John Smith, new V-P for Minority Affairs, watches out for interests of all students
by KAREN JOHNSON
John Smith is a newcomer to UK. Unlike most newcomers, he has been given his own office and a secretary to undertake such duties as typing reports. Sound like discrimination to you? It's not, really, John Smith is the university's new vice-president for Minority Affairs.
Smith was hired last year in an effort by the university to give more attention and recognition to its minority students. Out of a student body which numbers over 19,000 approximately nine per cent are members of minority groups. Smith's job is to watch out for the
interests of those minority students who are already here and to aid in the recruitment of those who aren't but should be.
Smith, however, does not see his job as relating only to the minority students.
"I am interested in the welfare of all the students on this campus," he said. "And, I hope to be able to help any of them in any way that they feel like I can."
"I see this job as an opportunity to help students who are members of minority groups to realize their own potential," he continued. "However, I don't intend to limit my activities
just to that."
Smith is in a position unique among other members of the administration when it concerns relations with students of minority extractions.
When he accepted the position as vice-president for Minority Affairs, he became the only black member of the vice-presidential staff.
"No, I don't feel like I was hired as a result of tokenism or anything like that," Smith said. "I feel like the university realized it was not operating in the best interests of minority students, and hired me to take care of that."
Two types of students enroll in BGS
by LINDA CARROLL
Two types of students are enrolled in the Bachelor of General Studies (BSG) Program, according to Ben Black, associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
"One has entered the program simply to avoid the Arts and Sciences requirements, the other has a legitimate program to study," said Black.
Charles Smith of Lexington, transferred from a junior college to UK. "I wanted to avoid the language requirements and by doing this  enrolling  I had enough hours to get a double major rather than going and filling requirements.
Black stated, "The program began in the spring of 72 in answer to the students request for a flexible program without lower division courses."
The student cannot enroll before achieving 30 hours or after obtaining 90 hours. Black explained the reasoning behind this was to ward off any seniors who might be in academic trouble.
Approximately 400 students are enrolled in the program Black said. He added that the
success of the graduates had been high.
"The job market is tight and we've had no specific criticism from people saying they wished they hadn't entered the program. The first two people to graduate went straight to graduate school," Black said.
Mike Dunbar an employee of the Jefferson County Reporter and a 74 graduate said the trouble he confronted when hunting for a job was due to positions being scarce in the field of journalism.
Dunbar said, "some employers found the BGS degree to be beneficial." He quoted Bruce Westley, the chairman of the journalism department, as saying the BGS program was "tailor made" for communication students.
Black expressed concern over employers who might be "turned off" by the BGS degree. He added, "I hope the employers look at the students records to see if he's qualified to do the job, and not his degree."
Jeff Aubrey of Lexington graduated in 74 with a BGS degree and did not find a job.
"I planned on getting into a manager trainee program in industry but they just aren't hiring," Aubrey said
"I don't think that employers are that inter-
ested in degrees but rather in speaking with you and in hiring people with experience," he added.
Aubrey said that his job situation was not a result of the degree he had received from UK but the overall job situation.
According to Black, the only problem with the program had been with advising the students. We suggest the students choose an adviser who has competency in the student's area of study. Advisers are reluctant to take on more students.
"It's partly the students and partly the faculty's fault. Instructors just don't want to fool with the students and the students would prefer obtaining advice from the dean's office because they have the records and five advisors easily available," Black said.
"Students don't read the material they've got and when they get poor advising, perhaps, it's because of their own unfamiliarity with the facilities and regulations," he continued.
He added that he felt the Arts and Sciences program was good if "the definition of Art and Sciences are accepted. Arts and Sciences tries to give a broad general education and that's what the lower requirements do " if
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