A look AT AcAdEMics Believing wholeheartedly in the Ecclesiastic admonition, "whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might," the college promoted excellence in every facet of life and continued to fulfill its charge to educate for eternity. Experiencing an increase in enrollment of 123 students over the previous enrollment record of 2,601 students for the fall of 1975, Harding College enrolled 2,724 students for the 1976 fall semester, crowding both dormitory facilities and classrooms and presenting the college with the greatest challenge and responsibility she has yet faced. The official head count of 2,724 made on the fourth Monday of the semester represented a 2,650 full-time equivalent based on a 15-semester hour load. The classification of these students is distributed as follows: Freshmen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 845 Sophomores . . . . . . . . . . . . 582 Juniors ................. 616 Seniors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 606 Graduate Students . . . . . . . . 39 Post Graduate and Special Students ........ 36 Represented in the student body are 47 states and 19 foreign countries. There are 1,395 women students and 1,329 men students. There are 170 new transfer students and 742 new freshmen. Married students number 261 of whom 165 are men and 96 are women. Boarding students number 1,015 men and 1,171 women for a total of 2,186. For the 1976-n academic year, the instructional faculty consists of 127 full-time equivalent faculty members to 34 - ACADEMIC REPORT teach the 2,650 full-time equivalent college students who enrolled for the fall semester, giving a student-faculty ratio of 20.8. This year, in a faculty numbering 152, 39.2 per cent hold the earned doctorate and 55.4 percent hold the Master's degree or higher but not the doctorate. Nine faculty members lack only the completion and defense of the dissertation for the earned doctorate and three of these expect to complete the doctorate before the end of the current academic year. With the exception of the faculty of an institution, the library is probably the most significant facet of the academic program. Harding College is blessed with excellent library facilities and the library services are administered by five capable professional librarians who are highly dedicated to their work. They are assisted by a capable staff which relies heavily on student help. The library contains 140,544 volumes, including 8,166 microform volumes. The library also contains 314 cassette tapes and 2,346 records in music, speech and biology. The library receives 1,104 periodicals and 12 daily newspapers. During the 1975-76 school year, 6,824 volumes were added to the collection. The library has stack space to accommodate 170,000 volumes. The senior year in the nursing program is being offered for the first time this year and 48 seniors are enrolled. There are also 46 enrolled in the junior year of the nursing program. The curriculum has been organized to provide for two years of preprofessional study in general education courses and basic courses in the natural sciences, nutrition, psychology, sociology, and management. The last two years are devoted primarily to didactic and clinical work in nursing. Under the leadership of Mrs. A. Michele Warren, Chairman of the Department of Nursing, a capable faculty has been obtained. At the close of the junior year, the students who will be the first class to receive the Bachelor of Science degree in nursing in the summer of 19n took achievement tests from the National League for Nursing and scored at the 75th, 65th, and 50th percentiles on the national norms, respectively, on the three parts of the test. Dr. Billy Ray Cox, Vice President contacted the W. K. Kellogg Foun~ dation of Battle Creek, Michigan, for a grant; and, through his efforts, the nursing program has received a grant of $401,325 to develop a family nurse practitioner program. Mrs. Cathie Smrth is assisting Mrs. Warren in the development of this program. Use of the PDP11/45 Digital Computer which was installed during the summer of 1975 has been implemented during the 1976-n school year and most of the anticipated uses of this computer are now functional. Registration for the 19TI spring semester was accomplished with the computer. The Bible Department continued to implement effectively its two basic objectives, providing Biblical instruction each semester to every student enrolled in Harding College and providing additional instruction and educational experiences for students majoring in Bible, Biblical Languages, Missions and Religious Education. Various seminars, workshops and lectureships were conducted throughout the year to provide special experiences for young men planning to preach. The 53rd annual lectureship on October 5-8 developed the theme, "Count It All Joy," and all of the speakers were chosen for the first time from the Harding faculty in Searcy and the Harding Graduate School of Religion in Memphis. Attendance was up from recent years and student interest in the lectureship was good. The eighth annual preachers forum was conducted March 16 on "Establishing Biblical Authority." A youth forum on April 16-17, 1976, brought 3,500 guests from 27 states. A preachers' workshop was conducted on June 8-10 to help preachers specifically with sermon preparation, the emphasis being placed on expository preaching. On August 3-5, simultaneous workshops for preachers, elders, and preachers' and elders' wives were conducted with good attendance. Harding students continued their high level of achievement in a wide variety of activities. On February 25,
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