tl19700410-000 "Grade Elimination of the grade ""F,"" pass-no credit options, and the re-cording of only the higher of two grades earned when repeating a course, are part of a revised Aca-demic Standards Policy that will be submitted to the Towson State College Senate for passage, April 13. The proposal will recommend the passage on an ""experimen-tal"" basis with the stipulation that the Academic Standards Commit-tee conduct an evaluation of the proposal plan's effectiveness after two years of operation. Included in the revised plan are Changes that resulted from corn-ments in writing and at hearings conducted February 26 and 27. Comments were received from 48 faculty members and a number of students. Most respondents gave a general approval of the suggested policy. Will raise academic standards The Committee believes the new policy will raise academic stand-under consideration ards by putting responsibilty for success or failure on the student and by providing a positive intel-lectual climate for both students and faculty. ""No credit"" courses Under the plan, punitive grades will not be recorded. A grading system of A, B, C, D, P, X (no credit) will be established. A stu-dent failing a course will earn no creit, and neither the course nor ""no credit"" will appear on the per-manent academic record. Vol. XXII, No. 21 TOWSON STATE COLLEGE, BALTIMORE, MARYLAND 21204 April 10, 1970 First report on faculty hearing committee Marcus presents case by DONNA QUANTE The academic community now waits for the decision of the Faculty Hearing Committee on the case of Phillip Marcus. Marcus, represented by Buclunan, presented his case during the week of March 1'7. It was up to Marcus to establish a prime facie case ; to state the grounds upon which he based his allegations and then to prove it. The Hearing Committee decided that Marcus had established such a case in the area of departmental pressures which may have led to his non-renewal of contract. The Commit-tee stated that perhaps the reasons for this was due to Marcus' political actions. As far as a conspiracy of outside pressures (i.e. Agnew) on President Earle T. Hawkins to have Marcus removed, there was no case. March 23 and 24, the Physical Science Department presented its side of the story. Be-low are the highlights from Marcus' testimony and the Department's rebuttal will be pre-sented next week. The final ruling of the Hea ring Committee will not be known until late April. Phillip Marcus claims that be-cause of his political activities, his contract is not being renewed next year. If this is true, it would be a violation of the AAUP's defini-tion of academic freedom. Photo by Than= PHILLIP MARCUS The first criticism of Marcus came from the then Governor Ag-new in his ""Detroit Speech"" in which he made reference to pro-fessors who should not be employed because of political actions. At that time Marcus was unofficial advisor to Towson's SDS and worked with the Baltimore Defense Committee. Marcus also marched to the Pentagon in October '67 and supported the Catonsville Nine. When asked if he at any time dis-cussed politics in his classroom, Marcus answered, ""No."" Departmental complaints began coming in after Agnew's speech of October 17, 1968. A biology teach-er (who remains nameless) com-plained that Marcus was providing draft counseling in his office. At that time Agnew supposedly sent a telegram to the head of the Board of Trustees to look into the propriety of Marcus. Dr. Hawkins told Marcus that Agnew asked the State Police to make a file of Marcus' activities. Hawkins indicated to Marcus that Agnew's comments were out of proportion. However, it was not long after, in December of 1968, that Marcus, Hawkins, and Henry Chen were given a subpoena to appear before the grand jury. They were qustioned about Tow-son's SDS � its activities and goals. Nothing ever came of it. Absent in labs In February, 1969, the Physical Science Rank Committee evaluated Marcus. They noted that he was not visible in labs (although there was no written department policy about presence in labs until Sep-tember, 1969) and that rumors were circulating to the effect that he was part of a plan to lead an administration building takeover. Despite this, a majority report was filed, in early March, '69, that Marcus be reappointed. The only remark made was that, being a first year professor, he was giving too much work. March 6, 1969, Navy recruiters were present in the Placement Of-fic in Stephens Hall. The SDS had set up a draft counseling table outside the office on this date. Mar-cus claims that he was present at this table only between lab hours and that his labs had been dis-missed an hour early because of a shortage of material. He had shown two films during the lab hours and then called class. Ru-mors had it that Marcus was not present in his labs and had been draft counseling all day. March 28, 1969, Marcus received a letter from Hawkins. It stated that based on the Minority Report of the Rank Committee, Marcus would not be reappointed for the year '69-'70. Marcus went to Haw-kins who said he was investigat-ing certain charges. Marcus never found out why he was not reap-pointed. In the ensuing months, Marcus appealed the evaluation. He says he was never consulted by the Rank Committee about their change in position. He had been consulted before the first evaluation, not be-fore the second. Marcus continued teaching on through summer school and into the '69-'70 year 'because of his ap-peal. The Faculty Hearing Com-mittee, June 30, 1969, sent a letter to President Hawkins saying they could not determine whether Mar-cus' academic freedom had beer violated. Marcus believes that the inci-dent with the draft counseling led to a loss in confidence by the Rank Committee. He never met with ripfend himself. He told Dr. William Pelham and Dr. Jos-eph Cox that his major commitment as a teacher was to teach students to think. While his political activ-ity was limited on campus�there was none in his classroom. When involved off - campus, he never aligned himself with the college and did not represent it. Marcus feels thare may have been a mu-tual feeling between Dr. Hawkins and the Rank Committee to dis-miss Marcus ""in the best inter-ests of the college."" (Continued next week) ,Students may repeat any course once where credit has been earned When a course is repeated, the stu-dent will receive the credits for the course counted once and the higher of the two grades earned. Students dropping courses prior to examination week will receive X (no credit) for all courses dropped. Accurate reflection of work The Committee believes the stu-dents' grades will then more accu-rately reflect mastery rather than past work. The system will still provide a means by which those not academ-ically suited for Towson will be identified and dealt with. Students will be required to mas-ter a secified number of units of academic work at stated intervals in their academic careers. Present standards for goad stand-ing at the beginning of the junior year are exceeded, under the new plan, since expectations increase at each stated interval. In detail, the policy states that required minimum credit passed is 16 after two semesters, 36 after four semesters, 64 after six semes-ters and 96 after eight semesters. In addition, in order to remain in the college, the student must have a cumulative grade point av-erage (five point scale) above the following guidelines: 42 credits earned, 1.0; after 64 credits earned, 2.0. The GPA requirement slowly graduates from the 1.0 to the 2.0 level as the credits increase from 42-64. The proposed standards allow those not in good standing to work themselves into good standing at their own time and expense. Stu-ents no longer in good standing may appeal for reinstatement. In most cases students who are dis-missed for academic purposes will be expected to remain out of the day school for two semesters. Students who bring their cumula-tive average up to the credits com-pleted and GPA minimum require-ments by taking courses in the Evening and Summer Program will be eligible for reinstatement be-fore the completion of the one year period. Up to 18 credits can be taken in the Evening and Summer Program for the purpose of becom-ing eligible for reinstatement. Considers improved performance In evaluating requests for rein-statement, the Committe, without changing lprevious policies, will weigh heavily an indication of im-proved performances. (Please turn to page 6) ED MOULTON Memorial funds asks for help by PATTI This week of April 15 to 22 will initiate a drive for contributions to the Ed Moulton Memorial Fund, consisting of about $5,500 for stu-dent loans. Students are loaned a maximum of $75 for a short period of time (usually a year). There is no wait-ing period, and the loans are in-terest free. The fund is named for a for-mer TSC student, Ed Moulton, who died May, 1956 of cancer. Nu-merous student organizations at-tempted to raise money to pay for his expensive treatment. Fund established When he died, there was $200 left in this fund, and his aunt wanted to provide a memorial for him. The fund is basically dependent upon contributions. At the pres-ent time, the fund is ""almost de-funct,"" according to Richard Free-man, Director of Financial Aid. Last year alone, $12,000 was re-cycled within the fund. Also no-ted was the fact that 40 percent of the previous loans are present-ly overdue. THOMPSON April 15 to 22, students will hold a competition among TSC classes to raise money for the fund. Jars to be filled with coins will be placed in various obvious locatimis on campus. The class which col-lects the most money will receive 25 percant of the money contrib-uted. The Women's Residence Coun-cil is continually trying to raise money for this cause. They are donating the registration fees from ""Little Sisters' Weekend"" and also sponsoring a bake sale to replen-ish the memorial. Present plans include mailing letters soliciting contributions to alumni and the general college community. Since the fund is entirely for TSC students, ti is hoped that they will be willing to contribute. Stu-dents and any other persons in-terested in making a donation should contact the Director of Fi-nancial Aids, Stephens 103. Any checks mailed should be earmark-ed specifically for the Ed Moulton Memorial Fund in order to facili-tate acknowledgement. "
