Proposal of CSB and SJU to the Louis W. and Maud Hill Family Foundation

August 29, 1967

TO: The Directors of the Louis VI and Maud Hill Family Foundation

FROM: College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University

A major trend among private colleges and universities today is in the direction of institutional cooperation.

The College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University have had cooperative programs on the extracurricular level for many years. Since 1962, when a joint committee was formed to advance cooperative effort on the academic level, there has been steady growth in the exchange of both faculty and students. By degrees, classes on each campus have been opened to students from the other campus with credits recognized by both colleges. Library facilities of each institution have been made available to both student bodies and faculties, as have food services on an experimental basis.  Regular, all-day shuttle bus service was established in 1966-67. Hopefully, this will be expanded during the academic year 1967-68.

These initial steps have proved highly successful. Together, they form Phase I of a three-phase plan, which both institutions envision will bring them together either as coordinate colleges or, possibly in time, as a single institution. Phase II will begin with the 1967- 68 academic year with a combined curriculum and a single calendar on 4-1-4 Plan. The bulletins or catalogs of the two colleges outlining the courses offered, requirements for academic standing and general educational policy have been combined and will be printed as one. Admissions requirements of the two institutions are now very similar, and some progress has been made in the area of joint admissions counseling. The future holds endless possibilities. Phase II will allow each institution to retain its distinctive characteristics and yet cooperate in areas where combined efforts will provide more effective use of faculty, eliminate areas of duplication, permit a greater selectivity in visiting lecturers and convocation programs, afford numerous operating efficiencies, and allow students of both colleges a richer and more varied educational experience than is now possible.

The question arises as to how much further the cooperation can logically extend at this time. In the first two phases, maximum attention and planning have been and will be devoted to the academic area. In Phase III, the intensive cooperation should be extended to include the administrative level including a study of how the two institutions can combine to offer quality education most efficiently. To this end the two institutions have benefited much over the past year from the consultant services of Dr. Lewis B. Mayhew of Stanford University on the subject of cooperative efforts. Dr. Mayhew has recommended a three-step approach to identifying the various problems involved in further cooperative moves, to resolving these problems, and to implementing decisions.

The first step has been taken. A committee of faculty-administrative people from each campus has been appointed. The function of this committee is to monitor the educational and fiscal behavior of Phase II of the general plans.

The second step in Dr. Mayhew’s recommendation calls for the appointment of an outside expert who will review regularly the work of the joint committee and consult the other faculty and administrative personnel of the two colleges as required. Ideally, this person would assume overall direction of the study. He or she should be an expert in educational administration whose background, experience, and credentials will assure an objective analysis of our present situation and future prospects, and whose recommendations can be implemented with the assurance that both colleges will be proceeding with the best possible planning and counsel.

For the sake of greater objectivity, it is recommended that the expert be associated with an out of state institution of higher learning. Suggested for this position are such distinguished educators as:

1. Dr. John Jamirch, Michigan State University
2. B. Dr. Louis Benezet, President, Claremont Graduate School and University Center
3. Dr. Lewis B. Mayhew, Professor of Education, Stanford University
4. Dr. Allan Carter, Chancellor, New York University
5. Dr. Rosemary Park, President, Barnard College

In any event, selection will be by mutual agreement of the two colleges.

The joint committee under the guidance of the appointed expert will conduct a feasibility study to determine the direction and extent of further cooperation. It is expected that additional consultants in specialized fields would be retained for short periods of time as desirable.

Once the feasibility study has been completed, step three would begin. Under it, a “reacting” committee of two or more of the individuals listed above would be selected to review the study in detail and to submit written recommendations regarding its implementation.

After the committee has submitted its review and recommendations, the faculties and boards of trustees of the two colleges will discuss separately the committee’s report and will reach conclusions as to the direction, character, and extent of future cooperative effort s between the two institutions.

It is hoped a study of another extremely important facet of cooperation can run parallel with the administrative survey, i.e. computer usage. As a means of surveying the real needs and possibilities of data processing for the two institutions, it is recommended that a programming expert be contracted for a six-month period. Such a plan could set in motion the necessary structure to exact a highly efficient and forward-looking cooperation.

Finally, a great possibility for a strong center of Educational Television and Radio exists between the two campuses. The increased power of Saint John’s FM radio station and the perfect acoustics and flexible staging available at the Benedicta Arts Center at the College of Saint Benedict are more than sufficient to encourage a study of how the two schools might combine departments and facilities into a truly sophisticated communications center.

The target date for completion of Phase III is June 1968. If this date becomes unrealistic, December 1968, will be the alternate goal for completion of the project.

Recognizing the tremendous importance which the directors of the Louis W. and Maud Hill Family Foundation place on private higher education and confident that this cooperative plan will make available a more advanced training for student’s, the presidents of the two institutions respectfully request a grant of $40,000.

The budget estimate for the project is as follows:

1. Consultants
   1. Chief Consultant Fees………………………$4800
   2. Two Advisory Consultant Fees………….$3600
   3. Travel and Lodging for Consultants…..$2800
   4. Clerical Assistants……………………………$4000

                                                              $15,200

2. Data Processing
   1. Computer Specialist Fees…………………$7500
   2. Travel and Lodging………………………….$1500

                                                              $9,000

3. Communication Consultant
   1. Consultant’s Fees…………………….……..$2400
   2. Travel and Lodging…………………….……$600

                                                              $3,000

4. Administrative
   1. Salaries for Administrative
      personnel assigned for study……………$8000
   2. Travel to other institution
      involved in cooperative efforts…….…..$2000
   3. Clerical Assistants for Administrative
      Personnel……………………………………..…$2000

                                                              $12,000

4. Seminars for combined CSB/SJU
   Faculties relating to cooperative
   study……………………………….…….$1,000

                                                              $42,000

It is with grateful appreciation that this request is made, The Hill Family Foundation has advanced the cause of private higher education immensely through its support of those projects which would not have been possible without the encouragement and financial assistance of the directors.

Sincerely,

Colman Barry, OSB
Sister Mary Grell, OSB