Pressure to accommodate more students
The University's reputation and prestige ensured not just a reliable
stream of incoming applicants, but also increasing pressure to admit
numbers which were beyond its capacity to properly absorb and service.
This was caused not just by natural population growth rates or the even
higher secondary school graduate growth rates, but in this particular
case, by the increasing size of the influential class that wanted their
children admitted to the University and by the growing number of
graduates from affiliated La Salle high schools. The University had to
resist the temptation to indiscriminately expand, crowding its facilities
and its classrooms and overloading its faculty; on the other hand, it
needed to respond to the ever growing demand.
The concern for quality
Throughout the analysis of the obstacles facing the future
development of the University, concern was maintained to preserve the
prestigious reputation and academic excellence of the institution. The
best faculty had to be recruited and retained, facilities had to be
improved and revenue was needed for this, but not at the expense of
jeopardizing quality goals. The range of problems was, as mentioned
above, clarified upon the completion of the planning document, but it
was the Vice-President for Academic Affairs who , as the chief academic
officer of the University, brought them to the fore and gave them
importance. H e was a dynamic and forward-looking official wh o was
second only to the University President in rank, status and prestige.