UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON ARCHIVES
ORAL HISTORY PROJECT

Interview #173
EYE, GLEN G.

EYE, Glen G. (1904-1997)
Professor of Education and Educational Administration
At UW: 1941-1975

Interviewed: 1979	
Series: School of Education
Interviewer: Mark Van Pelt 
Length: 3 hours, 24 minutes

Reasons for coming to Wisconsin; Origins and early history of School of Education; Depression; Comparison of early and recent faculty; Eight-Year Study at Wisconsin High School; Merger of departments of Education and Educational Methods; Local control of schools; Teacher unionization; Chairmanship; Ph.D. training; Relationship between School of Education and L&S; Wisconsin Improvement Program, 1950; State Curriculum Program, 1940s; School of Education vs. DPI; Impact of Research and Development Center on research; School of Education deans; Student-faculty relationships; Influence of GI Bill students; Racial discrimination; Discrimination against women faculty; Faculty selection criteria and procedures; Evaluation for merit and promotion; State Education Post-war Planning Committee; National Council of Accreditation of Teacher Education, 1959; Controversy and 1969 report; Efforts to bring together labor and management in state; Nathan Feinsinger; Economics Department.

Tape 1/Side 1

00:00:00	Introduction.

00:00:25	How Glen Eye came to Wisconsin.

00:01:00	V.A.C. Henmon head of department of education; well-known psychologist.

00:01:45	Early degree discrimination against department of education; vocational stigma attached by Letters and Science.

00:03:10	Origins of School of Education; Mark Ingraham; Rudolph Langer; Stanovitch (French); John Noland; George Sellery; John Callahan (DPI superintendent); C.J. Anderson; Glenn Frank; John Guy Fowlkes; nature of debate and politics involved; Ira Davis; Milt Pella; Burr Phillips; examples of L & S discrimination.
00:08:25	Impact of Depression on formation of School.

00:09:50	Worthiness and place of methods courses in 1930s.

00:12:03	Early history of the School of Education; discussion of C.J. Anderson; his role in merger of Department of Education and Educational Methods; Burr Phillips; Arvil Barr; John Guy Fowlkes pushed for elementary education; Lois Nemec; Dean Goodnight.

00:21:47	Fowlkes opposed by Matt Willing, Kai Jensen and Clarence Ragsdale for Dean's position; E.B. Fred; Ragsdale controversy (1950s).

00:23:45	Early faculty of School of Education; Robert Pooley with definition of university; comparison of early with recent faculty; impact of research money; fellowship of department; Milt Pella; Ira Davis; Matt Willing; John Guy Fowlkes; Arvil Barr; Clarence Ragsdale.

00:31:30	 Gladys Borchers; Ruth Henderson.

00:32:22	Eight-Year Study at Wisconsin High School; Gordon MacKenzie; H. Ryan; Eye's membership in Progressive Education Association; Glenn Frank; Alexander Meiklejohn; dismantling of progressive curriculum at Wisconsin High School; impact of progressive education on state teachers and principals.

00:41:42	School and Society course work changed by competition of internal disciplines; Merle Borrowman.

00:43:02	Merger of the department of education and department of educational methods; C. J. Anderson; Matt Willing; Ira Davis; John Guy Fowlkes; Ragsdale; Barr; change in hiring as a result of merger; teaching downgraded for promotion; Milt Pella.

00:49:20	New York Times accused Wisconsin High School of not teaching American history in 1943; Eye appears before State Assembly.

00:51:40	Eye's views of local control of schools; Russell Gregg; weaker interaction of educational administration department and the outside profession now compared to the past; impact of teacher unionization movement isolation of educational administration from other departments.

01:02:18   End of side.

Tape 1/Side 2

01:02:20	Influence of business and public administration on educational administration; John Gaus; personnel administration of School of Business an influence; fads in education.

01:07:30	Experience of Eye as chairman of department of education, 1959-1962; imposition of disciplines on the program problematic to education then; Lindley Stiles; Julian Stanley; problems leading to reorganization; Chester Harris.

01:18:20	Evolution of Ph.D. training; erosion of autonomy of major professor.

01:20:20	Relation of School of Education and L&S in 1950s.  This relationship led to school accreditation problem with NCATE; Lindley Stiles.

01:24:15	Eye's work as chairman of department of educational administration; Ken Little as example of the "identity crisis" involved in reorganization; creation of the Educational Administration doctorate; impact of research money in education administration on the freedom of choice of doctoral students in choosing research; computer impact on research.

01:32:20	Relationship of educational administration to other departments of education since reorganization; close ties to ed psych and statistics.

01:36:20	Wisconsin Improvement Program (1959); Fowlkes; James Stoltenburg; Abner Hansen; Fowlkes control of the program; Stiles; Fowlkes' personality a factor.

01:44:35	State Curriculum Program (1940s): directed by Gordon MacKenzie, who went to DPI for the work, though paid by UW; School of Education active in program; Eye chairman of Surplus Commodities Program--original operation; Wisconsin a model program for USOE; these programs and WIP examples of School of Education taking active role in providing cooperative service to state schools.

01:51:50	Impact of Wisconsin Improvement Program on structure of UW research; decision point research as example.

01:55:32	Impact of WIP on structuring of student-teacher supervision programs of the School of Education.

01:58:45	WIP did not seem to affect curriculum of School of Education.

01:59:25	Interns can be exploited because of UW faculty lack of uniformity over what nature of student-teacher role.

02:02:01	End of side.

End of Mp3 File.

Tape 2/Side 1

00:00:10	Reaction of state schools to WIP; opposition of State Teachers Colleges to UW efforts in teacher education; Fowlkes used his contacts to smooth that opposition out.

00:07:35	Relationships of School of Education and DPI; influential position of UW School of Education; C.J. Anderson.

00:11:02	Role of School of Education in shaping DPI certification requirements; Legislature's role.

00:14:55	Relationship of department of educational administration to local school districts; impact of reorganization; influence of R & D Center and IGE program on those relationships; Richard Rossmiller; James Lipham; Dean Bowles.

00:20:40	Impact of R & D center on direction of research.

00:22:25	Contrast of Deans of School of Education; Dean Charles J. Anderson.

00:24:00	Dean John Guy Fowlkes; wide off-campus interests.

00:25:32    	Dean Lindley Stiles: the NCATE controversy.

00:28:45    	Dean Donald McCarty.

00:31:38	Eye's estimation of importance of structure vs personality in Dean's office.

00:33:30	Contrast of work of chairmen of Department of Education; importance of position; Willing; Cliff Liddle; Russell Hosler; Glen Eye; LeRoy Peterson.

00:39:10	Impact of reorganization on students.

00:41:20	Search committee for Dean Donald McCarty; Robert Fleming; Russell Gregg: tenure of position of dean.

00:42:39	End of side.

Tape 2/Side 2

00:42:42	Search committee continued. 

00:48:56	History of relationships of students and faculty; contrast of 1930s to 1960s; influence of G.I. Bill students; evaluation of students.

00:58:19	Discrimination against students on the basis of race.

01:00:29	Discrimination against females in faculty; Lois Nemec example; Virgil Herrick; educational administration discrimination example; David Johnson investigation.

01:05:14	Constancy of criteria for selection of educational administration faculty.

01:06:06	Evolution of selection procedures; Fowlkes.

01:07:50	Constancy of basis of evaluation for merit and promotion; research superior to teaching; reorganization of School of Education as applies to educational administration exaggerated research aspect further.

01:10:20	State Education Postwar Planning Committee (1943); vocational education concern.

01:15:10	NCATE report of 1969; resolution of problems of 1959 NCATE controversy.

01:20:30	Concluding remarks.

01:21:36	End of interview.

END