Proceedings of the Board of Regents (1963-1966)

S06

MAY MEETING, 1965

May 26, 1965
Dr. Ira Polley, Secretary
The Michigan Coordinating Council
for Public Higher Education
705 Stoddard Building
Lansing, Michigan 48923
DEAR DR. POLLEY:
Your letter of May 5 inquiring about the position of the Board of Regents of
The University of Michigan on the report of the Advisory Committee on University Branches has been brought to the attention of the Regents.
A statement of position of the Regents on the Report is attached.
Sincerely,
ERICH A. WALTER
STATEMENT OF THE BOARD OF REGENTS
OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
The Regents have given careful consideration to the report of the Advisory
Committee on University Branches, especially as it relates to the task which the
Committee was instructed to perform, i.e., "to study the relative advantages and
disadvantages of the establishment, in Michigan, of university or college branches
offering two-year or four-year educational programs."
The Regents were disappointed to find that the report sheds no new light on
the subject which the Committee was retained to study.
Only a minor proportion of the 16 pages purports to deal with the advantages
or disadvantages of branches, the only subject the Council assigned to the
Committee.
Nowhere in the report is there any indication that the Committee made any
factual study or analysis of the effectiveness of the service now being rendered by
existing branches in the state including the University's branches in Flint and
Dearborn, Michigan State University's branch, Oakland University, and Michigan
Technological University's branch at Sault Ste Marie.
The report indicates that the Committee spent only four days in the State and
that most, or all, of this time was devoted to interviews with various Michigan
educators, most of whose opinions on the subject matter of the report were already
well known in Michigan.
The report makes no mention whatever of the experience of other states in
which branches have been established under the sponsorship of existing institutions
as one means of helping to meet the need for expanded facilities in higher education.
According to a study by the Office of Institutional Research of the National
Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, 59 state and land-grant
institutions in 40 states and Puerto Rico are currently operating more than 260
branches offering degree credit courses and programs. According to the Office of
Institutional Research, the number of branches will increase, as will enrollments.
this fall.
Only recently, one of Michigan's leading educators left the vice-presidency of
one of the state's major universities to accept the chancellorship of a newly
developed branch of the University of Missouri.
More recently, Indiana and Purdue Universities jointly announced prospective
establishment of degree programs at certain regional campuses. Purdue will initiate
a degree program in engineering technology at its Hammond, Indiana, Calumet
campus in the fall of 1965, and a similar program at Indianapolis in 1966.
Indiana University has announced plans to establish four-year programs in education and business at its campuses at Gary and East Chicago, and at South Bend.
Junior-year programs will be expanded in these cities during the coming year, and
senior-year programs will begin in the fall of 1966.
Ohio State has just announced the establishment of a branch in Columbus.
And so it goes in one state after another. But the Committee apparently did not
regard the experience of these other states as worthy of analysis or even specific
mention.
In lieu of any factual study or analysis of the experience with branches in
Michigan and elsewhere, the Committee report presents as a basis for its recom