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Show According to President William P. Miller, finances are probably Weber State's biggest problem. Recent growth has required widely expanded facilities. "Trying to find the finances to employ a well-qualified faculty in the required numbers," seems to be a major concern. The President seems devoted to keeping the administration "sensitive to changes and requests" despite the inhibiting size factor. "My door has always been open to any students," says the President, "yet I try not to undermine other peoples' positions." President Miller believes that his administration's close cooperation with the new unified school board will enable Weber State to make the physical and staff ex-pansions needed to meet the rapid rise of enrollment. "We now have between ten and eleven thousand students," he explained, "not double-counting day stu-dents who are also registered for evening classes." Concerning dissent on campuses across the nation, President Miller says, "A campus is an appropriate place for a discussion of issues. We shouldn't be afraid to discuss either side of any question." "I'm not worried about the people up here," he confided. "Some of them have strong emotional feelings but I have confidence that they will approach their problems in intelligent ways." President Miller is experienced in cooperative ventures. He is in his seventeenth year as president of Weber State. His leadership has helped to bring Weber its greatest period of growth and improvement. Despite this growth rate, President Miller appears to remain quality oriented. Throughout the interview, President Miller repeatedly emphasized that Weber State College is operated for the students. He stressed that every student is important. An impression from the interview: President Miller appears to be a well-qualified, conscientious college president. Like any college president, he probably has more work than he can easily handle and more problems than he can readily solve. The large size of his institution has virtually thrust some unwelcome bureaucracy upon him, but he admittedly likes it here. Most impressive of his responses is his "open door" invitation to changes and suggestions. With that kind of attitude by our president, it's no wonder that so many of us like it here too. Byron Wade. During the year, Dr. Hofmann, the Academic Vice-President of Weber State College, continued to do an outstanding job of maintaining an open liaison with both the faculty and the students. Besides acting as president of the Academic Council (the faculty version of the student senate), he also worked in conjunction with many student affairs and always stood ready to lend support and aid to worthwhile student projects. Weber is very fortunate to have such a man as this to preside over its academic functions, for he demonstrated in many ways his desire to communicate with the students and incorporate into the teaching plan the needs that were expressed by the students for their education. For example, every Thursday at noon Dr. Hofmann met with any students who wished to have lunch with him in the Sky Room. The discussions covered topics ranging from the basic importance of education to specifics such as plans to beautify and improve the campus. Having once been a student himself, he appreciates the needs and feelings of students, and has demonstrated a strong desire to make Weber State a valuable step in the progression of every student who studies here. Dr. Robert A. Clarke says, "The faculty, administration and physical facilities of Weber State College have only one purpose: to provide the best possible educa-tional opportunities for students." Dr. Clarke is the Adminisrtative Vice President and is Secretary of the Institutional Council. Many of the vital functions of the college are under the supervision of Dr. Clarke. His present responsibilities include: development of the ten-year master plan, helping to secure Federal grants for construction, responsibility for student personnel; providing for student health services, supervision of Weber's 270 staff employees, and tackling special assignments from President Miller. Dr. Clarke also works closely with Mr. Bad-ley of the Buildings and Grounds department and with Mr. Fred Johnson of Campus Planning. Dr. Clarke says that Weber State's biggest problem is "trying to keep physical facilities up with the rapid rise in enrollment." The new facilities are being built with the concepts of "modular construction." According to Dr. Clarke the new buildings are being constructed with "enough flexibility tha graduate work could be accommodated to a certain extent." "It has been an exciting time to be in the school during this period of growth," concludes Dr. Clarke. Byron Wade Dr. James R. Foulger is the Business Vice President and Treasurer. The daily business routine and long-term business planning fall under Dr. Foulger's supervision of college physical facilities; custodian of all school funds; maintaining the college's account-system; issuing student loans; reviewing college contracts; and many other related activities. Dr. Foulger is treasurer of the Institutional Council, and feels that the new unified school board "is going to make a definite contribution to higher education in the state of Utah." "We realize that because of limited funds, higher education must be handled on a state-wide basis, rather than an institutional one." Dr. Foulger is an advisor to the student government on budgeting and operating according to sound financial principles. "We're extremely fortunate to have such a high caliber of student officers," he expressed. "They have been very mature in their thinking . . . they have been aware of problems and have tried to use rea-sonable methods to solve them." Although Dr. Foulger fears that "our building problem won't be able to keep up with enrollment," he does feel that the administration is handling the problems created by growth in an appropriate manner. "Because of our size, we can't deal on a personal level to the extent we did as a junior college," he explained. He continued, however, to stress the "open door" policy practiced by members of the administration. "We are ready to talk to students at any time," he insists. |