INTRODUCTION

Higher education after World War II was marked by unprecedented expansion. Returning war veterans used the GI Bill to fund an education which might otherwise have been impossible to experience. They were joined by an increasing percentage of high school graduates, and it seemed that more people than ever were crowding onto the college campuses. As a result, there was growing pressure on colleges and universities to provide new courses, additional sections, instructors, classrooms and laboratories. Courses were approved, faculty hired, buildings erected in profusion but often, it seemed, with an inadequate budget and time lag.

Another development, perhaps in part a response to growth pressures, was a growing interest in experimenting with teaching methods and academic administrative structures. New schools were created, with new combinations of departments with similar subject matter. For example, a School of Communication(s) might include Departments of Speech, Journalism and English. Another idea involved the creation of a new academic program (and major) by bridging existing departments without disturbing basic administrative structure, and sometimes without the need for hiring new faculty. Such programs had various descriptions --for example, "Area Study" or "Interdiscipline Department." These programs often reflected some aspect of a rapidly changing world. For example, it was possible to offer a new major in "Slavic Studies" by grouping together courses and faculty from such areas as history, political science and slavic languages. Depending on the university, the new area study might or might not have department status. Area studies were very popular at the University of Kansas in the fifties, strongly supported by Dean George Waggoner of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. The popularity of such programs at KU seemed to fade as the University became more "numbers" oriented, but a few are still being offered as this narrative is written.

The field of radio and television is one which expanded rapidly in the first decade after the war. Radio broadcasting stations were operating in hundreds of good-sized towns, and commercial television stations and networks could be received anywhere in the country. With "D.J's" broadcasting popular music into most homes and cars, and with the television set a new fixture in the living room an increasing number of college students wanted to learn about the electronic media and eventually to work in them.

Schools attempted to respond to the demand. The first response, usually, was to add courses within established departments (i.e., speech, journalism, even english.) Some programs grew to become separate departments, sometimes in a school of communication(s). But no matter the type of administrative structure, it was quickly realized that all such programs required specialized and expensive equipment and facilities. At the University of Kansas, the first radio courses were offered by the Department of Speech and Drama before the war. They were revived after the war and new courses were added in Speech and also in the new William Allen White School of Journalism. By 1955 it was obvious that some new type of structure needed to be developed in order to expand course offerings and provide lab experiences in an efficient and effective manner. After much discussion, a new academic entity was created.

The new program was a bridge between the School of Journalism and the Department of Speech and Drama of the College of Arts and Sciences. The faculty, for the most part, had joint academic appointments in both areas. The program occasionally was called an area study, and sometimes it was listed as a department. Most of the time it was simply "Radio-Television (and later)-Film." The faculty group was called, "The Radio and Television Committee," and the head of it was the "Director," (or, sometimes, the "Chairman.") The Radio and Television (or RTV) Committee was responsible for the development and teaching of coursework in this field. However, the scope and responsibilities of the new program went beyond that of an academic unit, making it a unique entity -- a truly experimental structure: The Committee was responsible for the operation of three radio stations and for the development and operation of an educational television station that was in the planning stage. The Committee was empowered to create and carry out policies held jointly with other Kansas schools in relation to commercial stations (as in the operation of a "Sports Network.") It had a maintenance and equipment budget as well as an endowment account separate from Journalism or Speech. There was a masters degree in Radio and Television, also separate from the two areas. The Committee was, in short, the "university agency concerned with all matters relating to Radio and Television." It came to life in 1955 and lasted until the early eighties when there was a transition to separate and more traditional programs in Journalism and Speech and Drama.

This narrative is an attempt to describe that program. There were a number of experimental academic program structures at KU, but to the knowledge of this writer there has been none quite like it, nor is there likely to be one in the future. Yet the circumstances and problems concerning broadcasting and society which existed in 1955 are still evident in 1998. In 1955 the field of radio and television expanded rapidly in scope and technical innovation; today there is a bewildering and exploding world of electronic communications, with no one quite certain what it is, where it is going, or the extent of its impact on society. Perhaps there are new questions about how to prepare students for careers in this changing environment. (Are there going to be, for example, "television reporters" and "newspaper reporters," or just "reporters" capable of working in any medium?) In 1955 it was necessary to find an efficient way to offer courses and labs in an expensive area; today, given the severe budget crisis in higher education, there is no lessening in the need to find ways to produce cost-effective higher education. (Will one of the ways be some type of cooperative program between academic units -- a new taxonomy? Even as this history is being written there are discussions within the School of Journalism in regard to new core courses and a closer relationship between sequences, and there is the possibility that there might be some cooperative lab work between the students of RTV- Journalism, and Theater-Film.) Perhaps a look at the past -- at our problems and attempts to solve them -- might provide some insight for the nineties. If not, then this is simply the story of how one unique program operated for more than a quarter of a century -- a story to be placed in the archives and perhaps to be consulted, occasionally, for specific historical information.

As to the sources of information: Basic information about commercial and educational/public broadcasting in the United States came primarily from a history by Sterling and Kittross. Two theses at KU provided excellent material about the history of KFKU and KANU; a third one chronicled the losing fight to put channel 11 on the air. Specific course descriptions and schedules were available in the university publications of such material. Two histories of the University of Kansas (Taft, Griffin) included only a brief reference to the radio stations and nothing at all about the academic programs in radio-television-film. The primary sources of information were the memos, reports, minutes of meetings and other documents related to this program. A great majority of them originated with -- or were compiled by -- this writer. I was Chairman of Radio-Television-Film from the beginning of the program in 1955 until 1984, at which time I returned to fulltime teaching. (I retired in December, 1987.) Because of this personal involvement, it will be difficult to avoid over-use of the first person, and there is no escaping the fact that this may seem to be, at times, a personal history. For this, apologies are given. However, I do not apologize for the times when a personal opinion is expressed. Perhaps a more objective history could be written by a disinterested historian; no one has volunteered to do so. It is pleasing that a number of colleagues and administrators have strongly supported the undertaking of this task. It is hoped that the insights and memory I have of the events to be described will enrich the narrative and provide the reader with greater understanding.

There will not be, I hope, an exhaustive (and exhausting) recital of data on courses, loads and the day-by-day ups and downs of department operations. Some of this information will, of course, be used to make a point about trends, issues or events, and additional information can be found in the Appendix.

There are two caveats: The first is that this narrative about a program of higher education has almost no information about the very reason for its existence -- the students. I regret this very much. There are hundreds of graduates, and they all have stories to tell. But I have very little access to them, and to go into detail about certain graduates who I happen to know well could do a severe injustice to the rest. There are many great success stories, and I hope someone will document them.

The other caveat relates to the faculty: The reader will not find information in this document as to the research efforts of members of the faculty. There are several reasons: First, faculty research is not a significant part of the story of this area or interdiscipline program; it was not a factor in funding, the hunt for space, etc. Second, the information is already available in the archives, in the form of individual faculty annual reports and in several publications of the University. It also could be said that because teaching and service were the most important areas to the School of Journalism, and because the creative production of radio, television and film materials could be counted as "research," the output of traditional research by most of the RTVF faculty in those years was somewhat less than could be found in many academic departments.

The history of RTVF is presented in chronological order. It is important for the reader to know something about the development of broadcasting and broadcast education -- nationwide and at KU -- prior to 1955. This is the subject matter of Chapter I. The Chapters that follow in chronological sequence do not have a standard dividing line, such as a chapter for each decade; rather, they are separated by certain events or important changes in the program. Thus, Chapter II, "Structuring the Program," chronicles the important first two years of the new program. The events of the next six years (September 1957 - August, 1963) are the subject of Chapter III; these were the "microwave years" of live television programming from the main stage of Hoch Auditorium and sent via microwave to WIBW-TV in Topeka. Chapter IV is the story of "Growth and Growing Pains," from 1963 to the fall of 1973, including the sad tale of the loss of educational television Channel 11. Chapter V is called, "Coming of Age." Once again there was overall growth and, finally, the acquisition of color television equipment. The chapter ends in the summer of 1981 on an upbeat note -- it looked as if the program would have its own, new state-of-the-art building and equipment. There was a minor chord, however -- for a number of reasons the academic "bridge" was showing signs of weakness. The comprehensive story ends in 1984, with Chapter VI, '"Closing One Era; Beginning Another." It seems appropriate to close at this point because by 1984, for all intents and purposes, the "area study" concept was morphing to a more traditional administrative structure more in keeping with the problems and demands of the eighties. It also was the year when I decided that after 29 years it was time to toss out administrative responsibilities and enjoy the life of a fulltime teacher. (The two events were not significantly related.) But the reader will not be left completely at sea as to what happened next. Chapter VI is followed by an "Epilogue," in which the major changes from 1984 to the fall of 1998 are noted, with no attempt to provide a great deal of detail or explanation.

Beginning with Chapter III, each chapter is divided by sub-topics, such as Administration, Budget, Faculty, etc., which may be of value if the reader wishes to follow any of them through until 1984.

An Appendix contains copies of selected documents, some of which are too long for inclusion in the text or footnotes. There are lists -- of the faculty members who were (and are, as of the date of publication) connected with RTVF; of film and television programs produced and distributed or aired; and of alumni and broadcasters who have been honored. And, because this is, in part, the story of a visual medium, it should not surprise the reader to find a considerable number of photographs.