USD President's Report 1992

USO PRESIDENT ' S REPORT

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The 1960s was a decade of unrest in American high- er education, as universities grappled with the break- down of their role in loco parentis, students exercised newfound freedoms, racial issues reached a crucial point, and all faced the specter of a nation divided over participation in the Vietnam War. rm What followed in the 1970s was a decade of experimenta-

tion and rapid growth wrought by the changes of the '60s. University curricula expanded to reflect the interests and incli- nations of students, and enrollments expanded to absorb the full brunt of millions of "Baby Boomers" intent on a college education. rm By contrast, the 1980s was a period of relative calm. Enrollment stabilized, and most universities reached a happy medium in developing curricula that reflected the wants of the students and the educational needs identified by their faculty and administration. rm For educators and their institu- tions, all three decades were, in retrospect, periods of self-dis- covery. rm And so, too, will be the likely retrospective on the l 990s, which will be seen in future years as a crucial decade in the ongoing development of American higher education. Dur- ing the coming years, educators will work within an increas- ingly uncertain financial framework to face issues that will determine their institutions' relevance and success for future generations: issues of diversity, multiculturalism, dwindling numbers of teaching faculty, rising numbers of undergraduate students, relationships with state and federal governments and, for universities with religious affiliations, with the church. rm Such issues are no strangers to the University of San Diego, which began its own process of self-discovery 20 years ago with the l 972 merger of the College for Men, the School of Law and the College for Women. Though both colleges had been chartered in 1949, the 1972 merger forced university of- ficials to prioritize and plan what was essentially a new institu- tion in its organization and scope, based on the strength of the values and traditions of the past. That planning has served USD weU for the past 20 years, resulting in a 1992 university that is comprehensive in scope and continues to grow in stature as it matures. rm As immediate past-chairman of the board of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities and current chair of the board of directors of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, Dr. Author E. Hughes has watched the patterns that higher education has followed for the past several decades. rm

During the comingyears, educators will work within an increasingly uncertain financial framework to face issues that will determine their institutions' relevance and successfor future generations.

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