the departments have employed to meet the situation,” he said.
He called the committee typical of the constructive attitude the senate has shown in recent years.
The committee hopes to have a report ready for the Faculty Senate’s monthly meeting in December.
Cliff said that a possible out-
MODEL SOLDIER?-Tommy Trojan may not be quite ready for combat, due to the absence of his sword. However, pledges of the Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity have seen fit to make the warrier the Best Dressed Statue in Battle.
Annual financial report shows university has balanced budget
By Don La Plante
executive news editor
Continuing a long-standing tradition, the university ended the 1975 fiscal year last June 30 with a balanced budget.
The university reported this in its annual financial report, issued by the Board of Trustees on Oct. 1.
The budget for the 1975 fiscal year was a record high $155 million, which represented an increase of 21% from the previous fiscal year.
While the expenditures increased, so did revenues. The income from student tuition and fees increased 21%. That was accomplished through an increase in tuition of about 8% and an increase in enrollment of 15%.
There was a slight increase in the amount spent for administration and libraries and a slight decrease in the amount spent for instruction and department research.
Although the amount spent on student aid increased from $9.5 million to $11.2 million, it represented no increase in the percent of the budget. The 1975 budget had 7% allotted for student aid. This represents an increase from 6% in 1966.
The financial aid budget has increased from just under $3 million in 1966 to more than $11 million, but in that time the university budget has increased 200%, and enrollment has increased more than 25%.
The student aid budget is also composed heavily of federal funds. Of the $11.2 million devoted to student aid, about $4 million of that was in the form of university money and the rest either federal or state money, said Michael J. Scarpelli, director of the student aid office.
Other statistics in the report show that although the budget has tripled in 10 years, the amount spent on libraries and artgalleries has gone up from $1 million in 1966 to $2.5 million last year, an increase of 150%—less than the increase in the total budget.
The amount spent on the administration and other expenses also has not kept pace with the general budget increases. Funds
spent on administration have gone from slightly under $6 million in 1966 to $17 million, an increase of about 185%.
One area of the budget that has increased faster than the general spending is that for instruction and department research. The budget for that category has gone from $22 million to more than $70 million, an increase of 225%.
The report showed that the university is not doing as well as in past years in profits from auxiliary services, such as the residence halls, the bookstore and Graphic Services. In the past five years, the category in the report had shown a profit of revenues over expenditures of about $1 million. In 1975, aux-
ihe President’s Advisory Council will hear reports on the university’s financial outlook and the reorganization of the Student Administrative Services Division, among other topics, at a meeting Friday.
William G. Wagner, dean ofthe Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, will comment on student financial aid problems and admission policies. He will also make a presentation on the status of the Admissions Office, the Student Aid Office and the Registrar’s Office.
Wagner’s report will include a discussion of the following major points:
Of the approximately 10,000 students who applied for financial aid this year, about 9,900 have received finalized awards.
Those who have not received a final award may have failed to apply for a California State Scholarship or a Basic Opportunity Grant or may not have been expected to register at the university and therefore didn’t receive an aid package.
Wagner will also discuss the fact that the number of applications for admission has risen from 13,621 in 1973 to 17,181 this fall. In addition, the grade-point average of entering freshmen
iliary services still showed a profit, but it was only $78,000.
The figures for the most recent fiscal year also showed that the additions to the physical plant of the university in buildings and equipment were more than double that of the previous fiscal year. This can be accounted for by the completion of new buildings in the computer science area and parts of the Performing Arts Complex.
The university also showed an increase in its endowment funds by $5 million to a total of $68 million. Although it grew 8% over the year, that was only 40% of the size of the budget increase.
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has also increased from 3.2 in 1970 to 3.3 this fall.
If this trend continues it will be possible to establish increasingly selective policies for undergraduate admission, Wagner said.
Wagner will report that as part of the reorganization of the Student Administrative Services, Michael Scarpelli has been appointed director of the Student Aid Office. The search for a new director for Student Administrative Services has been postponed to allow various key personnel to assist Scarpelli in the resolution of student’s problems.
In addition to Wagner’s presentation, Zohrab A. Kaprielian, executive vice-president, and Colin MacLeod, director of financial services, will discuss the university’s financial outlook.
John Griffith, executive assistant to the PAC chairman, said another item on the agenda at Friday’s meeting will be consideration of the bylaws revision proposal.
Griffith said the bylaws are mostly technical simplifications. “There was deliberately no inclusion of substantive changes in the revision of the bylaws,” he said.
PAC to review aid, admissions policy
come of the report would be a policy-making board for enrollment that would include faculty members.
In the past, almost complete concern has been placed on the financial status for that year when considering enrollment, Cliff said.
“More students mean that the university is better off financially,” he said.
The objective of the committee is to determine if this has led to a decline in quality of education and how widespread the problem might be.
Hadley said the administra-(continued on page 3)
PICKIN' AND A GRINNIN'—A bystander observes a friendly jam session between Jeff Flori (left) and Henry Cendejas. The dueling guitarists practiced Tuesday afternoon in Fagg Park. DT photo by Patty Cox.