Oberlin Observer. 1979-09-20

              Qberlin College
VOLUME 1, NUMBER 2
rlin. Ohio
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 20,1979
College ends fiscal year
with $63,758 surplus
Recording a total of $17,353,780 in
general fund expenses, the College has
ended its 1978-79 fiscal year with a
budget surplus of $63,758 and is projec¬
ting yet another surplus, of $47,392, for
1979-80.
Both income and expenditures were
above those that had been projected for
1978-79, but the increase of actual over
projected income, $183,936, more than
balanced out the $134,960 increase in
actual over projected expenditures.
Total expenditures for the 1978-79
year, including both general and restrict¬
ed funds, were $19,049,919, up 5.2 per¬
cent from the $18,109,327 spent in 1977-
78.
Of the $63,758 surplus, $48,613 was
produced in the area of educational and
general operations; $4,077 by the hous¬
ing and dining system, which showed the
surplus after receiving $53,607 in income
from summer conferences; and $11,068
by the Oberlin Inn, which had been ex¬
pected to show a deficit of almost
$46,000. The actual surplus for the year
was almost $47,000 more than the
$16,820 surplus that had been projected.
Compared to budget projections for
the year, tuition income was up $43,613
(from $11,532,600 to $11,576,213) and
current funds investment income was up
$131,912 (from $200,000 to $331,912).
Tuition income came in above projec¬
tions due to the addition of 14 more full-time
student equivalents than had been
anticipated, and the increase in current
funds investment income was higher
than anticipated largely because of an
increase in interest rates being paid.
Endowment income and income from
gifts and grants was lower than had been
projected. Endowment income had been
projected at $4,155,800 and was actual¬
ly $4,133,156, a difference of $22,644.
Gifts and grants income, not including
current restricted funds, had been pro¬
jected at $815,000 and was actually
$735,929, a difference of $79,071.
The shortfall in endowment income
reflects the fact that in accordance with
the long-range financial plan an increas¬
ing amount of endowment income is be¬
ing reinvested. When restricted fund
monies are included in the gifts and
grants category, the total of $2,077,275
actually received is $117,839 higher than
(continued on page 6)
Clear, sunny skies and the prospect of lots of fun brought out more than 100 students,
faculty, staff and their families for the OC "Day at Cedar Point" Sunday. Here stu¬
dents Jack McFarland and Margy Jackson whip around on one of the amusement
park's many rides. (Photo by Daniel Friedman)
Committees recommend changes in curriculum
The educational policy committees
and faculty councils of the College of
Arts and Sciences and Conservatory of
Music have developed sets of recom¬
mendations concerning curriculum of-ferings
and allocations of faculty posi¬
tions within each division.
The recommendations were drawn up
following an intensive review of the en¬
tire College curriculum and are likely to
have a significant impact on future
changes in academic programs offered
here.
Resolutions concerning the curricu¬
lum in the College of Arts and Sciences
identify a number of areas in which aca¬
demic programs could be initiated,
strengthened or expanded. Among these
areas are non-Western studies, writing
skills, theater, computer science, intro¬
ductory chemistry for non-science ma¬
jors, women's sports, studio art, linguis¬
tics and literary theory, and women's his¬
tory.
The College of Arts and Sciences res¬
olutions also single out four programs
which could be considered as "less es¬
sential" than those listed above. These
are the education program's teacher
training program, European history, the
physical education major, and the hu¬
manities program.
While the humanities program is
identified as less essential than others, a
College of Arts and Sciences resolution
suggests that the College "assign a high
priority to the planning and implementa¬
tion of a strong and cohesive program of
interdisciplinary studies that would en¬
compass but not be limited to the scope
of the present humanities program."
The Conservatory report recommends
that several new or continuing positions
be created, in the areas of accompany¬
ing, opera coaching, eurhythmies and
aural skills, and recorder (half-time). It
also suggests that the Conservatory seek
funds for short-term residencies by guest
conductors, and that composition be
separated from music theory and be giv¬
en departmental status (this recommen¬
dation was approved by the Conservato¬
ry faculty in May).
The report also recommends that two
positions, one in the TIMARA program
and one in chamber music strings, not be
filled on a continuing basis until 1980-81,
and that a piano department position be
discontinued and reallocated for other
purposes beginning in 1980-81.
In addition to containing specific rec¬
ommendations, the Conservatory report
notes that several program areas (opera
theater, TIMARA, early music and jazz)
are relatively new and that during the re¬
view process no proposals for creation of
"totally new curricular areas" were re¬
ceived. It concludes that "it does not ap¬
pear that any large-scale reorganization
of our resources is possible in the im¬
mediate years ahead."
The curriculum reviews undertaken
by both the College of Arts and Sciences
and the Conservatory were predicated
on the assumption that the total size of
the College faculty will remain stable
over the next several years. Recommen¬
dations of the long range financial plan
adopted by the faculty in 1977 were
based on this assumption.
However, expansion of faculty size
and academic offerings —at least on a
temporary basis —is still possible, as
money to be raised for current expenses
under the 19/83 campaign includes a
pool of $2 million slated to go for crea¬
tion of new academic programs.
Recommendations from the College
of Arts and Sciences and Conservatory
groups will be forwarded for action to
the appropriate committees or councils,
or to the divisional faculties or General
Faculty.
Have you ever felt that students from the same high school keep turning up on
campus? If you have, you're right. A relatively small number of schools consis¬
tently send their graduates to Oberlin. In the jargon of the admissions office,
these schools are known as the "feeder" schools. Last year the biggest of the
feeders (in terms of numbers of students "fed" to OC) were the 26 schools listed
below with the number of freshmen each sent here. For more on the feeder
schools—and what the College is doing about them —see page 3.
U. of Chicago Lab HS (Chicago, III.) 10
Interlochen Arts Academy (Interlochen, Mich.) 8
Stuyvesant HS (New York, N.Y.) 7
Hunter College Campus School (New York, N.Y.) 6
Great Neck South HS (Great Neck, N.Y) 6
Lincoln Sudbury Regional HS (Sudbury, Mass.) 6
Taylor Allderdice HS (Pittsburgh, Pa.) 5
Walden School (New York, N.Y.) 5
HS of Music and Art (New York, N.Y.) 5
Fieldston School (Bronx, N.Y.) 5
St. Ann's Episcopal School (Brooklyn, N.Y.) 5
John Dewey HS (Brooklyn, N.Y.) 5
Hanover HS (Hanover, N.H.) 5
Newton North HS (Newtonville, Mass.) 5
Evanston Township HS East (Evanston, III.) 5
Kenwood HS (Chicago, III.) 5
Rocky River HS (Rocky River, Ohio) 4
N.C. School of the Arts (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 4
Dalton School (New York, N.Y.) 4
Hastings HS (Hastings on the Hudson, N.Y.) 4
Teaneck HS (Teaneck, N.J.) 4
Northfield Mount Hermon (Northfield, Mass.) 4
Walt Whitman HS (Bethesda, Md.) 4
Bethesda Chevy Chase HS (Bethesda, Md.) 4
Luther HS (Chicago, III.) 4
Georgetown Day HS (Washington, D.C.) 4