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Show Weber State College Comment, June 1985, page 2 —Reflections society shifting to information age In this issue: by Dr. Allen F. Simkins Dean, School of Business Economics Adult Learners.............. 10 Alumnews......... es 8- Class reunions................. 3) and ecently while attending a conference, I had the unique opportunity to hear John Naisbitt, author of Megatrends, describe fundamental changes in our world society that I believe will have significant implications for higher education. His remarks described the dramatic Crystal Crest... 11 Daylight savings............. 4 DBeOOIeIs 2a 4 Honorary degrees.......... 3 Lees... 2. Vee 6-7 New president.............. a changes in our from industrial an society as we move to an information economy. This rapid shift from a society of laborers to a society of clerks operating in an electronic information age is forcing a reinvention of the modern world Presidential honors......... 2 equally as dramatic as the previous Reflections..................... 2 shift from an agricultural to an ineconomy. During this period Research conference. .1O dustrial of fundamental change, all segments of Utah Musical Theatre...10 society are being forced to automate operating procedures, modify attitudes Wood house.............. on and behaviors in dealing with customers and_ restructure their organizations to better provide a more productive and effective work environment to develop human potential and fulfillment. This phenomena which will impact us all is perhaps most visible currently in the banking industry as it desparately attempts to reinvent itself and respond to the rapid technological ad- Executive Decor _ vance in information processing, a Edith Hester | | significantly more intensive com_ Development Officer _ _ | petitive environment, and tremendous_ Don E. Spainhower _| ly evolving and increasing demands for financial services. Perhaps less visible _| but equally dramatic, all segments of | business are being impacted, service in- _ Weber State _ College Alumni | Assn. ~ Susan C. Krusell - Lee J. Malan Paul Neuenschwander __ Tlene K. Parker other organizations must turn our | organization charts upside down and become more customer oriented. We must provide more _ participatory | management at all levels of the . ‘Sianton M. Taylor Pat H. Williams © _|Comment _ Sharon C. Young | My wife and | really enjoy your alumni newspaper—COMMENT. I recently saw one of my friends—that I'd played football with— described in your paper. That was real nice. Those of us alumni who returned to our out-of-state areas enjoy the renewal of fond “Editor _ TJ. Bond oa = Kley | Comments | memories. team members from certain years. The alumni office will happy to help with arrangements for this type of activity. Any other ideas? Let us know by writing: COMMENT —1010 Weber State College Ogden, UT 84408 © pac The main reason I'm writing is to encourage you to come up with some method of alumni exchanging addresses. I don’t really know of a ‘COMMENT i is published four times ao / method—as perhaps some people do not want we October, January, April and June by . _ their addresses published. But, ] haven't seen the Department of College Relations, oO _ | some of my ex-football buddies in 15 years and _ Administration Building, Weber State 4 you may have these addresses. - _ College, Ose Utah 84408, I'd appreciate any assistance. Sincerely, OMMENT is mailed to ahora fol Darcy Wingo the business community and friends of P.O. Box 582 the college at no charge. Second cass Twain Harte, Ca., 95383 postage paid at Preston, ID - | Editor’s note: I cannot release addresses without | permission, however, if you want to make it Alumni Relations-1011 possible for classmates to reach you, I can, with cS _ WSC, ee u i ee | your written permission, print your address and | names of those you wish to hear from in the “Alumnews” sectionof COMMENT. (usps 791 360) Edie Hester, alumni director, suggests in| itiating a special reunion—for example, football POSTMASTER: form 3579 to - | I was delighted to receive Pam's copy of the COMMENT. I read every article—it put me in touch with Ogden and Weber State. The entire Ingebretsen family attended Weber State at some time—four graduated and one is still attending. We are also very proud of Randy Chatelain, son-in-law, who teaches at Weber. Karine, the youngest is still attending as a full time student. My life has become very exiting as the wife of an Air Force Three Star General, a wonderful person, who wishes he had graduated from Weber State. I had him really cheering at the basketball games we attended in the 1984 season when he was commander at Hill. Please continue to let me know about Weber State. Thank you, Ellie Reynolds our curricula around narrow specializations decreases the long term}. viability and marketability of our graduates. We must recognize that the world is changing from a need for specialists to a need for generalists. There is a premium on adaptablilty, yet many programs are currently producing graduates who will enter the workforce less able to respond to the current needs and demands of society than their parents. Not because they are less educated than their parents, but because programs have failed to keep pace with the extremely complex and evolving society in which we live. I observe in higher education that we are aware of what is happening, but I’m concerned that we are responding at much too slow a pace. Many of us ‘are continuing to hold on to familiar traditional models that have served us well in the past but which have lost their relevance in today’s world. | observe the corporate business world changing and evolving very rapidly, perhaps out of economic necessity. Those who are not responding are} finding themselves among the numerous business casualties we observe annually. Those- who are responding are finding success and profitability. Whether we realize it or not, we too, in higher education are finding ourselves in an increasingly competitive environment. We must respond through planned and thoughtful modification of traditional approaches or find our role in society deteriorated and taken over by other more progressive organizations. Corporations already spend more dollars annually on educating their employees than do the combined institutions of higher education because we are not responPlease see “Reflections” on page 11. mo;a "Roe Ae Cox. poner ce Davis— _ Dick Y. Hunsaker - Brent E Johns As other segments of society are beting forced to reinvent themselves, | likewise, higher education must be | responsive to the changing environ| ment. As an organizational unit in a : | changing world, we must keep pace with society as it evolves around inforou mation technologies. We too, like tal change. We must recognize that to structure O dustries. Change is everywhere around } us. organization, including students, staff and administrators.” We must break down the. departmental and school barriers that are artificially impeding a more integrative and interdisciplinary approach in both curricula and instructional delivery. We must become more sensitive to a complete and full realization that our human capital is indeed our most valuable asset, and thereby strive to maintain and improve human potential even in the face of budget constraints. We must eliminate the ivory tower mentality which traditionally - has isolated higher education from the realities of real world issues. To accomplish this we must simplify our bureaucratic structures which impede immediate response to fundamen- yor | dustries as well as manufacturing in- Dr. Allen F. Simkins was appointed Dean of the School of Businss and Economics in 1983, and has been a member of the accounting department faculty since 1976. |