Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1946 [PAGE 989]

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982

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

[January 31

community, including a personal appeal from the President of the University to its staff, to make living quarters available to veterans is now under way. The student veterans now in the University are assisting in this campaign and will make a house-to-house canvass, under University supervision, for rooms for other veterans. In this connection, see letters to Illini Veterans and to the University staff. Other publicity methods (the press, radio, display advertising, and the assistance of local civic groups, including veterans organizations) are being employed in this campaign. Splendid cooperation is being given in this campaign by the local community. The members of the Board are already aware of what is being done to secure temporary housing facilities through Federal agencies. With maximum results, these measures will not produce enough housing facilities to accommodate the potential enrollment indicated by the number of applicants for admission. These figures take into account only prospective registrants; many of them are married veterans who want to bring their wives and children. The Division of Student Housing has applications for living quarters from l,soo married veterans, 2,000 single veterans, and 500 nonveterans; the latter figure includes mostly applicants (men and women) who are graduating or have recently graduated from high school. Several hundred more applications from all categories of candidates for admission will be received between now and the beginning of the second semester. Since last fall the University has not been admitting to the undergraduate departments women who are not residents of Illinois and who have not previously been enrolled. This restriction was adopted by the Board in July, 1945, due to a deficiency of housing for women. At that time the war with Japan was not over and there was no serious shortage of men's housing imminent. With the end of the war the situation has changed rapidly and has steadily grown more and more critical. Unless restrictions on enrollment are extended to other categories of applicants than out-of-State women, hundreds of non-veterans will enter the University and utilize such housing as may still be available locally, thus crowding out an equivalent number of veterans. Of the 4,000 applicants for admission in February, about 80 per cent are veterans and about 85 per cent are residents of Illinois. I recommend that the Board of Trustees approve the following regulations for limiting enrollment: N o permits for admission of new undergraduate students to the Urbana departments of the University for the semester beginning in February, 1046, shall be issued after January 31, 1046 (except to local residents whose homes are in the University community, and to Illinois residents who have secured housing prior to February 1, 1946). Beginning with the summer sessions of 1946, permits for admission of new undergraduate students to the Urbana departments of the University shall be issued only to the following groups: 1. To veterans who are residents of Illinois. 2. T o former students of the University. 3. To non-veterans who are residents of Illinois and who: (a) rank in the upper 50 per cent of their high school graduating class; or who (b) present from acceptable institutions a minimum of 30 semester hours of transfer credits with an average of 3.5 or higher as determined by the Registrar's Office.

The President of the University and the Provost commented on this matter. After discussion, the following actions were taken.

ADMISSION OF NON-RESIDENTS RESTRICTED O n m o t i o n o f M r . D a v i s , t h e R e g i s t r a r w a s i n s t r u c t e d , as o f F e b r u a r y 1, 1946, to i s s u e n o m o r e p e r m i t s a n d t o accept n o m o r e applications for a d m i s s i o n o f u n d e r g r a d u a t e s to t h e U n i v e r s i t y f r o m n o n - r e s i d e n t s o f Illinois, u n l e s s ( 1 ) at least o n e o f t h e i r p a r e n t s is a n a l u m n u s o f t h e U n i v e r s i t y or is a t a x p a y e r in Illinois, ( 2 ) t h e y p l a n to live w i t h r e l a t i v e s in U r b a n a o r C h a m p a i g n w h o d o n o t r e g u l a r l y rent r o o m s t o s t u d e n t s , or ( 3 ) s u c h applicants h a v e b e e n a w a r d e d s c h o l a r s h i p s b y