Center for General and Career Studies collection

The Center for General and Career Studies was set up in January 1976 as a place for non-traditional education endeavors at Oakland University. Assistant Provost Billie DeMont was appointed as Director of the Center, with responsibility over five programs: New-Charter College, the credit evening program, the Department of Learning Skills, and the Career Development and Bachelor of General Studies programs. At the time, evening classes, Saturday classes, off-campus classes, certificate programs and continuing education (hence the careers studies) were not part of OU's ethos. However, the administration saw them as a way of expanding OU’s educational offerings. The Center was an evolving entity that received mixed support from the traditional academic units. In 1981, the Center was part of a major reorganization of Academic Affairs by an ad hoc committee, CAMP (Committee on Academic Missionand Priorities) formed by President Champagne. Its areas of responsibility were redistributed to other units. The Department of Rhetoric was transferred to the College of Arts and Sciences. The Bachelor of General Studies first went to the Division of Continuing Education.