Dr. Paul Perry Fidler, Sr. 1936

	(text as published in The State newspaper obituary column 6/29/03 and again 7/1/03)
Dr. Paul Perry Fidler, Sr. April 1, 1936 June 22, 2003		Dr. Paul P. Fidler, 67, Professor Emeritus of Higher Education of the University of South Carolina, died on June 22 in Boston after a long illness which had previously led to his official retirement from the University four years ago. Fidler is remembered both at USC and in the larger national higher education community for a number of very important accomplishments, and the unassuming manner in which he performed them, that far transcended his work on the Columbia campus. Dr. Fidler, son of Loyal William Fidler and Eleanor Perry, was a native of Elkins, West Virginia and graduated from high school in Beaufort, South Carolina. He received an undergraduate degree in mathematics from Duke University in 1958. After graduation from Duke, he went on active duty as an Ensign with the U.S. Navy. He served on destroyers of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet until he reported for duty with the Naval ROTC Unit of the University of South Carolina in 1961. Upon release from active duty in 1963, he attended graduate school at USC and was one of the first two students to receive a master's degree in student personnel services from the University.

As a graduate assistant he was in charge of the fledgling Office of Student Financial Aid and became the University's first Director of Student Financial Aid in 1964. Between 1965 and 1967, he earned a Doctor of Philosophy from Florida State University, after which he returned to the University of South Carolina as Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs.

Dr. Fidler held a variety of senior administrative posts during his nearly four decades at the University. For over 25 years he was Faculty Secretary of the University's chapter of Omicron Delta Kappa, student honorary leadership society. In this role he took an active part in the University's annual Awards Day to celebrate the accomplishments of students inside and outside the classroom. In addition, Fidler cemented formal relationships between the University and its campus chaplains to meet the needs of students in the spiritual dimensions of growth and learning. Paul Fidler was also an unceasing champion for the needs of so-called "undeclared" students, those who enter college without having yet chosen a major field of study. He designed and directed a special experimental unit, the Center for Undeclared Majors, to serve these students.

Another lasting contribution of Dr. Fidler has been the University's highly acclaimed Career Center which occupies an entire floor of the Columbia campus's College of Business Administration and serves the total undergraduate student body. Thanks to Fidler's original vision and recruitment of founding personnel, this center equals the finest in the US and is a lasting legacy to his work among college students. Another legacy has resulted from Fidler's pioneering work in establishing an Academic Planning Office, the precursor to the University's current Office of Institutional Planning and Assessment.

In addition to his appointments in the Division of Student Affairs, Fidler ultimately became the mainstay of both a master's and doctoral program in college student personnel services and the study of higher education offered through USC's College of Education. He supervised the research of 35 doctoral students; his work has enabled USC to join a select group of approximately only 100 institutions actively engaged in the preparation of future higher education leaders including future college presidents. Fidler's graduates, numbering over a thousand, are now placed in positions of influence on campuses around the country thus vastly expanding USC's vision for the preparation of student affairs professionals. To this end, he founded and co-edited one of the first referred journals, Carolina View, published by a Division of Student Affairs for training university administrators.

Dr. Fidler was also one of the original pioneers in the "assessment and accountability" movement, whereby colleges attempt to demonstrate the learning outcomes of students. His work in this area for more than 25 years measured the impact of innovations introduced on campuses around the country, following USC's lead to improve what has become known as "the freshman year experience." Fidler demonstrated how to measure in convincing statistical terms the value of educational interventions such as University 101 which was initially thought to be highly controversial and of questionable value. His research on its effectiveness has been essential in persuading University leaders to make this concept a mainstay of the USC new student experience. Fidler's pioneering research on the new student experience also had special areas of focus on the transfer student phenomena, the impact of off-campus residential housing on student achievement, and components of the college experience that contribute to satisfaction levels in college graduates. As an early leader in USC's efforts to study college student retention and progression, he chaired the University Retention Committee from the mid-1980s.

In the era of student protests in the late 1960s, culminating in the USC student "riot" of May 1970, Fidler's name appears very frequently in the University's archives for his roles as student advocate, counselor, mediator, and voice of calm reason in the heat of that period's anger, discord, and tumult. Paul Fidler was revered by his students, who after the onset of his illness organized annual "Fidler 5K" runs both to recognize him in life and to support the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Two awards created and named for him are: the Paul Fidler Volunteer Service Award created by the University Chaplains and the Paul Fidler Fellowship awarded to a graduate student who exemplifies research, scholarship, and service.

He was presented with the Clarice W. Johnson Outstanding Professional Award from the South Carolina College Student Personnel Association, the Francis Asbury Award for Fostering United Methodist Ministries in Higher Education, and the South Carolina Order of the Silver Crescent by the governor's office.

Paul Fidler was a member of the following organizations: Delta Tau Delta, Phi Delta Kappa, Association for Institutional Research, Association for the Study of Higher Education, American College Personnel Association. He was twice President of the South Carolina College Personnel Association.

In addition to his distinguished University career, Dr. Fidler also chaired the Scholarship Committee of the South Carolina Easter Seals Society for over 25 years. He was a retired Captain in the United States Naval Reserve and was also active in Trenholm Road United Methodist Church.