Veritas, Vol. 15, No. 04, September 16, 1974

              23 Jurists Form Law Committee
ventos
university
of
miomi
coral gables florida
Volume 15, Number 4
September 16, 1974
Advising Center for Freshmen Opens
In an effort to reduce the freshman attrition rates and keep the students academically satisfied with the University of Miami, an academic first-aid station— the Freshman Academic Advising Center—lias been established on campus.
The center, organized under the Vice President for Academic Affairs, has a staff of eight senior academic advisors and 24 student counselors whose main goal is to help the freshmen adapt to university life. The academic advisors include Thomas Papino, in charge of the project, Helen Fagin, Sharon Garman, George King, Zelda Lipman, Karen Peterson, William Smith and Evelyn Streiffer.
During the summer, the academic staff attended a three-week workshop in academic advising and counselling and learned about University resources and services available to the freshmen. The student counselors also underwent intensive training sessions under the supervision of Dr. Thomas Vest.
“In the past, UM had been losing almost half of the 2,000 incoming freshmen by the end of the first year,” said Dr. Sidney Besvinick, associate dean of the faculties. “We believe this figure is much higher than it should be.”
Studies have shown that about half of the people who left did so for the usual personal reasons—financial, health, domestic. “But the other half left because they felt they weren’t doing well. This was true, but in some cases the records indicate that they could have succeeded,” Dr. Besvinick continued. “They simply felt that they had no one to talk to. They didn’t want to bother their peers—they felt their peers had troubles of their own and wouldn’t be interested. They sometimes made attempts to talk to their professors, but often found them unresponsive or unwilling to help.”
The new Freshman Academic Advising Center was formed to give the freshmen survival training and to show them they have friends, both on an academic and on a peer group level, who are interested in their academic success.
Some academic departments assign advisors to incoming freshmen, according to Dr. Besvinick, and the purpose of the Academic Advising Center is not to replace them, but to complement them.
Some of the larger schools here, because of the size of their enrollment, find it difficult to make certain everyone knows who his advisor is. This program is to make sure that every freshman has at least one advisor and does meet with him or her.
A part of the program was patterned after a peer counseling program established by Dr. William Brown in Texas, where attrition in a university was reduced from 35 percent to 15 percent the first year it was used.
The Advising Center went into operation during orientation week, when each new freshman was personally invited to meet with the advisors. The building selected to house the center, Building 48, was chosen for its proximity to the residence halls, and is staffed day and night to help students with problems. Some of this year’s 2,100 freshmen, the ones who are sure to stay at UM, probably will stop at the center infrequently. The ones who aren’t sure about staying will spend more time at the center talking with
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A key change in the University Retirement Plan, recommended by the Faculty Senate and approved by the President was adopted by the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees on June 19.
Section 2.2 (B) (2) of the Retirement Plan has been amended to read as follows:
2. To Participant Who Retires After Normal Retirement Date.
A participant whose employment at the University of Miami continues after his normal retirement date may elect any date on or after his normal retirement date for the initiation of his retirement income. He shall then be entitled to receive a monthly retirement income, the single sum value of which equals the sum of (i) the single sum value of the normal monthly retirement income computed as of his normal retirement date in accordance with Section 2.2 (B) (1) above, to which he was entitled on his normal retirement date, and (ii) the amount of interest on such single sum in (i) above, where interest is compounded annually from the par-
Advisor Evelyn Streiffer helps freshman adapt to UM life.
ticipant’s normal retirement date to the date selected for initiation of retirement payments, and all computations are on the basis of the interest and mortality assumptions used for the actuarial valuation next preceding his normal retirement date.
Trustees Approve D.A. in Economics
A new program leading to a Doctor of Arts degree in Economics was established here this fall.
The Graduate School program was announced by President Stanford following approval by the Board of Trustees.
Designed to prepare students for teaching economics or closely related disciplines in community and four-year colleges, degree requirements can be completed in three years. A candidate must complete a minimum of 75 graduate level credits and serve a college teaching internship of at least one semester under an experienced supervisor.
Twenty-three distinguished jurists have accepted appointments as members of the Visiting Committee for the University of Miami School of Law.
Formation of the new committee to advise and consult with law students and faculty was announced jointly by UM President Stanford and Dean Soia Ment-schikoff.
Among the 23 are five judges: the Honorable Harry A. Blackmun, U.S. Supreme Court Justice; the Honorable James C. Adkins, Jr., Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court; the Honorable John M. Wisdom, judge of the Fifth Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, New Orleans; the Honorable Carl McGowan, judge of the Circuit Court of Appeals, Washington, D.C., and the Honorable Alvin B. Rubin, Federal District Judge, Eastern District, New Orleans.
Another five are lawyers in business or educational administration: Jean Allard, vice president for business and financial affairs, University of Chicago, and formerly general counsel for the Maremont Corporation of Chicago; Frederick Chait, president of the Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News; Nicholas de B. Katzenbach, former U.S. Attorney General and Deputy Secretary of State, now vice president and general counsel for IBM; Edward H. Levi, president, University of Chicago, and former dean of Chicago’s School of Law, and Charles J. Zwick, president, Southeastern Banking Corporation, Miami.
Ten are practicing attorneys outside the South Florida area: William H. Adams III, Jacksonville; Helen Chait, Philadelphia; Peter Karasz, New York City; Lillian E. Kraemer, New York City; Peter W. Lederer, New York City; Bernard W. Nimkin, New York City; Jerome J. Shestack, Philadelphia; Walter S. Surrey, Washington, D.C.; Harold A. Ward III, Winter Park, Fla., and Jerome S. Weiss, Chicago.
Three Greater Miami attorneys complete the membership list. Stuart Patton and Frank Smathers are members of the UM Board of Trustees and Louis J. Hector is a trustee emeritus.
In announcing the membership of the Visiting Committee, Dean Mentschikoff said: “The fact that such distinguished jurists are willing to serve as consultants reflects the nationwide interest generated in our School of Law.”
The first annual visitation is scheduled for late October, 1974.
Retirement Plan Amended