UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON ARCHIVES
ORAL HISTORY PROJECT

Interview #178
HOSLER, RUSSELL J.

HOSLER, Russell J. (1906-1999)
Professor of Curriculum and Instruction, Continuing and Vocational Education, and Business
At UW: 1946-1976

Interviewed: 1979	
Series: School of Education
Interviewer: Mark Van Pelt
Length: 4.5 hours

Background; Graduate program in business education; Secretarial education program; School of Business; Cooperation with state colleges; Shorthand training; Student research; Family Finance Program; Undergraduate business teacher education program; Graduate School Administrative Committee; Faculty Senate; Chairmanship of Department of Education; Research and soft money; Phasing-out of Wisconsin High School; Student teaching; Block teaching concept; Internship program; Certification for liberal arts students; School of Education reorganization; Ph.D. requirements; L&S and School of Education; Extension education; Specialist degree in education; Joan Roberts case; Vocational Education Act of 1963; Changes in student body and new faculty; Sex discrimination; Teacher preparation.

Tape 1/Side 1

00:00:00	Introduction.

00:00:45	Early personal background.

00:02:00	Entrance into business education; Bliss Business College and nature of early business teacher education.

00:07:20	Teaching in Montpelier, Ohio; Defiance College.

00:09:10	Teaching in Fostoria, Ohio; later to Toledo.

00:10:50	Teaching program for Navy in 1942 at Indiana University; Professor Eyster; pursuit of doctoral degree.
00:13:50	November 1945--invited by Dean Anderson and Dean Elwell (Business) to interview to start graduate program in business education; influence of war on college teaching opportunity.

00:18:45	Age factor in graduate work.

00:21:32	Ira Davis, Chairman of Department of Educational Methods; Milt Pella; Hosler's interview in 1945; Glen Eye, Dean Anderson very informal.

00:28:31	Early impressions of Wisconsin; stigma in business education.

00:30:00	Origin, nature of grad program in business education.

00:32:05	More on 1945 interview procedure.

00:34:41	Relation of Hosler with School of Business (where jointly appointed).

00:37:00	Establishment of secretarial education program; John Guy Fowlkes; Matt Willing, Glenn Trewartha and others on committee for secretarial education; not originally approved unanimously (one held out); conduct of program; Robert Kessel.

00:43:23	End of side.

Tape 1/Side 2

00:46:00	Nature of program committees; justification for business education.

00:49:10	Role in School of Business.

00:52:10	Cooperative graduate program with State Colleges in early 1960s; Arvil Barr chairman of committee; setting it up; Hosler administrative coordinator.

00:58:40	Separate cooperative graduate program with UW-Milwaukee; Hosler taught in Milwaukee.

01:01:45	Hosler's research at UW; Ellen Lensing; shorthand education improvements; Federal funds lead to waste of equipment.

01:16:00	Direction of students' research.

01:20:15	Hosler helps develop college shorthand program (1949) at invitation of Gregg Publishing Company; Gregg provided financial support; programmed instruction; Mary Margaret O'Connell.

01:27:36	End of side.

Tape 2

00:00:01	Family Finance Program; funded by Institute of Life Insurance and that was funded by life insurance companies.

00:02:00	Purpose to upgrade teacher knowledge of family finance; Fowlkes active in this; an eight week program in summer; cooperation of University of Pennsylvania; coordinated in summer by DPI officials: Carl Hall; Stuart North; ended in 1967.

00:10.45	Problem of conflict of interest in National Family Finance Program: Donald McCarty.

00:15:30	Creation of undergraduate business teacher education program: Fowlkes, Chester Easum, Earl Gaumnitz, Merrill Jensen, Rudolph Langer, Glenn Trewartha, Matthew Willing the committee members.

00:17:50	Graduate School Administrative Committee member; Arvil Barr; nature of the committee; his University Committee membership during years of protest; creation of the Faculty Senate.

00:25:30	Impact of 1960s protest on the School of Education.

00:27:15	Membership on Social Studies Divisional Committee, 1970-73; Glen Eye; some of Hosler's professional affiliations; Lindley Stiles.

00:32:30	Hosler's four year tenure as chairman of Department of Education, 1955-1959; unsure of reasons for his election; John Mayor; LeRoy Peterson; Cliff Liddle; Fowlkes; Gladys Borchers; Borchers, Mayor, and Milt Pella behind Hosler, possibly some people in educational method not happy with Peterson; close relationship with Dean Stiles.

00:40:10	1957-Research money becomes available; Stiles was very big on pushing for educational research money; Burt Kreitlow the only person in late 1940s officially budgeted for research; Herbert Klausmeier; Kai Jensen; impact of research on teaching load balance and teaching duties; the "soft" money phenomena.

00:45:30	Research money gave greater emphasis to research as a method of faculty evaluation; also, impact of divisional membership on tenure evaluations.

00:49:40	Stiles efforts to make Department of Education part of Social Studies Divisional Committee in effort to upgrade status of School of Education; did improve educational research; impact of divisional committee on rate of tenure granting.

00:54:30	Changes of operation of student teaching experience; phase-out and inappropriateness of Wisconsin High School, Stiles influential in this; feeling that the state was subsidizing a well-to-do community; problems of student teaching at Wisconsin High; block teaching concept develops (1957).

00:58:30	Juggling of the 18 required credits (secondary education) to create block teaching program. Discussion of modification of teacher education curriculum; Stiles; influence of national outcry against professional education courses stopping expansion of 18 credit program; increase from 5 to 7 credits in student teaching "revolutionary."

01:05:08	Establishment of internship program in teaching; principal areas of concern, especially from foundations courses teachers; main concern credit balancing; Stiles critical in getting intern program through.

01:08:15	Origins of Wisconsin Improvement Program (WIP); Fowlkes did it nearly single-handed; Hosler research supported via this program; internship program evolved as main activity of WIP after 2 or 3 years.

01:12:00	Debate over internship vs extended block program; evaluation of superiority of one program over the other; operation of business education student teaching program; superiority of some aspects of block teaching; Madison Teachers Association blocks internships.

01:18:00	Problems of intern program; evaluation program.

01:24:00	Special masters program--certification for liberal arts graduates (began in late 1950s).

01:28:30	Reorganization of School of Education; educational psychology people complain of lack of recognition because of status as professors of education, rather than educational psychology; they didn't want others interfering with their program; Stiles in favor of dividing up school.

01:30:30	End of tape.

Tape 3/ Side 1

00:00:00	Impact of reorganization; reorganization committee under Hosler's charge; collapse of coordinator committee between departments; Stiles the key.

00:03:35	Chairman's advisory committee (department of education) an attempt to hold department together in late 1950s; Salary and Promotion committee changes in late 1950s corrected earlier tactless practices of handling pay adjustments.

00:11:00	"Critical thinking" examination (part of graduate screening); process of admission to Ph.D. candidacy.

00:18:00	Basis of admitting graduate students; change in teaching experience requirements from two years to none; dropping history of education/philosophy of education requirement for all doctoral students.

00:23:25	Fate of committees attempting coordination of academic departments and parts of department of education in 1950s; evidence of lessening ties between Letters and Science and School of Education; transfer of tenure consideration to divisional committee may have hurt serious participation of L & S faculty in School of Education; generation of L & S faculty leaving UW in late 1950s may have had the last serious interest in School of Education.

00:28:30	Inbreeding problem raised by Stiles in late 1950s.

00:29:27	Extension education problem--how to evaluate extension faculty.

00:34:35	Hosler's work in bringing elementary education people into harmony, especially Pella and Virgil Herrick; Sara Rhue; John Mayor; problem developed under Peterson and Mayor; Hosler established unofficial elementary education committee to eliminate many voice problem; Helen O'Connell; provision of cooperation under Hosler.

00:41:24	End of side

Tape 3/ Side 2

00:41:25	Specialist degree in education; attempt to put in an intermediate degree between the M.A. and Ph.D. in mid-1960s via Department of Curriculum and Instruction; Cliff Hutchins and Hosler developed the concept; Robert Petzold; terminal degree concept for school people; approved by university graduate school and Board of Regents; Coordinating Committee on Higher Education killed, 1969--great disappointment to Hosler.

00:51:00	Hosler stag party tradition; controversy aroused by Joan Roberts in 1970; Lanore Netzer defended Hosler.

01:00:00	Vocational Education Act of 1963 and Hosler's work to include business education in it; how Hosler helped get UW influence on DPI regarding vocational education; Robert Ristau.

01:09:45	Changes in university's student body, feels students aren't different; new faculty are much different than counterparts from past, less concern with teaching than previously (beginning about 1960).

01:15:30	Sex discrimination in School of Education; Sara Rhue; lack of women due to their earlier lack of qualifications and interest; affirmative action.

01:22:40	Evolution of Wisconsin teacher preparation; degree of professional course work problem in maintaining levels of academic course work; alternative to be a five year program.

01:23:47	End of tape.

Tape 4

00:00:25	Completion of remarks concerning teacher preparation.

00:05:53	End of tape.

END