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A Piece of SCS History

Installment 1

Introduction
Visit the School of Continuing Studies at the University of Richmond and you will discover a vibrant, varied and modern educational experience that hints of great changes underway. Here you can find a homemaker returning to a career in elementary education through the teacher recertification program. You can find a county firefighter, enhancing career prospects by pursing a graduate certificate in Disaster Science. A 28-year old retail clerk is completing work for a Bachelor of Liberal Arts through the Accelerated Weekend College. Elsewhere on campus, a retired couple is learning about modern art in a non-credit enrichment course. Last semester, they studied conversational Spanish to prepare for a trip to Mexico.

You can also find students attending the School of Continuing Studies far from the University of Richmond campus. Some study in work-related courses at their job sites. Others will learn technical computing skills at the Tidewater campus about 100 miles from Richmond. Still others cyber-commute from abroad and across the United States. All are part of the School of Continuing Studies community.

The School’s broad scope and considerable flexibility represent the most significant shift in higher education since European universities first were established. For centuries, a university’s physical location in a town or city -- like London or Paris -- defined its identity. Education remained available mainly to men, while the early curriculum rigidly adhered to classical models. Changes happened over time: women joined men in classrooms and labs, and curricula broadened to include a wide range of liberal arts, sciences, social sciences and engineering programs. However, certain aspects remained unchanged. By necessity, a school remained a physical entity, rooted in a single place that often carried significant emotional ties for teachers and alumni. Classroom lectures, ink, books and paper transmitted knowledge from teachers and libraries to students.

As the School of Continuing Studies demonstrates, today’s college is not limited to buildings in a single city. A school can be anywhere students connect to the Internet. Books still store information, but CDs, massive computer databases, and the World Wide Web also contain vast repositories of information.

For much of the twentieth century, the largest group of students on American campuses was young people between the ages of 18 and 24. They left home, went to college, studied four straight years, earned a baccalaureate degree and never returned to the school except for occasional homecomings and reunions. In 1970, with Baby Boomers pouring into classrooms, traditional students (those between 18 and 24) accounted for 72 percent of the United States higher education population. This percentage dropped significantly during the past 30 years. During the same period, the population of "non-traditional" students in higher education climbed, growing from 28 percent in 1970 to 38 percent in 1980, 44 percent in 1990 and nearly 55 percent in 2002.

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The School of Continuing Studies attracts these "non-traditional" students. They defy easy generalizations, but tend to be at least 25 years old. As "older" students, they tend to be mature and to engage their learning experience with an eye toward practical outcomes. Most pursue an education to adapt to the rapid and significant changes taking place around them. Given the profound developments of the modern era, it is not surprising that millions of Americans turned to education to gain new skills and new insights. This reaction to change has fueled the explosive growth of continuing adult education.

Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Thomas Friedman captured the impact of globalization on the individual in his 1999 best selling book, The Lexus and the Olive Tree: "In this world, security does not come from a union card, from lifetime employment at a big company or from government work. It will only come from the skills you carry with you. Without the opportunity for lifetime learning, you're never going to be able to thrive in this system."

Students at the School of Continuing Studies personify Friedman's words. Some are middle-age executives who must gain new skills and perspectives to find jobs. Others add to their technological knowledge to advance in a world in which computers are integral to modern living and working. Still other School of Continuing Studies students want to understand more about the forces - economic, political, artistic - that shape their lives.  

The University of Richmond discovered that the needs of nontraditional students vary greatly from year to year. The school moves swiftly to meet these needs. In whatever manner the School of Continuing Studies changes, it remains focused on three values that have shaped the University's continuing education efforts since 1962. These commitments are:

Belief In Lifelong Learning
The University of Richmond recognized in 1962 that people need formal education at different times in their lives to succeed in their careers and to enrich their existence. The University offers lifelong learners the opportunity to do both through the School of Continuing Studies.

Willingness to Listen to the World
The School of Continuing Studies creates an appropriate educational experience for lifetime learning by listening and observing. The school anticipates its students' needs and acts upon technological, economic, demographic and societal changes.

Eagerness to Connect With the Community
University College, the forerunner of the School of Continuing Studies, was created 40 years ago to share the University of Richmond's resources with the larger community.   The School continues this tradition at a time when its community includes both Richmond and the world.

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Creation -- Connecting with the Community 1920-1961
George M. Modlin had a far-reaching vision of what the University of Richmond could become. He knew the school had the potential to become an outstanding small private institution with a solid national reputation.

Beginning in 1946 when he became the University’s fourth president, Modlin eagerly pursued that vision with enthusiasm, warmth, an engaging Victorian courtliness and an unrivaled capacity for work. Friends, faculty, students and community leaders respected his tenacious drive. Richmond newspaper editor and Pulitzer Prize winner Douglas S. Freeman described Modlin as "the man of all men to fulfill the great future of the University of Richmond."

Modlin founded his vision upon a rich heritage. The University traced its roots back 116 years, and by 1946, it consisted of six divisions: Richmond College, founded in 1830 and attended by 1,280 male undergraduates; The T.C. Williams School of Law, founded in 1870 and attended by 106 students; Westhampton College, founded in 1914 and attended by 424 female undergraduates; the Summer School, founded in 1920 and attended by 820 students; the Graduate School, founded in 1921 and attended by 69 students; and the Evening School of Business Administration, founded in 1924 and attended by 1,210 students.

The University also enjoyed firm, longstanding and cordial ties with the Richmond community. During its early years, the school was located near downtown Richmond. However, with the exception of the Law School, the College moved in 1914, relocating to a large tract in Richmond’s West End. By 1946, careful development of the site had created a harmonious collegiate Gothic campus on beautiful rolling hills.

Modlin joined the University of Richmond during the lean years of the Depression. He arrived with a Ph.D. in economics from Princeton University and a decade of teaching experience, also at Princeton. Modlin came to Richmond in 1938 to serve as Dean of the Evening School of Business Administration and Chairman of the Economics Department. During his tenure as dean, the evening business school became the largest University division.

Early in his presidency, Modlin realized that American higher education would undergo a dramatic change. The Depression and World War II had shaken society, unleashing powerful forces that would remake the nation. One such byproduct of the conflict was the GI Bill, which ensured that thousands of veterans could pursue college degrees. The war also created a legacy of scientific inquiry and technological progress that fueled a robust demand for college-educated technicians, scientists, engineers and doctors. Any educational institution hoping to attract these students needed the appropriate programs, faculty and facilities.

Modlin worked quickly to expand the University accordingly. Perhaps the clearest symbol of expansion was the University’s budget. In 1952, it exceeded $1 million for the first time in the University’s history. Four years later it doubled. The most visible sign of expansion was the growth in physical facilities. Between 1946 and 1962, the University of Richmond built a new social center for Richmond College, the South Court Residence Hall and the Boatwright Memorial Library. The law school relocated into new campus buildings in 1954.

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Programming changes also kept pace with the changing times. In 1949, the University’s trustees authorized a new division, the School of Business Administration, which combined the department of Economics and Applied Economics with the Evening School of Business Administration. The School of Business Administration’s new building was completed in 1961. Most of these construction and programming efforts were aimed at attracting “traditional” students: campus residents, ages 18 to 24, engaged in the 4-year pursuit of an undergraduate degree. However, Modlin recognized from his experience at the evening business school that another segment of the population wanted access to higher education but could not pursue it as full-time students.

By the late 1950’s, these “non-traditional” students were fueling an explosive growth nationwide in “adult education.” American business was becoming better organized, more sophisticated and more technologically dependent both in the office and on the factory floor. Entry to the executive ranks increasingly relied on a college degree. Success at all levels required schooled understanding of formal business organization, systems, procedures and techniques.

Modlin believed the University of Richmond could offer non-traditional students the education and training they needed. His drive to create the right programs and to find the right person to oversee the venture led him, in the early 1960’s, to Martin L. Schotzberger.

Born in Baltimore, Maryland, on January 10, 1923, Shotzberger grew up in nearby Washington, D.C., where his father joined the police force. Shotzberger left school during ninth grade to work. Following America’s engagement in World War II, he joined the Army in 1942, the same year he married.

Shotzberger became an infantry-man. By October 1944, he was a sergeant leading a nine-man reconnaissance squad against the Germans in northern Italy. On one patrol, Shotzberger spotted an enemy machine gun emplacement on a hill. He and another soldier attempted to silence the position, but intense fire drove them back. They took shelter in a shell hole. Shotzberger was surprised to find machine gun rounds stuck in his shovel and blanket when he pulled off his backpack. Amazed at his luck, Shotzberger showed his friend the rounds. Seconds later, a German artillery shell destroyed his left arm.

The wounded sergeant was safely evacuated, treated by army surgeions and began a long recovery. In an army hospital in Battle Creek, Michigan, Shotzberger studied and received his high school equivalency diploma. A young army psychologist encouraged him to continue his education. When Shotzberger told the psychologist that he planned to settle in the Richmond area where his wife’s family lived, the army officer quickly contacted Raymond B. Pinchbeck, Dean of Richmond College, and scheduled an appointment for the sergeant in September 1945. Shotzberger arrived on campus in his uniform, wearing the ribbon for his recently awarded Silver Star, the nation’s third highest decoration for valor.

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Shotzberger arrived on campus in his uniform, wearing the ribbon for his recently awarded Silver Star, the nation’s third highest decoration for valor. Pinchbeck greeted him warmly, shared a few stories about his recent service in the Navy and offered Shotzberger the chance to earn his degree. “I’ll let a hero into Richmond College,” he remarked. Shotzberger immediately threw himself into his studies. He graduated in 1948 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and a year later, earned his masters degree. Shotzberger’s first teaching experience came at Lynchburg College in 1949. He then returned to the University of Richmond in 1953 as director of evening classes, after which he received his doctorate in 1960 from Ohio State.

The evening school thrived in the 1950’s, providing that adult education was an idea whose time had come. In 1958, Shotzberger took a position teaching economics and business administration at Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Michigan. There he became Director of the Management Center, which ran classes for businesses on campus and at work sites. The center served some of the nation’s largest firms, including Kellogg’s, Whirlpool, Upjohn and numerous paper making companies. Shotzberger learned volumes about school administration, attracting non-traditional students and working with businesses.

Sensing that Shotzberger’s experience would prove invaluable to the University of Richmond in establishing a new continuing studies program, President Modlin began discussions with Shotzberger about forming the school, its mission and Shotzberger’s role there. The two men quickly agreed on a plan, shaped by Modlin’s insistence that every aspect of the new school serve the primary mission of sharing the University’s resources with the community.

While hundreds of details shaped the school, Modlin and Shotzberger focused on a few key facets. They insisted on hiring great teachers. Many adjunct professors would come from the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, which employed numerous well-trained economic and financial experts who held doctorates. They agreed that the new school would continue some of the evening school’s most successful programs, including its Bachelor of Commerce degree, a Master of Commerce degree and 18 business certificates in various topics, including banking. Other new programs would include a Master of Humanities, an associate degree in Liberal Arts and creation of a Management Center. From its inception, Modlin and Shotzberger had a clear vision of the new school’s mission and function. In 1962, they began to turn that vision into a reality.

Installment 6

University College opened for registration September 10, 1962. Characteristically, Martin L. Shotzberger, the school's dean, pitched in. Shotzberger processed paperwork, answered questions and greeted students, including the first person to enroll -- Raymond Adams, an office manager for Fruehauf Trailer Company.

Classes began September 17 in the Columbia Building at the corner of Grace and Lombardy Streets, site of the pre-1914 campus of Richmond College. Shotzberger was the only full time faculty member, but the staff included 68 eager and well-qualified part timers. The Richmond News Leader reported on October 4, 1962 that the student body numbered almost 1,800, suggesting a strong demand for the educational opportunities provided by University College. During its first semester, the school offered at least 70 classes concentrated in several areas: accounting, banking, economics, finance, general business, insurance, marketing and management (including traffic management).

In October, Shotzberger announced the long-term plans for the school, featuring several educational "firsts" for the Richmond area. These included:

In addition, Shotzberger announced that University College would open a lower division, offering day and evening courses for freshman and sophomores. Shotzberger forecast that the school, faculty and student body would grow. Future plans also included opening a new building, expanding the full time faculty to 25 and the student body to 4,000. Shotzberger made known that the new school would seek ways to serve the community by making the resources of the University of Richmond available in innovative ways. "We will hunt for things to do for the community, and we hope the community will articulate its needs to us." He told reporters.

During 1963, the College established the Business Management Center with Dr. Richard S. Underhill as director. Dr. James A. Moncure became Associate Dean of Liberal Arts for University College. The school also added three degrees: Bachelor of Commerce, Associate of Commerce and Associate of Arts.

Shotzberger understood the non-traditional students who attended University College. Still, occasionally he was surprised by their passionate pursuit of learning. One such surprise occurred in 1963 when students requested more classes. "Students usually petition college deans for such things as fewer exams, longer vacations and more water coolers," Shotzberger told The Richmond News Leader. "That's why I was surprised when 30 of our students cornered me with a petition to have a class taught this summer." The administration agreed. In June, University College offered summer evening classes. These were the first summer classes in the history of the University of Richmond's evening school. The courses proved popular, filling quickly with eager students.

University College made another contribution to the University of Richmond in 1963 by initiating a summer study abroad program. Moncure led the first trip to Western Europe.

In 1966, the Business Management Center renamed itself the Institute for Business and Community Development. The name change reflected the addition of the Urban Center and the Organization Research Center to the original business center.

By all accounts, University College enjoyed a remarkably strong start. Beginning with little more than a vision, the faculty and staff created a thriving, credible institution. Statistics demonstrate the remarkable growth: In the 1962-63 school year, University College offered 134 evening classes to 1,727 registered students. Five years later, the school served 3,732 registered students at the evening school, the Junior College and the Institute of Business and Community Development. Evening school offerings had grown to 221 classes. University College succeeded, proving that George M. Modlin was right. People in Central Virginia wanted and needed continuing collegiate education in a way nobody previously predicted.