"Lee emphasizes job training"

Eighth in a series
Retriever (Volume 16, Number 12)
November 16, 1981
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Calvin Lee's dynamics on education not only dealt with faculty, but also with curricula. In Fall of 1972, the new chancellor commented that UMBC should be more diverse to better prepare students for the tightening job market: He believed the growth of the university in the coming years would make these changes evident.

"We must find a greater diversity in the ways in which the university serves the educational needs of its constituency"..., commented Lee. "At the pace of growing 1000 students a year, UMBC will have an undergraduate population of over 12,000 students."

Lee further commented on the future for UMBC's graduates if current curricula trend continued. "If we don't do some planning this year, we will be moving our future graduates toward disaster."

"At 12,000 students, we will be graduating 3,000 students each year. No other reputable university that I know of graduates 3,000 students a year with BA's in the traditional Arts and Sciences disciplines, commented Lee."

During the commentary, Lee more specifically commented on how to make the employment picture more promising for UMBC graduates.

"Our problem is how do we develop a program to help graduates get immediate employment?" queried Lee. "Would internships be appropriate, for example."

"What kind of improvements of student services in career counciling can be made?"

"With rapid obsolenscence of jobs and knowledge, how do we prepare graduates for future jobs and future employers?" asked Lee.

These questions seem to indicate that Lee's view of UMBC was a view that should include a look into the future of education in combination with changes in the job market. These types of questions drew more confusion about exactly what role UMBC would take.

While Lee's concerns for building a strong vital campus were still a perogative, he cited another task as being his major priority. Aside from developing new programs for the university, Lee still sighted his "primary concern as an educator is to prepare students for the ever decreasing job market in the Baltimore-Washington area." In a speech to the SBA in February of 1973 Lee, "stressed the need for the student as a job applicant to present a broad range of skills rather than one specific and specialized major."

Again, Lee placed emphasis on what he believed was the role of UMBC: a provider of a diversified, qualified, job seeking student.


Continue to part ninth, "Leadership questioned as enrollment falters"
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