V'i ^ THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES I Mf-y^" f^P^ EDUCATIONAL PROBLEMS « IN COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY ADDRESSES DELIVERED AT THE EDUCATIONAL CONFERENCE HELD AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, OCTOBER FOUR- TEENTH, FIFTEENTH AND SIXTEENTH, NINETEEN HUNDRED AND TWENTY, ON THE OCCASION OF THE INAUGURATION OF PRESIDENT MARION LEROY BURTON, PH.D., LL.D. EDITED BY JOHN LEWIS BRUMM ANN ARBOR PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN 1921 Ed. & Psych. Library •i ^ The addresses delivered at the Educational Conference, held at the University of Michigan in connection with the inauguration of President Burton, dealt with college and university problems of such paramount importance that it was deemed desirable to assemble them in the present volume. 1579274 EDUCATIONAL CONFERENCE HELD AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, OCTOBER FOUR- TEENTH, FIFTEENTH AND SIXTEENTH, NINETEEN HUNDRED AND TWENTY, ON THE OCCASION OF THE INAUGURATION OF PRESIDENT MARION LEROY BURTON, PH.D., LLD. PROGRAM THURSDAY, OCTOBER 14 9:30 A.M. ACADEMIC PROCESSION 10:30 A.M. INAUGURAL SESSION 1 . Historical Address : Harhy B. Hutchins, LL.D., President Emeritus of the University 2. Induction of the President: Victor M. Gore, B.S., LL.B., Regent of the University 3. Inaugural Address: The Functions of the State University Marion LeRoy Burton, Ph.D., LL.D. 4. The Functions of the Governing Board in the Administration of a University William L. Abbott, M.E., Trustee, University of Illinois 5. The Functions of the Faculty in the Administration of a University Joseph A. Leichton, Ph.D., Ohio State University 2 :3o P.M. SESSION DEALING WITH EDUCATIONAL READJUST- MENTS 1. The Integration of the University Williston Walker, Ph.D., D.D., L.H.D., Provost of Yale University 2. Academic Freedom and Social Responsibility Robert E. Vinson, LL.D., President of the University of Texas 3. The Place of the University in Training for Citizenship RoscoE Pound, Ph.D., LL.D., Dean of the Law School, Harvard University 4. The University and International Relationships Sir Robert A. Falconer, LL.D., D.Litt., C.M.G., President of the University of Toronto 8:30 P.M. RECEPTION to Delegates, Guests, and Members of the Faculty EDUCATION.^L SESSION FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15 io:ooA.M. SESSION DEALING WITH ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS 1. The Growtli of the State Universities Lotus D. Coffman, Ph.D., President of the University of Minnesota 2. The Cost of Higher Education and Its Bearings Upon Taxation S.\ML"EL P. CapEN, Ph.D., Director of the American Council on Education 3. The Supply of Adequately Trained University Teachers Frederick J. E. Woodbridge, LL.D., Dean, Columbia University 4. The Present Status of Research in American Universities Vernon L. Kellogg, M.S., Secretary of the National Research Council 2:30 P.M. SESSION DEALING WITH CONSTRUCTIVE MEASURES 1. The Junior College Movement A. Ross Hill, Ph.D., LL.D., President of the University of Missouri 2. Differentiation of the Units of the Educational System to Meet the Needs of Varying Types of Students Charles A. Prosser, Ph.D., Director of the William Hood Dunwoody Institute 3. Cooperation Between Colleges and Universities DoKALD J. Cowling, Ph.D., LL.D., President of Carleton College 4. Cooperation with the Vital Activities of Life Frederick P. Fish, A.B., Trustee of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology 7:30P.M. BANQUET: Delegates, Guests, and Members of the Faculty Speakers: A. Lawrence Lowell, Ph.D., LL.D., President of Harvard Univer- sity; E. A. Birge, Ph.D., Sc.D., LL.D., President of the University of Wisconsin; Harry Augustus Garfield, LL.D., L.H.D., President of Williams College; and Thomas E. Johnstox, A.B., LL.D., Superintendent of Public Instruction, Michigan SATURDAY, OCTOBER 16 9:30 A.M. MEETING OF REGENTS OF STATE UNR'ERSITIES 1. The Salary Problem Honorable Charles L. Sommers, A.B., Regent of the University of Minnesota 2. Student Fees and Tuition Charges Theodore M. Hammond, Regent of the University of Wisconsin 3. Discussion of Problems Confronting the Governing Boards of Universities CONTENTS Page The State University Idea 1 Harry Burns Hutchins, LLD. Induction Address 22 Victor M. Gore, B.S., LL.B. The Function of the State University 25 Marion LeRoy Burton, Ph.D., LL.D. The Functions of the Governing Board in the Administration of a University 54 William L. Abbott, M.E. The Functions of the Faculty in the Administration of a University 62 Joseph A. Leighton, Ph.D., LL.D. The Integration of the University 80 Williston Walker, Ph.D.., D.D., L.H.D. Academic Freedom and Social Responsibility 93 Robert H. Vinson, LL.D. The Place of the University in Training for Citizenship 103 Roscoe Pound, Ph.D., LLD. The University and International Relations 119 Sir Robert A. Falconer, LL.D., D.Litt., C.M.G. The Growth of State Universities 132 Lotus D. Coffman, Ph.D. The Cost of Higher Education and Its Bearing on Taxation . . 148 Samuel P. Capen, Ph.D. The Supply of Adequately Trained University Teachers 159 Frederick J. E. Woodbridge, LL.D. Research in the Universities 175 Vernon L. Kellogg, M.S. The Junior College Movement 188 A. Ross HUl, Ph.D., LL.D. Differentiation of the Units of the Educational System to Meet the Needs of Varying Types of Students 199 Charles A. Prosser, Ph.D. Cooperation Between Colleges and Universities 225 Donald J. Cowling, Ph.D., LL.D. Cooperation With the Vital Activities of Life 241 Frederick P. Fish., A.B. The Art of Examination 268 A. Lawrence Lowell, Ph.D., LL.D. The Salary Problem 274 Charles L. Sommers, A.B. Student Fees and Tuition Charges 286 Theodore M. Hammond THE STATE UNIVERSITY IDEA HARRY BURNS HUTCHINS, LL.D. President Emeritus of the University of Michigan Upon the occasion that marks the beginning of a new administration of the University, it has been thought fitting that something be said regarding the develop- ment of the state university idea, with particular refer- ence to its development within the Commonwealth of Michigan. I have been asked to speak briefly upon the subject. As the expressed wish of our President is with me equivalent to a command, I shall attempt to do so. I am embarrassed, however, by having to traverse ground already thoroughly covered upon several public occa- sions at this University, by speakers of distinguished merit — ground, therefore, presumably familiar to many of you — and by the fact that the time limit, wisely impos- ed out of consideration for the audience, precludes little more than the barest outline. But notwithstanding these and other handicaps that I might mention, I shall try to contribute something by way of brief narrative and occasional suggestion. The policy of state assistance to higher education is not in this country of recent origin. It has a distinct historical basis. It long antedates the coming of the state university; for the older institutions of the East and of the South not infrequently during the early, and particularly during the colonial, period of their histoiy depended largely upon public appropriations for their support. The policy, however, under the old regime, never became so general or so deeply rooted that it dom- 2 1XAUGUR-\L SESSION, mated educational development. Its exercise was ap- parently special and usually in cases of emergency. Due to the fact that, later, private benefaction largely took the place of public bounty in the support of the older foundations and to the further fact that, in the older states particularly, numerous privately endowed col- leges were chartered, higher education, and, indeed, practically all education in those sections, as a rule as- sumed the individualistic or special, rather than the public or general, form of development. It was, there- fore, left to the newer states to vrork out and apply generally the policy, fortunately kept alive by Federal legislation, that advanced training, as well as elemen- tary, may properly and legitimately be furnished by the state. And so it came about that the state university idea, as understood to-day, has been largely developed and applied through the exercise of what has been aptly termed the ** educational consciousness"^ of the people of our central and western states. This consciousness has been defined as being **a stage in civilization in which the people conceive of education as a natural and neces- sary activity of the State itself."- Belief in education furnished by the people for the people characterized many of the pioneer leaders of this region and inspired them to labor in its behalf. Early in their history they a- woke verj' generally to the notion that it is the duty of the state, a manifest and necessary duty, to furnish to all, rich and poor alike, ample opportunities for education of all grades, including the highest. They appreciated fully that in no other way can the highest and best civic de- velopment be realized. Their attitude is apparent in 1. The Spirit of the State Universities, by President Pritchett. Atlantic Monthly (loio) p. 741. 2. The Spirit of the State Universities, by President Pritchett. Atlantic Monthly (1910) pp. 742-744. HISTORICAL ADDRESS 3 plans for state educational systems and in the fact that such plans as a rule have a basis in the organic law. Not only in the states formerly constituting the Northwest Territory, but also in the central and western states generally, as well as in some of the southern, the people have spoken directly upon the subject in their state con- stitutions, and in no uncertain terms. In every instance the culmination of the system is the state university. Remarkable examples, these, of wisdom, of foresight and of comprehensive vision. Not the result of accident, sure- ly, or of impulse, but rather of sound and constructive thinking and sane leadership. It has been said with truth that ^*no such exhibition of well-formed and definite educational conciousness was ever before seen in the organization of new states or provinces;"^ and, further, that **if our American democracy were to-day called to give proof of its constructive ability, the state university and the public school system which it crowns, would be the strongest evidence of its fitness which it could offer. ' '^ The educational conciousness of which I speak was unquestionably stimulated by, if it did not originate in, that *' great charter of freedom, morality and intel- ligence, ' ' the Ordinance of 1787. You will remember that while providing that the vast territory northwest of the Ohio river should never be cursed by human slavery, it declared also that '' Religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall for- ever be encouraged," a declaration which, in the words of my distinguished predecessor in the presidency of this University, "should be engraved in letters of gold on fitting monuments in every state that was carved out of 3. Selected Addresses, by President Angell, p. 64. 4. Ten Brook's American State Universities, p. 94. 4 INAUGURAL SESSION the Northwest Territory. ' '^ It is a declaration that can- not be too frequently quoted, for therein is embodied a fundamental principle of government by the people, a principle essential to the very life and perpetuity of the Eepublic. Grounded in religion, morality, and the general education of the people, our free institutions will be safe. They will withstand the attacks of those who through ignorance or discontent or vicious leadership would undermine and utterly destroy. Who can measure the influence upon the religious, social, economic and civic life and development of the people of the newer states, and, indeed, of the whole Nation, that has come di- rectly and indirectly from this great enactment? The public leaders of the day doubtless had an appreciative vision, but it must have fallen far short of the actualities of the present. Acting in accordance with the imperative spirit of the Ordinance, Congress at once made possible the carry- ing out of the educational ideals expressed therein, by providing for public land grants for educational pur- poses. It is quite apparent that the two enactments were complementary parts of the same general plan. The first contains the declaration quoted in regard to the en- couragement of education, and the second, specific pro- vision for the reservation of lands from the public do- main for the maintenance of public schools and for university purposes. Moreover, at the same session ap- propriations of lands for the support of a university and schools in Ohio were made. These were significant be- cause the first of a long series of land appropriations by the General Government for educational purposes. Although not containing a specific declaration as to future policy, this legislation of 1787 really served to fix 5. Selected Addresses, by President Angell, p. 64. HISTORICAL ADDRESS 5 the essential features of a national educational land grant policy, followed thereafter without exception in the admission of new states. Without the Federal aid that has thereby come to them, it is doubtful if the people of the newer states would have developed so soon, so generally and so completely as they have, the educational consciousness that stands for intellectual training of all grades at public expense. Because of the poverty of the pioneer and the physical obstacles to be overcome in the early days of his struggle, such development would, without this outside encouragement, have been slow and incidental and might never have been realized. That the initial Federal appropriation of two townships of land to each state must have served as a substantial stimulus, is apparent from the fact that in many cases such lands were the principal source of support for the state university during the early years of its history. For example, it was not until thirty years after the founding of this University that the first appropriation in its behalf was made by the State. Up to 1867 the en- tire expense of its maintenance, with the exception of that met by a state loan of $100,000, was paid out of the income from the proceeds of Federal land sales and the small amount received from student fees. The educational consciousness of the people of Mich- igan was first authoritatively expressed during the terri- torial regime. The declaration was in the form of an en- actment, bearing date August 26, 1817, by the Governor and Judges of the Territory. Even earlier there had been signs of an intellectual awakening. An interest in popular education had become apparent. Among the pioneers was a considerable sprinkling of men who had enjoyed the advantages of liberal training. They were alive to the important fact that the successful develop- 6 INAUGURAL SESSION ment of a new and powerful commonwealth would de- pend largely upon the educational opportunities furnish- ed to the youth of the Territory. It will be remembered that France, England, and the United States, successive- ly, had dominion over the region. And it is of interest to note that, in the educational awakening of these early days, there was something of race rivalry. This is ap- parent in a French editorial appearing in The Detroit Gazette in the summer of 1817. In this the writer appeals to the Frenchmen of the Territory to begin immediately to give an education to their children. He calls their attention to certain practical advantages that without training they cannot expect to enjoy. "In a little time," he says, ''there will be in this Territory as many Yankees as French, and if you do not have your children educated the situations will all be given to the Yankees. ' '^ The early numbers of this paper, which was printed partly in English and partly in French, contain numerous brief articles, both original and selected, upon education and what it will mean for the people. It is quite clear that before the passage of the first foraial en- actment upon the subject, the current was setting in the direction of larger educational opportunities for the people. Public agitation doubtless suggested the neces- sity of constructive legislation and probably hastened it. The act of August 26, 1817, to which reference has been made, is of distinct historical importance. It marks the formal beginning of the public educational movement in Michigan, the birth of what may without impropriety be called the Michigan idea, because first practically de- veloped here, namely, a system of education supported by the people for the people, crowned by the University and providing for elementary training of all grades. In lan- 6. Ten Brook's American State Universities, p. 94. HISTORICAL ADDRESS 7 guage the enactment is absurdly pedantic. It is entitled ''An Act to establish the Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania." Instead of professor, the act provides for the ''didactor" and instead of the professorship for the ' ' didaxia. ' ' The thirteen ' ' didaxiim, ' ' or professorships, of which the Catholepistemiad was to be composed, cov- ered a wide range of human knowledge, much wider than anything theretofore attempted by any American uni- versity. It was evidently contemplated by the author of the legislation that the president of the projected uni- versity should be both a prodigy in science and an up-to- date cyclopedia in general knowledge, for it was provid- ed therein that, in addition to his administrative duties, he should be "the didactor or professor of catholepis- temia, or universal science." Knowing this, our new President will realize, I am sure, that there are special compensations in having been born late, particularly when he is further informed that by a supplementary act it was provided "that the annual salary of the President .... shall be for the present twenty-five dollars". But notwithstanding the absurdly pedantic language of the enactment and the criticisms that its classification of knowledge invites, it embodies a scheme not only for university training but also for state-wide education and intellectual development that is extraordinary for its comprehensiveness and breadth of view. Judge Woodward, the author of the act, who has been charac- terized as "the organizing mind among the members of the territorial government,"' was apparently cognizant of the fact that, as a rule, universities had developed before the lower schools and had been an inspiring in- fluence in building them up. He therefore provided that the president and professors of the University should 7. Ten Brook's American State Universities, p. 01. 8 INAUGURAL SESSION not only be responsible for advanced university training and have power to regulate all the concerns of the in- stitution, but also that they should have the power (I quote) ''to establish colleges, academies, schools, libra- ries, musaeums, athenaeums,botanic gardens,laboratories and other useful literary and scientific institutions con- sonant to the laws of the United States of America and of Michigan, and to provide for and appoint directors, visitors, curators, librarians, instructors, and instruc- trixes, in, among, and throughout the various counties, cities, towns, townships, or other geographical divisions of Michigan. ' ' The scheme contemplated complete dom- ination by the University of the intellectual develop- ment of the Territory and the future State, domination, not by regents or trustees, but by the president and pro- fessors, who were to be appointed by the governor. It centered in the president and professors a wealth of ad- ministrative authority that, but for the inclusion of the president, would probably satisfy the ambitions of the most progressive of modern university faculties. But whatever crititcism may be made of the scheme, either as to form or substance, one cannot but conclude that it em- bodied a broad conception of what the educational oppor- tunities for the people should be. It was strikingly sug- gestive and doubtless prepared the way for future educa- tional development, as a less ambitious plan might not have done. So much, then, for the beginning. But little was ac- complished under the act, but that little was necessary, for it was in the elementary field. Nothing in the way of the organization of university instruction was attempted. Such instruction was not then needed. An entire univer- sity faculty, however, was appointed. It consisted of two men, but each was expected to function in a large way. HISTORICAL ADDRESS 9 The act provided that more than one professorship might be conferred upon the same person. The Reverend John Monteith, the Presbyterian Minister of Detroit, was ap- pointed to seven, and by virtue of the fact that among the seven was the professorship of universal science, he be- came President; Gabriel Richard, the Roman Catholic Apostolical Vicar of Michigan, was appointed to six, and the professorship of intellectual sciences being among the number, he became Vice-President by the terms of the act. It has been suggested that the appointment of the two men, each a representative of a different communion, and both enjoying the confidence of the two great religious divisions of the community, was in the nature of '*a happy prophecy of the truly liberal spirit which was sub- sequently to guide in the conduct of the University."^ Both were men of broad training and high ideals. Ap- parently they worked together in narmony and for what they thought to be the greatest good of the pioneer com- munity. They adapted themselves and their work to the conditions by which they were surrounded. Ecclesias- tical form gave way when necessary for the securing of what would be for the best interest of all. An in- cident illustrative of this is found in a prayer in his broken English that is recorded as having been used by Father Richard on one occasion in the legislative council : ''0 Lord, bless dis legislatif council, and enable dem to act for de peple and not for demselfs." Such a petition would not, I think, be out of place in the modem legis- lative assembly. In the exercise of their professorial and administrative trust, these leaders established a few pri- mary schools, ordained a course of instruction for class- ical academies, provided for such an academy in Detroit, 8. Selected Addresses, by President Angell, p. 69. 10 IXAUGUR.^ SESSION and also for a college, under the name of The First College of Michigania. But notwithstanding the fact that, during the brief period of its existence, this university organization func- tioned in so elementary a way, it ser^^ed the people as effectively as could have been expected. Moreover, and this was most important for the future of education, it kept alive and, to a certain extent, before the people the idea and the ideal of a complete public system of educa- tion, crowned and stimulated by the University. So far as appears in the record, it was not on account of any neglect on the part of those to whom this trust had been committed or because of any public criticism of the way in which it had been administered, that in 1821 an act was passed by the Governor and Judges that changed to some extent, and in one particular radically, the original act. In addition to substituting English for the polyglot nomenclature of Judge Woodward, and thereby re- christening the institution as the University of Mich- igan, it created in place of the president and professors as the governing and directing body, a Board of Trustees. Apparently the change did not provoke protest from the president and professors, possibly because of the fact that the two persons who then functioned as the entire organization were among the twenty-one trustees named in the new act. In breadth of view and comprehensive- ness of powers conferred upon the governing body, the new act was substantially along the lines of the old. In one particular it was notably significant, for it embodied in the form of special enactment a principle that has been a cardinal one during the entire life and development of the University, namely, that there shall be no discrimina- tion against trustee, president, professor, instructor or pupil on the ground of religious belief or affiliation. HISTORICAL ADDRESS 1 1 Under the new act but little in the way of educa- tional development was accomplished. Although schools of an elementary and secondary grade were maintained by the trustees, the new organization failed to impart new vigor to the movement initiated under the earlier legislation. The act served chiefly as a medium of trans- mission, so to speak, of the Michigan idea. That it so operated has been recognized by the highest tribunal of the State, for the Supreme Court has declared that there is a legal and corporate continuity from the University of 1817 through that of 1821 to the foundation of the Uni- versity of to-day. Upon the admission of Michigan to the Union, the educational consciousness of the people, which for a time had lagged, was stirred anew. Doubtless additional vigor was given to it by the prospective opportunities and the larger responsibilities of statehood. But its new and effective manifestation came principally, I am sure, from informed and constructive leadership. As already in- timated, Michigan was most fortunate in having among its early settlers a considerable number of men of liberal training, great energy, marked force of character, and withal of large, intelligent and comprehensive views as to the educational opportunities for the people that a young and growing commonwealth should provide. They had the wisdom to look into the future and to plan for it. Among them were two men who rendered to the people a service, the value of which, I fear, is not in our day fully appreciated. Their memory and the story of what they did should be familiar to the people — should be perpetu- ated upon enduring tablets. I refer to General Isaac E. Crary and the Reverend John D. Pierce. The former, a graduate of the Trinity College, Connecticut, came to Michigan in 1832; the latter, a graduate of Brown, in 12 INAUGURAL SESSION 1831. They settled in what is now the city of Marshall. Having enjoyed the advantages of liberal training, they were interested in the development of education in the state of their adoption. As neighbors they often discuss- ed the subject and together visualized ideal provisions for the commonwealth that was soon to be organized. They realized that while the territorial scheme embodied many of the essential principles, it fell short, both in form and substance, of being the ideal as a permanent plan for the state. It happened that in the course of their discus- sions both read and were profoundly impressed by M. Victor Cousin's famous Eeport on the Prussian system of education. This contained the clearest and strongest pre- sentation that had yet been made of a complete system of public instruction, created, supported and supervised by the state. In France and England the book had made a distinct impression. Through a translation, it was becom- ing known in the United States. A recent historian of the University declared it no exaggeration to say that the single volume of this report that found its way into the oak openings of Michigan and into the hands of Messrs. Crary and Pierce ''produced results, direct and indirect, that surpass in importance the results produced by any other educational volume in the whole history of the country,"^ Under the inspiration of its reading, Crary, who had been made a member of the Constitutional Con- vention and Chairman of the Committee on Education, drafted the article on that subject that was incorporated into the first Constitution of the State. The plan was most comprehensive. Briefly stated, it provided for pri- mary schools, secondary schools and a university, all to be supported from public funds and to be under state supervision. It created the office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, the first of the kind in the United 9. Hinsdale's History of the University of Michigan, p. 16. HISTORICAL ADDRESS 13 States; prescribed that the legislature, as soon as the circumstances of the State would permit, should provide for the establishment of libraries, one at least in each township. Furthermore, it made it the duty of the Legis- lature to encourage intellectual, scientific and agricul- tural improvement. A statesmanlike conception surely of the educational needs of a new state ! A most generous organic embodiment of the principle that it is the duty of the State to educate as well as to govern! A most ex- pressive and comprehensive declaration of the educa- tional consciousness of the people, of the genuine Mich- igan spirit! Although modified and enlarged by subse- quent changes, particularly so far as the University is concerned, in regard to the selection of regents and the powers of the board in the matter of handling and ex- pending university funds, it is in scope and substance substantially the constitutional plan of to-day. A statutory plan for the organization of the Univer- sity under the new constitution was presented in January 1837. It had been prepared by the Reverend John D. Pierce, who had theretofore been appointed Superintend- ent of Public Instruction. With General Crary he had studied carefully the Cousin report. That he had been influenced by it is apparent in the scheme that he formu- lated. It was broad and comprehensive, evidently the result of careful investigation, reflection, and wise judg- ment. It embodied in a most liberal way the spirit of the constitutional provision. In the three departments spe- cified — Literature, Science and the Arts, Law and Medicine — the scope of instruction outlined was com- parable with that of the University of to-day. The plan made a deep impression upon the Legislature. It was adopted with practically no opposition. The act es- tablishing the University, based upon the plan of the Superintendent, was approved March 18, 1837. The first 14 INAUGURAL SESSION meeting of the regents was held June 5, 1837, usually considered the natal da}^ of the University. This legis- lation, so changed subsequently as to be less elaborate in detail and far more general and withal adapted to th© changed and enlarged constitutional provisions, is now the recognized charter of the University. In its changed form, enlarged powers were conferred upon the regents, and they were authorized to extend the scope of instruc- tion by the addition of such other departments as they might deem necessary and as the state of the university fund might allow. Such, then, in outline, is the story of the origin and initial development in the Territory and State of Mich- igan of the state university idea. Of attendant mistakes, perils and threatened disasters I cannot speak. Nor will the time allotted permit a consideration, even in outline, of the marvelous growth of the movement in extent and efficiency during the last three quarters of a century. A brief reference to it by way of comparison and sugges- tions as to a few of the contributing causes, are all that I can attempt. Although the organizing act was passed in 1837, the University did not begin to function until September, 1841. Two professors, who constituted the entire faculty, then welcomed to the classrooms five freshmen and one sophomore. Four years later, the first class, numbering eleven, was graduated. Contrast this with the present. To-day the teaching force exceeds five hundred, the stu- dent body, ten thousand. Of late, each year more than twelve hundred graduating credentials have been award- ed. Eight schools and colleges now offer curricula that as a whole cover a very large part of the field of human knowledge. Libraries and laboratories furnish opportuni- ties for university work of every grade. A recognized in- tellectual center for the discovery and dissemination of HISTORICAL ADDRESS 15 truth as well as for the teaching of it! Monumental buildings on every side and extensive modern equipment testify to material growth. And all this within a period but little beyond the memory of men now living ! A uni- versity young in years when compared even with the older endowed universities of this country, but may we not say, without exaggeration, not unworthy of a place by their side if the measure be that of accomplishment? There is truth in the suggestion that *4n this country where we judge men by their achievements rather than by their lineage, we properly judge of institutions by their deeds rather than by their age."^° An historical background may certainly mean much to a university. It adds to its dignity and prestige. But, as the history of the state university movement clearly shows, it is by no means essential to distinct and far-reaching success. It not infrequently brings traditions that vex, and that restrain and stifle expansion. If a university is young, it has fewer excrescences to be lopped off." And now, what are some of the contributing and dominant causes of this striking growth? The first, which is common to all state universities, is found in the fact that Michigan is the people 's univer- sity. Its life and prosperity are intimately and inextrica- bly bound up with the life and prosperity of the people of the Commonwealth. Unhampered by tradition, it can and does so order its work as to serve the people. Its endow- ment, the best that the wit of man has yet devised, is in the wealth of the State and in the hearts of its people. Open to all, rich and poor alike, a place where one is measured by what one does rather than by the factitious standard of family or wealth, a splendid example, none better, of sane and regulated democracy, an institution in 10. Selected Addressed, by President Angell, p. 63. 11. University of Michigan Semi-Centennial, pp. 194, 195. 16 IXAUGUR-\L SESSION touch with all the people and in which ever\^ taxpayer, ffreat and small, is a stockholder, the University has the respect and confidence of the people and they willingly contribute liberally to its support. In the fact that the constitutional provision regard- ing the control of the University and the use of its funds, as frequently interpreted by the Supreme Court of the State, confers upon the regents plenary power, we have another reason and a most important one, for its pros- perity and orderly development. So far as the general supervision of the institution and the use of university moneys are concerned, the regents are thereby made in- dependent of legislative control. They are not merely a body corporate; they are made by the constitution a part of the state government, coordinate with the other parts. This independent position of the governing body has not infrequently saved the University from serious em- barrassment. That the important trust imposed has been most faithfully exercised by the loyal and devoted men who, without compensation, have served upon the board, is the universal testimony. But for their disinterested devotion to public duty, the constitutional safeguard would at times have failed to protect. Moreover, in their wisdom thev have avoided the notion, from which some of the newer state universities have suffered, that re- gents should administer as well as legislate. Another reason for the extraordinary development of the University is to be found in the comprehensive con- stitutional and statutory scheme to which reference has been made. More liberal than anything elsewhere at- tempted or even seriously considered at the time it was launched, it attracted the attention of teachers and stu- dents alike. EmbodWng as it did the spirit of service of a high order for all the people, together with high ideals of scholarship, its influence soon became much more than HISTORICAL ADDRESS 1 7 local. It was for this country something new and bold in the field of higher education, but something nevertheless that commended itself to many thinking and progressive Americans as grounded in wisdom and quite worth while. It arrested the attention of the man who became the first president of the University, Doctor Henry Philip Tap- pan. He found in it his ideal of a university plan. He was profoundly impressed by the opportunity to build up a higher institution of learning '*as an inseparable part and living member of a state system of public instruc- tion," and so he came. '^It was the charm of this high promise and expectation," he said, that drew him to Michigan.^^ But educational plans, monumental buildings, and generous equipment, even of the most approved sort, do not alone make a university. In the absence of the inspi- ration that great leaders, great scholars, and great teachers alone can give, the really essential spirit is lack- ing. This Michigan has always realized. Few univer- sities have been so fortunate as was this in the men who were called to do the initial and fundamental work of the first administration, and in those who later, during the second and third, devoted themselves loyally and effect- ively to the work of the superstructure. Judging from the record of what he did, one cannot but conclude that no better man than the first president could have been chosen for the special problems that confronted the University during the time of his administration, 1852-1863. He has been described as '*a man of commanding presence, of marked intellectual endowments, of large famil- iarity with the history of education, .... of broad and well defined views on university policy, ' '^^ and withal as an or- ator of unusual power and effectiveness. It has been said 12. Hinsdale's History of the University of Michigan, p. 43. 13. Selected Addresses, by President Angell, p. 84. 18 INAUGURAL SESSION that "he aroused people to an appreciation of the fact that our state system of education could not reach its proper development without a well-equipped university as its heart to send the energies of its life down through the schools. ' '^* More than any other man Doctor Tappan was the founder of the University. Under his wise leadership and with the cooperation of learned, earnest, and devoted men as associates upon the faculties, its foundations were laid broad and deep. During the brief administration of his immediate successor, Doctor Haven, a man of rare adaptability, of genial temperament, of grace and power as a public speaker, and, in addition, a man of ideas and ideals in regard to higher education, the building of the superstructure was begun. But the chief credit for this great work must be given to the grand man who for thirty-eight years so quietly, but yet so skillfully and so masterfully, guided and moulded the fortunes of the Uni- versity and made of it an instrumentality whose influ- ence, it is no exaggeration to say, has touched and quick- ened the spirit of youth in a way and to an extent rarely equaled. Doctor James Burrill Angell came to the Uni- versity at a time when leadership, such as he could give, was needed — a man of rare scholarship, of sound judg- ment, informed and matured by periods of successful ser- vice in other fields, of keen intellectual grasp, having the poise and the dignity that inspire confidence, the genial nature that bespeaks the warm heart, the diplomatic quality that avoids unnecessary offense, together with a felicity in public address that combined, in an unusual way, simple clarity of statement with the deep feeling and restrained forcefulness that carry conviction. With quali- ties such as these what could we expect but constructive leadership of a high order? Is it any wonder that new enthusiasm was awakened — that a great university was 14. Selected Addresses, by President Angell, p. 85. HISTORICAL ADDRESS 19 builded upon the foundations that had been laid? Do you ask what was done 1 Look about you. For the super- structure of to-day is essentially the work of Doctor Angell and his associates. Later additions and exten- sions have been made. Remarkable growth has followed. But the glory of large and real accomplishment is with him and them. I hardly need add that the great development under the administrations to which reference has been made, could never have been realized but for the fact that re- markable wisdom was exercised in the selection of the teaching force. Men of national and some of inter- national reputation were in all the faculties. The fame of these faithful teachers and scholars and their suc- cessors has been one of the chief contributing reasons for the growth and standing of the University. This it is that has given to us a student community with representa- tives, not only from every state and territory of the Union, but also from thirty-four different foreign nations. May the authorities of the University never for- get — they will, I am sure, never forget — that it is upon men, big men, trained men, upon great and compelling personalities with native gifts and abundant scholarly attainment, more than upon all else combined, that the fortune and reputation of the University depend. But in order to secure such men and the equipment that they should have, large resources must be provided. And this leads me to suggest that without the generous and continued support of the people of the State, as ex- pressed in liberal appropriations, particularly during re- cent years, the growth and development of the present could never have been realized. Because a large and con- tinuous income, not contingent upon the vote of suc- cessive assemblies, but regularly assessed upon the tax- able property of the State, has been provided, an income 20 INAUGURAL SESSION that automatically increases with the increase in the wealth of the State, the University has had a substantial source of revenue upon which it could depend. Knowing what could be expected, the authorities have been able in their plans to look beyond the immediate present. When we call to mind, also, that in addition to this, special ap- propriations for buildings and other purposes, aggregat- ing large amounts, have been made, in recent years prac- tically without opposition, we cannot but realize that the support of the people has been most generous and that under their fostering care the future of the University will be assured. Among other causes contributing to the growth and success of the University, one stands out so prominently that I should not omit a brief reference to it, the influence and the loyalty and the enthusiastic support of our alum- ni. Forty-five thousand and more, doing things worth while in every state of the Union and in many foreign lands, prominent in every field of activity and in the pub- lic service, they illustrate in their lives the value of what they received here. It has been said with truth that by their achievements they are commending their Alma Mater "not only for the mental discipline that she gave them, but also for the brave, earnest, manly spirit which by her free methods and by the character of her teachers she has nourished in them.'"^ But this is not all, for with their prosperity is coming a realization that loyalty and devotion may well be expressed by substantial donations and bequests. That this is so is evidenced by the fact that alumni gifts during the past eleven years total more than three million dollars. This is a state university, but there are those who love it; its alumni love it; they feel and know that they are a part of it. In its continued prosperity they are vitally interested. Upon their devo- 15. Selected Addresses, by President Angell, p. 97. HISTORICAL ADDRESS 2 1 tion and helpfulness we can at all times unhesitatingly depend. So much for the past. To-day we set up a new mile- stone in the history of the University, It will mark for all time the beginning of its fifth administration. Our eyes are now turned to the future. That we are entering upon an era of great accomplishment, there is not, in my judg- ment, the shadow of a doubt. Problems to be solved? Yes, many, no inconsiderable number that will call for wisdom, judgment, patience and administrative skill of the highest order. That the qualities and experience necessary for their successful mastery are possessed in large measure by our new leader, we confidently believe. And we believe, further, that his great task will be made easier and his burdens lighter by the enthusiastic and continued cooperation of regents, faculties, students and alumni and by the loyal devotion of the people of this great Commonwealth, all of which he will surely have. INDUCTION ADDRESS HON. VICTOR M. GORE, B.S., LL.B. Regent oj the University of Michigan The people of the State of Michigan dedicated this University to the cause of higher education. That means it was dedicated to the progress of knowledge as well as the care and culture of men and women. To preserve it unimpaired to future generations it was given lodgment in our State Constitution. There it remains in security and strength. It is, therefore, a part and parcel of the government itself. It is preeminently of the people. We owe a debt of gratitude to the electors of 1850 who answered in the affirmative this question: Will a free people tax themselves for higher education! That plendid verdict meant that growth, and ever larger growth for the institution, awaited the coming years. Prog- ress has become its breath of life. Under wise and whole- some leadership the University has gro^\m in efficient strength until to-day the friends of education the world over join us in cheering its past achievements and wel- coming its future and its problems. The University has thus justified the faith and leveled up to the ideals of its founders. It has produced in gratifying abundance noble men and noble women, and that is the true measure of its service and glory. Michigan may well be proud of its presidents. From the first they have been uniformly able men. Upon every tongue to-day are the names of Tappan and Haven, Angell and Hutchins. These inspiring names span Michigan history like a bow of promise. They are forever linked INDUCTION ADDRESS 23 together in the great constructive work of the University. Every lover of education should rejoice that the work of these distinguished leaders will be continued by a master- ful executive, possessing, in rounded measure, the full quota of Michigan 's requirements. This day is indeed auspicious. It belongs to Mich- igan. It marks in its career a memorable transition. We close one notable administration and formally install its successor. And that hour has struck. Marion LeRoy Burton: By reason of your distin- guished successes and eminence as an administrator, you have been called to the leadership of this great Univer- sity by the unanimous action of its Board of Regents. The trust imposed is preeminently a sacred one. This old University has a deep and firm hold upon the affections as well as upon the pride of the people of the State of Michigan. Into your hands we cheerfully confide its tra- ditions, laden with the worth and work of its sons and daughters. We bring you, in its able faculties, an army of trained and zealous experts and educators. We bring you vast groups of devoted and vigilant alumni. We turn over to your fostering care its high-minded and eager student body. We place in your hands the honor and good name of the University, priceless above all things rich or rare. We bring you, also, the good will and fervent prayers of the people of this great State ; those who main- tain this institution, cheer its progress, and glory in its mission. Moreover, as I deposit with you the charter and keys of the University, I make you the trustee of its vast pro- perties; its sacred donations coming from benefactors both living and dead; its noble fellowships, uplifting in their appeal to worthy ambition. And we are pleased to pledge you now and here in this vast presence the cordial cooperation and support of its Board of Regents. All 24 INAUGURAL SESSION these are yours. All these unite to welcome, to strengthen, and to prosper your administration. AVe thus turn over to your tried and able hands the very flower of Michigan life and endeavor. This we do, indulging the high and confi- dent hope that you may lead this University to transcend- ent accomplishments of which poets have dreamed and prophets spoken. Cheered by your efforts, inspired by your example and successes, the people of this Common- wealth and the friends of education the country over, bid you God-speed. And now, in the name and by the direction of its Board of Eegents, I pronounce you, Marion LeRoy Bur- ton, President of the University of Michigan. THE FUNCTIONS OF THE STATE UNIVERSITY MARION I,EROY BURTON, PH.D., I,I,.D. President of the University of Michigan The University of Michigan has a notable history. Its past is the occasion of just pride in the heart of every citizen of the state. The name of President James Burrill Angell is permanently identified with educational states- manship in America. The University to-day, its faculties and students, its buildings and campus, give ample proof of the wise and sagacious leadership of President Hutch- ins during the last decade. Since 1837 this University has filled a vital place in American education. For a genera- tion its primacy among the state universities of our coun- try was conceded. That several highly important educa- tional developments were initiated here is obvious to all who are familiar with the history of higher learning in America. This University was founded and has been maintain- ed by the State of Michigan. It therefore owes primary obligations to this state. However large it may become, or however attractive it may prove to students from all quarters of the globe, it finds its chief satisfaction in serv- ing its own constituency. Nevertheless it shares with all of the colleges and universities of the land, represented here to-day, many common tasks of higher education. It counts it a rare honor to be numbered among these institu- tions. The aims and functions of a true university, by the very nature and terms of the problem, defy definition. Even so, it is our privilege, upon occasions such as this, to 26 INAUGURAL SESSION ask ourselves anew just what we are attempting to do. Specifically, what do we conceive to be the function of the state university? I venture to answer that the function of the state university is to serv^e the state and, through the state, to serve the nation and the world. This assumption requires, first, that we make some appraisal, though necessarily incomplete, of the state; secondly, that we attempt some critical estimate of the university; and finally, that we suggest some forms of service which the university should render to the state. I. Any complete appraisal here of the State of Michigan is quite impossible. "We can, however, recognize certain considerations which are pertinent to our discussion dur- ing this conference. The external facts are interesting simply because they serve as the basis for a marvelously beautiful and fascinating life. Here is a state the same size as England and Wales and one-fourth the size of France, inhabited, according to the census just completed, by three and two- thirds millions of people, gathered from every land under the heavens. Morover, this state has the high honor and distinction of being one of the integral units of the United States of America, which must be numbered among the really great nations of all history. Michigan gives to and receives from every state within the Union. She takes her color and quality from the whole nation. Strategically located in the very heart of America, within easy access of many of the chief centers of population, proud of possess- ing the fourth city of the nation, conscious of her in- dustrial power, she may be regarded as typically Ajneri- can. To appraise her is in reality to interpret America. The vital facts are compelling because they tell us that here may be seen millions of people engaged in agri- culture, mining, manufacturing, and commerce. They INAUGURAL ADDRESS 27 work and they attempt to play. They are prosperous, possessing now about six billion dollars worth of pro- perty. They desire to use rightly and wisely their leisure time. They are associated, perhaps unconsciously, and without any serious realization of its implications, in the task of community building. They have assumed the re- sponsibilities of American citizenship. They have de- veloped here a political, social, industrial, and educational order. Mighty problems have presented themselves for solution. The city of Detroit alone is spending this year thiry-one million dollars for her public schools. As we look at Michigan, we are thrilled by this heroic commun- ity, undaunted by its problems and inspired by a great vision of its future. America as a whole has made great contributions to this Middle West. If our Pilgrim forefathers were marked by independence, initiative, and moral insight, these characteristics have been especially necessary in the de- velopment of these great western empires. Along with the nation, the west must face problems and utilize oppor- tunities which are apparent to every observer of American life. Our country to-day is suffering from lack of national unity. This statement does not need to be supported by statistical data, graphic charts, or long arguments. We are a polyglot people. We have been gathered from all of the nations of the earth. These peoples have come with varying traditions, differing religious beliefs, and with strange expectations. They have been confronted by stern realities rather than thrilling national hopes. They have experienced chilling disappointments and suffered from bitter disillusionments. And yet out of this hetero- geneous mass we are making America. The war revealed in sharp outline our dangers. Sometimes a flash comes out of the dark pit of our social and economic world. But 28 INAUGUILU SESSION through it all, the war made us see the possibilities of a new order and illuminated our rough path with the endur- ing light which emanates from the eternal truths upon which democracy rests. The striking fact about America is that more than any other nation she has been released from the past. Here is at once her strength and her weakness. Forward- looking movements in Europe are inevitably counter- balanced by the traditions of the past. In America, liberty easily becomes license, and freedom tends toward anarchy. At any rate, the plasticity of our entire social order is ap- parent. Our detachment from the past has manifested itself in a curious disregard even for the laws enacted by ourselves and in a strange disrespect for the courts of our own making. With all of our worship of the individual, human life has been held a cheap thing. Arnold Bennett refers to ''that sublime, romantic contempt for law and for human life, which, to the European, is the most discon- certing factor in the social evolution of your states." Our escape from ancient tyrannies and limitations has tended to soften our lives and to rob them of their rigor and vigor. The old puritanical ideal of strictness and severity has been replaced by laxness and looseness. Luxury and extravagance have laid heavy penalties upon virility and militancy. Eeligious devotions have been replaced by riotous dancing, and hard work by happy play. Hugo Miinsterberg, in his efforts to describe the traits of Americans, noted ''everywhere the same willingness to do what the public likes, and nowhere the question what the public ought to have. ' ' This separation from the past arises inevitably out of the conditions which gave birth to our nation and which have made possible its present prosperity. The one thing all Americans share is the future. A common hope has lured them on. The master^' of a great physical empire INAUGURAL ADDRESS 29 challenged every atom of their strength and courage. The establishment of free institutions commanded their best intellects. The creation of a new civilization required patriots, prophets, and statesmen. However much they may have loved the past, the logic of events forced them to face the future. No doubt, many a natural conservative, who instinctively cherished the lessons of the past, was compelled by his American enviroment to live in a city without foundations, whose main asset was its certain growth and whose chief glory was its future. Any effort to appraise America cannot neglect the remarkable fact that she has opportunity to become whatever her citizens desire to make her. She is clay in the hands of the potter. In a very unique sense she is free from the past and at- tached to the future. The chemist would say that America is in a nascent state. She is just beginning to exist, to come into being, to develop, to lay hold on her own. We have made some show of political democracy. We need not confuse our- selves to-day by a recital of the terrible mistakes we have made in our efforts to set up a representative government. The corruption of our politics has at times become a stench in our nostrils. But we take courage because our tendencies seem to be in the right direction. Socially, we have achieved results worthy of our democratic aims. We have no actual class distinctions. Men and women of ability are freely given the chance to pass from one group to another. Leisure classes are rapidly becoming extinct. Respectability no longer attaches to social parasites. In- dustrially, the situation is far less satisfactory. Un- doubtedly, our paramount domestic problem centers in a more satisfactory application of the principles of democ- racy to the production and distribution of wealth. No single group sees this problem with greater clearness, nor with more concern, than those who represent the com- 30 INAUGURAL SESSION munity as a whole. The public will become articulate sooner or later. It will not permit its interests to be sacri- ficed to conflict between groups nor jeopardized by a con- tinued series of compromises. From the standpoint of her artistic interests, America is showing most hopeful prog- ress. In painting, sculpture, architecture, and the drama, there is every evidence of a deepening appreciation of aes- thetic values. America is actually beginning to grow. The war forced her into the conscious stage of self -defini- tion. To-day she is groping about for the way to higher levels of living. Just now we need the message which Lowell put into the mouth of Hosea Biglow, a message reminiscent of the days of shallow, superficial optimism, and crude, if not vulgar, boasting: '"Ef we're agoin' to prove we be growed up, 'Twun't be by barkin' like a terrier pup, But turnin' to an' makin' things as good Ez wut we're oilers braggin' that we could." In America a modern prophet could truthfully pro- claim *'My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." At first thought it may seem that, above all nations, America has a passion for education. We expend huge sums for the training of our youth. At the present mo- ment more than twenty millions of children are being trained at public expense. To-day as never before the people believe in the schools. The war revealed to literal- ly millions of men that positions of leadership and oppor- tunities for service go to the men of training and know- ledge. But America suffers to-day from ignorance more than from any other single tyranny. Our children may have knowledge of the facts necessary for individual liv- ing. Our youth may acquire professional training of high degree. Their minds, however, have not been fo- cused upon those truths which are so essential to a demo- INAUGURAL ADDRESS 31 cratic community. The magnitude and diversity of our country accentuates the problem. The multitude of our concerns smothers our social in- stincts. Preoccupation with personal affairs dulls our in- terest in community problems. Intense competition in business dealings tends to blur our vision. Marvelous possibilities for the promotion of basic enterprises of all sorts in widely separated areas compete with public mind- edness The disorganization arising out of a period of readjustment tends to erase ethical distinctions. Absence of actual contact with other groups and interests makes for narrow-mindedness. Experience alone can banish pro- vincialism. Positive lack of knowledge of American con- ditions is chiefly responsible for the continuation of many evils. Failure to be intelligent upon public issues accounts for much of our weakness. The people need knowledge. Back of these various aspects of American life lies the source of our unbounded confidence in the future. If we search for the possible greatness of America, it will not be found in the superabundance of the things which she possesses. It will be found rather in the ideals and hopes which have animated us from the beginning. "We may speak of our marvelous physical empire and boast of our fertile fields and rich mines. We may point to our great cities, our unsurpassed industrial development and our material prosperity. We may rejoice in our colleges, uni- versities, and cathedrals. But these things have value only as they express the soul of America. The very essence of Americanism is the supreme value which we place upon the individual. When we talk about freedom, equality, and opportunity, this is what we really mean. We are attempting actually to say that every man, woman, and child is infinitely valuable. We are insisting that nothing in the universe can be compared to, or should be given in exchange for, a human being. We 32 INAUGUFL\L SESSION know that "a spark has disturbed our clod." We are among the final values of the universe. This confidence in the individual comes to practical expression in our nation- al life. Every person is actually given a chance to become as large and useful as he was intended to be. This is Americanism. This is the promise that America makes and keeps. Coupled with this reverence for personality is the ideal that work is noble. Here is America's contribution to the world 's understanding of culture. We actually pro- ceed upon the hypothesis that work is sacred. Every citizen is expected to do something. To be idle is unthink- able for a sane and healthy American. This sense of the worth of work extends in all directions. It commands not service merely but achievement. It requires not only dull plodding, but courage. It demands that simple routine be transfused with heroism. For toil and thought it substi- tutes militancy and imagination. It was personified in our generation by Theodore Eoosevelt. Here, then, is America's outlook: Having thrown off the limitations of the past, and consequently lacking unity, she must cast her lot with the future. She is just coming into her own. She is terribly deficient in know- ledge and experience. She is rich in faith and imagina- tion. She believes in human beings and worships work. n. We have said that the function of the state university is to serve the state, and, through the state, to serve the nation and the world. It was essential for us, therefore, even in a very incomplete way, to ask ourselves what the state and the nation are and what they need. Thus far we have attempted to interpret our national life. It now be- comes necessar}^ to make a similar appraisal of the uni- INAUGURAL ADDRESS 33 versity. We shall then, and only then, be in a position to venture some suggestions regarding the forms of service which the university can render to the state and nation. What, then, is a university? A stranger visiting this or any other institution of higher learning naturally begins by inquiring about the size of the campus, the number of buildings, the equipment of the laboratories and the facilities of the libraries. Very soon, however, he is asking about the size of the budget and the sources of income. To say that the University of Michigan has a campus of two hundred and sixty-one acres here in Ann Arbor, and, for forestry, engineering, and bilogical pur- poses, owns in addition forty-two hundred acres, may suggest the magnitude of our enterprise. To realize that approximately eleven millions of dollars are invested here in buildings and equipment is informing. To state rough- ly that the university budget reaches almost four millions of dollars this year indicates in a measure the scope of our activities. Very soon, however, we discover that our vital in- terest is in the personnel. We are conscious of the enor- mous advantages accruing to the state, the students, and the University from the fact that the students come from every state of the Union and from thirty foreign countries. A national, cosmopolitan atmosphere is es- sential to broad culture and the development of a true sense of values. No greater service can be rendered to Michigan students than to give them these opportunities for contacts with fellow students from all sections of the country and the world. To make the state of Michigan known intimately to groups of well-trained leaders in all the nations must inevitably produce immeasurable bene- fits for the industries and commerce of the state. One of the elements of greatness in this university is the unique way in which it has served an ever increasing world 34 INAUGUFLU SESSION constituency. Moreover, the University of Michigan en- joys the reputation of possessing one of the largest groups of living alumni and former students, numbering about fifty thousand and scattered throughout the world. Our deepest interests, however, must center in the teaching and investigating staff. To be told that they number six hundred and fifty is enlightening. To remember the work they have done, to appreciate the contributions they have made to learning, and to recog- nize the powerful stimulus that they have been to all that is highest and best in our civilization, helps us to realize why Michigan believes in higher learning. It is only necessary to add that just as the state is an integral part of the nation, so too this university occupies a dignified place in the republic of letters. The casual superficial observer might pause here and say that these facts tell us what the University of Michigan is. If our visitor were to remain for a semester, he would doubtless replace these facts by his impressions of what really goes on here. He would begin to note the various forms of actual work in which men and women are en- gaged. At first he would be impressed with the teaching load which the faculties carry. Ten thousand and more students attending hundreds of different courses mean hard work for the teachers. Then he would begin to ob- serve the very worthy and commendable emphasis placed upon investigation. He would discover here that if a man is to retain the real respect of his colleagues, he must, occasionally at least, give some tangible evidence of his mastery of his own field. Ultimately he would come to appreciate why the problem of vital research lies so close to the heart of the real university man. He would under- stand why such sacrifices are made in the name of learn- ing and the advancement of science. He would conclude that no institution can lay claim to being a university INAUGURAL ADDRESS 35 unless it is making contributions to the world's know- ledge. Morover, our visitor would gradually recognize that the activities of the University are not limited to teach- ing and investigation. He would find that the institution is rendering the greatest variety of service to the public through its hospitals, clinics, laboratories, museums, and extension service. He would finally sense a clear deter- mination to have the University actually meet at every point the demands of the State. He would recognize limitations due to inadequate equipment and funds, but few arising from failure to understand our primary obligations to Michigan. If this visitor remained for a year, he would find him- self going deeper and deeper into university life and sens- ing more and more fully the marvelously intricate and complex thing which thrives upon this campus. Sooner or later he would essay a mental venture to which there would be no ending. Especially if he should interrupt his visit at the University by a trip out into the "real world," he would be compelled to think upon this sub- ject. He would discover upon the campus a most powerful and enigmatic influence. He will never be able to fantom it. It never congeals. It is subtle, irritating, and withal extremely delightful. It has occasioned more discussion, done more good, and wrought more harm than any other single influence. It is the '* academic mind." I shall at- tempt no definition of it. If you know it by experience, I can not add to your knowledge. If you do not know it, you are to be congratulated and commiserated. All in all, I should prefer to defend rather than to attack the academic mind. I should not want to be the president of any university which did not suffer from this disease in chronic form. It makes for stability, for sound weighing of evidence, for scientific scholarship, for the absence of 36 INAUGURAL SESSION sentimentalism, and for a frank recognition of tlie power of the mind. On the other hand, it is guilty of some delightful and confusing results. To be a scholar, a man must put the emphasis on his own special field. Difficulty arises, how- ever, when this emphasis becomes excessive, when there is no adequate planning of curricula and when little if any- thing is done to help the student really understand that knowledge is a unity. The bewildered student apparent- ly is never able to re-unite the disjecta membra of his thought world and to fashion them into the living reality we call life. It is because of these results that the aca- demic mind is berated. It inevitably engenders aloofness, occasions the lack of a general sense of humor, and min- imizes those plain, humble, human characteristics that we look for in all men. I am inclined to believe that we must charge against the academic mind much of the dead formalism and mechanical externality of Amercian education. I should dislike to tell here all that I think of the various systems of admission which have been in vogue in our univer- sities. Surely by these methods we have not intended to find real college material, but rather to encourage the ac- cumulation of credits which will serve as a ticket of ad- mission. At any rate, we have not encouraged intellec- tual interests, nor have we recognized vital facts which do not appear in record sheets. Character, purpose, and spirit are more important than the skill to pass examina- tions or the ability to secure a diploma. "When the student is once in the university, he is face to face, though he sees through a glass darkly, with the academic mind. The atmosphere of the average class- room is not stimulating and inspiring. Henry Adams gave an accurate portrayal of the situation when he said, referring to the Harvard student, ''All were respect- INAUGURAL ADDRESS 37 able, and in seven years of contact, Adams never had cause to complain of one; but nine minds in ten take polish passively like a hard surface; only the tenth sensibly reacts. ' ' Doubtless a variety of causes produces this general situation, and it is manifestly unfair to at- tribute it all to a single force. But we cannot deny the fact that the person primarily responsible for the entire situation is a frequent victim of the academic mind. Surely the examination system now employed in American universities is a symptom of the same ailment. We ask the student to pursue a variety of courses and then submit to a series of examinations. If he is reason- ably successful, he piles away his credits like so much wood that he has sawed. He repeats the process eight times and we give him a diploma. If we have been searching for a method of killing intellectual curiosity and a genuine spirit of inquiry, we have been diabolically successful. If our aim is to convince the student that knowledge comes in chunks, that if it starts to melt or evaporate, it must be confined in water-tight or air-tight compartments, and that knowledge consists of separate fields bearing no relationship to the fascinating reality of life, then our methods justify the procedure. If to be- come educated is to center one's interest on acquiring enough credits to receive a diploma, then we have suc- ceeded in quantity production beyond even the experts of the industrial world. If education is completed at com- mencement, then we are dealing with a real paradox, which I understand to be something that is apparently absurd yet true. If a man engages in study for the purpose of charging his mind once and for all, and if on com- mencement day he disconnects intellectually from the source of power, then again there is occasion for just pride. It is not strange that the word ''academic" has come to stand, not for broad culture and vital activity, 38 IXAUGUPLU SESSION but for a general aloofness from life and theoretical de- tachment from the world of action. Some such results as these may, with justice, be attributed to the academic mind. As we have already intimated, there is much that might be said in its favor, but the emphasis is doubtless where we have endeavored to put it. But our stranger would, if he remained long enough, endeavor to find out what goes on inside the head of the average undergraduate. By adopting this method in his effort to appraise the university he would come very close to the actual facts. He would discover that the student lives in his own world of reality. And it is a very fasci- nating and challenging world! Instinctively sensing the unreality of the academic world, the student promptly seeks an outlet for his initiative and resourcefulness. So he organizes his student activities and makes them his primary interests. He never questions the wisdom of this procedure. If you desire to know what a student really wants and what actually commands his attention, it is necessary only to watch the use he makes of his leisure time. College supposedly is a place where a man is set free from the usual demands of life in order that he may come into contact with the rarest spirits of all time. In reality, it is four years of leisure, of unhurried association with scholars. It is a time when a man finds himself and his friends, develops his sense of values and browses a- mong the best books of all the centuries. If this suggests the way the student uses his leisure, then we know where he finds his deepest satisfaction and his real world! Frankly, he regards his university work as secondary, if not tertiary, and finds a satisfying outlet for his energy and genius in athletics, dramatics, journalism, and stu- dent government. Perhaps the biggest test which Ameri- can universities will ever be asked to meet lies just in this realm. Is there anv method bv which a student world INAUGURAL ADDRESS 39 can be developed in which the scholar, the thinker, and the writer will be just as highly honored as the man who achieves distinction in football ? It will be noted that we have not ventured to hope that he might receive even greater plaudits. Legitimate sport deserves every en- couragement. Youth must have an adequate outlet for its abounding energies. Physical education is essential to the public health. There is no reason, however, why the ostensible work of the university should be relegated to a secondary position. Other nations have succeeded in placing the emphasis properly. The Englishman owes his success in the great war very largely to his genuine sense of sportsmanship. Nevertheless the games and races at the English universities are not primary nor all- absorbing. Intellectual achievement carries off the first honors. The American students' world of reality is the inevitable counterpart of the ' ' academic ' ' mind. But our visitor and critic, having sensed all these things, if he possesses real discrimination, will not con- clude his appraisal at this point. Beneath all these ten- dencies he will detect a mighty undertone which can never be entirely silenced. Through the rattle and clamor of student activities, back of the endless ratiocinations of academic minds, there shine the abiding realities of true university ideals. Here men know the freedom of the truth. Ancient tyrannies may still oppress the multi- tudes. New monarchs may arise to enslave man. Others may enjoy great wealth. The university man possesses his mind and soul in self-respect. He will brook no inter- ference with his untrammeled search for truth in all fields. Regardless of the consequences to preconceived notions, prejudices or superstitions, he goes calmly on his way, patiently, painstakingly seeking for knowledge. His joy is to banish ignorance. His only fear is error; his deepest satisfaction is truth. He kneels at the shrine of 40 INAUGURAL SESSION truth. If one desires to understand the depth of this spirit, let him venture to rob the academic man of his freedom. Let one suggest that investigation shall be limited and the professor shall be muzzled if one desires to know how undying is his devotion to science and how inviolate are his ideals of freedom. No, the university, with all of its shortcomings, stands as the impregnable citadel of truth. It can never be shaken without irrep- arable injury to society. In this era of industrial tur- moil and social unrest, when mankind must cut its way through the twisted materials of a rudely shaken social order, the university, with its open and free search of truth, stands as the bulwark of civilization. The pro- fessor may not constantly aflSnn this solemn reality, but to him it is more inviolate than life itself. Consequently, through experience, the teacher knows the power of knowledge. He has a perfectly amazing con- fidence in the value of facts and the worth of the mind. He proceeds upon the Socratic doctrine that knowledge is virtue. He is certain that his mission in life is to help youth catch some glimpse of the value of intellectual ability. Just now his convictions are buttressed by the war experiences of millions of American men. They actually discovered in the war that mind is the master of mankind. They are hungry for information. They are crowding all of the schools of the nation, because they want knowledge, which means life. To-day as never before the critic who studies the American universities will find in full operation these potent forces. University ideals are the sternest facts w^ith which states and civilizations finally deal. The university says that man can recog- nize no master but the truth and that mind is a mighty force making for rich and abundant life. Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. Our stranger and critic, if his stay has been suf- INAUGURAL ADDRESS 41 ficiently prolonged, will conclude his visit in a genuinely- optimistic mood. Without glossing over the limitations of the university, he will be aware of its elements of strength, charmed by its enduring ideals, and thrilled by its changing status. He will recognize a fine new spirit among the faculties. For large numbers of these men have been out in the vital world of action, rendering in- valuable war service. Two results have followed. The pro- fessor has learned in a most surprising and satisfying fashion that he possesses wares which command large re- turns in the open market. The world has discovered that the professor's training, knowledge, and capacity for solv- ing new problems are qualities indispensible to the nation. The public has put a higher mark on the theoretical pro- fessor. He in turn has resumed his university relation- ships with new ideas, broader outlooks, and more confi- dence in the eternal truth of his convictions. These facts, combined with the lessons our boys learned in the army, have given our country an almost pathetic confidence in the universities. Consequently men of affairs every- where understand that these institutions of higher learn- ing must be reckoned with. There was a time when the practical man of the world and the successful business man silently ignored a university. That day is gone for our generation, if not forever. On the one hand, we find abounding confidence in education, and, on the other, a tendency to scrutinize carefully, if not to criticize sever- ly, the whole system of public instruction. That the status of the university has been changed remarkably by the war is indisputable. Its position was never so secure, its opportunities never so challenging, and its obligations never so heavy as at this very hour. Here, then, is the university: Possessing equipment of lands and buildings, watched over by men of great training and scholarship, it has committed to its care the 42 INAUGUIL\L SESSION most precious assets of the state — the citizens of to- morrow. Afflicted with all the maladies of the academic mind, hypnotized by the students' world of reality, stabilized by the ennobling and ancient ideals of all true universities, it finds itself suddenly elevated into a unique position of leadership and directly sharing responsibility for the standard of a rapidly changing civilization. III. We have now reached the point where we can ask ourselves, specifically, what we mean when we say that the university must serve the state. Xot until we had at- tempted some statement of the needs of the state, and had ventured upon some appraisal of the university as the instrument to be used, could we with any clarity or cogency indicate just the forms of service which we are convinced should be rendered. If we remind ourselves why the American people es- talSlished the public school, we shall understand the logic and sanity of our thesis that the state university exists to seTYe the state. "We may with advantage go back into the eighteenth century when this whole region was a part of the Northwest Territory. In the Ordinance of 1787, with great foresight, it was affirmed that "Eeligion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good govern- ment and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged." Even a superficial study of the history of Michigan reveals from the very beginning a firm purpose to organize a university. Even before we became a state, provisions were made for an institution of higher learning. On August 26, 1817, the governor and judges of the territory passed an act looking to the establishment of the Uni- versity of Michigan. On April 30, 1821, this act was supercecled by provisions for a corporate body to be INAUGURAL ADDRESS 43 known as ' * The Trustees of the University of Michigan. ' ' In 1837 the State Legislature authorized the organiza- tion of this institution. In 1838 the Revised Statutes pro- vided for the establishment of the University and stated its purpose in the following terms: *'The object of the University shall be to provide the inhabitants of the State with the means of acquiring a thorough knowledge of the various branches of literature, science and the arts." These plans of the State of Michigan are typical of the conviction held by the American people as a whole. Daniel Webster once solemnly avowed that '*0n the dif- fusion of education among the people rests the preserva- tion and perpetuation of our free institutions." Speak- ing historically, then, we may say that Americans have expected their schools to serve the state. The great war has made this truth a part of our popular convictions. No arguments upon this subject are needed to-day. We now appreciate, both intellectually and emotionally, the fact that the future of our American democracy depends upon a high level of intelligence among all the people. I therefore venture to affirm that a new day must dawn in American higher education. All of us have been feeling our way gradually toward this conclusion. Any- one who has been close to the people during the years of the war realizes that educators are expected to under- stand America and interpret her. I am convinced that in serving the state we must aim consciously and delib- erately to assume our share of responsibility for the new American civilisation which inevitably must develop in this period of readjustment. Our universities have failed to focus. We have discussed and advocated all kinds of educational aims but none has gripped the imagination of all of us and none to-day emerges as predominant and comprehensive. That education must serve the state is a doctrine that has been proclaimed many times and in 44 INAUGURAL SESSION many places. The years of the war, however, have burned it into our souls. Education simply must serve Ameri- ca. This University cannot escape from its primary responsibilities to the people as a whole. Professor Jay William Hudson, of the University of Missouri, has given us recently one of the most stimulating formulations of this educational aim. In his book entitled "The College and New America," he defends logically and with real passion this thesis : ' ' The aim of American education is to produce a definite American social order, in relation to a definite world order." I believe we can say to our- selves, to our students, and to the public that our institu- tions of higher learning exist in a very definite and com- pelling fashion to help in the establishment of the new American civilization. And we must say it, not only at inaugural exercises and annual gatherings, but in re- gents' meetings, class rooms, public assemblies and even in faculty meetings. AYe must actually do the thing rather than formulate it in nebulous and vanishing flourishes of rhetoric. Precisely, then, what does this aim involve! In one sense it will be merely the rebirth of original American intentions. It will bring us back to the principles upon which our educational system was established. Trans- lated into the terms of our day, it will mean that this ver- satile, complex, growing, pulsating entity which we call "America," must be welded into a unified whole. It means that we must deliberately attack the problem arising out of our lack of national unity. We are sprawl- ing and amorphous. The latest reports upon immigration show that the state of Michigan, next to California, is re- ceiving the largest numbers of new immigrants. Here is a. part of our university problem if we are consciously and deliberately aiming to assume our share of responsi- bilitv for the new American order. We must weld all INAUGURAL ADDRESS 45 these divergent elements into a coherent, consistent, har- monious whole. The entire problem of Americanization confronts us at this point. To share in this gigantic task demands unusual in- sight and, if you please, philosophical power. Some one must ascertain what are America's flaming desires and intense yearnings and direct them into proper channels. Some one must drag out into the full light of day the most serious national and international obligations that rest upon the people, and focus public attention upon them. American thought needs clear direction to its opportunities in establishing the standards of its new day. There is no advantage in chiding Americans for their crudities and vulgarities. New types of culture are being developed in this forward-looking nation. She is attached to to-morrow. Our function is to select the per- manent values and idealize them. America must have in- terpretation. If we may judge the interests and spirit of our people by the things they do most, we must begin to understand moving pictures, dancing, motor cars, and machinery. There is no need of railing against these things. Mighty elements of truth are written in capital letters all over these factors of American life. The ' * aca- demic mind" may not see it, but the college professor of to-day discerns it. The university must interpret Ameri- can life. Its universal tendencies must be reckoned with. It is possible to give the people at one and the same time what they want and what they ought to have. To accept literally and spiritually this aim of American education, which assumes obligations to the civilization of to- morrow, requires the most human, scientific, philosophi- cal approach to the whole problem of culture as it is to be solved in America. John Dewey was quite right when he wrote that ''there is perhaps no better definition of culture than that it is the capacity for constantly expand- 46 INAUGURAL SESSION ing in range and accuracy one's perception of mean- ings." The university must expand to the breaking point the range of its understanding of American life as it is to-day. The usually accepted standards of accuracy applied at this point Yvould produce a remarkable for- ward movement. America must have unification, direc- tion, interpretation. Herein lies the specified duty of the university. But what will such leadership require 1 Back of any successful effort in this field there must be, first of all, a real understanding, or if you prefer, some clear defini- tion, of America. But America cannot be defined. The only permanent thing about her is that she is in a con- stant state of flux. Even so, to-day we have more sources to which we may turn with confidence than ever before. Information is actually available. Not only do our histories, our constitutions, state and national, and our oflScial records contain first-hand and authoritative state- ments, but during the war America came nearer to finding herself than ever before. Confronted with the exigencies of war, we knew what America meant. The morale of our armies was based upon an actual appreciation of American ideals. They were no hazy, unreal, vague generalities. They were incisive, clear-cut, and compel- ing facts. They were the personification of definiteness. They were gripping enough to make red-blooded, clear- headed American boys willing to die for them. We know what America is to-day or we never shall know. When we set up our **War Aims Course" as a part of the Stu- dents Army Training Corps, no one seemed to fear that we had nothing to say. The best professors in all sub- jects in all American universities knew what America stood for and what she was. It is for America now in times of peace that we must assume consciously our share of responsibility. INAUGURAL ADDRESS 47 Now some one will say that is a curious point of view. It will be objected that we defeated Germany just because she brought up a generation in accordance with this very theory. Such an objection is born of the failure to see that America and Germany were grounded in totally different philosophies of life. There is no conflict be- tween whole-hearted Americanism and a proper in- terpretation of the individual and mankind. In fact, America is established upon the universal and eternal truth that every person is of supreme worth. The citizen does not exist for the state. To aim at the enrichment of the new American order is to seek the best interests of all men and all nations. If the university, however, is to render this service, it will require something more than a definition of America. Certain new qualities must enter into our very life and atmosphere. The detachment and aloofness of the ''academic mind" must give away to a new sym- pathy with all groups. More imagination is needed. We must have faith in American deeds, American spirit, and American hopes. A new type of morale must arise. Without sacrificing our scholarly aims or our cautious intellectualism, we must rise to meet America to-day as we did in the days of the war. We did not lose our self- respect then. In fact many of us found life infinitely more worth while. In reality our quality of sportsmanship must be called into full action. We must be able to see the future through all of the disconcerting and even dis- gusting tricks of the American game as played to-day. George A. Gordon caught the right vision when he said, ''Out of this composite land— this nation gathered from every people under heaven, rags and tatters and dirt and all— I believe that the Eternal Spirit will evolve and es- tablish the most gifted, the most far-shining and the mightiest people in the world. ' ' 48 INAUGUR.\L SESSION Xow with this as the aim of our service to be ren- dered to the state, let us ask precisely what concrete things should be done, what changes are necessary, and just what methods must be adopted. Purely by way of illustration and with no thought of offering either a com- plete or an adequate program, I suggest four things: 1. The work and teaching of the university should be unified with our primary aim in full view. If we are to serve the American order and to keep this purpose con- sciously before us, it will give point to all of our instruc- tion. It will help, if not compel, the university to focus. Specifically it will demand that some effort shall be made to correlate the courses offered. In some way the student will be given such guidance that he will see the relation- ship of his courses to one another, to knowledge as a whole, and to life in its most practical relationships. Quietly but inevitably he will begin to have convictions. He will see, if he is a self-respecting man, that he must begin to live for America just as his colleagues died for her. It will awaken him to new responsibilities. He will see that this is a real place, vitally connected with the mightiest proposal the world has ever known. He will instinctively understand that democracy, just as much as military life, requires backbone. He will develop moral fibre. He will banish slouchiness of every form. Laziness, mediocrity, and smattering will give way to work, quality, and a thorough mastery of a few vital things. Such results are just as possible as the present realities of student life. In fact, to the college man of this generation they are more nearly possible. 2. The curricula of our various schools and colleges within the university must be definitely directed toward community needs. In fact, this tendency is already in full tide. The College of Literature, Science and the Arts is ac- ceptmg its obligations to society. It recognizes that it INAUGURAL ADDRESS 49 must serve the state through the professional training of the high school teacher. Upon this campus are those subject-matter departments which, properly correlated with professional training courses, can render an in- estimable service to Michigan life and meet a long de- ferred and earnest desire of the schoolmen of the state. A similar tendency is manifested in the courses in busi- ness administration. The College of Engineering is a- ware of the necessity of broadening and liberalizing its training. It has seen that more emphasis must be placed upon problems of management, upon the economic side of production, and upon all those phases of engineering which make for community improvement. The present emphasis upon highway construction and transporta- tion is a very pertinent example. The School of Law recognizes its obligations in adjusting the law to the changing social order. Eeal leadership in this highly im- portant field simply must emerge from our law schools. Our schools of medicine have long since shifted the emphasis to preventive medicine. They see the vital im- portance of public health service and more and more are thinking in terms of group and community medicine. Dentistry is no longer concerned chiefly about the train- ing of the ''tooth carpenter" but sees its responsibilities to the general health of the individual and its bearings upon public hygiene. These statements represent mar- velous shif tings of emphasis. They indicate clearly that by giving this direction to our various curricula we are attempting to assume our responsibilities to American life. 3. The university must utilize definitely its equip- ment and personnel for research work in solving the problems of the state. In fact, the university should be the research center of the state. Questions of all kinds and descriptions immediately related to the welfare of 50 INAUGUR.U SESSION the people must be answered. The actual organization here of an Industrial Research Laboratory in coopera- tion with the Michigan Manufacturers ' Association is an illustration of the application of this principle. All re- sults of research work will be published. By these plans the university relates itself directly to the industrial welfare of the state without in any sense violating its obligation to any group. Just so in every realm, the university should serve the people. With every problem of government, eco- nomics, sociology, art, and education, the university should concern itself. In a word, it should become the thinking, investigating, philosophizing center of the commonwealth. There is no need to interpose here that this violates the cardinal principle of learning for learning 's sake. Re- search activities of the kind described will only stimulate investigation of every type. We must never lose sight of the fact that the quality of civilization waits upon dis- covery, invention and research. A true university as dis- tinguished from a college, must function mightily in this respect or it fails utterly. To aim at genuine service to the people through the solution of all types of problems can only give vitality and power to our graduate work. 4. Finally, the university must permeate the state with knowledge. The people of to-day as never before understand the power which accrues to any one who has the facts and proper training. The people are literally hungry for knowledge. The British Labor Party showed statesmanship when it affirmed that we must aim to ''bring effectively within the reach not only of every boy and girl, but also of every adult citizen, all the training, physical, mental, and moral, literary, technical, and scientific, of which he is capable." Such an ideal is democracy applied to education. For the university it INAUGURAL ADDRESS 51 takes the form of extension service. Such a division re- quires very little in the way of its own teaching staff. In fact, its instructional work should be done by those who are regular members of the university faculties. Know- ledge is one. We cannot tolerate one type for the campus and another for the state. The mutual benefits are not to be ignored. To become a successful extension teacher would vitalize a man's campus instruction. This univer- sity must come into closer contact with all of the schools of the state. They are making the citizens of to-morrow. We must be of vital service in recruiting the teaching profession. Groups of progressive business men through- out the state need and desire various business courses. We should attempt the training of social service workers, including field work and cooperation with the various departments of county, municipal, and state governments. There are limitless possibilities of wise and valuable co- operation with all kinds of private enterprise. Our Ex- tension Division has done and is doing much. It deserves high approbation. It now needs adequate support and recognition. These aims may call for a clearer demarca- tion between university work and the duties of executive departments of our government. They may even suggest the necessity of new units in our educational system. But in the meantime, if we consciously aim to assume our share of the responsibility for the new America, we must remember that knowledge is the property of every man. In a word, we pretend to believe that men must be free. They are free only when they know how to live wisely and understand how to govern themselves justly and ef- ficiently. In our appraisal of America we said that her greatest tyrant was ignorance. Now, if we are to serve her, we must give her knowledge. Here, then, are four suggestive possibilities of the specific type of service which the University of Michigan 52 INAUGURAL SESSION can and must render to the state if it is to be worthy of its history, its opportunities, and its ideals. CONCLUSION. I am quite aware that the main proposals of this address have far-reaching ramifications. I am equally aware that I have left many questions untouched and some of our most serious problems unsolved. A man can not remake the universe or even the educational world with words in a short half hour. A wise administrator must often use an inaugural address to conceal not to re- veal all of his educational fads, frills, and fancies ! I ap- preciate the fact that some things at which I have hinted to-day, if carried out, would involve radical changes in our educational system. The necessity of economy of time in education is very pressing. Two or three years for every one of our millions of youth might be saved. The startling problem of growth may call for new units in our educational machinery. Junior colleges may make a temporary reduction of enrollment in the first two years, but they will only accentuate the problem in its ultimate form. Cooperation with all kinds of enterprises may assist materially in reducing the expenses of educa- tion and contribute mightly to the more thorough unifica- tion of the state. In conclusion, it is quite useless to observe as usual that we must acquire a new sense of individual responsi- bility, unless we actually point our finger at the in- dividual. With considerable audacity and abandon I de- sire to express the belief that the professor is the man who can turn this trick. He is at the center of the stage. Sometimes we maintain the illusion that regents, presi- dents, deans, alumni, or students are primarily to blame for existing conditions. If we forget the question of praise and blame, and face the future with its luring INAUGURAL ADDRESS 53 possibilities, we must crown the teaching professor to- day. As one of his own group, Professor Hudson has wisely said, "Our ultimate hope is in the college pro- fessor himself. ' ' Referring to necessary changes in edu- cation, he affirms that "no such reform is likely to be per- manently effective, unless it emerges directly from the aggressive convictions of the college professor himself." Here, then, is our message to-day. The function of the state university is to serve the state, and, through the state, to serve America and the world. I like to re-read Henry Van Dyke's poem entitled "Home Thoughts from Europe. ' ' When he wrote it he had a proper perspective of America. With all his appreciation of Europe he could not smother his native American instinct, and so he ex- claimed, "But the glory of the present, is to make the future free; We love our land for what she is and what she is to be." THE FUNCTIONS OF THE GOVERNING BOARD IN THE ADMINISTRATION OF A UNR^ERSITY WILLIAM L. ABBOTT, M.E. Trustee, University of Illinois College professors have written much concerning the functions of trustees in university administration; the more they have written the more those functions have shrunk, the trustee having been ignored in the discussion until now, as his duties approach the vanishing point, I am asked to embalm myself into the record, presumably as a museum specimen of a species that is fast becoming atrophied, and, although I may miss the point of the dis- cussion, I shall at least speak my mind. The constructive potentiality of a people is indicated by its enteiprise and by its ability to organize so as to function as a unit for the accomplishment of any desired purpose. Long human experience in such matters has shown that certain forms of organization tend to ef- ficiency and other forms to inefiBciency, one of the lessons taught being that when a large number of people desire to establish and carry on an enterprise it can best be done by creating a body or corporation for that purpose and placing its management in the hands of a selected few, giving this smaller body general instructions as to the object to be accomplished, full authority to represent the larger, and charging it with complete responsibility for the organization and conduct of the undertaking. Not that the members of this smaller number, whom we will call the governing board, are the most experienced in the particular undertaking to which they are assigned, but that thev have the interest of the venture at heart and GOVERNING BOARDS 55 have the good sense to select experts to administer the enterprise and, in general, to keep it functioning along the lines which its founders intended it should go. The scheme of organization and method of operation which in business organizations has been found to be best adapted to the human temperament for that purpose has also been found to be the best scheme of organization and method of operation for universities, in which the tem- peramental feature is greatly accentuated and the dan- ger from amateur meddling is correspondingly increased. The members of such university boards are seldom experienced educators or experienced managers of educa- tors or of students, and from the way they are selected it is unlikely that as a body they are specialists in any line related to university administration or that they will be- come such during their term of office; but with the wis- dom which they are supposed to have and generally do have, they recognize their limitations and act cautiously through experienced agents and upon advice. Over-candid friends from the university will freely point out the shortcomings of trustees, not only in matters of financing but in matters of every-day operat- ing and of educational policy. The campus development plan is visionary or shortsighted, perhaps both; the edu- cational aims are too narrow or scattered too much, do not give the student a broad foundation, do not equip him to take a good paying job upon graduation; the univer- sity should have a course in law or medicine, because it would bring students or bring money, or should cut out such courses because they w^ill never amount to any- thing here. In the selection of a faculty why don't they drop Prof. So and So? No one likes him. Or why don't they get Prof. So and So from Michigan? He is just the man to make this or that department go. 56 INAUGURAL SESSION I always suspected that university management was not perfect, but it was not until I had the free will offer- ing of the criticism of five sons and daughters, students in the university during my term as trustee, that I realized how singularly incompetent its administration could be. In recommending a candidate for the office of univer- sity trustee, it is often urged that he is an educator. This is one job Avhere, to my mind, a little learning is a danger- ous thing and more learning would be worse. The trus- tees, by the nature of their positions, are no more compe- tent to formulate the teaching policy of a university than they are to do the teaching; no more than the board of directors of a manufacturing company is competent to plan the tooling and methods of machining for the work that goes through their shop. Individually, they may have ideas of greater or less merit, but as a board they are incompetent if they devote their own time and ideas to a task that can be better and more cheaply done by hired experts. Nevertheless, a board that would abdi- cate its authority to any shop committee, expert, super- intendent or president would be inviting disaster. The board has certain fundamental duties, among which are: Eaising of funds; Educational aims; Plan for development of plant; Selection of president and teaching faculty; Operation. In the above tabulation I have placed financing first, on the theory that any one can run a university, if some- body will furnish the necessary money, and I have no doubt that everybody will concede that function to the trustees. In some families there may be a difference in opinion GOVERNING BOARDS 57 as to the extent of the father's authority and in what capacities he could best serve the household, but however much he must exert himself to maintain his prestige in other respects, he is never asked to abdicate as purveyor to the domestic exchequer. Trustees having business affairs of their own, which occupy their attention to such an extent that they have little time to become acquainted with the uni- versity's requirements, have need for expert advice on all of the board's major functions. They need more than that; they need a trusted agent to advise them where they can get this advice and to coordinate and condense the in- formation obtained, so that it can be presented in form to be readily comprehended and its various features shown in their relative importance and significance. This agent is the board's ''man Friday," the man on the job — the president. The board will consult with architects, en- gineers, accountants, financiers, superintendents and faculty, but most of all it will depend upon the president who should be sufficiently in touch with every feature of university requirement and university life to anticipate the university's needs and bring them to the board for its consideration and his own guidance. The president may or may not make a success of the enterprise. If he does, well and good ; the trustees in such cases would rarely disturb him. If he does not make a success, he will soon be required to make way for some other prospect. But whether he be successful or not, the trustees, if they are wise, will not, except in the greatest emergency, disturb the authority of their president by short-circuiting him and dealing directly with the mem- bers of his organization. It has been said that an executive is a man who makes decisions quickly — sometimes rightly. A univer- sity president must make so many decisions in a day that 58 IXAUGUPL\L SESSION it would be a wonder if all were right, but when it de- velops that a wrong decision has been made there are usually people unkind enough to represent that the presi- dent should have been one hundred per cent perfect. Take the case of the best league batter in the coun- try; his average is arouug 300 per cent as it is reckoned, but see what a princely salary he draws. If our univer- sity presidents were paid according to their batting aver- ages, we would need materially to reduce some other ex- penses. There is an inclination from without to ridicule boards for deferring so much to their agents and nearly always accepting their advice, as though the board were belittling itself by acknowledging that it hired a man for a special purpose, who knows more about his job than the board does. There is also an inclination from within to meddle with the president 's job when it does not seem to be going smoothly, and sometimes when it is, to mix into any quarrel or operation that appears interesting. Suppose a company interested in the transportation of freight should buy for the purpose a freighter's wagon and a team of high-strung horses to pull it— a ''20-mule team" of horses, I was going to say. We will grant that the individuals of the team have horse sense, but even with that, they need horse sense in management. Sup- pose that to drive this team they should hire a freighter of experience, determination and proved skill. When all is ready the directors, to make sure that the transport- ing is properly done, would climb onto the load, the driver would mount to his seat, crack his whip, and they would be off. For a few hours the directors would admire the driver's skill, and by that time, seeing how simple a thing driving is, they would be able to offer occasional sugges- tions to the driver, and when the outfit struck a piece of GOVERNING BOARDS 59 rough road on an up grade or a down grade, where the driver's strength, skill and attention are taxed in the management of his team, what a blessing it would be to have some members of the party appoint themselves critics and advisers extraordinary to him, and in addition to their valuable suggestions endeavor to take from his hands during the emergency the control of the lines, whip or brake. The driver's thanks in such a contingency would doubtless be expressed in language characteristic of a sentimental freighter. And suppose that at the end of the day's pull, some should go among the horses ex- pressing sympathy at the way the whip was cracked and the rein drawn over their backs in special cases, or say to Bill or Jack that he deserves to be a leader or a wheel horse instead of occupying an inconspicuous place in the middle of the string; would see what could be done to get him better recognition or at least an increased allowance of oats. A freighting company so managed would travel rough roads, even though Bill and Jack do have good sense. "With the freighting company there are many features of the general conduct of the business which the board alone can decide, and the selection of a competent driver is one of them. If it finds that the one first selected is not reasonably satisfactory, it should try another; but the company will find it far safer to let the driver, whoever he may be, do the driving for the time being than have the members of the board, collectively or upon individual impulse, disturb him in his work. Likewise, a uni- versity board of trustees should select a competent man for president, and if it should develop that he is not competent, select some one else for the position; but if he is competent, so tell the world, faculty included. Having selected for its president a person preferably with broad shoulders and a back strong enough to carry 60 IXAUGUR.\L SESSION a great load, the board will do well to rely upon him for the double office of adviser and operating superintendent, who will assume the initiative in bringing up matters that need attention, presenting therewith essential facts in proper weight. The board often receives information and advice from other sources, faculty included, but to conserve its own time and to impel respect for the presi- dent's office, arrangements for such outside assistance should generally be requested of the president. Industries are coming to recognize that participa- tion by the lower members of their organizations in con- ferences where operating methods and policies are dis- cussed tends to create a wholesome and loyal interest in the affairs of the industry on the part of the employe, and at the same time discloses a wealth of wisdom con- cerning operating problems whose existence until recent- ly was generally unsuspected or ignored. AVhen arrange- ment is made to give standing and recognition to this element, not only do the employes become more contented and efficient, but the administration is aided by friendly counsel from those who are in most intimate contact with its affairs. So long as this participation by employes in the company's councils is in an advisory capacity only, the results have been mutually beneficial, but it is yet to be shown that placing final authority in the hands of those upon whom the burden of responsibility does not rest is for the ultimate benefit of the enterprise. As the board must depend upon its president for the general management of the university, and upon him places certain responsibilities, so the president must de- pend upon his faculty for advice and guidance, and in the ability of the president so to enthuse and lead his faculty that they will heartily cooperate and put forth their best efforts to plan and advise, lies his hope for best advising and influencing his board. The board that is GOVERNING BOARDS 61 not guided largely by its president and the president who is not guided largely by his faculty show little confidence in their ability to select advisers. The test of an executive is his ability to get agents to do his work. The board, realizing its limitations as to time and special qualification, will delegate to others nearly all except its legislative duties; but however com- petent such agencies may be and however much they desire to retain such authority and exercise it in their own right, it is impractical to award to such agencies as president or faculty, whom the board employs and dis- misses at will, concurrent authority with the board, which by organic law alone bears the responsibility. I am a believer in the wisdom of distributing the privilege of counsel and the burden of administration down from the board to the lowest member of the organi- zation, but in all this the responsibility and likewise the authority of the board should remain absolute, both as to initiative and as to veto. Some, in their enthusiasm for an extension of ad- ministrative authority and prerogative to the faculty, may favor going so far as to place final authority in the hands of subordinates who have not final responsibility, and while this policy might work well in some instances, it is fundamentally as faulty as would be the policy of allowing a locomotive fireman to share with his engineer concurrent authority in piloting an express train. THE FUXCTIOXS OF THE FACULTY IX THE AD- MIXISTEATIOX OF A UXIVERSITY. JOSEPH A. LEIGHTON, PH.D., EI..D. Ohio State University Xaturally, it is with some trepidation that a mere pro- fessor finds himself obliged to speak for his colleagues in this den of presidential lions. My trepidation is increased by the fearful suspicion that I must, of course, have an academic mind. It is still further increased by the uneasy consciousness that I may at any moment hear the crack of of the mule driver's whip behind me, since we have just heard that it is a presidential function to drive his twenty- mule team, the faculty. Perhaps it is lucky for me that my president is not here. In entering upon a thirty-minute discussion of this complex and controversial subject, I feel pretty much in the state of mind of the late Doctor McCosh when entering upon his discussion of the Problem of Being. ''Young gentlemen," he is quoted as saying, "this is a verra deef- ficult problem. Plato tried to solve it and failed, Aristotle tried it and failed," and, after enumerating all of the famous philosophers who had failed to solve the problem of being. Doctor McCosh concluded, ''and I am no verra sure that I can solve it me self . ' ' AVith respect to the subject of my address, I seem to see the goal in view, but I am not very certain as to the best means of reaching it. I shall have, perforce, to speak briefly and, therefore, dogmatically. What I would plead for, above all else, in view of the complexity of the prob- lem and the great issues at stake, is openness of mind, FACULTIES 63 frankness of discussion, and willingness to experiment, on the part of boards, presidents, and faculties. To enter immediately into the heart of the subject, I beg to call attention, first, to the fact that the functions actually exercised by faculties in good and progressive in- stitutions in the determination of university policies and their execution is much larger than the functions legally delegated to faculties by the constitutions and by-laws of universities in general. As a rule, faculties are legally em- powered chiefly to deal with the governance of the curri- culum and student body. In fact, they are frequently call- ed upon to discuss and make recommendations upon matters of educational policy. They are normally consult- ed as to new appointments ; they are consulted to a large extent in the choice of presidents, and to some extent in the choice of deans. They are frequently given a hearing on the matter of salary scale. Thus, to a large and grow- ing extent, faculties enjoy the substance of participation in administration without its legal forms. The main contention of this address is that the actual usages and tendencies of the best institutions in this regard should be more explicitly legalized in the con- constitutions and by-laws of universities. As a matter of history it seems to be undoubtedly the case that when, in the not very remote past, there were in America no large universities serving mulifarious interests, when the elder among our present great universities were like the sraall colleges of to-day in curricula aims and numbers, the faculties exercised much larger administrative func- tions. The older American college was more or less like a large family. The professor and the students knew each other, the professors and the trustees knew each other, and the alumni were known to all the members of the faculty. The growth in numbers, and in the complex- ity of educational concerns and aims has, perforce, 64 INAUGURAL SESSION brought with it greater administrative specialization as well as a greater curricula specialization. The growth of higher education is parrallel here to the industrial de- velopment. Without doubt, this specialization of func- tion has been developed in the interests of economy of efforts and productive efficiency. The great problem in education, as in industry, is to harmonize administrative efficiency in large concerns with that human value of self-determination and self-respect, in the life of the worker, without which his work will surely deteriorate in quality. We hear, on all hands, of the demands of the in- dustrial worker for a voice in the control of the industry. I do not think that the parallelism between industry and higher education can be carried out on all fours; but, in- asmuch as the work of higher education is wrought by mind on mind, and material instruments are here wholly subordinate to life interests, insofar as the parallelism in question breaks down, it does so in favor of a resumption of a greater measure of control by the faculty in ad- ministration. The professor deals with the mind as a liv- ing unity and, therefore, should always consider his own work as an element in the whole educational process; whereas the industrial worker may make a rivet or bore a hole without taking account of the making of the whole machine. I wish to insist most strongly that no good educator can be a mere pigeon-hole specialist or pure de- partmentalist. In good institutions, faculties do, then, informally participate to a large extent in university administra- tion; but, without the constitutional forms to protect it, the substance of healthy faculty participation in adminis- iTation may vanish at any time, when a governing board succumbs to extraneous influences inimical to the nurture of the highest quality of instruction and research. These influences may come from the unenlightened interests of FACULTIES 65 portions of the general public, of the alumni, or from the lack of high educational standards and moral courage in the president as well as in the governing board, or from several or all of these sources. To be specific on one point, it is certainly not conducive to an improvement in the morale and personnel of the faculty when a small body of laymen, themselves incompetent to evaluate teaching and productive ability, and acting solely on the advice of a president who may be neither a great scholar or educator, nor a sound judge of scholarship, can de- termine, without regard to the judgments of those who have expert knowledge, not only the economic and aca- demic fates of genuine productive scholars and teachers but, as well, the fundamental policies of the institution in which these scholars and teachers must do their work. I would specify the functions of the faculty in the administration of a university as follows: — a. In the event of any proposed change in funda- mental educational policy, such as the establishment of new colleges, departments, or curricula, the legislative body of the faculty concerned should thoroughly discuss the proposed step, make recommendations thereon to the governing board, and final action should require the joint consent of the governing board and the legislative faculty. In a large university this end can be best achiev- ed by conference between duly appointed representatives of the faculty and the governing board. b. Deans, presidents, and other administrative of- ficers in the educational division of the institution, should be elected by the governing board, upon the joint nomination of faculty and board. Here again, of course, in all large institutions the work can be best and most expeditiously performed through committees. The presi- dent should be the chairman of all such faculty com- mittees. To illustrate the point: If the college of arts is 66 INAUGURAL SESSION looking for a dean, the faculty of the college should have a nominating committee of which the president should be chairman. If the university is looking for a president, the general faculty should have a nominating committee. The chief business of administrative officers is to be leaders in the administration of instruction and research, and the body of educational experts with which they are to labor should certainly have a voice in their selection. c. "Where the higher ranks in departments of in- struction and research are named, the permanent mem- bers of the departments should take the initiative in the selection of new members. Where the vacancies exist at the top, as in headships of departments, the heads of cog- nate departments should be members of the nominating committees. The question of the powers of faculties with regard to tenure and procedure in dismissals is a knotty one. I do not believe that, in the present transitional phase of our higher education, we can afford to accept, without qualification, the dogma of life tenure for professors. Mistakes in election are sometimes made. They should be rectified, even though their rectification works hardship to individuals, since failure to rectify them works im- measurable injury to numbers of plastic and gifted minds — the selected youth who constitute; the greatest riches and the most radiant promise of the body social. We professors must, as a corporate body and as individu- als, always be ready to have the status of our vocation and its social evaluation determined by the contribution which we are making to the up-building of the living minds of the new generation. If a faculty be competent, if it deserves the name of university faculty, it should participate in administration; insofar as it may be incom- petent, its house should be set in order, by concerted ac- tion. For this reason I believe that the final power of ap- FACULTIES 67 pointment and dismissal should continue to rest with the governing board, subject to the provisos stated below. On the other hand, the right of the faculty to par- ticipate in judgment upon cases of dismissal, is essen- tial to the safeguarding of proper academic freedom. No body of lajTuen can be safely intrusted with the sole power to determine, even with the advice of the president, the nature and limits of freedom of teaching. In the majority of cases where dismissals have been made by trustees alone during the past few years, the causes have been chiefly either economic, ethical, political or other forms of heresy, or insubordination. The mentally inert and stupid, the lazy or otherwise incompetent on the faculty, have rarely been disturbed by the governing boards. I regret to say that boards, and sometimes faculties too, often suffer amiable morons more gladly than marked nonconformist individualities. The uni- versity that has no heretics on its faculty is a dead one. Universities should not be run as mere business con- cerns. The election of a professor is a step that should not be taken unadvisedly or lightly, but soberly and dis- creetly. When the institution has made a mistake it should accept the responsibility and share the burden of the mistake. The status of a professor should be, normal- ly, one of high dignity, security and permanence. It can- not be made a very gainful occupation. Only through dignity and security in the calling can we insure good men and good work. Therefore, no professor should be summarily dismissed, nor without the opportunity of a full investigation by a jury of his peers. If it be the final decision that he is unfit to continue in office, then he should have at least a year 's notice and leave of absence with salary to enable him to find a more suitable place. Possibly the time is not far distant when, by the general elevation of the standard for the profession, it will be 68 INAUGUIL\L SESSION safe to accord generally a life tenure. But, taking the country as a whole, that time is not yet. d. The faculty, since it consists of a body of ex- perts in teaching and research, should have the right to decide what are a proper number of teaching hours in the various departments and ranks, and what is the proper proportion of students and instructors in classes of various types. It should also have an effectual voice in determining how much time may be spent on research, and in what departments. e. The question of the place of the faculty in the de- termination of the salary scale and its distribution is the most delicate and difficult question that is included in the general subject of our discussion. It is worthy of serious consideration whether the faculty budget committee should not include, in addition to the president and deans, elected representatives of the general faculty. To have such representatives might ob- viate the charge that salary budgets are made by star chamber procedings; but, on the other hand, it would put the elected representatives of the faculty in a very delicate position to be passing, what would be in effect, a final official judgment on the merits of their colleagues. I am inclined, after prolonged consideration of this mat- ter, to the view that it is better, on the whole, to make the president and deans the sole scapegoats. It should be noted, however, that in some places where the salary bud- get is made by committee, including elected representa- tives of the faculty and then referred back to the faculty for consideration and approval, before being passed on to the trustees for final action, the plan seems to work well, as at Oberlin College. I doubt, however, its expediency in a large university where there are so many competing interests clamoring for more adequate financial recogni- tion. It seems to me, on the whole, that it is better to let FACULTIES 69 the president and the deans bear this curse on their own broad shoulders. Let them pay for the giddy heights they occupy by suffering the obloquy of budget making. Any statement of the desirable administrative func- tions of faculties, of course, involves conceptions as to the respective functions of governing boards and presidents. It seems to me that the governing board should continue to function as the ultimate custodian of the property and income, and joint custodian of the general policies, of the university. Its consent should be necessary to all changes in staff, as well as in policy. I conceive the governing board to be the guardian of a public trust ; and, therefore, responsible to the public, which establishes and supports universities for the performance of a public service. This service is immediately discharged by the faculty, but the position of the trustees is that of guardians chosen to in- sure its proper discharge. There need be no conflict be- tween the trustee 's conception of his obligation as a pru- dential public officer and the professor's sense of the dignity and value of his own^ functions as a public servant, and of his individual or corporate capacity to determine the conditions and manner in which he can best render that service. But, in order to avoid the misunder- standings which so frequently arise, the mistakes so often made, and the consequent injury to university morale, regular channels should be established for the interchange of educational views and the discussion of educational problems between governing boards and faculties. Where both governing boards and faculties are numerically small, this might be done through joint meetings of the two bodies. Such a plan would not work in our larger in- stitutions, however. There are two ways in which this interchange of ideas may be effected in the large univer- sities : 1. The faculty might elect a committee on university 70 INAUGUR.\L SESSION policy to confer with the board as a whole, if the latter be not too large, or with a similar committee selected from the board. The faculty committee, of course, should re- ceive its instructions from the faculty and refer back to the latter questions of fundamental policy, agreed upon by the joint committee. This plan is in successful operation in several leading institutions. 2. The faculty might elect several members of the governing board. This plan would have the advantage of insuring the presence, at all meetings of the board, of several experts who understand the needs and weaknesses of the institution, and could thus directly convey to their lay colleagues the general views of the experts who are im- mediately involved in the discharge of the university's social obligations. Serious objection to the second plan is that it involves the voting of a few members of the faculty on the salaries, appointments, promotions and dis- missals of their colleagues, as well as upon the dicision of important matters of policy concerning which there may be a deep cleavage in the faculty. I am not prepared to say that this objection is fatal to the working of the plan of direct faculty membership on the board. It seems to be desirable that it should be tried out. The faculty mem- bers might vote on all matters excej^t the salaries, promo- tions, appointments, and dismissals, of members of the teaching staff, I feel that the suggestion that the faculty representatives be non-voting members of the board is a weak and inconsistent compromise. If they do not vote, they are in effect only a committee advising the trustees, but without power. After much study of the subject, I am not prepared to say which of these plans is the better one. I do feel that some regularly established channel of communication be- tween the legislative body of the faculty and the trustees other than the president should be provided, and I hope FACULTIES 71 that American universities will experiment with both of these plans. As to presidents, I am not prepared to say that they should be abolished. It is true that, sometimes, we do not get along very well with them, but I do not see how we can get along without them. The president stands in a unique position at present, and I think he, or perhaps ' ' they ' ' should continue to stand in a unique position ; in- asmuch as the president is the chairman of the faculty and its important committees, and, as the chief executive officer of the institution, the author and transmitter of recommendations to the governing board. I have said ''they" because it seems to many of my colleagues, as well as to myself, that the present duties of the president of a large American university are, perhaps, too complex and onerous to be satisfactorily discharged by any one person. The duties of the office should be, in some way, divided. I am not certain as to how this can best be accomplished; but it seems to me that the new plan at Yale University, by which, as I understand it, the provost is the executive head or leader in the matter of educational policies, and the president is the head of the university's business in- terests, is an important experiment which should receive careful consideration. In any event, however the work may be divided up, the complexity and growing bulk of the university's educational needs make it imperative that there should continue to be one administrative head for educational concerns. I do not believe that, at present at least, American universities could be successfully ad- ministered if their principal executive officer were elected every year or so by the faculty. I think the European rectorial system would not work here. Since our educa- tional affairs are so varied and complex, and in such a state of flux, we need one leader whose business it is to co- ordinate interests, problems, and policies, and to originate 72 INAUGURAL SESSION and suggest new lines of policy to faculty and governing board. The president is in the position of an educational referee; but he should be a constitutional referee and leader, digesting and hannonizing the claims and interests of various departments and colleges of the university, and responsible to both houses, namely, trustees and faculty. A body of deans should be his executive cabinet. It follows that, when the prime minister and cabinet have lost the confidence of both houses, it is time to have a new government. At present, the lower house, the faculty, has no recognized means of passing a vote of want of confi- dence. If there is to be any distinction in dignity and power, the faculty should be the upper house; the governing board might be regarded as a standing committee of the commons, as well as the property-holding corporation for the commons (which is the public). The president is the coordinator and harmonizer of the views of the other bodies. It may be said that the faculty is engaged to teach, and, if its members have any time and energy left, to in- vestigate and write ; but its primary business it to do the job it is hired to do and in the way in which the governing board, out of its wisdom in interpreting the public de- mands, sees fit to dictate, just as a brick-layer is hired to lay bricks without criticizing the purpose or architecture of the edifice. This view of the faculty's function has found frequent expression in reputable journals and is held by some citizens and, possibly, by a few trustees; but I have no time to wast in debating with anybody who puts the work of the faculty in the same category as that of janitors or clerks. Persons who hold such views have not the faintest inkling of the meaning and purpose of a uni- versity. A faculty may be wrong — ' ' To err is human ' ' — but if a faculty is not more competent to decide upon the wisdom or integritv of the deeds of its executives, if it is FACULTIES 73 not better fitted to determine whether the actual adminis- trative conditions are a help or a hinderance to the perfor- mance of its own public services than any body of laymen, then the institution is not a real university. The incom- petence of the faculty reflects the failure of the governing board and the administration, and if the institution is not a real university, it needs to be either wiped out of exis- tence or cleaned thoroughly from cellar to garret. It needs scarcely to be said that the general discussion of this paper does not apply to such institutions . Concluding this brief resume of the various administrative functions of the faculty, I would again enter a plea for open-minded discussion and experimentation. Fuller constitutional recognition of the rights and duties of the faculty in administration are herein advocat- ed chiefly on two grounds, which are interdependent; namely, improvement in the faculty personnel and morale, and improvement in the quality of their service to society Notwithstanding the great and rapid growth in universities, in numbers of students, teachers, and gradu- ates, and in productive output, it is obvious to any well-in- formed observer, that we have not been getting the results we might get. No doubt the universities will exert an ever increasing, and, on the whole, a bettering influence on American life. In spite of the omnipotence of governing boards, the reputed omniscience of presidents, the inepti- tude of faculty meetings and the extraordinary immunity of undergraduates to intellectual infection, we must have faith in education, for, "Faith is the evidence of things not seen, the substance of things hoped for. ' ' But we are only scratching the surface of the educational possibili- ties, and we are not even scratching the surface very thoroughly. Various forms of extra-curricula student ac- tivities arouse, on the part of many of the student body, a keener interest than the work of classroom, library and 74 IXAUGUR.\L SESSION laboratory. The fact that the side-shows are of more in- terest to many students than the main circus is partial evidence, at least, of the failure of the ring-master and performers in the main circus. If a large proportion of lively youth are not intrigued by the business of higher education, there is something wrong with the conduct of this business. Too large a jDroportion of our university teachers appear to students to be ineffective molly- coddles. AVe sorely need to make the professoriate a man- sized job, not a sailor's snugharbor for persons of the neuter gender. There is a faint color of truth in the saying, * ' There are three sexes — men, women, and teachers. ' ' We must have a more dpiamic t^'pe of university teacher and investigator, teachers with more vigorous and inspiring personalities, with more mental initiative, teachers who are not satisfied to go through the motions of classroom work and imitation research. In short, our profession has not succeeded in recruiting a sufficient proportion of the first-rate native minds that are born in every generation. How shall we do better? For one thing, I am sure, we must establish more striking differentials in salary scales. We must make it possible for really able men to win decent incomes in the profession, incomes that will com- pete in attractiveness, when there is added to them the other delights of the profession, with those enjoyed by leading men of other professions, such as medicine, law, engineering, and even business. It is not part of my pro- vince to discuss the salary question, but I wish to say that, while higher salaries are necessary, these will not be enough. Self-determination is a hackneyed work to-day, but it is a good word. The professors are either the best educational experts of the country, or else they are hollow shams. If we are to have men of vigor and initiative 23racticing the profession of handing on to the new genera- tion the accrued achievements of the higher civilization. FACULTIES 75 and of adding to these achievements, we must order the operation of our universities so that, in all matters that vitally touch the practice of university teaching and re- search, those who are experts will have the freest field possible to function effectively as experts. It is dis- heartening enough and it lames efficiency not to be able to make a decent livelihood in the practice of a profession than which there is none more essential to the on-going and improvement of civilization; but it is still more dis- heartening and still more lames efficiency when the com- petent professor sees, and is powerless to prevent, the dilution and cheapening of the educational work of the in- stitution through its succumbing to the ever imminent and insistent pressure to spread out its work over more and more ill-prepared and unpurposeful students, and to see the institution rush hastily, without adequate equipment and personnel, into new educational enterprises. One of the curses of higher education in this country to-day is the apparent worship by the public, alumni, governing boards, and administrators, yes, and to tell it not in Gath, publish it not in Gilead, the worship, even by professors, of the golden calf of quantity production. The most serious menace to the maintenance or improvement of the qualitative standards of higher education to-day comes from the ever-rising flood of freshmen. Faculties seem to be powerless in the face of this menace. The situation is especially alarming in the state universities. Legislatures, being without knowledge, do not appreciate the situation; the governing boards face it only intermittently, namely, in trying to find the money for new instructors ; the facul- ties are face-to-face with it every day; privately they groan over it, publicly they are passive and silent ; theirs not to reason why, theirs but to teach and die. The numbers roll up, the courses multiply by fission, like the lower organisms, universities rush to get cheap and in- 76 INAUGURAL SESSION experienced teachers who sometimes are not even worth the pittances they are paid, to turn out ever-growing hordes of graduates who have amassed the correct number of credit slips, but who have no clear idea of scholarly or scientific method, no real insight into the meaning of edu- cation, no exacting standards of thought and taste. The inrush of hordes of unsettled and badly prepared students has its touching aspects. It is in part at least an ex- pression of the yearning of our democracy for spiritual development, and of a blind faith in the mystic power of education to transmute the soul of youth by some alchemy or magic into nobler and worthier life. But we do dis- service to democracy when we fail to exercise rigorously the process of selection by which only those qualified by nature and by nurture are chosen to be the responsive sub- jects of university education. We must get rid of that democratic form of sentimentality which ignores the in- exorable fact that, in every generation, by the operation of the blind forces of nature or by the will of God (call it what you will, it matters not), only a small minority of the youth have the native capacity for acquiring the high- est degree of education. To dissipate our energies and our resources in the universities in catering to every comer is to do injustice to the more gifted, and in the long run to our democracy. For we fail to train up leaders, and we foster the illusion on the part of the many that they are getting a higher education. I recognize that a considerable proportion of our faculty members are not fit to do things any better than they are now doing. I recognize that some of them are not fit to pass balanced and wise judgments on matters of educational policy. It is a day of confusion and unrest in education, as in the body politic. The children are come to the birth and there is not strength to bear them. But I do not see how we can expect to make our universities FACULTIES 77 more effective ministrants of a higher civilization, unless we can make them better nurturing grounds for that aris- tocracy of intelligence, character, and taste, of which de- mocracy stands in such sore need, for its leaders and ex- emplars everywhere in public life — in politics, in art, letters, the drama, social philosophy and practice. We are living in an era which has made jettison of inherited standards of thought, conduct, and social order; and has as yet brought forth no new, more organic and coherent standards to take their places. We have not, and do not want, a hereditary aristocracy based on vested privileges and legal and economic injustices. We have not, but we sorely need anc. must develop, if our civilization is to en- dure and progress, a spiritual elite, an aristocracy imbued with the sense of service, of noblesse oblige; one which is ever being built up to the highest point of power by the selection of those with the best native capacities, and by the intensive training of these superior native capacities to the highest point possible. It is the function of the uni- versity to be in the fullest sense the transmitter of culture, the initiator of the selected in every generation into a comprehensive and balanced consciousness of the creative meaning of civilization, into a recognition of the cardinal fact that civilization is made and renewed and enhanced just in the degree in which the heritage of culture quickens, nurtures, and expands the individual mind. Where else can this work be done if not in the university ? Where are we to look for sound judgment and wise in- sight, for unprejudiced facing of facts, for the fresh de- termination of facts and their interpretation in terms of human values if not to the university men? We certainly cannot look for these qualities in the market place, in the popular journals, or on the political rostrum. Can the blind lead the blind 1 Can the natural elite become, by in- tensive cultivation, the educated elite, if they are taught 78 INAUGURAL SESSION by persons who are themselves incapable of seeing and kindling to the great vocation of the university teacher, as the custodian of the rational and spiritual interests of civilization ? How can we expect a more virile and creative type of teacher and scholar, if he is to have no effective part in determining the conditions under which he works ? I would put the plea for greater faculty participa- tion in university affairs, then, not on the ground that it will make us more at ease in Zion ; but on the ground that it will increase our burdens and responsibilities ; and may thereby enable us to grow up to our tasks,may ner^^e us to be more effective participants in the perpetuation and im- provement of civilization. If I am right in contending that the conservation and progress of the higher civiliza- tion in America depends chiefly on the universities, it follows that any proposed change in the method of con- ducting university affairs should be tried by this test: — Will it, or will it not, make the universities more effective instruments for the conservation of whatsoever is worth conserving in the culture of the past, and for the increase of that culture by new insights in science, letters, art, social thought and practice ; will it be more effective in the selection and functioning of a better personnel ! The uni- versity exists to serve the mass, not directly, but indirect- ly; by conserving and improving the best instruments of culture, not by taking its culture from the mass. It can- not do this unless its daily work is carried on by a vigorous, competent, self-respecting personnel. Its task is more exacting, perhaps, than that of any other institution in our civilization. Time was when the church was the chief custodian of a higher civilization. That time has long since gone by. Time was when in an hereditary aristocracy resided the custodianship of cul- ture. That time too has gone by. Democracy is in the saddle and does not know whither it is riding. Unless it FACULTIES 79 supports and nurtures an institution which can find a way and lead it, democracy is riding to a bad fall. This in- stitution for democracy is the university. My argument for more recognized participation by the faculty in ad- ministration has, as its central thesis, the belief that this change would be a means by which the members of the faculty might grow up to a keener sense of their great tasks, and develop more strength to discharge them. Our supreme functions are, as I have indicated, to be the con- servators and the improvers of humane culture — that is to say, of culture as a means for the improvement of the human race. It is only as we are conscious of the diffi- culty and the worthiness of our tasks as servants of the commonweal, that we should ask for anything. We should ask for a more effective participation in the direc- tion of university policies only that thereby we may be freer to serve more effectively the whole of society by better conserving, transmitting, and improving the cul- tural implements for the perfection of man. THE IXTEGEATIOX OF THE UXIVEESITY WIIvLISTON WAI^KER, PH.D., D.D., I,.H.D. Provost of Yale University The American university has been a rather planless growth, due largely to an opportunist attempt to meet an ever-changing and constantly enlarging appreciation of its possible service to the community, which is the prime warrant for its existence. Its roots run back into the col- leges of colonial days. Their purpose was primarily to train men for the Christian ministry, and, in a lesser measure, to supply the succession of their own teachers, then the only generally recognized learned professions. The close of the eighteenth and the dawn of the nine- teenth century saw a demand for systematic instruction in law and medicine, till then largely secured privately, witnessing to the vindication of the professional standing of these disciplines. The result was the loose attachment of law and medical schools to the existing colleges, the union being the more imperfect because of the pre- dominantly classical curricula of the older departments of our colleges, even though they had already outgrown the dominance of ministeral preparation, and also because in- struction of these so-called ''special schools" was long in the hands of part-time teachers engaged in active practice. The great university advance of the nineteenth century was in the recognition of the scholarly demands of other professions widely beyond the few formerly accounted "learned. ' ' The natural sciences, with their wealth of in- vestigation and application, claimed rightful university recognition. Special branches of scientific effort, such as EDUCATIONAL READJUSTMENTS 81 engineering, metallurgy, mining, electricity, were knock- ing successfully at university doors. The great employ- ment of agriculture demanded and obtained a more scien- tific treatment. Special professions, of which journalism, animal industry, or forestry may serve as examples, as- serted their right to a place within university walls. The growing aesthetic culture of our people claimed a place for music and the fine arts. More recently the great interests of secondary teaching and the occupation of business have rightly received university recognition. Nor is there any visible natural limit to the possibilities of the enlargement of these university curricula, for the controlling principle of university life is now, as always, that of service to the commonwealth. As the appreciation of the possibilities of service enlarge, the range of subjects taught in our universities must necessarily grow. All this growth is normal and proper, but it has been largely haphazard. The need of a particular discipline has made itself felt. A new school or department has then been added, with a faculty of its own, to existing bodies, without careful planning as to how the new might be fitted into the old as into an orderly whole. Too often the new discipline has had but a grudging welcome from the repre- sentatives of older studies and its exponents have felt that they must struggle for their university standing. The result is that the modern American university is too often anything but an organization; rather an aggregation of loosely related schools, with unlike methods and discord- ant aims. Three great purposes are characteristic of all true university education. The teaching must fit the student for service in some special life work. It must train him to be a competent physician, engineer, farmer, lawyer, or business man, or for whatever field of service it may be in which he will earn his livelihood and make his particular 82 EDUCATIOX-\L SESSION contribution to the welfare of the community of which he is a member. Such training must of necessity be thorough, modem, and up to the requirements of present know- ledge. He must be fitted to do the work of his choice in the most efficient manner possible. A second aim is to equip the student for broad- minded, intelligent citizenship. He is not merely to be the best farmer, the most efficient engineer, and the most skillful physician that the university can make of him ; he is to be a factor in a democracy, based ultimately on pub- lic opinion, to which he is to make his well-balanced, clear- visioned contribution as a man of weight, intelligence and sound judgment, awake to the wider needs of the age and with his own well-reasoned opinion as to how they should be met. A third aim, no less important than the others, is the development of character. The student should leave the university stronger, more self-controlled, more manly, than when he enters its doors. His student days should not merely be a mental, but also a moral, ripening time. He should leave its walls not only an abler, but a better and a stronger man. In speaking of these three aims, attention is directed primarily to the needs of the whole body of students, graduate and undergraduate alike. It should never be forgotten that research is also a duty of the university. To enlarge the boundaries of human knowledge, to point the competent and ambitious toward promising lines of in- vestigation, to increase the efficiency of present and future activities, is quite as fully the task of the university as to transmit the wisdom of the past. No other means is so effective as a proper emphasis on research to keep in- structors fresh and vital in relation to the subejcts which they teach. Eesearch stimulates that sense of reality which is so essential to good instruction. No example is EDUCATIONAL READJUSTMENTS 83 so inspiring to the purposeful student as that of a teacher engaged in the solution of the real problems of any im- portant field. Yet, while research should never be overlooked, it is evident that it is in no way in conflict with the three uni- versity duties which have been indicated as those involved in relation to all students, for research in any field can be shared only with a limited and proficient group. Only as all of these aims are measurably fulfilled can the university be regarded as accomplishing its appropri- ate function. In proportion as it fails in any one, it falls short of that full-rounded training which the student has a right to expect. Of these three aims, that first mentioned, equipment for specific work in life, is now most emphasized and most adequately accomplished. The number of fields in which training is offered is constantly increasing, and the natur- al competition between those who enter them makes evident the competency of the training offered by the various universities, and stimulates the several schools and departments to keep abreast of the latest results of scientific discovery and technical method. It is true, in- deed, that university efficiency requires constant vigi- lance; but there is at present less likelihood of inefficiency in specific training for a definite life work than in the achievement of either of the other of the three main tasks which a university sets before itself. If the first aim, that of training for a special life work, has the great advantages of concreteness and of readily tested results, the third aim mentioned, that of the development of character, labors under the handicaps of vagueness and indirection. Character can be taught only in most moderate measure. A student can be trained to be a skillful engineer; to develop him into a good man is not so direct and simple a process. The development of char- 84 EDUCATIONAL SESSION acter is chiefly a resultant of atmosphere, example, and personal contact. The university has a large field of service here, but the results desired can seldom be ac- complished, in the cases of the majority of students, by the foundation of special chairs. Rather it is the duty of those charged with university appointments and control to see to it that men of character, of idealism, and of in- stinct for service, as well as of the indispensable know- ledge, are appointed to faculty positions, that the contact of the student with his teacher may stimulate his moral nature as well as his intellect. Those entrusted with government must see to it also that the university in all its relations, to faculty, to students, and to the general public, is an example of justice and fair-dealing. In a word, the aim of the university now considered, that of the development of character can best be achieved by the creation and vigilant maintenance of an atmosphere in which the manly virtues naturally flourish, and the stim- ulus of which is felt by all who breathe it. The second of the aims described, that of training for broad-minded, intelligent citizenship, is that now, I believe, least satisfactorily accomplished. It is the pur- pose whose fulfilment can most fully be furthered by a greater integration of the university. There can be no question that the broader aspects of education are in danger of neglect through a one-sided emphasis on im- mediate preparation for a specific type of life work. It is not that such preparation is not necessary. It is funda- mental; but in its accomplishment the other and wider at- tainment should not be sacrificed. The older term for theses values was ' ' cultural. ' ' The definition is still ap- propriate, though ' ' cultural ' ' has a self -regarding aspect, as if the development of the individual student was a prime end in itself. That development must be a main purpose of education, but not for himself alone, rather EDUCATIONAL READJUSTMENTS 85 that the student may become the more valuable as a citi- zen, clear-visioned, intelligent, judicially minded. It is not an isolation of superiority above his less advantaged fellows that is the ideal, but an equipment for leadership among them, a capacity to judge sanely, to distinguish the permanent from the transient, the greater from the less, to weigh accurately the aims and tendencies of his age, that he may serve it the better. No student should graduate from an American uni- versity without having the outstanding questions of the age presented to his serious consideration, and, if possi- ble, not without having learned to think for himself upon them. It is no body of ready-made solutions with which he may be equipped. Such mental furniture is sure to be- come speedily antiquated, and much, even of the best of it, will probably be discarded in the experiences of life. But he should know what these questions are and he should form at least the beginnings of the habit of thinking intel- ligently on them. Whatever else a univrsity does for a man, it should give him this training. Four great groups of questions, intimately affecting the problem of efficient citizenship, may be cited as thus demanding presentation to every university student. The first is that of the nature and genius of the gov- ernment under which he lives. How has it come to be what it is f What superiority has it to others 1 What are its out- standing defects and how can they be remedied, or, if not capable of immediate remedy, in w^hat directions should remedy be sought? What are the specific problems de- manding governmental solution ! Above all, what effect- ive part can a busy man, under the pressing necessities of earning his daily bread, take in the actual ongoing and the more effective operation of government in his community, the state, and the nation? These are eminently practical problems, to be studied not in the atmosphere of stump- 86 EDUCATIONAL SESSION oratory or of partisan politics, but on which the univer- sity owes to its students the training to form intelligent opinions of their own, which shall lead in later life to ap- propriate action. The second great group of problems which the stu- dent should be led to face has to do with that industrial system in which we are all so intimately involved. Are its present principles fundamentally sound ? Are the de- mands for its radical alteration which are forced on at- tention by well-intentioned and earnest men really practi- cable? Do they truly point the road to progress, or are they certain to result in suffering, destruction and failure ? How can better relations in the industrial world be achieved ? Must its fabric be remade or readjusted ? What should be the dominant motives of one entering the field of industry; and what can he wisely do to secure juster re- lations among men? No less important is a third great body of questions having to do with the idealistic interpretation of life. What part has service to the community in a properly ordered scheme of existence ? What is the proper balance of self-seeking and of a sane and rational altruism f What are the rightful demands of philanthropy, and how can the claims of the dependent, defective, and delinquent members of the body politic wisely and helpfully be met? What can the average, busy, intelligent citizen contribute to the intellectual upbuilding of his country? What are the value and the abiding claims of the religious interpre- tation of life ? A fourth body of interests, fortunately growing in the estimate of those who weigh values aright, is that of the aesthetic, too long and too largely neglected in American education. What is good literature, and what are some of its masterpieces in our own and other tongues? Why should art and architecture claim at least the intelligent EDUCATIONAL READJUSTMENTS 87 interest of the citizen? What is the value of music to the community and what are the elements of good taste in this great domain of human satisfaction? Some direction in all these fields should be made available; for none adds more to the abiding intellectual satisfaction of life both for individuals and the community. Every student, whether aiming for a specialized service to the community in engineering, law, farming, journalism, business, or medicine, should be brought into intelligent contact with these fundamental questions, and others like unto them, which stand in formative relations to the qualities and usefulness of his citizenship. Some students, in particular courses, do come into these con- tacts now. Every modern university offers courses in government, economics, and certain aspects of philan- thropy, for example, to those who specialize in these topics. It is possibble to make a deep acquaintance with any one of them now, if one majors in some special field. The present plea is that the university owes to each one of its students, whatever his more restricted line of en- deavor, such a presentation of these problems and oppor- tunities of good citizenship, even if necessarily superficial, as will at least show to him the greatness of the questions involved and stimulate his thinking. It is evident that the emphases which have been in- dicated will involve a careful planning and oftentimes a readjustment of the forces of the university. We have grown up far too largely a bundle of separate schools, each doing fine work in a restricted field, but each scarcely con- scious of the scholastic existence of its colleague groups for instruction, and all without any dominant university spirit and sense of companionship in what, in spite of all its divergencies in methods and aims, is in the larger real- ities a common task. The result of the present system is often narrowing in 88 EDUCATIONAL SESSION outlook. If the speaker may illustrate from the field most familiar to him, he would choose that of history. No sub- ject is more broadly related to human progress. Yet histo- ry is too often taught as if it were solely a record of politi- cal development, of national rivalries, and of colonial or racial expansion. Yet there are few disciplines to which history does not furnish a facile avenue of approach. To law, to science, to art, to literature, to economics, the door- way through acquaintance with the steps through which development has jDassed, at least in broad outline, is one readily opened and leading into a large room. Why, if the historic treatment is of value for the specialist in these disciplines, should not the well-rounded student of his- tory, in turn, be profited by the wider outlook on human development which a knowledge of something of those special fields of historic progress would afford ? The uni- versity already possesses teachers who could give leader- ship in most, if not all, of them, though they are not now reckoned to the history department, nor is their work part of its curriculum. It will be objected by many who would admit that such a training for citizenship as has been proposed is theoretically desirable, that it is practically precluded by the factor of time. The demands of special training in the fields, for example, of engineering or of medicine have grown so increasingly exigent as absolutely to exclude other topics, however inherently valuable, from a curricu- lum already too crowded. There is much practical truth in this contention, though the main difference be- tween a university and a technical school lies in the breadth of general training and the wider outlook on life which the university, with its larger faculty, its greater wealth of discipline, and its possible extension of curricu- lum, is able to afford. This is an advantage which the EDUCATIONAL READJUSTMENTS 89 university should not lightly surrender, for it is a main portion of its birthright. The suggestion is frequently made in view of this problem that the situation could be materially bettered by the introduction of extra-curriculum courses, or even of special extra-curriculum examinations, in the important topics which have been specified as constituting a training for citizenship. It certainly makes little difference how students are led to think on these great subjects, as long as they are induced to think seriously and intelligently. We meet here, however, a formidable difficulty by reason of the effects of what may be denominated the great American student delusion, that he can really learn noth- ing unless it is formally taught to him, or unless he is guided in experiments under an instructor, or unless his reading is pre-digested for him in assigned portions. This is a peculiarly American failing. The student in the Eng- lish university, for example, makes much more of his own reading, reads much more widely than the average American, and feels much more fully that he has some in- dividual initiative in the direction and achievement of his studies. The testimony of our university librarians is that students make far too scanty use of the treasures which are offered to them, or, if they avail themselves of the libraries at all extensively, they seldom go far beyond the ' ' required readings ' ' assigned by the instructor. An experience as a student in a German university and now for many years as a teacher in an American graduate school, convinces the speaker that the American student, as compared with his German confrere, is far more depen- dent on professional guidance. Even in the preparation of his dissertation, which is supposed to represent his original contribution to science, and is in a real sense the proof of the completion of his apprenticeship, he is far more disposed to demand the leadership of his instructor. 90 EDUCATIOX.\L SESSION Anything, therefore, that would tend to render the Ameri- can university student more fully a self-directed and in- dependent thinker would be a real gain : hut the outroot- ing of inveterate prejudice and long-established tradition is sure to be at best a slow process. Nevertheless, it seems probable that the establishment of courses, whether of lectures, or of wisely suggested readings in term time or vacation, or, better, of both, in these subjects which have been described as equipping for citizenship, outside the required curriculum, would attract many of our abler stu- dents, especially if rewards of a scholastic nature, such as honors, were offered for attainment in these fields, beyond the successful accomplishment of their required curricula. Many, also, who did not pursue these studies to such an extent would be stimulated to broader outlook and more serious thought. In spite, therefore, of obvious diffi- culties, and of the invincible aversion of many students to go a step beyond what is required of them intellectually, the speaker believes that the establishment of extra- curriculum courses, offered to all students of whatever disclipline, would be a decided step in advance in univer- sity progress. More important yet is a better use of the facilities which our miiversities at present afford. Our courses are too frequently one-sided and narrow because of the way in which they have been added to existing curricula rather than engrafted in a vital organism. Schools and depart- ments do their work as if they had nothing to gain from allied groups of studies, sometimes as if those companion groups did not exist. A larger and wider use of univer- sity facilities is possible in most of our institutions of learning. "We need to think more in terms of the whole. "We are too separated and too prone to value the particular school or department as if it existed for itself alone in- EDUCATION-\L RKADJUSTilEN'TS 91 tellecttial : ;; if its relation to the university were adminii?trat! '. ' atlier than scholastic. A \}i -: American nniversity life is there: 0. . plan and interrelation of studies, in ti. . _- _ .: al principles governing that which the university & ■ : ' c. omplish for its stu- dents, and with a caref : ' - ; varions intellee- tnal resonrces which tiie u. * :*- '"/mmand. For this pnrpose there she -_. , -s>":h in- stitntion of learmng a widely : = i -7 sympathetic board on the aim and scope : not from one school, bnt embradng tiie tmiversity teaching, which can look at th : whole, and plan how individnal schools £. - may combine the necessary efficiency of te tion with something of that breadth of . ^ :_ i vision which will render the normal grad good workman in Ms si)ecial field bnt an . -.-^- . l ^ nsefnl citizen of the republic. Such a task cannot be achieved by the :::->- r corporation alone. The busy men who con; — ' ^-^ bodies have seldom the time or the technical k: do what is demanded, though doubtless any su _ . :^ and integration would need the approval of tLr i.::— i:e governing authority that it might be properly sanctic'::^ i and enforced. In this work the president xrould not always be a partner, but normally the 1:?: Ur in the decisions, as flie responsible head not merel7 : :--e administration, bnt of the educational policy of the university. Probably it would be his function to initiate such a survey and create, as well as guide, such a lx»ard. But many others must cooperate who are engaged in the actual work of teach- ing and immediate administration. The task of such a board on the aim and scope of instruction is gigantic. It 92 EDUCATION.\L SESSION requires wisdom of the highest order, capacity to lay aside the prejudices of conservatism, and a lofty unsel- fishness capable of putting the interests of the whole be- fore that of individuals or established schools or depart- ments. It demands, above all, the power to visualize the entire educational situation of the university, with its manifold problems, and to plan for the whole in the light of all the university has to offer. It can be done; and in this, or some similar way, the problem of the intergration of the university can be solved, and a real advance can be made in university effi- ciency. ACADEMIC FREEDOM AND SOCIAL RESPONSI- BILITY ROBERT E. VINSON, LI..D. President of the University oj Texas Fortunately for the purpose of this discussion, little time need be spent in the definition of terms. The question of academic freedom has been agitated for more than a generation in America, its metes and bounds have been marked out and may now be said to be rather clearly understood by both the academic fraternity and the general public. The statement of President Schurman in an address before the National Association of State Uni- versities in 1909 is perhaps as clear an expression as may be found of the ideal conditions under which an education- al institution may be expected to do its best work. "The supreme test," he says, "is whether the people of the state will on the one hand tax themselves to support it (the state university) and on the other impose upon themselves a self-denying ordinance to leave it severly alone, so that it may select its own members by the application of its own intellectual standards and the members thus chosen may be absolutely free to investigate, to teach, and to pub- lish whatever they believe to be the truth. ' ' This certain- ly puts the matter in clear not to say bald language, and at once squares the issue. It is well, however, that the same speaker at once proceeds to remark that ' ' if our people do not already possess this conception of a university, they must be educated up to it, for a university can not flourish on any other condition, " f or I for one have no doubt that when the case is presented to the public in the manner re- ferred to, it will induce an immediate unfavorable reaction upon the part of the people. They would unhesitatingly 94 EDUCATIOX-AL SESSION reply that we are asking too much. We want them to pay the bills, to appropriate, as is true in some instances, up- wards of one-half of the general revenues of the state for educational purposes and yet to retain no control of these expenditures nor to have any voice in the decisions with reference to persons and policies. In the judgement of the average man this would be to make the creature greater than the creator, and raises the issue again of taxation without representation. And yet I do not doubt that there is general agree- ment among the academic people of America as to the desirability and even the necessity of securing, or at least approximating, the condition outlined by Dr. Schurman. *'The doctrine of freedom represents the high -water mark of progress." ATe believe that 'Sve were called for freedom." We consider that we have a two-fold duty to discharge, which after all is one, to the truth on the one hand and to the public on the other, and that we are in- hibited from the full perfoiinance of either just in propor- tion as we are not free to follow where the truth may lead us. AVe can not teach at all unless we teach sincerely and with conviction, nor can we teach with such sincerity un- less we can go along with the truth to the end. Thus much should be clearly understood. The academic man must live with himself. He must keep a conscience void of of- fense toward both God and man. He does not surrender this prerogative when he enters upon an academic career and fundamentally has the right to ask that the conditions by which he is surrounded shall not militate against his own development, investigation, and expression. Perhaps I can not make my own position clearer in any other way than to say that I give my hearty endorsement to the admirable discussion and sane conclusions embodied in the ''Report of the Committee on Academic Freedom and Academic Tenure" of the American Association of Uni- EDUCATIONAL READJUSTMENTS 95 versity Professors, which was made in 1915 and published by the Association in tlie year following. The publication of this report and its dissemination among institutions, administrative authorities, and governing boards throughout the country has produced conspicious results in the direction of the attainment of the end desired. It has clarified the situation from the standpoint of motives and aims, and should go far toward relieving the public mind with reference to the sense of responsibility which is the concomitant of the idea of free- dom. But apart from the service of this report, there are not lacking indications of an increasingly favorable atti- tude toward the universities of America on the part of our people. To so great an extent is this true that I am tempt- ed to say that the fight has been won. But if this be too much, may we at least not lay claim to being in a fair way to win. "The morning cometh." Such twilight as re- mains is the twilight of the dawn and not of the night. Two factors may be mentioned here as being contributory to this impression. The first is that an increasing number of states are placing funds in the hands of governing boards of state universities in such manner as to remove uneasiness with reference to the matter of financial support. Further, the appointment of members of facul- ties and their advancement in rank, together with the budgetary requirements of departments, are now in many institutions practically in the hands of the teaching staff, determined by its intellectual standards and by depart- mental necessities, administrative officers and boards of regents acting largely in the capacity of a clearing house. Even in those instances where direct appropriations are made by legislatures the tendency is to impose fewer con- ditions upon boards of regents and to trust them more largely with matters of detailed expenditures and institu- tional policies. For we must not forget that if governing 96 EDUCATIONAL SESSION boards have in the past interfered with academic freedom, neither have they been free, and they are not to be too greatly censured for failing to confer that which they themselves did not possess. This increasingly favorable attitude toward state universities is true also with regard to gifts being made by individual donors to privately en- dowed institutions and their governmental conduct. The university idea has made its way with the American people. They have confidence in their educational institu- tions and are looking to them for leadership in a manner that is without parallel in the history of education. The other factor to which I refer is this. The question of freedom bulks large in the minds of the academic fraternity all the time. They are watchful of their rights and sensitive even to the appearance of infringement. On the other hand, it is quite probably true that the general public does not think about academic freedom at all ex- cept in connection with a specific instance of its alleged violation or the supposed overstepping of the bounds of propriety by some university instructor. We think of it in the abstract, fundamentally, from the standpoint of rights and ideals. The public thinks of it concretely and generally contents itself with occasional ebullitions on the subject when ' ' another college professor goes wrong. ' ' And the difficulties we experience are not due so much to a fundamental disagreement on the abstract question, which probably does not exist, but quite largely to the application of the ideal to a specified case. Now if these things are true or partly true, the ques- tion of freedom both for ourselves and for our institutions comes back in the main to us. With the university idea fixed in the consciousness of the American people as a good thing, with the constant pressure for freedom as necessary to the best practical outworking of the idea, with the presumed agreement in the fundamental correct- EDUCATIONAL READJUSTMENTS 97 ness of this notion, together with a showing that we are sensible of the responsibility which accompanies it, surely we should not be hopeless of evolving a plan for its appli- cation to individual instances. And we may anticipate that the correct solution of each of these and the public discussion incident thereto will but serve as steps in the educational process by which the public will come up to our ground. Modern education impinges upon life in an altogether unprecedented fashion. There was a time when the ques- tion of academic freedom was of little or no concern. Col- lege curricula dealt with matters which were looked upon as simple classroom tasks; their ends were predetermin- ed, they were kept in safe and sane bounds, and it made little difference either within or without the institution just what conclusions were reached. Then came the de- velopment of the physical sciences, the erection of labora- tories, the fight for a place among the older disciplines, the injection of the method of investigation and the spread of the curriculum to cover subjects whose introduction re- quired the modification of educational ideas and ideals to the extent of a revolution. The sweep of this thing has been tremendous. It has gone forward much more rapidly than has the public opinion, and to me the surprising thing is not that some friction has been generated, but that we have had so little of it. The relation of the modern university to life is of the most intimate character. I have sometimes been led to wonder whether educational leaders themselves have been as aware of this even as the general public, or, in other words, are we not after all discharging a function which is greater than we have been willing to express? For much of this enlargement has been forced upon our institutions from without, and they have grown by external pressure rather than by internal development. It would be interesting to estimate how much of this is due 98 EDUCATIOX.U SESSION to the popular demand for practical training and also how much of the friction between the college and the public has been generated out of the effort of the college to meet this requirement. AYe ordinarily define the function of an aca- demic institution to be threefold: to promote inquiry and advance the sum of human knowledge; to provide general instruction for students; and to develop experts for various branches of the public service. But does this fully express the function of a university? Are we not doing more than this? The manufacturing concern not only makes goods but it also establishes a market and carries a force of salesmen. And the point I am making is that our market is no longer and can be no longer only the classroom and the students who are in residence, but that largely without our choice the public has widened our market and that we have not sufficiently adjusted ourselves to its requirements nor developed the practice of salesman- ship which these new conditions demand. Or, to return to our own phraseology, we need to apply the principle of a pedagogy to the matter of communicating our discoveries to the general public. History will probably substantiate the statement that the truth suffers as often from the foolishness of its friends as from the attacks of its enemies. It is not enough to discover truth. It must be communicated. We must lead the public as far as possible to the acceptance of the results of our investigations, not only because this is the American theory, but further be- cause the truth itself and our best interests demand it. It is utterly idle to talk about constructing and operating a great modern university without carrying along with it the intelligent opinion of the country. We must grow together. The university must keep in advance, but it must not go so far in advance as to discourage. The American university is not an abstract independent thing. It is the flower and fruit of our national life, EDUCATIONAL READJUSTMENTS 99 growing up out of the mass as one of the finest forms of its expression, but inevitably like that from which it springs. Our forum is now the state and the nation, and we shall get farther and go faster by laying less propor- tionate emphasis upon our right to freedom and more up- on the privilege which we enjoy of carrying truth to so great an audience and building up the intellectual strength of a whole people. The difficulties which we encounter are seldom if ever met in the field of the natural and exact sciences. Those matters which are capable of demonstration and those which require the adoption of working hypotheses are regarded as but necessary steps in the direction of discovery and create little concern even when they are subversive of long established theories and beliefs. But when we enter the realm of the social sciences and deal with the forms and practices of society, or with questions of economics or government or religion and philosophy, it is here that we find the sore spots, for we are in the region of opinion and belief in the place where the shock of contrariety is a necessary element in the formulation of correct conclusions. On both sides there is need of moderation and care. The academic man needs a buffer to catch the blow until the public can have time to give calm consideration to the opinions expressed. The people need to be reminded of the beneficent movements which have been fathered and fostered by universities and uni- versity men, of truth which has been discovered and an- nounced and defended at peril of life and has gained as- cendency only after its discoverer has paid the supreme penalty of his devotion and clear-headedness. On the other hand, the professor knows or should know that such great crises as demand the sacrifice of life for opinion have been rare and that even some of them might have been avoided if they had been handled differently. 100 EDUCATIONAL SESSION There is no need to insist upon sacrifice. If the opinion has been formed by one who is competent in his field, if the methods have been those of scientific scholarship, if proper respect is paid to existing theories and beliefs, if the steps in the process are visible and the announcement is free from elements that are bizarre and propagandist in nature, such expression is then worthy of the confidence of right-thinking men, and the institution which merits its own respect will protect such men in the enjoyment of their freedom. For there is no' antinomianism here. Society is defended in such an instance not by an out- ward law but by an inward spirit, by the instinct of the scholar and the character of the searcher for truth. And is should be remembered here that we are dealing with a public which ought to be peculiarly amenable to accep- tance of this situation. This thing that we are endeavor- ing to do in America is a tremendous thing. Our educa- tional system is founded upon the notion that we can lift a whole people so that each individual may take and ex- press intelligent interest in public concerns. In so far as this has been done we need not expect and do not desire that the opinions of college men shall go unquestioned by the public any more than we permit them to go undisput- ed by our students. Public opinion should in our theory be intelligent opinion, well worth listening to, and it should be no longer possible to justify the Pharisaic at- titude. The various groups into which the citizenry of this nation are now organized are intelligent groups. They have their programs, they have studied the ques- tions relating to their occupations and interests with such thoroughness as to have among them men who may justly claim to be experts. They have been driven by the law of self-preservation. Farmers, merchants, bankers, laboring-men and the rest know very well where they are, and it is next to impossible for a university man to ex- EDUCATIONAL READJUSTMENTS 101 press an opinion to-day in the fields of sociology, govern- ment or economics without having to run the gamut of the really intelligent criticism of those who are interest- ed both theoretically and practically in the issue advocat- ed. We may, therefore, expect that the future will hold even more occasions for friction than has been true in the past, for in so far as the positions occupied by various interests are selfish and inimical to the public good, they necessarily will fall under the condemnation of the col- lege man, and there is no reason to believe that the pocket nerve is becoming incapable of conveying painful im- pressions. We are, therefore, placed in a situation where two things are to be secured~the freedom of the teacher and the fulfillment of the duty of the university to the public. I offer two suggestions of means which may contribute in a measure toward these ends. First, we must close the growing gap between the teachers and the administrative officers and governing boards of our institutions. If the officers and boards of regents are to participate in the preservation and advancement of the freedom of the pro- fessors, they on their part have the right to ask that every faculty member shall carry on his teaching, investi- gation, and promulgation of opinions in the light of the interest of the institution and to the end that he shall in his place contribute his share to the service which the uni- versity is endeavoring to render to the public, and to do this in due proportion. This does not mean the imposi- tion of rules and regulations, but rather refers to the atmosphere in which his work is to be done-that of loyal- ty and devotion to the university, the recognition of the fact that teachers, administrative officers and the control- ling board are fundamentally bound to the performance of a common task. Unless we can have this sort of in- 102 EDUCATION.\L SESSION stitutional solidarity, neither of the things we so much desire can be secured. Second, granting this, the administrative officers and the board of regents should on their part guarantee to the teacher full freedom to teach, to investigate, and to pub- lish, and in my judgment without further limitation, for it is quite impossible to handle a spiritual matter by fixed rules and regulations, or to determine in advance the degrees to which it may proceed. "We can deal with in- dividual instances of its violation after the fact and in the light of these principles, with the further condition that judgment shall first be given by those most immediately concerned in the preservation of freedom, the colleagues of the offender. This power is intimately associated with the others which have already been conferred upon facul- ties. It seems to be the direction of logical development, and once inserted in the regulations of the controlling boards and kept alive it should go far toward securing ac- curate judgments and furnishing the time necessary for deliberate conclusions. THE PLACE OF THE UNIVERSITY IN TRAINING FOR CITIZENSHIP roscoe; pound, ph.d., i.i,.d. Dean of the Law School, Harvard University That any man potentially can be or do anything and that the way to learn to be or do it is practical apprentice- ship was a traditional Anglo-American idea. We were wont to think little of theoretical training for practical activities. Fifty years ago the lawyer came to the bar by way of a lawyer's office; the medical student read in a physician's office; the teacher simply went out and taught; the would-be engineer served an apprenticeship to engi- neers ; the future editor began to learn his calling as a re- porter; the future business man began as an office boy and the future manufacturer as a hewer of wood and drawer of water in the mill. Then, certainly, men would have said that the best training for citizenship was experience of the exercise of its functions and that universal suffrage and annual elections were sufficient for that purpose. To-day we have come to think otherwise. The majority of the legal profession come from law schools of some sort or other; all physicians must have been trained in a stand- ard medical school; druggists come from schools of pharmacy; teachers must have attended normal schools or teachers ' colleges ; engineers graduate from schools of engineering, and the success of schools of journalism and schools of business administration in attracting large numbers of students indicates that a wide extension of academic vocational instruction is before us. In large part this change in our ideas of professional training has been called for by the conditions of twentieth-century life 104 EDUCATIOX.\L SESSION and is eminently desirable. But there are elements in our life that make for exaggeration of its applications. When any new interest becomes important in poli- tics, the feeling arises at once that it must have a rep- resentative in the cabinet, the outward sign that it has achieved a place in the political sun. When anything which is conceivably teachable becomes important in the eyes of a considerable part of the community for the time being, a place must be found for it in the academic curric- ulum; the course, or better still the chair, testifies to authoritative recognition of its importance. In part this faith in courses and curricula grows out of the desire of the individual citizen to see the work of his hands in pub- lic institutions, which is a by-product of democracy. If he or his forbears come of some stock which poured immi- grants into America in the latter part of the nineteenth century, a chair of his ancestral tongue in the state uni- versity at the instance of a society of which he was a pro- moter is a tangible evidence of the citizen's public spirit and political power. In such cases the relation of the chair to the general work of education or to general cul- ture is quite immaterial, and if Greek or Sanskirt has to walk the plank, there are no organizations of citizens whose pride will be in any wise affected. In part, again, this faith is a phase of the Anglo-American belief in machinery of which Matthew Arnold had so much to tell us. The mere mechanism of courses and lectures is relied on as confidently as is the mechanism of laws and consti- tutions. In part, also, this faith in courses and curricula goes with that mode of thinking about teaching against which Socrates protested. It looks upon the student mind as an empty vessel requiring to be filled with ready-made materials from without; as a blank sheet upon which the teacher is to write something wholly outside of the stu- dent, whose function is purely receptive or passive. Such belief is strong in the business man of to-day, as it was EDUCATIONAL READJUSTMENTS 105 strong ill the everyday Athenian citizen of Socrates' time. And as men of business are the dominant force for the time being in our social and national life, we look to them for our ideas on many things besides business, on the same principle of homage to material power or suc- cess on which the ancients deified their rulers. Hence, in spite of ourselves, we of the universities seem to be ac- quiescing in the business man's idea, sound enough, if you grant his premises, that whatever appears to be need- ed in society for the time being must be taught, and, if taught, should of course be taught on the business prin- ciple of securing the best external matter to fill the cranial void or the best writing upon the mental blank sheet at the lowest cost. Naturally also the business man wants a guarantee of the quality. The external matter must be inspected, must come from a good known com- mercial source, and the pedagogue who inserts it must have the proper Ph.D. label or its equivalent from a respectable purveyor of educational materials. If, because the activities of qualified Americans of all sorts have created a consciousness of kind in some Anglo-Americans, who hope to see our educational sys- tem turn our whole population into pinchbeck English- men, or because the duties and obligations of citizenship have been much in our eyes of late, or because the busi- ness men of the country feel that the stability of our economic institutions demands that a new and improved and better guaranteed external educational material be inserted in the cranial vacant spaces of the rising genera- tion, — if for such reasons or any of them it is thought that we must have schools of citizenship or courses in citizen- ship or formal education in citizenship, and the question is, where is the university to stand in the formal hier- archy of courses in the subject, then, I say, the university is best advised to let the thing alone. It has been pushed 106 EDUCATIONAL SESSION into doing too much of this sort already. Indeed those who picture training for citizenship of this sort, if they suc- ceed in realizing their picture, have a painful disillusion- ment in prospect. For the popular belief in the efficacy of courses and of formal instruction has brought about an unhappy attitude on the part of the student. He is ex- amined in the course by the instructor who gave it, and hence is examined in the content of the course. Accord- ingly he reasons thus : I am not bound to know anything of the subject of the course that was not in its content as given; I am not bound to know anything about any- thing unless I have had a course in it to fill my cranial void with the material upon that subject, nor may I reasonably be expected to do anj^thing unless I have been taught to do it in a formal course. On the other hand, the public reasons thus : He has had a course in this or that, therefore he knows it ; he may be relied upon as fully com- petent in this or that field because he has formal training therein and his mental blank sheet has been competently filled out with the requisite facts and figures. A genera- tion of students formally educated in citizenship and turned out with the idea that they were bound to know or to think nothing with respect to the duties of a civilized man in a civilized society beyond the content of the formal course in which they were examined — a gene- ration turned out thus to live with a public relying upon them as fully competent to the obligations of citizenship because they held diplomas as bachelors of political science in citizenship, would achieve more for the undo- ing of academic education than a host of barbarian in- vaders. On the other hand, if when we speak of training for citizenship we mean that every man finds himself living with his felloAvmen in a condition of social interdepen- dence in civilized and politically organized society, and EDUCATIONAL READJUSTMENTS 107 that the bringing up of men to live in that condition so as to make the most of its possibilities both for him and for them is a social service of the first order in which a university as an important social institution may take an important part, — if this is meant, then there is another story. For nothing is less adapted to such training than to raise up the youth to rely wholly upon formal courses ; to create in them the belief, conscious or subconscious, that pursuit of such a course of itself may give mastery of any subject or a belief that no one is to be held or may be assumed to know a subject or about a subject unless he has pursued such a course, and that when he has pursued one, he may keep within the limits thereof with a con- sciousness that his head has been properly filled with the all-sufficing materials. Looking at the matter in this way, we must ask our- selves at the outset what we mean by citizenship in the present connection. In a university we are thinking of more than the moment; we are dealing with universals and are endeavoring to look at things sub specie aeterni- tatis. Yet it is often helpful to put our thoughts in terms of the moment, and as a helpful suggestion, not as a dog- matic statement or as the one true conception, I ask you for a moment to interpret our question in terms of engin- eering. Let us for the moment think of the state, not legally as a relation created by a social compact, nor metaphysically as the personified general will, nor bio- logically as a huge super-organism, but functionally as the chiefest of human agencies by which human society achieves its tasks of social engineering — its tasks of con- serving the goods of existence and the values of civiliza- tion, of eliminating waste and friction in human enjoy- ment of them, and in adjusting conflicting human claims so as to bring about the widest possible satisfaction with the least friction and the least waste. The state is by no 108 EDUCATIONAL SESSION means the sole of these agencies. Eeligious organizations, fraternal organizations, professional and vocational organizations, social and benevolent organizations and even business organizations do a large part. The state is only the chiefest and most enduring and most efficacious of these agencies of social engineering. In that sense we might think of it, not as a relation created by contract, but as a great public service company, in which we are all stockholders and of which we are all patrons, — a pub- lic service company bomid from the nature of its under- taking to furnish a reasonable service to all alike at reasonable rates and without discrimination and to pro- vide reasonable incidental service and facilities. Such a picture is useful because if we are to think of citizenship under the aspect of eternity, we may think of nothing less than the individual with reference to the end of social engineering as distinct from the relation of the individual to the means of such engineering in the time or place. More than once it has happened that some agency of social engineering, doing, it may be, excellent work with- in its sphere, has assumed to identify itself with the end and to think if itself as involving the whole. Organized religion long made this claim. Organized political society has made it more than once. Some of us may think that some private associations recently showed signs of as- serting a like claim. If we look to the end, what we must have in mind is a civilized man in a civilized society, charged with the duty of maintaining, developing and transmitting civilization. To a great extent, no doubt, this duty will be exercised through political activity in politically organized society. But organized political activity is but a means and is no more the whole of civili- zation than organized religious activity or organized business activity or organized labor. By citizenship, then, we must mean something wider EDUCATIONAL READJUSTMENTS 109 and deeper than effective participation in political activ- ity in politically organized society. Our use of the term dates from the time when political organizations had waged a hard contest with religious organization for the hegemony in social control and had come to be thought of as succeeding to the paramount and universal claims of the medieval church. But even then we meant more and the political interpretation implied in our common speech must be taken as an interpretation of society and of civili- zation and not as committing us to an absolute identifica- tion of these with the political machinery for the time being. Hence our citizen must be something more than a docile, orderly person, who scrupulously keeps the laws, does not evade jury service, studies the sample ballots and votes intelligently on election day, pays his taxes and reads the best current expositions of public affairs. Such persons are valuable members of a political community, but our Savior made some harsh observations as to their ultimate usefulness, if they but pay tithes of mint, anise and cummin and neglect the weightier matters of a law that does not come from the state. In a stabilized eco- nomic society this purely political conception of the citi- zen is likely to imply the ideal of the Greek writers upon politics,— a state where every one was to be held per- manently and quietly in the groove for which he was best fitted, doing there the work he could best do, the best that he could do it,— or else a political pharisaism that leads equally to social and cultural decay. If we are to think of citizenship with reference to its ends, we must take a brief survey of social ideals. What, then, is the end of the social engineering of which the state is the chief est agency? One end, which men have always seen, is to maintain peace and order, postulates of the most elementary economic or political or cultural ad- vancement. Primitive man may give this a religious turn. 110 EDUCATIONAL SESSION He may think of the end as keeping the community in the good graces of the gods, by casting out the impious who offend the gods, to the end that society be not shaken by natural disturbances, the result of divine wrath. In a later development of thought, men have conceived of the end as the maintainance of an ideal form of the social status quo whereby men might make of it the best of which it is capable. Such was the Greek conception. From the Eeformation to the nineteenth centuiy, men came more and more to hold that the end was to bring about a maximum of individual self assertion. To-day, as the role played by the idea of abstract liberty in the political philosophy of the nineteenth century is being taken by the idea of civilization in some of the many rising forms of social philosophy, it is coming to be thought of as a making the most of human nature and of external nature by our joint and several effort in order that humanity in our generation may achieve the best of which it is capable and transmit that best as something upon which the future may build something yet better. There is truth in each of these conceptions. Ordered effort is a presupposition of civilization. To eliminate friction and prevent waste in human use and enjoyment of the goods of existence, we must first of all uphold the general security. This is a chief function of law, and law is the chief reliance of the state. Again there may be a fatal waste of social resources if the energies of the mass of mankind are misdirected, if large numbers of men are out of the place for which their physique or character or aptitudes or training best fit them. It has been said that *' human civilization is only conceivable if there is a sys- tem among mankind that assigns each man his post and sets him his task and takes care that existing values are protected and the creation of new ones is furthered." Likewise the Scripture tells us: ''And thou shalt teach EDUCATIONAL READJUSTMENTS HI them ordinances and laws and shalt show them the way in which they must walk and the work that they must do." Such a system may be customary or forcible or religious or political or economic or composite. We must COT .cede to the Greek thinkers that there is always some such system which eventually and on the whole puts men in the place where there will be the least friction and the least waste. I need not spend words in arguing for the truth in the third conception. We were all trained to believe in it and even those who have progressed to a wider view mus^ concede that individual spontaneous initiative and free self-assertion is the great agency of economic and political and cultural progress. There has been a tendency toward an economic version of the fourth conception, a tendency to interpret it strict- ly in terms of a maximum satisfaction of human wants. But much depends upon emphasis in such an interpreta- tion; upon whether and how far we thinl of actual wants or potential wants, of immediate wants or ultimate wants, of what men do consciously want or what they ought to want. In a university I need not argue for the moral aspect of this matter; I need not argue that our thinking must involve selection from among these wants, valuing of wants, and choice of the best, of the highest, — of those which we find tend to carry forward human powers and human control of nature to the most and best of which they are capable. Such being our view of the nature and ends of citizenship, what may the university do towards realiz- ing the ideal of citizenship, and furthering its ends? If we think of society in terms of the first conception only, as identified with the legal order, undoubtedly the univer- sity may train the youth in critical, systematic thinking, so that he will see for himself the fundamental role of order. Through study of history, of economics and of 112 EDUCATIOX.^L SESSION politics, it may convince him of the paramount impor- tance of the general security in civilized society. If we think of society in terms of the second conception, a uni- versity may ascertain and develop the aptitudes of those who are fitted for the higher intellectual work of society, may enable them, through study of recorded human ex- perience, to convince themselves of the necessity of syste- matic and intelligent ordering of human activities if there is to be human civilization, and to convince them- selves of the relation of civilization so ordered to the in- terests of the individual. It may lead them to seek an ideal of the social order and to seek intelligently how to direct the existing order toward that ideal with the least friction and the least waste. If we think of society in terms of the third conception, the university may train the individuals who are able to take advantage of its opportunities so that they may realize the whole of the powers which nature has given them and utilize them to the utmost. Such was the American academic ideal of the last half of the nineteenth century-. Its watchword was opportunity. It expected the student to begin the struggle for existence through competitive self-assertion already in the university. It offered him the widest possible program of electives. It said to him,* 'If it pleases you to do so, come and select from these manifold oppor- tunities in your own way and at your own risk, make the most or the least of them as you choose (provided your least is not subversive of academic discipline so as to in- terfere with the like opportunities of others) and thus prepare yourself to do your part in the struggle of con- flicting wills in a world where the end of society is the utmost possible self-assertion by each consistently with seK-assertion by all. ' ' We must not forget that in the relatively homogene- ous community of the time, still actually or in immediate EDUCATIONAL READJUSTMENTS 113 reminiscence predominently agricultural and pioneer, such a system involved a real training for citizenship. In spite of its obvious unsocial features, as things were then it made most of those who really felt its influence socially useful, since the restless activity of the individual is a prime agency of progress, and at that time the manifold outlets for such activity minimized friction and waste. Such a time could wtU be a golden age of complacent liberalism. Not unnaturally we are less satisfied with that ideal and the system that sought to realize it, when ap- plied to the crowded urban, industrial, heterogeneous America of to-day, than when applied in the America of vast unoccupied public domain, unexploited natural re- sources, agricultural interests and pioneer ideas, which obtained in the seventies and eighties of the last century. If we think of society in terms of the fourth concep- tion, that conception includes much of each of the others, and the social possibilities of the university are still in greats part the same. All that has just been suggested may be done and much beside. The university may still lead the student to convince himself of the fundamental importance of social order. It may still help him to find his aptitudes, help him find how to use them, and convince him of the waste involved in futile attempts to be useful in the wrong walk of life and the social injury which such waste involves. It may still develop his self reliance and give him opportunities to make the most of his natural powers of self assertion that he may, while convincing him of the social and individual interest in his doing so intel- ligently and discouraging vain and misdirected kicking against the pricks. But to-day all this, much as it is, must leave us unsatisfied. Do we need the vast endowments, the great material equipment, the swarming personnel of the modern American university simply to do these things for organized society? As the culmination of the educa- 114 EDUCATIONAL SESSION tional system, the university is for the highest things. And thinking simply from the standpoint of training for citizenship, are the highest possibilities of men in society to be brought out by these things alone ? Let us pause for a moment to relate our question to the general functions of the university. The sophists, who are the ultimate ancestors of university teaching, aimed to prepare young men for the professions and pursuits of active life, to prepare them to be orators or politicians or advocates or teachers. In like manner the medieval uni- versity had an immediately practical aim. Men went there to study law or theology or philosophy or medicine as to purely professional schools. So the first in time of Ameri- can universities was founded with the avowed purpose of training an educated ministry for the churches. With the revival of learning and the rise of the humanists, a new idea came in. For a season men were busied in recovering the materials of ancient civilization and building them in- to the civilization of to-day. As these wonderful products of Greek genius and Roman political and legal experiences burst upon men's consciousness and shook the bonds of authority, for a time there was the highest faith in the all- sufficiency of the humanities and the supposedly boundless possibilities of reason. Study of the humanities and form- al training of the reasoning powers seemed to promise everything for mankind. Thus the purely cultural side of university education became established, and it may well be that this type of education did the whole part of the university in training for citizenship both wisely and well in its generation. In time, however, with changes in society there began a steady revival of the vocational idea. More and more it has been pressing the humanities to the side or treating them as prevocational only. And yet nothing less than life itself in a civilized community of civilized men is the real vocation for which the university must EDUCATIONAL READJUSTMENTS 115 train. Getting a living is a small matter in comparison with living after one has gotten it. Hence if the univer- sities have swung back for a time to the vocational idea, their function is still what it was in prior periods of the vocational conception — to train socially useful members of society, useful generally as men and specifically as pro- fessional men through their practice of their profession or calling. No doubt you will say the university has more to do than this, and I will grant it. But the further aspects of the university are not relevant to the present discus- sion. My proposition is that even in the avowedly voca- tional, which has come to be so large a part of university work, the aim of the university is ultimately what it was under the exclusive reign of the humanities, what it has been from tne beginning of universities, — ''by its insist- ence on the development of the legitimate faculties of man, a development secured by concentration on things that are in themselves pure and true, it draws men to the boundaries of human power." If this view is sound, the university has always a chief place in the highest and best training for citizenship. The perennial debates as to its function have in reality been debates over method, as best serving the needs of this or that time and place. And it is significant that it has never been found necessary or expedient to make teaching of citizenship as such directly a formal end. Nowhere is it more true than in teaching that the letter killeth and the spirit giveth life. Consider for a moment what formal dogmatic teaching of citizenship is likely to be. ' ' One of the strongest factors of social stability, ' ' says Karl Pear- son, *'is the inertness, nay rather the active hostility with which human societies receive all new ideas. ' ' We need only recall how the chosen people persecuted the proph- ets, how the Athenian demos banished or executed philos- ophers, how the church excommunicated scientists or 116 EDUCATIONAL SESSION forced them to recant epoch-making discoveries, how in the memory of many here present American colleges drove believers in the evolutionary theory of Darwin from their chairs. It is not easy to reconcile the social interest in the general security and in the security of social institutions with the social interest in general progress; and all official dogmatic purveying of orthodoxy is sure to develop the one at the expense of the other. To the class possessing wealth and power, order is the sum of social interest. A dogmatic instruction in citizenship conceived in that spirit is certain to do injury to social order by the reaction it will produce; a dogmatic instruction in citizenship that shall impart absolute knowledge of the expedient compro- mise, the just balance, between the general security and general progress seems to me an impossibility. This is not the first era of rudely shaken stability wherein men have sought to hold fast the status quo by legislation and official instruction. Under the eastern Roman empire the lawmakers believed that the Roman power could not decline if each order and profession of its citizens was fixed irrevocably in the sphere of its particu- lar duties. The wisest men of the time considered freedom of opinion '*a species of anarchy incompatible with re- ligious feeling, moral duty and good government.'^ Speculation as to political rights was held incompatible with the social order. But the measure taken to maintain mankind **in a state of stationary prosperity" depopulat- ed and impoverished the empire and withered the energies of society, while the relatively free philosophical specula- tion of western Europe, which laid the foundations of modem science, went along with a continually increasing material development. Again after the Peloponnesian war, the destruction of wealth, social disorder and politi- cal unrest so impressed Greek philosophers that Plato put as an ideal state one in which the lawgiver was to be the EDUCATIONAL READJUSTMENTS 117 judge for all the citizens, in which they were to hear noth- ing of which his censors did not approve, and if, neverthe- less, dissenters did arise they were to be visited with stringent penalties. Such thinking belongs to the de- cadence of Athens. The attempts to fix an orthodox type of citizen by unchangeable authority proved only that closed minds are the most credulous and so far from mak- ing for stability will go further on impulse and be swayed more easily by plausible impracticality than the open mind left free to prove all things and hold fast to that which is right. Indeed, recent events in Russia testify to the same effect. Nothing could be more fatal than that those who for the time being control the political or the economic organization of society should be able to use the universities in an attempt to manufacture the sort of citizens which suits their interest, real or supposed, to promote. The way for the university to deal with the problem of qualified Americanism is not by strictly super- vised injection of a carefully prepared serum into the stu- dent brain, but by so guiding the mental and moral self- development of the rising generation as to lead them to higher ideals of individual self assertion, to better and broader views of the ends of political activity and to a wider conception of the possibilities of life in American society. It is not the function of education to make us all of one mold that we may be citizens in the Byzantine sense. Variety is a wholesome feature of social life, as, indeed, it is the characteristic of all life. Unity is to be found in the ends of social life, not in the life itself. From the men's house of the primitive tribe, the task of teaching has been to conserve, to further, to transmit civilization. In the complex social organization of the modern world this task has many sides and is carried on by many agencies. To the university is committed to con- serve, to further, and to transmit the highest things. And 118 EDUCATIONAL SESSION so the function of the university on the side of training for citizenship is one of bringing out of men all that makes for the highest civilization and leading them to conscious and continued exertion that humanity in their time may achieve the best of which it is then capable. From its walls should go forth prophets and statesmen, poets and engineers, men of broad refined culture and men of strict devotion to a narrow speciality, dreamers and workers, thinkers and men of achievement. All are needed to make up a living, growing, civilized society in the world of to- day. All may be good citizens and the aggregate may be the highest type of citizenship if in the university they were led to see clearly, to think critically, to hold their minds open and form tolerant judgments of their fellows, to resist unreason and abhor wilfulness, to look with dis- crimination upon the fashionable project of the moment, to remain unmoved by crazes and panics and hysterias, judging them by a matured sense of values and apprais- ing their phenomena at their permanent worth. THE UNIVERSITY AND INTERNATIONAIi RE- LATIONSHIPS SIR ROBERT A. FAWONER, LI^.D., D.LITT., C.M.G. President of the University of Toronto Recently the Educational Supplement to the London Times advocated *'a League of Universities as the best means of creating that mutual knowledge and re- spect which is a condition precedent to a working League of Nations." The writer supports his advocacy by re- calling the fact that *'in the days of Innocent III, when the idea of a unified Europe was regarded as something more than a potentiality of civilization, a single system of education dominated by what was virtually a league of universities was one of the main forces of unity." Before the war there was a real intercourse between the universities and the learned and scientific societies of the world, which found formal expression in the brilliant international gatherings that met frequently to celebrate some important anniversary in the history of the univer- sity — as for example at Edinburgh, Bologna, Berlin, Cambridge, Leipzig, and, immediately before the out- break of the War, at Groningen. Though this last func- tion was graced by the Royal presence, probably the most memorable incident was the rising in a body of the professors of the German universities clad in their rich official costume, both impressive and confident, but with- in a month overthrown from their intellectual eminence among the universities of Christendom. In that day of the world's need, when civilization was straining and creaking, their prejudiced nationalism was a disruptive force that rent in twain the common- 120 EDUCATIOX.U SESSION wealth of learning and science. But internationalism will survive, and the universities themselves will be powerful factors in its permanence. The war has, how- ever, been an irrevocable disaster. Like a flood it has overlaid our civilization with debris and destroj^ed our finely cultivated garden. To change the figure, an inter- national bridge has collapsed and the people stand looking both angrily and helplessly at one another across the chasm. Even the conquering allies, sub- ject to reaction from the strain and contemplating each their own irreparable losses, are for the time subject to fits of jealousy. Instead of victory promoting inter- nationalism, it sometimes appears likely to result in narrower and more selfish nationalism. As a writer recently said: ''The worst consequences of war may be revealed only after the treaty of peace is signed. The stakes played for are no longer territory, indemnities, dynasts, thrones, and titles. States going to war gamble not only with the existence of governments, but with the happiness of every citizen living, and, it may be, of many yet unborn. . . A few months may suffice to reduce to dire distress, perhaps in some places to anarchy, a high- ly civilized community, and years may elapse before the old normal life returns. Fully restored it cannot be, for . . whoever be victor, a social and economical revolution most invariably follow." {Times, Literary Supplement, July 16, 1920, Review of ''A History of the Peace Con- ference of Paris.") But the universities are surely among the first to see clearly through the confusion and to believe that the ideals of the past century have not all I^erished. We will continue to hold that it is possible to stimulate a finer sense for moral orderliness in the world. But we will begin by emphasising the need of a healthier nationalism.. That we are competent to pro- duce this result is proved by the magnificient showing EDUCATIONAL READJUSTMENTS 121 of the universities during the war. Where was a nobler idealism to be found ? Has there ever been such a vindi- cation of the quality of our higher education? This re- sult was the outcome of quiet work through generations invisibly moulded by the spirit of our universities. It was not a matter of mere heredity. The human mind is malleable and is being shaped by the pressure of our in- stitutions as well as by the blows of passion. Under the tense emotion of war-time nationalism is overdone. In such days genuine patriotism is difficult to appraise. In peace-time the patriot may criticise his national insti- tutions and political leaders; in war he must often be silent, for his country is much greater than the policy of the moment, and than the average opinions of the man on the street car or in the smoking-car. The patriot knows the idealism that is in the heart of his people and he does not despair of the commonwealth. He knows the worth of his inheritance, and being possessed of genuine love for his people he will not readily do them injury even if he believes that they are at fault; he sees the deepest thing] in them and hopes that the best will prevail. Of course it is easier for some men than others to pass over the faults of their people. Eeformers are more critical than conservatives. But there is nobility in the old Tory who is so slow to believe that his country can be wrong, or that what is can be easily improved. He may often be a barrier to progress; but at his best he stands erect, even with bloody head unbowed under the blows of circumstance. He possesses an unwavering dignity due to conviction that the people of his affection will weather the storm — that of the gravis homo whom popular clamour cannot daunt. Pasteur after 1870 was such an one. Of course his loyalty to science was un- questioned, and that might be supposed to have inclined him to internationalism, but equally deep was his fervid 122 EDUCATIOX.\L SESSION love for his own people with whom he bore suffering, not only in silent resignation, but in open protest against the Germans for their wrongdoing, and in order to make it manifest he returned their decorations and afterwards would hardly accept them as co-workers in science. Probably he was aware that France was not guiltless, but those whose government wounded so relentlessly his own well loved country he deemed unworthy to be called his colleagues. A man must share with his people either as a wrong-doer or a sufferer. Nationalism is based on emotions which go deeper than the intellectual convic- tions which are the common possession of all men of science to whatever country they belong. It is the con- comitant of a culture which is part of us, and is far more than any policies of state which in the interests of trade or the selfish purpose of narrower circles or classes may get us into trouble with other nations. Nationalism is expressive of the people themselves, of their hopes and passions, their health, their education, their justice, their religion. It is therefore immensely important that the people shall be educated into a worthy culture. Only upon this foundation can the universities rear their superstructure of an intelligent internationalism. How far is education only national, and how far in its lower strata, as for example the common school, can it be made to have broad sympathies which prepare for a reasonable inter- nationalism! As we know, even the advance of good physical conditions and mere instruction in the rudi- ments will not do more than create a measure of efficiency such as is needed for the affairs of everyday life. But the character of children is moulded for a proper patriotism through the teacher, the quality of the books they read, what they are taught about the doings of their own people, and the mutual education through EDUCATIONAL READJUSTMENTS 123 their playmates who bring into the school atmosphere the ideas and the ethos of the community. This stage is not reflective but absorptive, yet it is then that the great proportion of the people get their minds permanently set. The school, therefore, should inject ideas which will serve as anti-toxins to counteract the incipient disease of swagger which in the acute stage creates a bellicose temper. Children are too young to understand inter- nationalism, but they are not too young to have those virtues instilled into them which will make the world a happier place. These are fortunately the very virtues which will make their own home happier. It is not the simple minded patriots like the Lincolns, the Words- worths, the Pasteurs, displaying as they do human virtues in the national garb, emotion, or speech, who cause trouble among the nations, but it is on a great scale the Bismarcks, or on a lesser scale the narrow political partizans of every nation, who set the world by the ears through their blustering and selfish policies. The universities, receiving from the common schools youth who are imbued with nationalism, are no less patriotic centres, but we hope are broader in their spirit. What Kipling said recently of Edinburgh is more or less true in a different application of all universities: ''Your university represents sacredly and intimately the natural expression of the genius and sacrifice, the spirit and devotion of your race. But have you ever consider- ed that these great buildings of yours, seen from the South, loom up as one of a great chain of well-devised border fortresses and keeps of learning, which, genera- tion after generation, have trained and equipped the Scot for his conquest of the world in almost every detail of the world's development and administration?" (Weekly Times, July 16, 1920.) Throughout their history, however, universities 124 EDUCATIONAL SESSION have been also centres of internationalism. Paris was for centuries the intellectual centre to which the civilized world sent its most promising students. The hopes of humanism and science, sad to say so little realised, were high that a new day was da^\^ling in which dynastic and national animosities ending in war would no longer con- tinue to blight the finest flower of the human spirit, but its healing rays would bring to fruitage a harvest of virtues and culture on a field tilled in each portion by the friendly rivalry of nations engaged in the common wel- fare of mankind. Roger Bacon, Vesalius, Descartes, Locke, Newton did not jealously guard their treasure for any one people, but poured their best into the common stock of civilization. Professors were called from their own nation to hold places in other lands, as for example, Buchanan, the great Scotch humanist to the University of Bordeaux, and Erasmus to Oxford. Students went from one seat of learning to another to get the best, such as the metropolitan schools of Bologna and Paris, though in Paris they divided themselves into ''nations," and so kept alive a measure of patriotic feeling. There- fore it is in accordance with their history and nature for the modern universities to be centres for the development of internationalism crowning a pure patriotic spirit. There are several ways in which they may promote internationalism. 1. As in the middle ages, there is and will continue to be a large interchange of students among the univer- sities of the world. The best graduates of American uni- versities have made it a practice for many years to com- plete their preparation by study abroad. Indeed, the movement to Germany had grown to such large propor- tions in the eighties and nineties that Berlin, Leipzig, Gottingen, Vienna — in fact almost every university, large or small, had its quota of Americans — and the fear was EDUCATIONAL READJUSTMENTS 125 often expressed that there was danger of your learning and science taking on too exclusively the tone, emphasis and method of the Teutons and checking native origi- nality. And what happy memories linger about those far- off days, the like of which our sons hardly see. We recall the quaint classroom into which enters with a sweeping bow and wide brimmed hat a bespectacled professor of European fame; his intense manner and massive learn- ing; the unconsciously humorous earnestness with which he demolishes his colleagues' fanciful structures; the oc- casional dinner at which he became human in his do- mestic simplicity; the student festivities; the summer walks among the hills from which we got glimpses of medieval buildings nestling on the hill-side or in the valley; the longer tramps through Thiiringia, the Harz or the Black Forest — a happy old world which vanished like a dream through the real and horrid smoke of war. Delusion, the child of a false public education, was then only beginning to hover upon the rulers of the Prussian capital, and Germany had not yet become the victim of Huhris. The debt of American universities to Germany has been enormous, but it is a strange and noteworthy fact that when the war broke out the great majority of Ameri- cans who had studied in Germany were quick to discern the real issues that were at stake, and were not blinded by indiscriminate admiration for all things German. They had learned much and well, but they had not for- gotten the ideals of their own people. Probably on their first visit to Europe they had realized as never before their own home prejudices, the provincialism of some of their customs, and grew severe on the lack of thorough- ness and the undeveloped culture of thir own training; but also at that distance, and undisturbed by the passion of the moment, they could by comparison with other 126 EDUCATIONAL SESSION peoples estimate the real worth of their home life. They were thrown in with a narrow and intense nationalism, which was being fostered by political and educational methods of which they could not approve, and as a result they experienced at times among professors and students an arrogance akin to contempt for the intellectual pro- duct of the New World. As to scientific method, devo- tion to learning, and respect for things of the mind, they found what aroused their admiration, but they also dis- covered that in the hard school of experience America had acquired gifts — political and social — which she could contribute to civilization, and as to which Germany was still at a stage of immaturity. Your migrations will continue, but your students will go in greater numbers to other countries and draw from their stores. The idea must not be allowed to spread that because Europe has been desolated through the war, all its culture has been wiped out, and that the world of this continent, and it may be the Orient, have all the future in their keeping. Vast and destructive changes there have been, but the peculiar endowments of the Latin and Teutonic minds will still contribute in their own home centres to the common civilization of the world. I hope that now, in spite of present irritation, a new con- nection has been made between the universities of the United States and of Great Britain. You have more to learn from one another than you allowed in the past, and than either can get from any other country. We Canadians and others of British stock have long drawn from that source, and as you may suppose we have returned to our homes with a warm admiration for the balance, the reasonableness, the ethical reserve of Britain, its dignity and traditions, in a word its character rather than the brillance of its intellect. Surely you also will in years to come discover, even if your heart does not put you so EDUCATIONAL READJUSTMENTS 127 keenly on the scent as ours, that Britain is the primary source of many of those virtues of English-speaking cul- ture that we all possess in common. May I not here refer to the splendid purpose of Cecil Ehodes in leaving such a princely endowment to promote a true international spirit! Through his own experience he had acquired a deep trust in the power of the Univer- sity of Oxford to mould students through social life and common interests into mutual appreciation of and respect for one another's principles. So he conceived the plan of uniting the world by bringing together in Oxford picked youths from the British Empire, the United States, and Germany. He believed that the world needs educated leaders. If they are intelligent and right-minded, the people will follow them. He was not thinking of men who would fill academic chairs, but of those who would undertake some more public service, and he hoped that if these men had a friendly understanding of one another, they would do much to remove the suspicions that breed wars. It was a magnificant vision, and though part of it has been ruined by our recent disaster, is not his idealism doing much to create a clearer atmosphere for the edu- cated leaders of the democracies that are to be? But of course this benefaction is only a small contribution to the total effect of the universities upon international feeling. We have heard a great deal about the unfavourable reports which the American soldiers have brought back with them from France and from Britain, and it has been taken as an indication of the difficulty of maintaining good relations with peoples of different origin and history. But the soldier is not placed in the circum- stances to see the best side of people, and he is as a rule not much of an internationalist, especially when in arms. The student, on the other hand, living abroad in peace- 128 EDUCATIONAL SESSION time, sees the finer qualities of the national life. He is in constant touch with those who cherish the purest ideals of their counry and is not much disturbed by an aggres- sive or complacent patriotism. This is a very important fact to remember and to make the most of, for if those at f.he top can be kept well disposed to one another, they will by constant suggestion soon get the mass of the people into the current towards which they are slowly towing them. The imiversities of the United States are rapidly be- coming centres of attraction for students of other nations. For a generation you have shown hostility to our Cana- dians, and if there were time it would be interesting to consider what effect these graduates, who have either returned home or have remained in the United States, have had upon the relations between the two countries. South America is turning to you, though for years to come Paris will doubtless continue to share with you in the drawing power; and you realize better than I do what enonnous influence American institutions and society have exercised upon China through the thousands of stu- dents who have taken their graduate studies in your col- leges. Just as your students tested German life and character so these students will weigh the worth of this country, though I hope and believe with infinitely better results. Silent and clear-eyed they look you through and through, and they are sifting the ideas of your de- mocracy to see whether it has a pure seed which they may sow in their own soil. They will not always receive good impressions from the trader, the money-getter or the pro- fessional politician. But in your colleges they certainly meet the choicest of your youth (and surely they are among the elite of the world), and devoted and high- minded teachers who will compel their admiration for the American mind and spirit. Outside there are what EDUCATIONAL READJUSTMENTS 129 Turgot called ''the tumultuous and dangerous passions" of democracy, but within your academic precincts you pursue in quietness whatsoever things are true, whatso- ever things are honourable, whatsoever things are just; and if there be any virtue in the world of men or any praise for the attainments of others, you think on these things. There is, however, a serious problem facing you when you draw increasingly from Europe, Asia and the world at large, especially when there are many of differ- ent races and tongues. Americans in Oxford and English- men in Harvard do not alwaws hit it off, though they speak the same language and inherit so much in common. Often it is simply a case of *'I do not like thee. Dr. Fell, the reason why I cannot tell." But there is a deeper cause of incompatibility in the case of Chinamen, Jap- anese, Indians, South Americans, or the negro from Africa or the West Indes. Ideally you will welcome all these; practically you will find difficulties. I do not an- ticipate that the problem will be acute if those who come are mature men and women who are in search of graduate facilities. Worse antagonisms arise among the younger and less disciplined, when the foundations of character are being laid and the genius of one 's own people is being consciously absorbed into one's individuality. The solu- tion, therefore, is that the several countries should have their national universities for the undergraduate career, and that only the competent and well-equipped of the various races who can form unbiassed and penetrating judgments should be sent abroad for study. Such will always be welcomed, and they will serve as living links to bind the peoples together in mutual understanding and appreciation. 2. A second means of promoting internationalism through the universities is by calling outstanding figures 130 EDUCATIONAL SESSION of one country to hold chairs in another. Already the United States has gained much in breadth of spirit by this hospitality to learning. What distinction has come to Johns Hopkins and Harvard, for instance, through the eminent scholars and scientists from Europe who have served on their staffs, and have been living centres of the unique cultures of their own nations ! But this importa- tion must have limits, for in the very nature of the case the primary function of the universities is national. Their instruction must be mainly in the hands of their own people. No one can understand an American boy or girl like an American or inspire him with an intelligent patriotism, though to avoid narrow provincialism this American teacher, while embodying the best that Ameri- can culture has to give, should have first-hand knowledge of some culture other than his own. I do not take account of the man who has so little pride in his own that when he returns from abroad he hardly remembers how to speak his own native tongue and smuggles in disagreeable social customs from foreign parts. He would be ashamed of Abraham Lincoln. Nor do I take into consideration the conceited provincial who is too ignorant to permit the brilliancy of other cultures to penetrate his circum- ambient prejudices. He sends forth his ideas as a poor golf -player drives a ball against some obstacle, and like it they rebound to his own danger. To be sure, there are hazards in all foreign countries, but the courses do not consist of these, and the lay-out of most cultures must compel the admiration of a generous and intelligent aca- demic sportsman. The competent teacher is neither ignorantly imitative nor conceitedly critical. Knowing and loving the best of his own, he rejoices to discover how abundant are the treasures of culture in other lands, and how earnest and successful has been the efforts of genius EDUCATIONAL READJUSTMENTS 131 among all civilizations to fathom the mystry of human life and nature. 3. A word will suffice for the third way in which the universities will promote internationalism: through their students who enter into public or commercial spheres. More and more in all countries the university is becoming the gateway to high positions in government, industry, and commerce. Secretaries of State are usually college men, the great journalists also, and the financiers and captains of commerce in increasing numbers. This portal will admit larger multitudes in the future, and our education will count for little unless the hall-mark of the university upon them indicates that they have become not only patriotically American but genuinely humane, and possess those intellectual, moral, and social virtues which distinguish man as man, and which are the accompani- ments and the consequences of a broad university train- ing. So in the new day for which we hope, though clouds hang thick over its dawn, we may not without reason ex- pect that the universities will together diffuse a spirit of truth among the educated classes of the world which will make more difficult thei falsehoods and ignorance on which hostilities flourish ; and that if there will not be one commonwealth of learning and science, even as there will not be one Church, for many generations to come, there may at least be realized a league of universities which will be a consentient body working mightily for a civilization truly international, though national in its manifold organs. THE GROWTH OF STATE UNIVERSITIES LOTUS D. COFI'MAN, PH.D. President of the University of Minnesota The crisis which state universities are experiencing at the present time is complicated by three sets of factors : (1) the strangely mixed elements of the past which characterize educational theory and practice, (2) the dis- position of college men in response to new pressures to differentiate the materials of instruction ad infinitum^ and, (3) the enormous increase in the number of students. It is not my purpose to discuss either of the first two factors to-day, although they are deserving of and must receive serious consideration in the comparatively near future. State universities have grown so rapidly that they are now approaching the breaking point. A solution, no matter how tentative, requires a man of rare foresight or of reckless temerity. However, we cannot wait for time to offer a solution. "We must read the signs and study the situation as best we can and then act. This is a case Avhere they do not serve who stand and wait. Whatever solution is offered must in its final analysis be based upon a clear recognition of certain fundamental principles, viz. : 1. A state university is a part of the public system of the state and as such must preserve the democratic doctrines of equal opportunity for all. 2. It must recognize the vastness and the complexity of the modern, social, political and industrial world. 3. It must insist that the secondary school period is the time and the place for the testing of abilities, the revealing of capacities and tastes, the period of self-discovery. 4. It must preserve the worthy traditions of scholarship and the spirit of inquiry and research and of trained leadership. ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS 133 Without attempting to elaborate these principles, but keeping them in mind, we may proceed with a discus- sion of the situation as it exists. State universities literally have more students than they can accommodate. The flux of delayed registrants since the war hastened the congestion somewhat, but it was coming anyway. Had conditions remained normal, the total number of students any state university would have had would have closely approximated the number it has this year. Two sets of forces have contributed to this growth — the one external and the other internal. The external forces are the increase in the total population of the various states, increase in wealth and prosperity generally, appreciation of the value of special training, and the growth of the secondary schools. The internal forces are improvement in teaching technique, multiplication of courses, and the establish- ment of new departments and schools or colleges. The most important of these forces is the relation high school growth bears to university growth. The most significant single feature of public education in the last generation has been the growth of the public high school. The greatest achievement of the last century — one un- paralleled anywhere else in all the world is the retention in school of four children in ten to fifteen and two in ten to eighteen years of age. Comparing the secondary schools of foreign countries with the four year period ac- cepted as the standard in this country, the United States actually had, before the war, more children enrolled in secondary schools than all the rest of the civilized world combined. Both the number of high schools and the number of children in high school are increasing rapidly every year, and seem likely to continue for years to come at a rate faster than the increase in the general popula- tion. This complicates especially the state university 134 EDUCATIONAL SESSION problem. A recent investigation at the University of Minnesota showed that the percentage of students graduating from high school in any given year and enter- ing the university is gradually decreasing. In 1893 ninety-five percent of the high school graduation class in Minnesota became freshmen in the university; now less than twenty-four percent enter the university. Although the ratio of high school graduates in any given year to the freshmen class in the university is gradually decreas- ing, the actual number of freshmen is increasing. This is easily accounted for; the number of pupils in high school is increasing every year at such a rate as to more than counterbalance the decline in percentage. The number of high schools in Minnesota has in- creased one hundred and thirty-six percent in the last twenty years; the total high school enrollment, nine hundred and eighty-two percent in the last thirty years, and yet the end is not in sight, for only 21.2 percent of the total state population between the ages of fourteen and seventeen inclusive was enrolled in high school in 1915. As careful an estimate as we have been able to make shows that about thirty four percent of the present enter- ing high school classes fail to complete their courses of study. We believe that we are reasonably conservative in prophesying that between twenty and twenty-five per cent of the high school graduating class will enter the university annually hereafter. Now assuming that all of the forces which have resulted in the past development of high schools will continue to exert the same influence in the same relative measure, a forecast would give the state of Minnesota fifteen thousand high school graduates in 1930 and twenty-one thousand in 1940. This would mean an undergraduate registration at the University of approximately thirteen thousand in 1940. If the situation is difficult now, what will it be then? ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS 135 Clearly impossible, unless the appropriations be vastly increased, which means finding new sources of revenue, or unless there is a reorganization of the theory of public school and university administration. More money un- doubtedly can be found and will be found, but there is great danger that the sum available will be wholly in- adequate for the needs of higher education. Even though larger appropriations may be secured for the next several biennial periods, we shall be simply postponing the day when measures of a more radical nature must be consider- ed. We need more money now for salaries, more money for new instructors, more money for buildings, more money for equipment. To increase these needs without introducing drastic internal economies and re-defining the functions of the various units of state education, is to shut our eyes to a problem that is ours and not our successors. Now what are the possible remedies. Several have been suggested. An anonymous writer in the New Re- public facetiously suggests that higher education should be financed by requiring students to pay fees on the basis of the grades they receive. The writer describes a school that was in dire financial distress. Every one was discour- aged and despondent. The faculty met from time to time and engaged in the ''usual academic discussion." But aca- demic discussion does not supply funds to buy coal or to pay the butcher and the grocer. The president held out the hope of better days, but no one could see them. A business expert was employed to study and report upon the problem. He discovered that there are two classes of students, those who go to college for an education, and those who are in college because it is a fashionable and re- spectable place to be. He recommended that all students having a grade of 90 or better should be exempt from 136 EDUCATIONAL SESSION fees; those having grades between 80 and 90 should pay a fee of, say $200 a year; between 70 and 80, $500 a year, and so on down until those who received grades of 20 or below should pay a $20,000 fee. Out of 3,000, he discover- ed that 180 students would have no fees to pay. One of the mythical fathers in sending his twenty thousand dollar check is reported to have written, "It comes high, but I believe it is worth it to be rid of the boy for the year." Something like $15,000,000 in fees were collected in one year from 3,000 students. A veritable college utopia was created. Magnificant buildings at once began to spring up on the campus, the best equipment was purchased, sal- aries were advanced beyond the wildest dreams of the professor, the president could retire to his bed once more and sleep without dreaming of underfed professors and congested classes. Every one was getting what he wanted and paying for what he got. If the college needed more money all it had to do was to lower the grades of a few more students. Another equally novel suggestion is that of paying the teaching staff according to the number of hours they teach. One of our problems is that of getting a greater total of hours of instruction for the total money now available. As a reaction from the deadening overwork of the none too, recent past, the general tendency recently has been to apportion a comparatively light teaching load. The arguments for it are convincing but such strength as they may have lies in the wisdom and dis- crimination that is used in their application to a given situation. In a certain medical school a professor was engaged with the understanding that he could practice outside two hours a day. He recently requested that the university determine the number of hours he should give to it; not the number he should practice. In another case, the head of a department presented a request for ad- ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS 137 ditional assistance. He made the usual arguments — in- crease in students, staff already teaching more than the normal number of hours, department rapidly becoming hopelessly inefficient. But one of his instructors who was teaching fifteen hours stated that he would be willing to teach another class of five hours if he could be paid pro- portionately for the extra instruction. Upon learning this, the head of the department suddenly decided that in the interest of science, the young instructor should be protected and that if any one should take an extra class with extra pay, he himself would do it. One thing is certain: if the staff were paid by the hour, an enormous amount of what the public might call instruction could be secured without any very considerable increase in revenue. Please bear in mind that I am not urging pay according to labor union methods, but if it is more hours of instruction that one wants and nothing else, this sug- gestion is as plausible as any. A more rational plan than either of these would be to limit the actual number of students that the institution would take. But it must be recalled in this connection that a state university is a part of the public school sys- tem of the state and as such it is as truly the creature of the interests and policies of the people as any other unit of the schools of the state. It is inconceivable that the state will deny, through legislative action or the university fiat, a university education to any boy or girl who is prepared to attempt it. Such a denial would be subversive of the interests of a true democracy. It would mean that the doctrine of equality of educational privilege and oppor- tunity had been discarded in the interest of a program of what would have the form and might acquire the char- acter of aristocratic education. Two concrete suggestions have been made, either of which would place a definite limitation upon the number 138 EDUCATIONAL SESSION of registrants. One comes from a western state. It con- templates the granting of as many scholarships as the university can accommodate students to the various coun- ties of the state, each of which shall be charged with the responsibility of selecting, as scholars, as many students as the number of pupils in its high schools bears the total number of high school pupils in the state. The other plan is now being definitely tried at Columbia, and to a degree in a number of other institu- tions. It is that of admitting students on the basis of in- telligence tests, supplemented by certain other data. The plan, it appears, is workable but it would be difficult to convince the average taxpayer or the average legislator of its fairness. It is characteristic of the average parent to think that his son or daughter belongs to the specially talented. And yet, on the other hand, every student of the science of education knows that college students may be as far apart as the poles intellectually, that while in- tellectuality does not determine entrance to college, it does determine achievement. Furthermore, he knows that credits of a non-intellectual character are accepted for graduation by many high schools. This practice is common enough to induce one writer to say that * * any one with sense enough to bathe and dress himself can, with slight encouragement, get into the average state univer- sity." There is just enough truth in this statement to warrant high schools in raising their standards of gradu- ation and universities their standards of entrance. It is clear to every one familiar with university ad- ministration, that practically all grades and degrees of intelligence may be found in any freshman class. It is also clear that the standards of high school graduation have been lowered as the curriculum has been broadened. There is another bad feature of the situation and that is that universities do not break the work of the freshman ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS 139 year to correspond to differences in previous training. Students are not classified on the basis of intelligence or previous training, but on the basis of the convenience of the administration. Some clerk, for example, is required to take the cards of the three thousand entering freshmen, place them in piles of thirty each, without any reference to the previous training, ability or capacity of the stu- dents. It certainly seems absurd to force all students of a foreign language, some of whom have had four years of it, some three, and some almost none, to take exactly the same units of it in the university. And yet, I am told, that is or has been done. It also seems absurd to force all stu- dents who have had four years of high school English, some of whom use English skillfully and accurately and others of whom will never be able to use it at all well, to take exactly the same beginning English in the univer- sity. The University of Montana is doing a progressive and sane thing in breaking away from this unreasonable and archaic form of administrative procedure. It is classifying its entering students on the basis of their ability to use English. The gifted ones carry the subject only one quarter, those a little less gifted, two quarters, and the least gifted, three-quarters. This plan has re- leased instructors for other work, and makes it possible for students to make real educational progress. It is a step in the right direction. It is a clear recognition that attainment and ability must be considered in the classi- fication of students. The situation might still be further ameliorated by the introduction of other types of internal changes. One of these would be to increase the size of the classes. American universities, and particularly state univer- sities, have always stood for mass education. True, they have talked about the development of research and train- 140 EDUCATIONAL SESSION ing for leadership, but they are doing precious little of either. In comparison with Germany and France and a little less so of England, America has made no adequate provision for the training of leaders. With certain ex- ceptions, of course, the great men of Germany and France are in the universities. With due apologies to those pres- ent at this meeting and excepting any one who wishes to be excepted, as much cannot be said for America. Our sys- tem is organized to train students in large groups, and the groups are getting larger. Is that a benefit or a men- ace ? We assume a priori that it is a menace. But recent investigations in the field of elementary education show that, generally speaking, the size of the class is not a true measure of the attainment of the class. In other words, classes with sixty, seventy, eighty or ninety pupils, ap- parently do just as well in those things that they were measured in as classes with ten, twenty or thirty pupils. The facts also show that if all classes of thirty-five or more students were reduced to classes of thirty-five or fewer students, there would be approximately only forty more promotions out of a thousand. These data, be it re- membered, are gathered from studies of students far less mature and far less capable of initiative than the college student. We argue for small classes and yet we are continual- ly making them larger. Nearly every university has its large history class, consisting of three hundred or more students. The general lectures are given to the entire class and quiz sections are organized for discussion and to test the students. Many of the laboratories in organic and inorganic chemistry, for example, are built to accom- modate hundreds of students at one time. All of the lectures in English Survey might better be given by two or three good lecturers to classes of five hundred or more than fifteen poor lecturers to classes of thirty each. Many ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS 141 subjects and parts of nearly every subject can be pre- sented to hundreds of students at once, if the method of presentation is to be the lecture method, as easily and of- ten better than to small classes. Large classes are being created in the face of all the resistance which the tradi- tions of the modern university can create. Large bodies of students and inadequate revenues have forced the change. Shall we declare that it is all wrong? That de- pends upon our definition of a university. If it is simply to provide a high level of general training for the pur- pose of improving the general intelligence of all the peo- ple or of as many as can be reached, then, frankly, I can see no reason why we should not deliberately plan many large classes. There are a number of other types of administra- tive devices that may be tried in dealing with the situa- tion. The State University of Washington has, I believe, introduced one of the most comprehensive of these plans. Washington was faced with the problem of getting more instruction without getting more money, or rather it de- termined to make every dollar go as far as it could. To accomplish this, it did two things : it established a teach- ing rank below the rank of instructor and called the mem- bers of this teaching rank assistants; and second, it es- tablished a teaching load of fifteen hours as the norm for the entire university. Full time teaching assistants are expected to carry a full teaching load. Teaching assis- tants are employed because they are good teachers. They are not expected or permitted, I believe, to carry any uni- versity work while teaching. Promotion up the academic scale is not open to them unless they drop out and com- plete the work for their degrees. According to the plan, two hours of laboratory are considered the equivalent of one hour of recitation, and ten hours of lectures equivalent of fifteen hours of recita- 142 EDUCATIONAL SESSION tion. An administrator may receive a time allotment for administration. A person engaged upon a piece of re- search may get six, eight, ten or more hours allotted for research, and thus reduce his teaching load correspond- ingly. There can be little doubt but that this plan will stimulate research. It contemplates checking those from time to time who receive allotments for the purpose of de- termining the progress of their research. The State University of Washington has one other step under consideration, and that is equating the credits of courses of secondary grade and courses of university grade. It is a matter of common knowledge that many of the so-called courses of a university are nothing but sub- limated high school courses. Beginning courses in nearly all of the school subjects can be found in most state uni- versities. At Minnesota this last 3'ear, we had eighty sections in beginning English, and were unable to provide instruction in freshman English for about six hundred other students because of a lack of instructors. The Uni- versity had more sections in beginning romance lan- guages than there are classes in the entire law college. Nearly eighty per cent of all the instruction and energy of the Arts College was and still is devoted to freshman and sophomore work on the secondary level. The so- called junior college of many of our universities is noth- ing more or less than a glorified high school. It may be true that the same students do more work and better work at the university as freshmen and sophomores than they do as juniors and seniors in the high school, but the difference is due largely to maturity. That they will do better work at the university than they will do in the corresponding years or classes at home remains to be demonstrated. Now the Washington plan, if I understand it correct- ly, means to equate the credits of secondary and univer- ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS 143 sity subjects and courses. For example- a university sub- ject will carry one credit for one hour a week, but a high school subject will carry less, say three-fourths of a credit. If the teaching load for subjects on the university level is fifteen hours, the teaching load for subjects in the secondary level will be twenty hours. This plan will do what it is intended to do, — it will provide more teaching without increasing the cost to the institution. It is an internal administrative device pure and simple. Whatever its value, it must be regarded as a temporary expedient rather than an ultimate solution to the problem. The ultimate solution must be something more than an administrative expedient. It must rest on a consideration of the relation that a state university bears to the state and to the other educational units of the state. I believe that a state university was establish- ed primarily to train men and women for distinctive work in the various professions and to provide others with a liberal education. In order to realize these purposes it lowered its entrance requirements and took poorly pre- pared students; it reached over into the secondary field when high schools were few in number, and appropriated many of the high school subjects. Entrance requirements have been raised from time to time, but most of the appro- priated subjects have remained. Its first concern should be that of divesting itself of those things that do not belong to it. This can be done in one of three ways — by refusing to admit students to any course which they can get in their own local schools; by urging the establishment of junior colleges, or by prolonging the public school period so as to provide for freshman and sophomore work. Whichever plan is followed the result in the long run will be the same elimination from the overburdened univer- sity of much, if not all, of its high school work. The College of Engineering at Michigan has, I under- 144 EDUCATIONAL SESSION stand, effected an interesting affiliation with one of the smaller colleges of the state. The first two years of work are carried on in the smaller college, the last two in the College of Engineering at the University. The student receives his degree from the smaller college where he first attended. The far-reaching benefits of such a scheme can be easily conjectured. It would result in more cordial relationship between the private schools and the univer- sity; it would enable the private independent schools to do better work, and it would not take from them the coveted right to grant degrees. But the relief which a university would get by this arrangement would not be enough. A closer contact with the public schools must be made. Those schools ought to take over the work which rightfully belongs to them. They should expand so as to include the thirteenth and fourteenth years of work. This has already been done in many places. When once expanded there is no reason why the two additional years should be known as a junior college. They really should be regarded as a part of the public school system. Universities should, on the other hand, outline curricula leading to the various degrees. These curricula should indicate the necessary prereq- uisites in each case. A student coming from the public school with these prerequisites should be admitted at once to his professional or academic cuiTiculum. Many of the high schools would be compelled to add but few instructors to provide the necessary courses in the logical amplification of their acknowledged functions. If, on account of limited finances, it is impossible for any community to provide the extra courses and extra teachers, it should be possible to increase the size of the taxing unit. There are few counties which could not, if they wished, and if the law permitted, maintain the two additional years, and at a very small tax rate. It would ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS 145 be both proper and, in my opinion, wise, if the state granted a small subsidy to encourage the spread of the movement. There is one other comment which I should like to make and that is, if the plan which has been outlined be adopted, it should not require fourteen years of public school work to prepare the better student for the present junior year of college. I am convinced from my own ob- servation and investigation of hundreds of schools of both secondary and collegiate grade, that the time of preparation for such students can be shortened to thir- teen and eventually to twelve years. Furthermore, a reorganization along these lines should involve the differentiation of courses both in pub- lic school and in the university in terms of occupational needs and the types of professional service for which one is preparing. It is little short of a travesty to provide four years of training for all lines of engineering, all lines of business, or all lines of agriculture. There may be much sanctity but there is little sense in the educational fetich of four years. A course is not professional because it is four years in length. It is professional because of the type of service for which it prepares. It is just as pro- fessional to prepare one for a type of service which re- quires two years of training as it is to prepare one for a type of service which requires four years of training. Some courses should be completed in two years, others in three, others in four, and still others should require five or six years. And not only do all persons not need four years of university education to be good citizens or to be suc- cessful practitioners of some worthy occupation or pro- fession, but all persons by virtue of inherent differences in native capacity are not equally well equipped to profit by such training. Equality of ability we do not have ; equal- 146 EDUCATIONAL SESSION ity of ability we must have and preserve. This plan recognizes both of these important facts. When once introduced this plan will call for a num- ber of other changes. Most of the present freshmen and sophomore courses will be continued in the high school, but not all. Many new courses not now listed will be offered. Instructors will be employed in the public school who can teach and largely because they are qualified by technique and preparation to teach. The junior college, if it clings to that name, will be a school, and the univer- sity will have the possibility of being a university. The modem state university is rapidly ceasing to be a univer- sity; it is by force of circumstances becoming a school. The differences between a school and a university are fundamental, inhere in the very nature of the institutions, and permeate every phase of their life and atmosphere. With the university re-established, greater care can be and should be exercised in the selection of students. Detailed intensive programs for the training of scholars, leaders, and highly skilled professional technicians will be prepared. Elaborate and scholarly preparation will be required of all instructors before they are appointed. The teaching schedule will be short enough to permit them to engage in investigation and research. Eequire- ments for the advancement of students will be rigid. While the door of the junior college will be kept wide open, a fine meshed sieve will be located at the end of the university course. Students will be advanced on the basis of ability and achievement and will be granted greater freedom in controlling their own movements. The old artificial lines between senior college and graduate col- lege w^ill disappear. The principles laid down at the beginning of this paper will have been realized and the state will have a system of education which serves the needs of every individual, provides for training in every ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS 147 field which it can support and of which it may well be proud. THE COST OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND ITS BEAEING ON TAXATION SAMUEL P. CAPEN, PH.D. Director of the American Council on Education Two 3^ears and a half ago the higher institutions of the United States were threatened with virtual extinction as the result of the plans for mobilizing the man power of the country. They were saved by being incorporated in the mobilization machinery. The normal processes of higher education were thereby suspended or distorted. College officers underv^'ent much mental suffering, the memory of which still rankles. In some cases physical damage was done to university equipment which has thus far been only partially repaired. Higher institutions made extraordinary contributions both directly and indirectly to the war effort of the United States; directly by in- voluntarily converting themselves into training centers for the military forces, indirectly through the indispen- sable services rendered by their sons and daughters in the field, in scientific investigation and in administrative undertakings. One aspect of these contributions has been little dwelt upon, but is worthy of note. Whereas nearly every other agency that furnished the Government with either human or material products, contracted to do so on the cost plus basis, the college contracts were cost minus contracts. I am sure that all members of the fellowship of scholars are glad and proud that this was so. The idealism for which universities stand received a new demonstration. They, at least, reaped no profits from the nation's emergency. But although. the universities them- selves have not boasted of their sacrifice, it should not be ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS 149 forgotten by those who supply the means that universities may live. It has some bearing on the dilemma in which the higher institutions of the country now find themselves. Higher education is now in the midst of another crisis, less sudden, less spectacular, but none the less threatening. It is indeed less glorious, as death by starva- tion is less glorious than death in battle. For colleges and universities, with few exceptions, are facing the slow and sordid disintegration that follows a long period of under nourishment. The condition is remediable. But it must be remedied quickly and radically, or the whole body of the nation will be affected. It therefore behooves the friends of higher education to make the fact known to those on whose influence and generosity colleges and uni- versities depend. AVhat are the facts 1 Here are a few that have peculiar significance. In the twenty years preceding the armistice the expansion of the higher educational establishment of the United States was phenomenal. The number of insti- tutions did not increase. On the contrary the Commis- sioner of Education listed 672 colleges and universities in 1898 and but 554 in 1918. The number of students, how- ever, was somewhat more than doubled in this interval. The instructional force increased approximately 125 per cent. The total annual receipts of higher institutions, ex- clusive of additions to endowments, increased from about $26,000,000 to something over $137,000,000. The average income per student was $138 in 1898. At the time of the armistice it was $365. The proportion of the total popula- tion between the ages of 19 and 23 enrolled in higher insti- tutions increased from three and one-third percent to four and one-half percent, and the rate of increase was rapidly accelerating. During the last few years of this period the Bureau of Education calculated that the normal annual rate of growth of college and university student bodies 150 EDUCATIOX.\L SESSION was about five percent, which was considerably faster than the rate of growth of the population of the country. These figures broadly reveal two important tenden- cies; namely, the growing social demand for higher educa- tion, and the greatly increased expense of that commodity. Critics of our educational system were sometimes heard to declare before 1918 that colleges and universities were coming to cost too much, and that the educational needs of the community could be met with a smaller outlay. The truth was, however, that in twenty years a sea change had been wrought in the body of higher education itself. Scientific knowledge had expanded. There was iri'esistable public clamor for training in new and complicated pro- fessional specialties. The obligation of the university to foster research as well as teaching, had become recognized. In spite of the five-fold increase in their support, the col- leges and universities were actually poorer in 1918 than they had been in 1898 — and their professors were relative- ly less well paid. At the time our higher institutions passed under martial law the dominating emergency in almost every one was the financial emergency. Had there been no war the problem by now would have ceased to be a problem of the individual institution. It would have be- come a national problem. The war came. It brought not only educational dis- organization. It also accentuated the financial difficulties. But its aftermath was more serious still. As a result of the war the universities are now subjected to a combina- tion of inexorable pressures, partly economic, partly social, which threaten to crush their vitality. The costs per unit of instruction, and especially per unit of physical maintenance, have risen beyond all ex- pectation. In some departments of institutional activity the unit costs have doubled. In others the rise has not been so great, but colleges and universities have been ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS 151 forced to avail themselves of inferior service or materials. The prices of certain tangible commodities will probable decline in the near future, but it is not to be hoped that they will ever again reach the pre-war level. In any event, the prospect of future amelioration is of little help to in- stitutions that are faced with this year's and next year's bills. As a rule there is no slack in college budgets. The income from endowments and fees rarely if ever suffices to meet all financial obligations. The appropriations made to state institutions never quite equal institutional needs. Colleges and universities, being public service in- stitutions, and not businesses conducted for profit, have nothing laid by for a rainy day. Not only have the unit costs risen, but there has been in the two years since the armistice an unprecedent- ed and wholly unforseen increase in the number of units. The critic of a few years ago who deprecated the some- times undignified efforts of higher institutions to get more students to get more money to get more students may derive a cynical satisfaction from the present pre- dicament of these same institutions. His satisfaction is not generally shared. The colleges of the country are literally smothered with students. Last year those who had been held back by the war poured in, and the swollen enrollments were plausibly attributed to the removal of the military dam. The dam has long since gone out, how- ever, and still the flood continues. From figures the Bureau of Education has furnished me, it appears that the median increase in collegiate enrollments this autumn amounts to ten percent, or double the average increase of the years just preceding the war. Moreover this rep- resents a ten percent growth over the greatly inflated stu- dent population of 1919. The prestige of higher educa- tion was enormously enhanced by the war. People who never thought seriously about it before are now im- 152 EDUCATIONAL SESSION pressed with its value and are bound to have it for their sons and daughters. AVe are evidently dealing with a tendency that promises to be constant. If this prediction is correct, it is instructive to let one 's statistical imagina- tion roam ahead five years or ten. With no likelihood of a material reduction of basic costs and with student bodies doubling in numbers in less than a decade, certain prob- lems of university financing become very sharply out- lined. There is one factor that enters into the situation. It has recently demanded and received serious attention. I refer to the pay of professors. A great many institu- tions — I believe a majority — have raised the salaries of instructors within the last two years. The increases, however, have not generally been commensurate with the needs of the beneficiaries, nor have they kept pace with the rise in the compensation of other intellectual callings. As a result two tendencies appear. There is an alarming exodus from the present membership of the university teaching profession, and there is a marked falling off in the supply of neophytes. The status of the professor was wholly changed by the war. In the military service and in the numerous auxiliary activities professors proved their capacity for success in other fields than teaching. Both as individuals and as a class they suddenly acquired an economic value in the business world. That cherished superstition of the man of affairs that professors were useless in all practical undertakings vanished. It will probably never reappear. Indeed, the heads of large industrial enterprises are now beginning to turn to university staffs to furnish the directors of new and difficult projects. Scores of distin- guished professors have within the past year forsaken teaching to accept business positions at greatly increased salaries. A genuine competition beween business and the ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS 153 university for the services of the best mature minds has thus been set up. Naturally these conditions react unfavorably on the prospective supply of college and university teachers. For a number of years there has been a steady deteriora- tion in the quality of individuals choosing college teach- ing as a career. Even before the war there was little in the circumstances of academic employment to appeal to men of vigorous intellect or personality. On the purely material side they were faced with the alternative of celibacy or hardship. In the matter of social recognition the college teacher has always fared less well in the United States than in most other civilized countries. More and more the teaching profession was becoming the refuge of the timid and unambitious — of course, with notable exceptions. It is not surprising, therefore, that the sudden relative decline of the salaries of professors from their already low estate, combined with the increas- ing opportunites for scientifically trained persons in other fields, should bring about a reduction in the number of individuals preparing to become university teachers. This career less than ever attracts young people of superior ability. The serious import of these tendencies, not only for higher educational institutions but for the whole intel- lectual development of America, does not need to be urged. The future leaders of the nation must not receive their final training at the hands of persons of inferior capacity or character. The task of providing for the nation's needs in the field of scientific research cannot be left to those who are too feeble or too spiritless to earn a living in some other occupation. The position of intel- lectual parity with the leading nations of Europe which the United States has hardly won, cannot be maintained except by the best endowed men and women the country 154 EDUCATIONAL SESSION produces. The luiiversity must compete with the busi- ness and professional world for the services of these men and women. It does not need to outbid the business world in cash. It does need to fui'nish material rewards equivalent to those offered by the other professions. This means that the present scale of compensation of univer- sity teachers must be at least doubled. These are major elements in the financial emergency now confronting American colleges and universities. How much does higher education cost! Higher education in 1920-21 costs in the aggregate about six times what it cost in 1898. The average cost per student is about three times as great. But higher education in the present year of grace costs about half what it ought to cost, if it is to satisfy the demands of the public and sustain the intel- lectual Life of the United States. Although the problem of financing higher education is national in scope and of national concern, it must under our plan of organization be solved locally. The privately supported institutions — and the vast majority of colleges and universities are privately supported — are endeavor- ing to solve it by increasing their endowments and in- creasing their fees. Publicly supported institutions must rely on state and city appropriations. The source of these appropriations is the revenue derived from taxation. In this conference we are, I take it, chiefly concerned with those aspects of the problem that affect state universi- ties. Can states raise by taxation enough money to double the present appropriations to their universities and to continue to increase miiversity appropriations in accordance with the developing needs of these institu- tions ? I approach this question with some timidity, be- cause I do not claim to be an expert on the subject of taxation. What I shall offer you is the opinion of a lay- man who has had perhaps unusual opportunities to study ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS ISS the public institutions of several states and to estimate the resources on which their support depends. First, therefore, let me present certain general considerations. The majority of the states offer through state insti- tutions the principal kinds of professional education and advanced general education to everyone who is mentally able to profit by it, either free of charge or at a slight fraction of its actual cost. No other country has pursued so liberal a policy. It is true that the principal univer- sities in several European countries are state universities. But in most of these countries the possible number of students is much more strictly limited by the conditions of secondary education. The United States has superim- posed upon a system of free public secondary schools, a system of free, or practically free, public universities. Both systems are relatively new. The mass of the people is only just beginning to appreciate the opportunities thus offered and to take advantage of them. It is not yet definitely proved whether under our scheme of social or- ganization this plan can be carried out in all its theoreti- cal integrity; whether our political units can afford to provide free higher education to every citizen who is intel- lectually competent to avail himself of it. Until definite proof is produced we shall have to admit that the present educational policy of states is to some extent experi- mental. In default of actual proof there are certain bits of circumstantial evidence which strongly support the ex- isting theory. For example, it is easily demonstrable that those communities and those sections of the county which maintain the best schools and which spend the most on higher education are the most prosperous and are able to bear the burden of educational expenditure with relative ease. From which the familiar argument is derived that increased outlays for education are more than made good 156 EDUCATIOK-U SESSION by the increase in wealth that results from them. The same argument applies to scientific research. "While not all research is materially productive, research in the aggregate has returned in wealth to those communities that have supported it many times its cost. However, recent studies have revealed facts that seem at first glance to impair somewhat the theory just stated. General property values in the communities that especial- ly foster education have not increased in the past forty years as fast as school costs. In these communities, ' ' tax rates have been raised," public debts have been aug- mented, and ' ' a larger percentage of all revenue has been devoted to educational purposes."* Unless further an- alyzed, these facts appear to indicate that communities have already passed the point of expenditure where money invested in public education brings a commensu- rate return. But further analysis reveals the nub of the whole question. This may be stated in two brief proposi- tions. First, general property values, as recorded by tax assessors, tend to increase more slowly than does the actual wealth of communities. Second, in nearly every state, tangible property is very unequally assessed and in general grossly underassessed. Let me add a word in elaboration of the second proposition. State systems of taxation are notoriously lacking in uniformity and notoriously unscientific. Most of them are haphazard developments, the product of political compro- mise and of the more or less successful efforts of large property interests to escape their just share of the public burden. For example, in a certain southern state, whose educational system I once investigated, assessments are based on twenty-two percent of the true value of property. Land rich in coal and iron deposits is taxed as farm land * See Trend of School Costs, by W. R. Burgess, Russell Sage Foundation, Educational Monograph, 1920. ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS 157 and assessed at about one-fifth of its value for agricultural purposes. The legislative agents of the great foreign corporations have thus far prevented any substantial rectification of this injustice. As a consequence the state is unable to support its state government or its higher schools. This may be an extreme case, but similar in- fluences have been at work in other states with somewhat similar results. The whole domain of state taxation demands investi- gation. In former years the expenditures for public pur- poses were everywhere insignificant. The abounding re- sources of most commonwealths easily yielded as a by- product the little that was required. That time has passed into the limbo of the fathers. The state is now the fiscal agent of the people in a vast variety of common under- takings. The wealth of all states has increased greatly in amount, but not in availability. In justice to the public the facts should be made known and methods devised to locate and to tax the state's true financial resources. I am a believer in instruction by means of concrete problems and projects. What more vital problem in eco- nomics is there than this? What task more appropriate for the experts of a state university faculty and their ad- vanced students? A series of studies of state systems of taxation made by the state universities of the several states would furnish the basis for important reforms and would be a most useful contribution to the science of pop- ular government in America. I am aware that professors in a few state universities have already published such studies. I venture to commend their example to the de- partments of economics of state universities generally. The future of state higher institutions is intimately bound up with the development of state taxation. Exist- ing methods of assessment and apportionment of taxes either have already failed, or will shortly fail, to yield the 158 EDUCATIONAL SESSION amounts required by the rising cost of state universities. The universities themselves must not stand helpless in the face of this situation. The obligation is upon them to in- terpret their services to the state and their needs, and to demonstrate how these needs can be met. In the process they may expect to encounter the tenacious opposition of those interests which have heretofore obstructed every effort to promote a more equitable adjustment of the state 's financial burdens. But the cause is worth fighting for. The welfare of the states and of the nation is involved in the maintenance of universities at the highest level of efficiency. The wealth to maintain them is there. Through the very operation of the universities themselves it will be there in increasing amounts. States can afford to support their higher institutions. They must be shown that they can not afford not to. THE SUPPLY OF ADEQUATELY TBAINED UNI- VERSITY TEACHERS FREIDERICK J. E. WOODBRIDGE;, 1,1. .D. Dean, Columbia University Really good teachers are admittedly rare. To note their scarcity just now, however, is to do more than call attention to a platitude. For it is very difiScult to find for teaching positions, both in the university and elsewhere, those who can fill them with reasonable success and dis- tinction. We are acutely conscious that our national scholarship is not what it ought to be. There is a dearth of good books, able teachers and intellectual leadership. A country like ours, into which has been poured such a variety of stimulating influences and which has been blest with such an abundance of goods, ought to make annually contributions to learning which would give us a position in the world of scholarship at least equal to that of the countries with which we like to compare ourselves. But the comparison is not gratifying. We are forced to admit that in spite of a multiplication of colleges and universi- ties, and in spite of a popular enthusiasm for education which often causes foreigners to wonder and admire, our system of education is rarely productive of intellectual greatness and distinction. Nor is it productive of a read- ing public large enough to make a steady and profitable demand for books of more than temporary value. The number of text-books is large, but the number of sustain- ed and constructive treatises is small. Learning does not flourish among us. If we confine our attention to our universities and ask why it is that the supply of really able men for them is so 160 EDUCATION.AL SESSION inadequate, the answer is, I think, simple. Our system of education is not intended to produce them. In other words, in education our attention has not been given significantly to scholarship, but to something else, namely, to industry and alertness. Our system is designed to produce not a certain quality of mind, but a certain type of person, not a scholar who loves learning, but an American, alert and industrious, fitted to meet the demands of American life. That design has been eloquently advocated by college presidents and by those who have shaped the policies of our normal schools and teachers' colleges. It has been Avoven into the methods and curricula of our schools generally. Since this has been the dominant note in education for several decades, we ought not to be surprised at what we are now hearing. Nor should we show the bad taste of complaining violently about it, for we have done reason- ably well the thing we have been trying to do. Our teachers are, as a rule, industrious, alert, and practical- minded ; only they are not, as a rule, scholars. By that I mean that they teach history without being historians, and mathematics without being mathematicians. They pay much attention to improving the methods and tech- nique of instruction, but little to the exploration and mastery of subject-matter. They teach from a sense of social obligation, rather than from a love of what they teach. Our schools are consequently social rather than intellectual in character. If our teachers, as Dean E. A. Cross has disquietingly pointed out in the July Yale Review, remain on the average but a few years in the service, part of the reason is clearly that industry and alertness, when not possessed by the love of learning, find their significant rewards elsewhere. And if our students are largely absorbed by things not in the curriculum, part of the reason is again the same. In short, the state ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS 161 of the county's scholarship and learning is pretty much what we should expect it to be from the character of the education we have been giving to our people. Aiming at industry and alertness, we have largely succeeded in at- taining them, so that the product of our education is on the average a person adaptable, quick, resourceful and de- pendable. But aiming at these virtures so predominantly, we have produced scholars only rarely and incidentally. So I repeat that the scarcity of adequately trained univer- sity teachers is due fundamentally to the fact that our system of education is not intended to produce them. There is another reason which lately has been made much of; namely, the inadequate salaries of the teaching profession. I do not think this reason is sound. But in saying this I would not be misunderstood. I would give no aid or comfort to the enemy who think that teachers are paid all they deserve. They are underpaid shamefully. But in my opinion these shameful salaries are the effects rather than the causes of the state of learning in the land. If emphasis is put on industry and alertness instead of on learning, the rewards will go to the former. If scholar- ship is not prized, there will be no prizes for scholars. We ought not to be deceived in this matter. To pay better salaries for doing simply what we have been doing, may, very naturally, result in getting more competent persons to do it and to keep them at it longer, but it will not neces- sarily result in doing something else. Salaries should be raised out of sheer decency and humanity, but we only trick ourselves if we suppose that better salaries alone will have much effect on increasing the supply of the type of teachers we have begun to feel we need. If they do not exist, they can not be bought. If money is offered them, they must be produced before they can be sold. So we are brought back again to the fact that our methods of pro- ducing them are not adequate. 162 EDUCATIONAL SESSION I can not let this matter of salaries go without a pro- test and an admission. The protest is against the opinion that teachers are paid to teach, and the admission is that many of our colleges and universities could pay better salaries if they were not so extravagant. A teacher's value and usefulness should not be measured by economic standards. It is neither sentimentality nor hyperbole to say that the good teacher's value is above price. His salary is usually his only income and is paid him that he may live decently. It is not paid him in exchange for services rendered. I call to mind an old story taken from the life of Charlemagne by the Monk of St. Gall. When Charlemagne ' ' had begun to reign alone in the western part of the world," so the story runs, "and the pursuit of learning had been almost forgotten throughout all his realm. . . two Scots came from Ireland to the coast of Gaul with certain traders of Britain. These Scotchmen were unrivalled for their skill in sacred and secular learn- ing : and day by day, when the crowd gathered round them for traffic, they exhibited no wares for sale, but cried out and said, 'Ho, everyone that desires wisdom, let him draw near and take it at our hands; for it is wisdom that we have for sale ! ' "Now they declared that they had wisdom for sale because they said that the people cared not for what was given freely, but only for what was sold, hoping that they might be incited to purchase wisdom along with other wares; and also, perhaps, hoping that by their announce- ment they themselves might become a wonder and marvel to men; which indeed turned out to be the case. For so long did they make their proclamation that in the end those who wondered at these men, or perhaps thought them insane, brought the matter to the ears of King Charles, who always loved and sought after wisdom. Wherefore he ordered them to come with all speed into his ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS 163 presence and asked them whether it were true, as fame reported of them, that they had brought wisdom with them. They answered, 'We both possess it and are ready to give it, in the name of God, to those who seek it worthily.' Again he asked them what price they asked for it; and they answered, 'We ask no price, King: but ask only for a fit place for teaching and quick minds to teach; and besides, food to eat and raiment to put on, for without these we can not accomplish our pilgrimage.' " Even the Dark Ages may teach us something in the matter of teachers' salaries. What society owes teachers is that adequate provision without which they can not ac- complish their pilgrimage, and a royal recognition of the services they render. Many of our colleges and universities could pay better salaries if they were not so extravagant. I do not mean that they, as is often the charge, spend money needlessly on buildings and grounds and on material equipment. A place of learning should be a place of beauty, well-supplied with all the instruments of knowledge. It should be a fit place for teaching. I mean, rather, that many of our col- leges and universities spend money needlessly on teaching itself. They have expanded the curriculmn beyond all reasonable and necessary demands, and they have spent the same amount of money, and aften more, on teaching the incompetent as they have spent on teaching the com- petent. The departmental control of the curriculum which has so largely superceded faculty control, has been attend- ed by a great expansion in the number of courses offered. The tendency of departments has been to cover the whole field of their subjects, to offer highly specialized courses in the interest of a large and abundant offering and to make it possible for students to fulfill the requirements of residence wholly within the department itself. The cata- logues of our larger universities especially afford ample 164 EDUCATIONAL SESSION proof of this tendency. But confession is good for the soul, and I may take my own university as an example. Hard hit by the war, we were forced to retrench. A care- ful examination of our program of studies proved con- clusively, even to those who were likely to lose their positions as a consequence, that it was possible to cut $200,000 out of the annual budgets of departments with- out in the least impairing the educational efficiency of the University or imposing additional burdens on anybody. It is needless to say that so drastic a cut was not made, because of the personal injustice it would involve. But it is important to say that this examination and the steps taken in consequence of it, were no small aid in making later substantial increases in salaries, and, what is more, promoting public confidence in our administration. The catalogues of other universities have convinced me that our situation was not exceptional. They show an absurd rivalry between institutions in the splendor of their offerings. Indeed the chief objection, aside from personal injustices, which was raised to our efforts to retrench, was the poor showing our offering would make when compared with our neighbors. In order to keep public confidence and win public support and at the same time administer our funds with economy, this form of ex- travagance which I have been considering should be dealt wdth energetically. The second form of extravagance can not be set forth as it should be without a very extended exposition. I must leave the statement of it in a very summary and dog- matic form. We are wasting the time of teachers and the money which ought to be used to increase salaries, by trying to keep the incompetent up to a passing mark, when we ought rather to be forcing the incompetent to hire tutors on their own account. The opinion seems to prevail that tuition fees are paid not as a partial support ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS 165 for our institutions, but in order to assure parents that their children will not be allowed to idle. A student recently told a colleague that he thought it was the teacher 's business to see to it that he, the student, did not receive a mark below B. The student illustrates an atti- tude. Mr. Dooley, you may remember, caricatures it by having the president ask the freshman what course of study he wishes his professors to pursue for him. How true it is that the incompetent instead of the competent have come to set the pace in college education especial- ly, is shown by the fact that the best students, although the maximum number of hours is nominally eighteen, can get away, as they put it, with twenty, twenty-four and even thirty hours with high marks. A system of education where all this is possible costs the institution heavily. The only argument in defense of it that seems to be at all sound, is the argument that society profits by it. But the profit to society is not disclosed by an increase in the number of those who love learning and prize scholarship, but by an increase in the number of those who have been subjected to a training in industry and alertness. This brings me back to what seems to be the princi- pal matter in the theme we are considering. Indeed, the important bearings of these admissions of extravagance are not all in the direction of economy, but in the direc- tion of education. With a system in which emphasis falls primarily on industry and alertness, in which as a consequence so much attention is paid to the daily round and the common task, in which so much time and so much money are spent in keeping the idle and incom- petent at work, and in which so much energy is expended in providing a wide and varied program of studies — with such a system it is not to be expected that an atmosphere is created in which scholarship flourishes. 166 EDUCATION.AL SESSION Something else will flourish, and that something may indeed be admirable and to a large extent what a coun- try like ours needs. But unless the system is modified, there is no hope of expecting it to yield what it is not in- tended to yield. Unless it is modified, we shall go on promoting industry and alertness and not promoting learning. AVe shall do this more effectively as we secure more means to provide more competent persons to do it, but that, as I see it, is all. The chief source from which university teachers are drawn is our graduate schools. Our attention should be directed, therefore, first, to what our graduate stu- dents are like, and, secondly, to the sort of disclipline to which they are subjected. If there are desirable modifica- tions to be made in our system of education generally, it is easier and more effective to make them at the top than at the bottom, because by making them at the top smaller numbers are involved and at the same time those who are to take positions of leadership are immediately affected. Our schools and colleges are not likely to be much chang- ed unless there are injected into them people with the desire, wisdom and ability to change them. On our graduate schools rests the prime responsibility for the production of scholars and the promotion of the love of learning generally. They can not avoid that responsi- bility by complaining that the material sent them is poor when judged from the point of view of what they are expected to make of it. Such an avoidance involves one in an unbroken circle of complaint. The university blames the college, the college blames the schools, the schools blame the colleges, and the colleges blame the university. The fact, rather than mutual recriminations, is the crucial matter, and the fact is that our graduate schools have no other material than what is sent them and they are responsible for what they make of it. ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS 167 First, then, of the graduate student. In speaking of him I have no wish to defame him or to put myself in that vicious circle which I have just now condemned. He is — and I speak of all but the rare exceptions — poor material; but poor material in what respect? Certainly not in respect of industry and alertness, nor in respect of enthusiasm, energy, and a solid ambition to succeed. He earnestly desires to get on and better himself and his reputation, and he ordinarily comes to the university at the cost of much self-denial and with the knowledge that for four years his life is apt to be one of poverty, robbed of many comforts and conveniences. Morally he is not poor material at all. But he is that intellectually. Often he is not even educated, if by education one means having possession of the instruments by which knowledge is at- tained and held. He rarely has the habit of reading in any language but his own, and in his own he usually reads fragmentarily. Very often he has not that logical com- mand of his own speech which enables one to express one- self clearly and accurately, and to read with understand- ing. He is also apt to be very deficient in logical analy- sis. So far as logic is concerned, his interest is in classi- fying and appraising. Ask him, for instance, to give some account of his own government and he will tell you that it is a democracy or a republic and give you some es- timate of its excellence. He will not give you an analysis of its constitution or exhibit the reasons which underly its provisions. Sometimes I think this failure in logical analysis is his principal intellectual defect. Perhaps that is due to my experience as a teacher with him, for I find it very rare indeed to secure from graduate stu- dents in philosophy a clear and logical exposition of any philosophical classi'?. What I get is usually a description of its contents, a classification of the system, and a pro- nouncement on its validity. Again the graduate student 168 EDUCATIONAL SESSION is not equipped to deal with quantities and quantitative relations. Mathematics, not as a specific branch of know- ledge, but as an instrument of inquiry is generally un- known to him. He can b<5 shown how to draw averages, calculate coefficients of correlation and probable errors, but he very rarely understands the great instrument he is using. And the same is strangely true of the material instruments at his command. He can observe and measure with them, but he does not understand how they are aids to his observation or afford units for his meas- urement. In short, he is only inadequately equipped with the essential instruments of inquiry. From the point of view of knowledge itself, he is poorly prepared for advanced studies. His knowledge is fragmentary and undigested. On this score, I imagine, there are more complaints than on any other. On them I shall not dwell, but I should like to point out an im- portant fact connected with this matter. It is this: the choice of subjects by graduate students does not repre- sent, as a rule, a really matured interest in the subject, but rather an incipient or prospective interest in it. Often one subject is just as good to them as another if it promises either interest or opportunity. They want to teach, but many of them do not care what they teach. In other words, they are usually guided in their choice of subjects by something extraneous to the subjects them- selves, rather than by the hold the subjects already have on their minds. And this lack of maturity in knowledge is accompanied by a lack of maturity in intellectual habits. Graduate students are not as a rule intellectual- ly independent and self-reliant. Their minds have not been emancipated from tutelage. They ask for and desire mental direction and supervision of a very elementary sort. They want their work planned and mapped out for them. That work is graduate only in name, and puts me ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS 169 in mind of Professor Dewey's definition of graduate work as work done by a graduate student. But why go on with this recital? It is unpleasant, but it is a summary of what I have heard and seen repeat- edly. The graduate student is a favorite theme for com- plaint in university circles. But he should not be com- plained of. I have described him not to condemn him. He is not responsible for what he is. He is the natural pro- duct of the education he has received, and it is greatly to his credit that he none the less wishes to be counted among those who seek wisdom even while he knows that his reward in worldly goods would be richer if he sought something else. The complaint which is just should be lodged against our graduate schools. They are largely responsible for what the graduate student is because the dicipline to which they subject him is not of a type to emancipate his mind, put him in an atmosphere of intellectual free- dom and responsibility, or force upon him habits of in- dependent study and inquiry. It is rather of a type which prolongs the intellectual attitude and habits of undergraduate days, subjects the student to tutelage and supervision, and imposes upon him a system of restric- tions and a routine which are often much more excessive than any he has known in college. There is hardly a grad- uate school in the land which does not require that the program of studies of a graduate student must be approv- ed by some professor, committee or dean. Often this ap- proval falls upon the dean, putting thus upon that gentle- man a duty which only omniscience can properly per- form. The student's work is planned for him, and very often the amount of it is actually defined in terms of the number of hours per week or year he is expected to be occupied. We once said four full courses a session, and defined a full course without a blush as ''a course of 170 EDUCATIONAL SESSION study designed to occupy a quarter of a student 's time. ' ' The scheme of study is highly departmentalized, so that the student tends to be restricted within the bounds of the department of his choice. There are hundreds of students in departments devoted to literature, history, economics, politics and sociology who never pursue or have time to pursue courses in the history of philosophy, ethics or psychology. There are hundreds of students of science whose intellectual horizon is bounded by the laboratory. Recently I received a letter asking if it were really possible at Columbia for a graduate student in science to take as a part of his program of studies a course in singing. I replied that I was happy to say that we rejoiced when scientists sang. The graduate student is not a free student, free to take what courses he chooses and do what work in them he chooses, and free to take the responsibility for his education on his own shoulders. The responsibility for his choice and his work falls on his professors. His professors become as a consequence so over- worked in caring for the students that they have little time left for caring for their subjects, and they are tired. They have devised elaborate schemes of courses and patiently supervise the work of students in them, report- ing grades and credits to the registrar. There are few graduate schools in which a system of course grades and credits is not used to mark the progress of the student and to determine his eligibility to come up for a degree. His study and proficiencj^ are routined. Is it any wonder that graduate students come to regard graduate work as main- ly a matter of courses and credits and machinery? Is it any wonder that they go from university to university with their little credit book in their hands containing the precious entries of their stock of knowledge and ask if these credits will count? I long to be able to say to them: ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS 171 **No, my dear, nothing counts but what you know." But since they are conscious of their industry, they think they are unjustly treated if asked to show the scholar's mastery of a subject. This mastery can be shown only by searching and comprehensive examinations. Experience has proved again and again that course credits are no evidence of it. The reason is simple. To mark students for the assigned work in courses compels the teacher to ac- commodate the work to his own and the student's time. He and they can work only so many hours a day. The in- evitable result is the discipline of the school and the schoolmaster, not the freedom of the university. There are other evidences of the fact that our gradu- ate schools are too largely places of immaturity. But there is no pleasure in enumerating them. And there really is no need. I have said nothing which has not been said to me countless times and which is not supported by knowl- edge and experience. The facts are well-known. I have indicated that the facts are consequences of doing some- thing praiseworthy in itself, of aiming at something which is by no means to be despised. But if we wish consequences of a different sort in addition, clearly a different procedure is indicated. Scholars can grow only in a scholarly atmosphere. That atmosphere our graduate schools ought to provide. They can provide it only by pretty radically changing their methods. What the changes ought to be is indicated by comments of the kind in which I have indulged. In the first place, the pro- gram of studies in the graduate school should not be arranged with a view to covering the field in the various subjects, nor with the view of teaching graduate students what they ought to know. It should be arranged, first of all, with the purpose of providing an opportunity for those who teach and direct investigation to do the thing they are best fitted to do, no matter how special that thing may be 172 EDUCATIOX.^L SESSION and no matter whether it can be neatly classified in one department as over against another. It should also be ar- ranged with the purpose of providing courses of a popular but advanced character which would keep constantly be- fore the university public the progress of knowledge in the various departments of inquiry. Beyond these two pro- visions there is little that is not purely incidental. All courses designed primarily' to carry the student safely over even the minimum of what he is expected to know should be discouraged. That knowledge the student should be forced to acquire for himself from the sources which already exist in abundance. He should also be left free to elect his courses and to work or not in connection with them as he pleases. The only reasonable restriction which should be put upon his election is one which will protect the teacher from the incompetent in those courses in which the teacher is carrying on his own researches with a company of students on whose cooperation he relies for the success of his course. And, naturally, incompetent students should not be allowed in laboratories to waste time and materials. But aside from such restrictions no one should have power to veto the election of students, least of all the department of his choice or the dean. The system of credits should be wholly abolished, and for them a system of through, comprehensive ex- aminations should be substituted. Students should re- ceive credit for attendance only, and not for work. Credit for attendance is necessaiy both to assure resi- dence and to force students to elect courses widely. But credit for work distracts the student from his own inde- pendent study and makes him rely on his instructor and not on himself. From the day he enters the graduate school he should be made to feel that the program of studies is not something part of which he must master in order to secure a degree, but is only an ally of his indi- ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS 173 vidual study, affording him the opportunity to become acquainted with scholars and their methods and with the outstanding problems of investigation. He should be expected to be himself a scholar and not a pupil. He should know and feel at least the reality of intellectual freedom and responsibility. The amount of scholarship expected of him as a candidate for a degree should be defined, not in terms of courses, but in terms of subject- matter, and his proficiency should be tested by competent examinations. With such provisions, teachers in the graduate school would themselves be free to promote knowledge. They should no longer be the tired men they are now so fre- quently. I say this without irony. For the exhausting effects of our present graduate machinery have been borne in upon me with recurring emphasis as the years go by. I have seen promising scholars ruined by con- scientious devotion to the demands of a cumbersome and wholly unnecessary system of graduate administration and instruction. It is all wicked waste. There is a free- dom of teaching more precious, I think, than that free- dom about which we get excited when our opinions get us into trouble, the freedom of living intimately and af- fectionately with the things of the mind. Such freedom should flourish in the graduate school. Into it students should be welcomed, not because they have previously attained a satisfactory bachelor's degree, but because it leads on to all the permanent values in man's endeavor to master nature and himself. Such changes as I have indicated in outline are neither untried nor without the sound warrant of ex- perience. They require not evidence to support them, but energy and determination to make them effective. It is true, no doubt, that scholars are not made by the schemes of deans and other administrative officers. But 174 EDUCATION.U SESSION deans and administrative officers may do much to destroy them; and so may the graduate school. Our business is to provide the proper soil and atmosphere in which they flourish. That done, our responsibility is discharged. BESEAECH IN THE UNIVERSITIES PROF. VERNON h. KKI,I<0GG, M.S. Secretary of the National Research Council The fundamental basis of scientific research is not personal advantage nor even general utility, but is simply personal curosity in its best form. It is the wish and will to know, as contrasted with the willingness to accept the say-so of the nearest neighbor. The Germans have a special word for this best kind of curosity; they call it Wissbegier, common to but few persons, as contrasted with ordinary Neugier, common to everyone. The fundamental seat of research in America is not in the laboratories of industry and invention, nor even in the special research institutions, but in the colleges and universities. For not only is the major part of American scientific investigation done in them but also practically all the training of new research workers. Anything, therefore, which lessens the interest and activities of the universities in research threatens not merely immediate achievement in it but also the pro- vision of the workers necessary for future achievement. And any lessening in American research now or lessening of the provision for research in the future threatens the American national strength and well-being. Unfortunately, there are conditions in American life to-day which are a grave menace to research and research training in the universities. One of these conditions, curiously enough, arises from the great stimulus, in all other respects, very welcome, given science by the war. This condition is, of course, the familiar present draining 176 EDUCATIOX.U SESSION from the universities of scientific men for the industrial laboratories. As has been said by the chief engineer of one of the greatest of American industrial concerns, '' In- dustrial research organizations are essentially man-con- suming as distinguished from man-producing agencies." But even this less welcome by-product of the welcome stimulus can, in time, and with proper attention, be made to produce a beneficient condition despite its hurtful action for the moment. The war really did give a great stimulus to general and governmental interest in science. Many things, such as men, money, ships, and food, are claimed to have won the war. Science may, with equal validity, make its claim. Certainly lack of science in the earlier years of the war nearly lost it for the Allies. Which is only to say that science nearly won it for the Germans. While engaged with the work of Mr. Hoover's relief commission in German-occupied Belgium and France in 1915 and 1916, it was my peculiar privilege — and neces- sity — to live for several months at the Great German Headquarters in Charleville and to make many visits on matters of relief diplomacy to the Headquarters in otiier months. Under these circumstances I came natural- ly to make the acquaintance of several important officers of the German General Staff, and to have much frank talk with them — with some of them, at least. Now while this talking with the Staff officers was not chiefly devoted to a discussion of science, it touched so often on one par- ticular matter of science that this matter will ever re- main one of the outstanding indelible memories of these extraordinary conversations and experiences. Whenever German victories were interrupted for a few days or weeks, or, as in the latter part of the period of my relations with the headquarters, were replaced by grudgingly admitted Allied successes, the officers of the ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS 177 General Staff had one unfailing solace. ''All right," said they, ''our scientific men will give us something new. They are all at work ; their work is all organized so as to meet any emergency; just wait until next week or next month and we '11 have something to make your eyes stick out." This is admittedly a rather free translation of what they said, but it conveys the meaning of their boasts. And they were not idle boasts. The organized scientific men of Germany did make the world's eyes stick out several times during the war. So at Great Headquarters there was always a confidence which the spectacle of nation after nation allying itself to Germany's enemies would otherwise have made dif- ficult to maintain. It was the confidence in Germany's science. And it was necessary, before the war could be won, to meet German scionce with English and French and Italian and American science. We and the Allies had to organize science too, and, with a haste made desperate by necessity, it was done. The stimulus given by the war to interest and work in science shows its first result in connection with in- dustrial, or, taken more widely, applied science, and also in connection with attempts better to coordinate or or- ganize scientific research. It is, indeed, little wonder that the illuminating revelation made by the war of the basic importance of science in national strength has led to serious attempts by the more forward and understand- ing nations to put themselves in the way to take greater advantage than heretofore of their scientific resources, both of personnel and material. Great Britain, France, Italy, Belgium, Japan and America have all taken special steps to continue and to extend their scientific mobiliza- tion and organization for the new period of national re- construction and international economic competition, and 178 EDUCATIONAL SESSION to be ready for the next great war, if the present efforts to avert it fail. In December, 1916, England established a Govern- ment Department of Scientific and Industrial Kesearch, with a fund of five million dollars for the first five years. This Department was made responsible to the Lord Presi- dent of the Council, who is the only cabinet minister who has relations with the whole British Empire. It was recognized that British scientific research concerned all of the empire. But the great Dominions were not content to rely solely on the activities of the mother country. Canada and Australia have already set up similar special govern- mental bureaus or institutions of scientific research, and South Africa, India and New Zealand have taken, or be- gun, the necessary steps to establish similar organiza- tions. The other Allies have also taken, or are in course of taking, their measures in the same direction. Japan's activities are especially marked. A national laboratory for scientific and industrial research has been established with a first fund of two and a half million dollars for its maintenance. In France, Italy, and Belgium the new organization of scientific work is in a more preliminary state of de- velopment, but in each of these countries, organization is actually under way. What of America? Well, we also are moving. We have, for many years, had well-developed and well-sup- ported governmental bureaus of scientific work. The list of them is long and imposing. We have also a number of active special institutions of scientific research, support- ed by the great philanthropic foundations, such as the Carnegie Corporation and the Rockefeller Foundation, or by other private (as contrasted with government) funds. ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS 179 AYe have developed first-class research laboratories and research men in the universities and great technical col- leges of the country. There is, too, a considerable and growing number of industrial research laboratories sup- ported directly by industrial concerns. Some of these are large, but most of them are small and very strictly limited to a few specific ''works problems," of particular interest to the special industrial concerns supporting them. A list of three hundred such private industrial laboratories has recently been published in a National Research Council bulletin, and there are undoubtedly others not included in this list. But we have taken an additional special step in the establishment of the National Research Council, a co- operative organization of scientific men and some men of affairs interested in science with the essential purpose of promoting scientific research and the application and dissemination of scientific knowledge for the national benefit. Unlike the new British and Japanese organiza- tions of somewhat similar character, the Research Coun- cil is not a government concern ; it is neither government- supported nor government-controlled. And although vitally interested in applied science, it is no less but probably more interested in the encouragement of funda- mental or ' ' pure ' ' science. Hence it has a particular and lively interest in the research situation as it exists to-day in America colleges and universities. In my own case, as officer of the Council, this interest takes on an especial- ly pressing character, for I happen to be chairman of that Division of the Council which has for special field of activity the relations of the Council to the educational in- stitutions of the country. In order that these relations may be as intelligently and usefully cultivated as possible, the Division has undertaken to inform itself as widely and as well as 180 EDUCATIONAL SESSION possible before attempting any constructive efforts, by making a special survey of the research situation as it exists to-day in our colleges and universities. This sur\'ey, carried on by correspondence and, more effectively, by personal visits of representatives of the Division to the educational institutions, more than 100 institutions hav- ing been visited, has now been under way for several months, and I am in position to-day to make a sort of in- formal preliminary report on some of the aspects of the situation as revealed by it. Much of the specific information at hand only makes more definite what is already kno^vn in a general way. That the great increase in student enrollment last year and this, without a corresponding faculty expansion, has so mcreased the teaching and administrative load of the faculty men that it has materially lessened their time and energy for research work is generally known. What is not so generally known, perhaps, is the fact, which ap- pears from our survey, that in by far the larger number of colleges and universities, even including many with a special reputation for research work done and oppor- tunity for it offered, when, as in this instance, special conflict, if it may bluntly be called that, between teach- ing and research comes, tradition and administrative in- fluence easily give the victory to teaching even to the ex- tent of what the military reporters call, somewhat exag- geratedly, annihilation of the losing side. Eesearch under way is interrupted, new work is not begun, and the research spirit and atmosphere are clouded. This victory of the teaching over the research interest may be explained by the necessities of the situation, especially in those institutions supported by the tax-paying parents of the state and bound to give a university course to all the applying sons and daughters, although whether, in doing this in an atmosphere unfreshened by research it gives ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS 181 them a university education, is open to question. To some the victory of teaching may even seem the prefer- able one, if there really must be victory for one side or the other. But under any circumstances of explanation or attitude the fact of the teaching victory is significant. Another familiar fact of general knowledge is that a major part of university research in this country comes from a comparatively small number of larger, richer, better-equipped, more brilliantly-staffed institu- tions. But it is less familiar that the great majority of the graduate or research students of these larger institu- tions come to them, not from their own annual output of bachelors, but from other smaller colleges and universi- ties. The dean of the graduate school of one of these largest universities, particularly famous for its annual output of graduate degree men, reports that ninety per cent of its graduate students come from other smaller institutions. How important it is, then, that in these other smaller institutions there should be kept alive and encouraged those devoted struggling men endowed with the persist- ent spirit of investigation, and competent to transfer some of this spirit, and give some preliminary training, to their more promising students, who later find their way into the graduate schools of the larger insitutions. Part "f the credit for the output of research workers from ♦ Jhicago and Columbia should go to Denison and Oberlin, and the well-known investigators who turn out a steady stream of well-trained and inspired young men from 'heir finely-equipped and famous laboratories should not forget — ^I make no doubt they do not — what they owe to the less well-known men, isolated and scattered, who, con- tent, by necessity, with the humble role of feeders and )(0t finishers, send into these larger laboratories from their own small and meagerly-furnished ones, the lesser 182 EDUCATIONAL SESSION but no less steady streams of young men started right, t oth as to training and inspiration, for the self-sacrific- lig career of investigators of science for science and iumanity's sake. I have been most agreeably surprised to find out, in tie course of our survey, how many there are of these & nailer institutions possessed of a real research tradition aud atmosphere, and how many there are of these devot- ed research workers and research work trainers scatter- ed all over the land. Given a tradition and spirit handed dt wn by some one or two true investigators of an earlier day, a s^^npathetic executive, and a few present men, or ev'3n one, possessed of the divine spark, and, despite material handicaps, isolation and limited student mate- rial to select from, there you have a research source. Besides a certain library and laboratory equipment, a s}TQpathetic atmosphere and competent men, all re- search requires time, and, much of it, a certain degree of what may be called special opportunity. Prompt facili- ties of publication, and means, both as regards money and release from routine requirements, for attendance at meetings and conferences of fellow investigators, are very helpful, sometimes indispensable. The sabbatical or some other system of leave is a great aid to research achievement by university men. And I imagine that the popular notion is that some kind of leave system ob- tains in most universities and colleges. The sad fact is, however, that just the opposite is true. A regular sab- batical or even a one in eight or ten years system, with as much as one-half pay — and this is never enough — as a definite, to-be-relied-on condition of faculty service is exceptional rather than usual in our universities. Among a selected list of 230 colleges and universities — several hundrer smaller ones can be put out of consideration at once — considerably more than one-half recognize no sys- ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS 183 tern or faculty claims for leave of any kind. Among ninety- nine that do give some ear to requests for leave, or profess some sort of established system, less than half have a regular one in seven or one in eight years system with half or full pay, only a pitiful few giving the full pay. For special short-time leaves, for the sake of attend- ing important meetings of scientific societies or for con- ferences with other workers in the same research field, numerous institutions show a certain generosity of allow- ance of time — but few of money, which in all too many cases is as necessary as the time. One of the special efforts of the National Eesearch Council is to provide funds for the necessary traveling and maintenance ex- penses of the members, who are mostly university pro- fessors, of its various divisions and many special re- search project committees in connection with their neces- sary meetings and conferences. To get the proposed participants in a cooperative research together for a day in the same room is a long step in getting that particular research under way. To get together ever so many letters from them is hardly more than nothing. Research funds, research professorships, and gradu- ate fellowships are means used to promote research work in universities. Of the advantage of specific research funds there will be little question. Unfortunately they are few and usually not large. The recently announced Heckscher gift of half u million dollars to Cornell as an endowment to provide a permanent annual fund for re- search is an example that we may hope will stimulate the making of other similar gifts. The great industries of the country, whose development and success are based on the applications of science, should be brought to realize how important to them is the constant extension of research in fundamental or that so-called ''pure" science which alone makes applied science possible and 184 EDUCATIONAL SESSION gives it constant hope of new triumphs. From these in- dustries should come a generous support of research in the universities and especially of the opportunities for training in research, as it is almost exclusively from the universities that comes the constant provision of the re- search workers for the future. There are signs that such recognition by the industries of the value to themselves of the special institutions for fundamental research and the university laboratories is increasing. The National Research Council has just had a money gift of consider- able amount from a great industrial concern to use in whatever way the Council deems best for the promotion of research. A much larger gift has recently been made by a great English industrial company for the support of research in the English universities. But while the establishment of research funds in universities is accepted as wholly desirable, the founding of research professorships and the multiplication of graduate fellowships are not accepted Avithout some head-shaking. Especially is this true in the case of the graduate fellowships. The existence of a considerable body of graduate fellows in a university does not neces- sarily mean the carrying on of much research work nor even the training of numerous young men to be research workers. It does mean the more or less serious applica- tion of many young men and women to the business of getting a master's or doctor's degree, and the devotion of a certain number of them to research aspirations. In fact, the whole matter of graduate school organization and work is made difficult by the mixture in it of the simultaneous attempts to provide opportunities for de- gree getting and opportunities for research work and training. The National Research Council, because of its special interest in encouraging active research in the uni- versities, has arranged for the establishment of a con- ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS 185 siderable number of strictly research university fellow- ships in physics and chemistry, and all of the eighteen men so far appointed to these fellowships are already holders of the doctor's degree. There has been much discussion of the possibilities of devising some special means for recognizing possible good material for research work among advanced stu- dents, and certain psychologists, in the light of the mark- ed success in the use of special intelligence tests in the schools and in the army, are asking the National Research Council to support an extended experiment along this line among university students. The Council is inclined to do this. In the meantime, for the sake of a more careful at- tention to research possibilities and encouragement both among students and faculty, the setting up of special university research committees, either within the gradu- ate school or more or less independent of it, seems to be well justified by results already accomplished. The Re- search Council is now in touch with about fifty such com- mittees and is encouraging the formation of others. A conspicious example of what may be accomplished by a well-chosen and active committee of this kind is furnish- ed by the University of California. This committee has been able so to impress the university administrative authorities and the faculty with the high desirability, or even necessity, of a strong development of research work and training, if the university is to do the best that it can do for the people of the state who support it, that money and authority have been put into its hand sufiicient to in- sure this development. Probably no other part of Cali- fornia University's administration is now doing more to mould the policy and activities of the institution. Other committees less well endowed with authority and means have nevertheless been able to exercise a most important 186 EDUCATIOX.\L SESSION and salutary influence in their universities by the strength derived from the innate instinct and enthusiasm for creative scholarship possessed by their members, which has enabled them, in a most natural way, to build up an opinion strongly supporting research as a justifi- able function of faculty members, and to develop a point of view favoring research activity which has come to permeate the whole system of teaching in their institu- tions. Even if a university cannot afford to support re- search in any large way, yet it cannot advisedly afford not to support a leavening nucleus of research men in its faculty. The leaven of research will make the whole loaf of teaching much more nutritive. ************ Now, I have brought you, in my brief discussion, little that is new, but I hope I have at least emphasized some matters that you already have in mind and are already inclined to take serious interest in. Our Ameri- can universities have within the last year been severely criticized by an eminent Canadian mathematician, speaking before the Eoyal Canadian Institute, because of their lack of attention to the demoralized research situation in them. I am not aware that the Canadian universities are in special position to reproach us in this connection, but all of us would rather see our own situa- tion of such character as to bring us congratulation and praise instead of condolence and blame. How thorough- ly Germany appreciates the advantages that a high de- velopment of research activity may bring is shown by her success, despite enormous handicaps, in opening two new universities since the beginning of the war — and universities in Germany are synonymous with seats of actual research and training for research. Our univer- sities should have the same significance in this respect CONSTRUCTIVE MEASURES 187 to our country as Germany's have to Germany. And it is wholly possible to bring this about. But as our uni- versities, unlike Germany's, are mostly a law unto them- selves, it is in their own hands to determine whether this shall really be brought about or not. THE JUNIOR COLLEGE MOVEMENT A. ROSS HILL, PH.D.j LL.D. President of the University of Missouri It seems difficult to determine just when the idea of the junior college was first suggested, but it probably occurred at an earlier date than most of us have supposed. In his inaugural address as President of the Univer- sity of Minnesota, Col. Folwell suggested that ulti- mately the secondary schools in the larger centers of population might well undertake the work of the fresh- man and sophomore years in the university. One might make a case for the claim that in several of the early state systems of education there was contemplated the existence of institutions, public or private, that should do the work now being attempted by junior colleges, that is, supplement the general training of the second- ary schools and prepare students for specialization in the professional and advanced schools of the university. Notably the educational system of Virginia as conceived in the original plans for the University of Virginia, and the first education act of Missouri, contemplated a num- ber of collegiate institutions that would connect the pub- lic schools with the university, but these middle schools were not established. But in these early suggestions there was no clear recognition of the junior college as an insti- tution, and it is probably safe to say that it first secured public recognition as an essential contribution to our educational machinery through President W. R. Harper and the early organization of the the University of Chicago, with its somewhat sharp distinction between CONSTRUCTIVE MEASURES 189 the junior college and the senior college and its emphasis upon the collegiate character of the first two years of work against the university character of that offered in the latter part of the college course. President Harper attempted to enlist the interest of a group of private institutions in becoming junior col- leges with no expectation of carrying the work beyond this point and with the definite policy of leaving to the universities the conduct of more advanced academic as well as professional instruction. The small colleges did not respond readily to this scheme of affiliation; but the policy of establishing within their own curricula a dis- tinction between college and university academic work, already found in many universities and strong colleges before the organization of the University of Chicago, persisted and became more general in spite of the example of the few institutions that for a time followed and ad- vocated an absolutely free elective system, or what amounted to the same thing from the standpoint of the present discussion, a system of majors and minors that could be entered upon as early as the freshman year. The growing recognition that our Amrican practice is widely at variance with European usages, and the con- viction that the period between the present four-year high school and the four-year college does not mark any real educational transition, that most of our freshmen and much of our sophomore instruction is secondary in character while there is a period some time toward the end of our second college year where a genuine transi- tion does occur in the case of a large proportion of the students, have tended to make the distinction between the lower and the higher divisions of universities almost universal, though in the majority of them it is still vaguely expressed. The wide-spread movement within the last decade to require two years of college work for 190 EDUCATIONAL SESSION admission to university professional seliools has strengthened this tendency and served to call public at- tention to the field of the junior college. And the great increase in the number of freshmen enrolled in the large universities since the war has made the junior college movement of more than academic interest. The junior college idea seems to be now very widely accepted, and interesting experiments are in progress in many states. But California and Missouri are as yet the only states that seem to have anything approaching state- wide systems of junior colleges. In the case of California these junior colleges are public institutions connected with public high schools; in Missouri they are, with two exceptions, private colleges that have recently discon- tinued the j)ractice of conferring degrees and have in general given up the pretense of offering complete col- lege curricula and of maintaining standard collegiate in- stitutions. In California the movement was promoted chiefly by pressure from the local communities and pub- lic school authorities; in Missouri by conference and co- operation from the outset between heads of private insti- tutions and the president of the state university. While public junior colleges are likely to be established during the next decade in reasonable numbers in the larger cities of the modern western states, the South seems to be a favorable field for the development of junior colleges on private foundations. There are in the South nearly four hundred institutions claiming to be colleges or univer- sities, only about thirty of which are recognized by the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. Not more than forty others approximate the minimum requirements of a standard college. There remain ap- proximately three hundred practically unclassified. Of these, perhaps as many as one hundred might improve their equipment, curricula, teaching force and general CONSTRUCTIVE MEASURES 191 organization sufficiently to do two years of worthy col- lege work. Many of them are showing marked interest in the junior college movement, and it is safe to predict that the number of accredited junior colleges will be rapidly increased. Taking the country as a whole, it seems clear that the junior college movement will be with us for some time, at least, if it has not come to stay per- manently, and the problem now before educators is its wise guidance and the discounting so far as possible of the dangers to which it may be naturally exposed. This movement opens a way for effective coopera- tion between state and local or private effort in education of collegiate grade. Where encouraged and wisely guided by the universities, it leads to the employment of better prepared teachers and to the provision of better library and laboratory equipment in the institutions that claim to give college instruction. The guidance which stand- ardization affords philanthropic persons, who may be in- terested in promoting education, tends to aid the private junior colleges in securing needed endowments, and similarly stimulates localities that can stand the expense to provide collegiate instruction in postgraduate depart- ments of their high schools. The existence of a number of junior colleges in a state, located as they are likely to be in fairly distinct geographical divisions, tends to en- courage many students, who for one reason or another cannot or should not attempt to graduate from a univer- sity, to secure a complete general education or to get some training in vocational lines and in direct prepara- tion for citizenship beyond what the high school can offer. To the universities the junior college movement may be expected to bring relief from the present pre- ponderance in numbers of freshmen and sophomores as compared with the enrollment of upper-class academic and professional students, and also from the necessity of 192 EDUCATIONAL SESSION eliminating many who are now drifting into the univer- sities without definite aims and without the intellectual interests that are essential to wholesome conditions of university life. And it does not seem possible to develop real university spirit in an institution whose freshmen are from two to four times as numerous as its seniors and graduate students. That the situation in the larger state universities is now serious cannot be questioned. Another important consideration in the relation of junior colleges to state universities at the present time is this: the private junior colleges for women all have resi- dence halls whereas state universities are limited in their residence accommodations even for women students. It will be granted, I take it, that this matter is of the great- est importance in the case of women students of the fresh- man and sophomore grades, and the maturer women stu- dents can, with the advice of a dean of women, much more easily adapt themselves to the conditions prevailing in the co-educational and state universities. In Missouri this feature of residence halls has, it appears to me, been the chief argument presented by the private junior col- leges to their patrons, and accounts for their large en- rollment and their general success. But certain obvious dangers we must all recognize. The majority of high schools, even of those on our ac- credited lists, are at present unable to do thoroughly four years of secondary work. They lack equipment and adequately trained teachers. Then there are many schools in communities of modem size doing admirably the work which they pretend to attempt and which are year by year more completely meeting the needs of their own com- munities. For either of these classes of schools the at- tempt to take on a fifth or sixth year of work would be, in some cases, a form of folly calling for frank and unequiv- ocal description by outside disinterested parties, and in CONSTRUCTIVE MEASURES 193 others, a highly ill-advised step, likely to lead to over- loading teachers already carrying their full burden of work and to the attempting of results for which the avail- able facilities are wholly inadequate. The consequence would be to ''substitute for a well organized school, do- ing faithfully and intelligently the things within its reasonable reach, a shoddy, ill-adjusted and generally un- successful institution exposing itself to legitimate criti- cism and ultimate loss of public confidence." As a rule a community with a population less than 50,000 should go slowly in taking up the consideration of the establish- ment of a public junior college. In the case of private in- stitutions, the question of present and prospective endow^- ment is of equal importance. In the case of the public junior college, the interests not only of the local institution and the universities, but also of the local community are concerned. Ambitious principals and superintendents of schools are likely to be injudiciously stimulated to premature developments of the junior college movement in communities which are financially not able to afford proper support. On the other hand, unprogressive school authorities are likely to dis- courage and unduly postpone the development of this type where the community is abundantly able and where a service of unquestioned value could be rendered both to the community and its young people. In a few communi- ties and in some educationally progressive and ambitious young commonwealths, rivalry between towns and gener- al booster tendencies may operate in the direction of un- due stimulation of this movement. While these facts call for sound advice from institutions with which the junior colleges seek to affiliate and from which they ex- pect recognition, and while the universities must often firmly decline to grant recognition and courageously ad- vise against unwarranted attempts at expansion of public 194 EDUCATIONAL SESSION school programs, yet communities may certainly demand that junior colleges be peculiarly responsive to local needs and that they be not simply attempts at copying the first two years of the conventional college program. Especially demands for vocational training are sure to make themselves felt and in general the majority of junior college students are likely in time to find it the institution in which they finish their formal education. At the outset the junior college is likely to adopt the curriculum of the first two years of the institution with w^hich it most naturally will seek affiliation. Its program of studies will include foreign languages, English, history and government, sociology and economics, logic, psy- chology, mathematics, and the sciences. There will not be much difficulty in establishing work of freshman and sophomore grades in foreign languages and mathematics and perhaps logic and psychology, but the university most immediately concerned will in most cases need to exercise some watchful care for the instruction in history, eco- nomics, and the sciences to insure that the quality and standard are really collegiate in character. Courses in these lines should be broad, but sound, and should aim not at technical detail but at insight and appreciation, which are the bases of culture. So long as the program of studies in the junior college is of the nature just out- lined, there will be no difficulty in formulating a curri- culum that will dovetail satisfactorily into the university curriculum. And such work will also meet the needs of those students who wish only to extend their academic training, but do not plan to graduate from a university. But some students, and ultimately perhaps a major- ity of junior college students in the public institutions, w^ll demand primarily training in domestic science, ac- counting, mechanic arts and various phases of technology and agriculture. In their interest and for the sake of the CONSTRUCTIVE MEASURES 195 community, it is desirable that this demand be satisfied, and the people of the community will in the long run see to it that it is satisfied. For many students who are not destined to study in a university, the greatest service the junior college can render will lie in the direction of voca- tional training based only on the academic training furnished by the high school. But when the junior college becomes a vocational in- stitution, it severs its natural relation with the university and its curricula; for the technical and professional in- struction of the university as well as its advanced aca- demic work are based upon prerequisites of college grade in the fundamental sciences, languages, etc. Perhaps the best solution of this difficulty is that the junior college ex- periencing such a development, in order to meet its obligations to the local community, should organize separate curricula in arts and science, technology, teacher training, etc., and let the university accredit its academic college curriculum as an institution but accredit only some individual courses in its vocational program. This is the policy agreed upon between the Polytechnic Insti- tute of Kansas City, which includes the Kansas City Junior College, and the University of Missouri. This difficulty is not likely to be so acute in the case of private junior colleges, especially those located in small towns, partly because they have developed academic traditions through many years of college and academy instruction; though recognition by the university of technological cur- ricula in public junior colleges of large cities would at once raise a similar question regarding schools of music and the fine arts usually maintained in connection with the private junior colleges. Of course conflicts of nearer and farther aims in shaping the course of an individual student are inevi- table. The principle should always be kept in mind that as long as possible courses of instruction should be so 196 EDUCATIONAL SESSION conducted and so grouped that he can at the same time best prepare for further study and for immediate service to society in case he has to drop out at any time. But the time of quite sharp differentiation of instruction can- not be indefinitely postponed. For those whose intel- lectual interests and opportunities make it undesirable that they attempt a complete university training this differentiation should certainly not be postponed beyond high school graduation. But there will always be some persons of good ability who discover themselves rather late and who will find themselves handicapped in taking up university work at the close of junior college training and who face the necessity of some loss of time in adjust- ment. Students of this class can be dealt with as in- dividuals, as in the case of those coming to universities from unclassified institutions. University curricula must be based on fundamental courses conducted in the scientific spirit. A student trained for two years after graduation from high school in courses designed to furnish a short cut to practical efficiency cannot without loss of time fit into a university curriculum designed to cultivate the spirit of investiga- tion and to furnish mastery through the application of scientific principles. It is therefore probably wisest for a university frankly to take the ground that the type of vocational training that can be offered in the junior col- lege is not comparable with university courses in engi- neering, home economics, commerce, etc., which are based upon two years of college science as prerequisite. Such an attitude on the part of the universities will have the ad- ditional value of leading junior college students and teachers to reflect on the probable future educational opportunities of the students before determining their immediate selection of courses. The future of the junior college and its place in our CONSTRUCTIVE MEASURES 197 system of education are of course no more certain than in the case of the standard college and the present high school. Personally, I believe that our entire system needs overhauling — in fact, many students of educational prob- lems have been so convinced for several years — and the present conditions in our large universities may help to bring home this conviction to those who have hitherto been indifferent and inclined to let things drift, assuming that the system could not be changed. Then, too, since America entered the war it has been a little easier to get a hearing on the part of public school teachers and those interested in the public school by pointing out that our elementary school of eight grades is not of divine origin, but is a copy of the "Volkschule" of Prussia; that in Germany this school is a finishing school for the peasants, whereas we have made it a foundation for the super- structure of secondary and higher education, thus pro- longing the period of general education and wasting time by spending eight years in teaching the school arts that probably could be mastered in six. On the other hand, our public high school, probably copied originally from Edinburgh, began with three years of instruction, in- creased to four, and now stands ready in all but the smallest towns to expand its program to six years, in the belief that it can not only prepare students to meet the present college entrance requirements but also absorb the present freshmen courses. The American college was and in part still is a secondary school, suited to the educa- tional needs of youth in the later teens, while the de- velopment of American universities with the college as the center and heart of their life and instruction, instead of their preparatory division, has brought confusion of terms and standards into our higher education. Should the public school system be so reorganized as to have six elementary and six secondary grades, the 198 EDUCATIONAL SESSION latter would doubtless be subdivided so as to provide for a junior high school of two or three years; and the junior college would find a natural place as a three or four year institution requiring junior high school preparation for admission. The very large number of communities that would be able to maintain junior high schools only would create a situation which would furnish a much larger field for junior colleges of the new type than exists for the two-year junior college doing freshman and sopho- more college work. Should the junior college then par- allel and duplicate the senior high school in large meas- ure, there would be nothing more illogical about that situation than is found to-day in the relation of standard college and university. The public junior college would perhaps disappear, but a new field of cooperation be- tween public and private effort in the education of youth w^ould be opened up and the private junior college would assume large significance. But the question of the effect of educational move- ments upon institutions is after all only incidental. Col- leges and schools are destined to survive in lives enriched, enobled, and blessed; in ideas and aspirations and ideals that stir men's minds and arouse their souls to nobler and to vaster issues; in improved conditions of society as a result of the work of their former students; and they will find their justification in the contributions they thus make to American society and to the American system of education in its onward triumphal march. DIFFERENTIATION OF THE UNITS OF THE EDU- CATIONAL SYSTEM TO MEET THE NEEDS OF VARYING TYPES OF STUDENTS CHARLES A, PROSSER, PH.D. Director of The William Hood Dunwoody Institute Modem society has become self-conscious of its weaknesses and its possibilities, and is deliberately plan- ning to control its own environment and shape its own destiny. Of no people is this so true as of our own coun- try. The causes for the growth of this conscious and deliberate constructive spirit are many. We have become keenly sensitive to human incapa- city, suffering, and waste. Experience, verified by scien- tific knowledge and investigation, has given us a guilty knowledge, from which we cannot escape, of the causes and the remedies for human shortcomings and social de- fects. Swelling social resources provide the means to pro- mote through collective action a widening social program of human betterment. Finally, science has furnished the tested knowledge in many fields that can be applied in many ways and through various agencies to the improve- ment of social conditions and the advancement of social well-being. These causes and this constructive spirit had already brought, even before the Great War, the breakdown of faith in older customs, as well as doctrines, and a period of transition in our institutional life which the European conflict has made a demand, constantly grow- ing more articulate, for readjustment. The readjustment will be made, as it has already been made in some unhappy nations on the Continent, by 200 EDUCATIONAL SESSION revolution; or it will be made in the strength and se- curity of our democracy, by the application of a wise "social economy." Social economy as here used is the conscious effort of society to transform and adapt insti- tutions by the more purposeful use of scientific know- ledge for human betterment. The demand for transformation in our institutions apparently holds little if anything in the old order sacred. It has already brought or forced sweeping changes not yet fully consununated in religion, in govern- ment, in the administration of justice, in suffrage, in sumptuarv^ laws, in the family relationship, in inter- national relations, and in the social side of modern in- dustry. A careful study of the transformations which are being brought about in these institutions will show that, practically without exception, they have been imposed from without by the demands — the social action — of a majority of public opinion, usually without the help and frequently against the opposition of those actively en- gaged in carrying on the work of the institution itself. The spotlight of criticism — the demand for better adaptation — has been directed as strongly against educa- tion as, if not more strongly than, against any other social agency. This is by no means because the schools are re- garded as being less efficient, but rather because society relies upon them more and expects more of them as an in- stitution for realizing its conscious, far-reaching aims. We have come to believe that the hope of each generation lies in the improvement through its children of the next succeeding generation through processes that are essen- tially educational — the fixing of habits, the imparting of knowledge, the development of ideals. From this view- point education is one of the largest aspects, if not the largest, of social economy. Not all education is given by the school, but by home CONSTRUCTIVE MEASURES 201 and church and farm and shop and office and playground as well. But of these, the public school, from kindergarten to university, is the only educational institution under the direct control of the State and therefore is the only edu- cational agency which social economy can make directly responsive to its will and adapt to meet changing social conditions and demands. The public school is the agency on which conscious social action must rely in its efforts to better the social order by the training of its youth. The overwhelming majority of each generation in this democracy is trained in the public schools. In its determination to confer on each youth the habits, know- ledge, and ideals which it regards in any age as necessary to good citizenship and social efficiency, society must look to the public schools for this service whenever home or church or shop fail to assume it or properly to perform it. As final custodian for society of the interests and well-being of childhood, the public school must to an in- creasing degree improve and adapt its own work to changing conditions and rising social demands and as- sume those functions of other educational agencies which they from time to time can no longer discharge properly. It must shed its old self-sufficiency and aloofness and become the leader — the conscious complimentary and co- operating agency for the coordination of the educational activities of all social agencies. As the institution pri- marily concerned and responsible for the conservation of childhood, it must vision aims and methods, enter into sympathetic helpful, team-play with other institutions, and influence and inspire them with the soundness of its forward-looking program, the enthusiasm of its own service, the efficiency of its own work, and the sincerity and worth of its proposals for the discharge of a joint responsibility for social progress. 202 EDUCATIONAL SESSION Whatever may be the conscious aim of social econo- my elsewhere, in a democracy it is the effort, never to be fully realized short of the Millenium, to make or help the individual make the most of himself and contribute the most and best of which he is capable to social well-being. The task before any age of properly adapting the youth to a changing environment and rising social ideals of con- duct and ser\ace would be a very difficult one if all the children of this democracy were of one pattern in their economic condition, their capacities, and their interests and temperaments, and if the resources of the state made it possible to provide for each and all of them the longest period of infancy and the best training which vision could dream and science put into effect. It is fortunate rather than unfortunate for the rich- ness of life and for social progress that children, like men, are not of the same drab pattern. Otherwise life would pall from monotony and society stagnate from uniformity. Rather do our youth present every conceiv- able variety and variation in pattern, for they run the whole gamut of interests, tendencies, and capacities, in the face of which the continual effort in many quarters to perpetuate a uniform program of education for all be- comes obsolete in aim and futile in results. Moreover, while the social wealth of each succeeding era in our history as a nation justifies and permits a better program of social economy, there is and probably always will be a limit to the program which the state can support for the education of its youth. There certainly is a limit to the economic resources of the mass of our people, and, therefore, to the period of infancy and social adjustment for their children which they can support. Because of these limitations, patent alike to the most superficial thinker and the most unyielding apostle of cultural training as the sole function of the schools, edu- CONSTRUCTIVE MEASURES 203 cation as the chief agency in our social economy can never again be uniform but rather infinitely differentiated and diversified if the youth of the nation with their infinite variety of interest, capacities, and condition are to be so trained into self-realization that they will make the most of themselves and therefore contribute most to social well-being. Uniformity in the units of our school system and in courses of instruction must give way rapid- ly to differentiation; adaptation must take the place of ministration to a restricted social class; and rigid pro- grams and entrance requirements must be succeeded by an earnest search for groups having common needs, and, to use Dr. Snedden's expressive phrase, be to an indefinite extent adapted to varying groups. As with other educational agencies, and as is always to be expected, the social demand for the readjustment of our public school programs has been met with determined resistance in some quarters from within the ranks of those actively engaged in educational work. I am not so sure but that, on the whole, this resistance, within meas- ured limits at least, against changes, particularly against sweeping transformation on the part of social institu- tions, is after all a benefit rather than an injury to the proposed reform. Resistance to the change may be irri- tating, but it insures a careful examination of all the issues and problems involved and the careful, gradual, systematic introduction and adaptation of the new pro- gram. Possibly even the thunderous declaration by the evangelist and the back woods exhorter of their undis- turbed faith that the whale swollowed Jonah has as an aid to social control brought to many people a gradual adjust- ment to the teaching of higher criticism without disturb- ing their fundamenal belief in the eternal verities of re- ligion or the inspired character of the scriptures. It is only fair to say for the school men of the coun- 204 EDUCATIONAL SESSION try that, in spite of the impatience of the reformer with many of them, they have on the whole been more respon- sive to the demands for changes and adaptations in our educational institutions than have those personally res- ponsible for other social institutions to the pressure for reform, — more responsive than the theologian to religious adjustments; than the legal profession to social obliga- tion, and the reform of court procedure in the interest of social justice; than the medical profession to new pro- grams of public health; than capital and labor to our growing impatience with class controversies whose evil results interfere with public safety and social well-being. For two decades educational thinkers in advance of any crystallized public thought have been stating the aim of the educational processes in terms of the social econo- my of this era and the mission of the schools. Prepara- tion for citizenship, preparation for life, preparation for complete living, education for efficiency, conservation of childhood — any or all of these state in sweeping phrase a new mission for the schools over against the narrow, rigid, one is almost tempted to say unsocial, programs and methods of the traditional school. "While here and there and sometimes in considerable numbers, we find within the schools the educational counterpart of those who still cling to outworn religious or social beliefs and practices, the educators of the coun- try taken as a whole are with a deep sincerity responding to the new educational demands of our social economy, as readily as, perhaps more readily than, any professional group could be expected to surrender old convictions and old methods, perhaps as quickly as the resources of the schools will permit, and possibly with as much perma- nent progress as the traditions of the schools and the proof of the wisdom of proposed changes will justify. So time is this that if we look upon the educational system CONSTRUCTIVE MEASURES 205 of the country as a work shop and laboratory, it to-day is testing somewhere as an experiment, although unfortun- ately perhaps in piecemeal, every proposed change which the social economy of our day is urging on the schools. This does not by any means insure that these tests are be- ing made under the final conditions as to organiza- tion and method which the reform must take, nor that the tryout of the new program, or course, or device is always being made by persons competent in experience or sympathetic understanding for the experiment. It does mean, however, that we are on our way to pronounced changes in our educational program for the adaptation of many-sided youth to the demands of his environment. On the threshold of pronounced changes and adap- tations certain to come, much would be gained if edu- cators from college presidents to kindergartners could become as a group more tolerant and appreciative of the educational theorist or the practical reformer proposing innovations in the work of the schools. They can afford to forget the vigor, even bitterness, of his criticism in an unbiased search for the soundness of his proposals. Possibly they may gain from time to time valuable sug- gestions from him and catch the voice of a complex social order making articulate through him its new social de- mands upon the schools. This better understanding requires also that the edu- cational theorist or reformer become more tolerant and appreciative of educators. He can afford to forget the vigor and bitterness of the opposition to his program — even the professional ostracism that sometimes comes to those who fail to conform. He can gain from counter criticism constructive suggestions for the modifications of his plan and catch amid the noise of opposition new glimpses of the fundamental worth of the school system 206 EDUCATIOX.\L SESSION and the earnest desire of all true educational leaders to make the schools more effective social instruments. Since a uniform program of education is no longer possible in the social economy of a democracy seeking through training the realization by many-sided youth of its infinite possibilities, and since to an indefinite extent programs must be adapted to the needs and opportunities of varying groups, it follows that differentiation and adaptation must take the place of our formal organiza- tions, our uniform courses of study, our rigid entrance re- quirements, and our traditional methods of teaching. Spite of all the changes made, it must not be forgotten that "they are being grafted on the machinery of an older educational organization which had a limited social aim, a narrowly defined group, and fixed methods em- pirically derived." Consequently its administrative organization, well adapted to its scope and purposes, can- not serve effectively for our day. ''The new education will obviously have to possess far wider and more purposeful aims; its range or adapt- ability will of necessity be immeasurably greater; its methods must rest on a scientific basis; and its organiza- tion must become complex and flexible in order to pro- duce an efficient combination of democratic control and technical direction." These changes must come if we are to carry differentiation and adaptation in our educa- tional processes to the point where it will ''enable each individual to make the most of himself while at the same time contributing in as large a degree as possible to the general well-being." 'We are here concerned, however, with only one phase of this many-sided problem of adapt- ing our educational system to the new program, and that is with differentiation in the units of the school system. Entirely aside from the demands of our social econo- my, differentiation in the functions of our social institu- CONSTRUCTIVE MEASURES 207 tions, including the schools, is inevitable in spite of the devoted opposition of the devotees of a uniform course of study. Without differentiation and transmission of the traits that make for survival, there would be no human beings on the globe. Society itself, like the cosmos and living organisms, in its development evolves from the homogeneous or uniform to the heterogeneous and dif- ferentiated. Modern production is built upon the divi- sion of labor in the performance of tasks, which is after all but the differentiation, the selection and adaptation, of workers and tasks. Social thinking began with the impersonal, materialistic, economic man; but conscious social economy starts with the individual man and ends with the differentiation of all men into groups with common needs and characteristics, for social conserv^a- tion. There are a number of retreats from the proposal to differentiate the units of our school system in order better to adapt human beings for individual and social well-being. One is to take refuge behind the oft-repeated claim that the demands of democracy require a uniform system of education for all. This argument was used with great effect for many years against the demand for wider differentiation in the courses of study in our higher institutions of learning, but the modern university, par- ticularly the state university, has in response to the social need for trained leadership along many lines differentiat- ed the curriculum of its special schools into a bewildering list of special courses designed to prepare its students for a multitude of technical social demands. Even the college of liberal arts, responding to the growth and organization of old as well as new subject matter and to the special interests and capacities of its students, presents an array of special courses in each department equally imposing. Some of those intimately engaged in the commend- 208 EDUCATIONAL SESSION able task of widening and enriching the curriculum of the university and its special schools must be counted in the number of those who oppose differentiation and adapta- tion in the courses of study below the college on the ground that such courses are undemocratic. Is it unfair to ask why the distinction? If it be democratic to dif- ferentiate in order better to adjust the college student to the demands of his environment, why is it undemocratic to differentiate the work of the secondary schools for the same purpose ? It is no answer to say that students of college age, being more mature, know what they want to do and be and therefore are able to choose their course and select their electives. As a matter of fact, a deplorable number of college students not only do not know what they want but enroll for a variety of motives, many of which are anything else but serious and social, as I here use the word. For the children of the masses, leaving school to go to work at the age when the more fortunate are prepar- ing to go to college is a certainty so imminent as to make them much more reflective and serious in their choice of an occupation and of training for it. At least that has been my experience in dealing with the wage-earning youth and the student of the industrial and trade schools. In spite of the theory that everybody ought to com- plete the regular high school and go to college, only a few hundred thousand are able in our day to take this means of realizing their possibilities and of adapting themselves to life through the differentiated courses of instruction in the larger and more liberal of our higher institutions of learning. Millions do not and cannot. The policy of the open door of opportunity for all thrills the pride of a democracy, but it does not meet the cold fact that the failure to provide more differentiated courses of study below the college denies in reality not the open door CONSTRUCTIVE MEASURES 209 which they are not in a position to enter but the right properly to be adapted to life of the overwhelming mass of the citizens of this country. The contention for a uniform educational program below the college rests with many upon considerations of convenience in administration, but with a great many very sincere people it has its origin in the fear of class education which they believe is sure to result from setting special courses in the secondary schools, particularly those designed to give preparation for wage earning rather than graduation from regular high school courses and preparation for college. They believe that this special education of specific groups in differentiated courses will tend to disturb a democratic spirit which is believed to exist in the cosmopolitan high school and will therefore result in greater class distinction. I am not so certain that if this contention were pushed to its logical conclusion it might furnish a very strong argument against college education, possibly against the regular high school. For in spite of the open door to those able to meet their entrance requirements and with the eco- nomic resources to continue their training, colleges and high schools do give class education. The ovenvhelming majority of the youth of the nation never see the inside of a college, and millions do not and cannot pursue and finish the complete course of the regular high school. Further- more, as it should be, the courses of instruction of colleges and regular high schools are differentiated and adapted to the interests of those who attend. This is in no sense meant to be an attack on these institutions with their worthy ends and great social achievements and service, but it does serve to point out the fact that to the extent that our courses of study remain inflexible and high schools continue to serve the needs of a limited and for- 210 EDUCATIOX.\L SESSION tunate social group they are differentiating and therefore discriminating between the youth of a democracy. In native capacity, economic condition, and therefore in educational needs, people are unequal at birth and can in no way and by no scheme be made equal. An educa- tional system that is to serve the needs of a democracy and prove an effective instrument in social economy must be infinitely flexible in order that it may provide each of the youth of the country the educational opportunities which will enable him best to serve society and himself. It has been well said that they who oppose the es- tablishment of effective trade schools because they suspect that these tend to create class distinctions forget what class distinctions are even now enforced by uniform pro- grams of studies appealing only to the interests and abili- ties of those possessing unusual powers of abstract think- ing. Because most of the pressure against uniform courses of study comes from the social demand upon the schools for the admission of vocational training into the system, the opposition to differentiation centers upon this new movement which it resists as undemocratic. But you can not dismiss a cause which has become the subject of state and national subsidies with a phrase. If vocational edu- cation be undemocratic, then a large majority of the citizens of this country have through their legally con- stituted representatives struck at the foundations of the republic and thousands of public school and college men share in the guilt. Vocational education would be un- democratic if it were compulsory and imposed on our youth the choice of a career and training for it. But the facts are that admission to vocational schools is not only predicated upon common school training but conditioned practically everywhere upon the completion of com- pulsory school attendance. CONSTRUCTIVE MEASURES 211 Vocational education would be undemocratic if it pro- posed to remove or so hamper as to remove the regular high school courses and thus take away from large num- bers of students their right to vocational adaptation through either high school or college instruction. Eather than this, vocational education seeks only the adaptation of units and courses and methods so as to give to others the same right to vocational adjustment now enjoyed only by those fitting for pursuits requiring extended academic or technical education. Specialized vocational schools and courses would be undemocratic if they tended, as has been charged, to in- crease or perpetuate inequalities amongst youth and men due to natural conditions which the state cannot correct, although some are blind enough to believe that they can be corrected in part at least by the so-called democracy of common elements in training and uniform courses of study. As long as millions of our youth leave the schools forever as soon as the law permits, to follow entirely with- out any vocational adaptation careers in which they are permanently anchored as unskilled workmen, they will continue to be a class apart in spite of uniform courses of study. But vocational training both before and after th(,y leave the schools, enlarging as it does both their ci"sic and vocational competency, will not aggravate this situation but "lessen rather than increase the rift be- tween economic classes. ' ' Vocational schools would be undemocratic if, as has b<;en urged, they tended to narrow the student with their special courses of instruction. This misconception rests largely upon the failure to recognize either the educa- tional and social value of orderly, systematic, directed work under instruction or the liberal and cultural value of knowledge taught for use. More serious still, the al- ternative for the vocational training of the masses under 212 EDUCATIONAL SESSION the leadership of the school is thought to be regular high school education and a college career. This is no alterna- tive for millions of wage workers even if they wished such a career. The real alternative to vocational schools is the specialized, routine, monotonous, purposeless job in the factory or the department store, where, without the help of training, most of them will be permanently stranded. Eather than being undemocratic, the proposal to dif- ferentiate units and courses in order to promote vocation- al, and therefore social, adaptation can be defended as the very essence of democracy. The second retreat of those who oppose differentia- tion in the work of the units of the school system is the proposal to substitute common elements in training for specialized courses. The theory of common elements in training starts with the belief that certain traditional courses of instruction, such as mathematics, languages, science, and history, furnished the common discipline and information essential to a cultural education which all should take and take as prescribed. For long years this contention was urged to prevent the differentiation of courses through the introduction of new subject matter and a system of electives in the college of liberal arts. When professional schools for the preparation of stu- dents for technical vocations were proposed they were resisted on the ground that the general subjects of the liberal arts course furnished the common elements of knowledge in such subjects as mathematics and science necessary for the vocational competency of all students and that preparation for the profession of agriculture, engineering, or medicine required only the addition of a new course or courses in the special technique of the pro- fession to the liberal arts curriculum. Law and medicine, engineering, agriculture, and education have gained their CONSTRUCTIVE MEASURES 213 distinct professional schools after long struggles in al- most every university, but the effort to establish profes- sional schools of business administration is being resisted in at least a number of places with precisely the same argument for the vocational competency of common elements of knowledge in general subject matter taught to mixed groups of students with widely varying ex- periences, interests, and vocational aims. This is precisely what has occurred in the resistance to differentiation in the secondary schools. The tra- ditional course of study in general subjects, prescribed as entrance requirements by the college was declared to con- tain the common elements of knowledge which, to use the language of a noted Committee from the N. E. A., best prepared one pupil for college and at the same time best prepared the other for life. With this as a shibboleth, the introduction of new subjects and the offering of elec- tives was resisted even more strongly than in the colleges of liberal arts. Practical art courses were finally admit- ted on the ground of their disciplinary value, since they would give a general mechanical skill to students which they would be able to use in any trade or occupation. When courses for specific vocations ask for admittance, they are opposed because they give specific training for a vocation to meet the needs of the youth, whereas it is the business of the public school not to differentiate but to teach common elements in vocational efficiency. And when these specialized courses, designed to meet the specific demands of the vocation upon the young wage worker, are admitted, the attempt is usually made to give vocational competency in such studies as mathematics and drawing and science, not by teaching them as applied to the vocation, but as general subjects taught to all pupils in practically the same way with the hope that they may contain common elements in training and that 214 EDUCATIONAL SESSION in some providentia] manner the pupil may learn to use them as a wage worker. The professional colleges of our state universities have arisen to provide such a special and separate organ- ization of courses, pupils, and teachers, as are necessary in order effectively to prepare their students for the ris- ing demands of the profession, and their success, as con- trasted with the old departmental plan with its common elements in training, explodes completely, so far as the college is concerned, the old theory of the vocational com- petency of general subjects taught to mixed groups. The success of the separate industrial and trade school with its separate organization of courses, pupils and teachers, as contrasted with the efforts of vocational departments in most cosmopolitan high schools, is another convincing- proof. More convincing still, there is scarcely an em- ployer or tradesman, if any, who believes that there is such a thing as general mechanical skill, or that it can be trained and developed, or that if it were developed it would be of any wage-earning importance in the pursuit of a trade vocation, or that there are common elements of either mechanical skill or technical knowledge common to a group of occupations, or that these common elements in vocational competency can be taught to mixed groups effectively, or that effective vocational education can be gained in any other way than by the close interrelating of real experience in the work of the trade with the special mathematics, drawing, and applied science bearing on that work. Perhaps more deep seated still is the fear of many high school and college men that the introduction of new onits and courses for new groups will lower the standards in present courses. Most of the private colleges and uni- versities of the country still impose rather narrow and rigid entrance requirements upon the secondary schools. CONSTRUCTIVE MEASURES 215 More responsive to the public will, our state universities have greatly broadened and liberalized their standards of entrance through the recognition of high school diplomas and the granting of entrance credits for satis- factory work in a wide range of electives, even including the practical arts. This has greatly aided in the widen- ing and enriching of the courses of study of the high school and helped greatly in popularizing its work. While these more liberal conditions of admission to the university are most commendable and a step in the right direction, they offer practically no relief to public schools in the conduct of serious vocational education for those not going to college. We know from long ex- perience that practically no pupils who take special trade instruction with a serious purpose ever plan to go to col- lege or ever go to college, and that the demands of their chosen vocation are such as to require direct, thorough preparation in applied mathematics, drawing, and sci- ence, as well as in real shop work carried on mider con- ditions and for the length of time that will give real skill and insight. Therefore, I personally believe that all special courses aiming to give vocational competency should not be open to a youth until he has finished all the general education he wishes to take and is ready to re- ceive direct preparation for a specific pursuit. From this viewpoint it follows that special vocational courses should be built on general education; should prepare for advantageous entrance to the vocation, and, therefore, give the pupil a real wage-earning asset; should lay the emphasis beyond civics and English, at least on voca- tional subjects; and should be a finishing course con- cerned with the teaching of vocational competency and not with academic credits. Nevertheless, the relation of special vocational courses to the college requirements presents a grave 216 EDUCATIONAL SESSION dilemma to the school official accustomed to measure and grade pupils and organize courses of study in terms of college credits. So deep seated is this habit that in many instances, where part time classes have been organized in the high school for the extension training of wage workers, they have given instruction in regular high school subjects rather than in subject matter pertinent to the trade or occupation in which they are engaged. When the shop work for any trade is taught by the school as a practical art and for a ]3ractical art period only, credit on college entrance is earned but real skill in processes is sacrificed. TThen the period of shop work divides the school day with class work, no credit on col- lege entrance is given for the increased shop work and the time taken from the class work reduces the credits earned there so that the pupil fails to receive a diploma. When general high school subjects are taught, entrance credits are earned but at the expense of knowledge and competency in trade subjects; and when applied trade subjects are taught in the class, they meet with the in- terest of the pupil and the approval of the tradesman but to a very great extent at least they are not recognized on the credits necessary to a diploma and to college en- trance. Since the course must be measured by other than the uniform standards of credits applied to other courses and cannot be recognized as a college preparatory course, with the open door, it falls into scholastic and social dis- favor. Faced with these dilemmas, the schools delay the establishment of real vocational courses or compromise with the cultural aims of the high school and fail to meet the real social needs of the group taught. Further to liberalize or to lower the entrance re- quirements of the university would not increase the number attending college nor relieve school officials of their embarrassment in this new but age-old conflict be- CONSTRUCTIVE MEASURES 217 tween formal education and social adaptation. The liberalizing of these requirements so as to recognize high school credits for new subjects, including the practical arts, had a far-reaching effect in the right direction be- cause it enabled the secondary school to offer as electives courses which appealed to a wider variety of interest on the part of the group certain to go to college. But special vocational courses to meet the specific needs for voca- tional eflSciency of those who take the work as prepara- tion for wage-earning are for the benefit of those who are certain not to go to college but to the farm or the office, the shop or the factory. This is still more true of courses for the extension training of those who return to instruc- tion after entering employment. No change in the en- trance standards of our colleges will affect the path followed by this group, not even the admission of pupils shown by test to have the mental maturity and capacity to profit by the work, nor even if, as has been suggested, the university should admit any person over twenty-one years of age regardless of academic credits to any course and test him by the character of his work. The solution of the dilemma lies with the public school officials and no longer with college entrance re- quirements, in my opinion. The differentiation of the work of the secondary school rests upon social and no longer on academic considerations, and the technicali- ties of college credits. School officials are not in re- volt against the university when they establish dif- ferentiated courses of instruction for persons of second- ary school age who neither want nor receive credits for college entrance. They are simply doing for the adoles- cent exactly the same thing as the university is doing through its special schools for the more mature — helping them to realize their interests and capacities so that they 218 EDUCATION.\L SESSION may make the most of themselves and contribute the most of which they are capable to social well-being. Differentiation in the secondary school process has in the past been largely a refinement of facilities for the better training of a group college bound. It will become also an adaptation of ser^dce to all groups not college bound when we lay the emphasis on the social mission of the public schools as the instruments of a conscious social economy rather than upon cultural courses and formalized procedure. A diagram of the courses of study from the primary grades through the special schools and graduate work of the university is the picture of a fan with a small com- pact handle at its base for the elementary school, a few spreading ribs for the secondary period, and a wide flare of schools, departments, units, and courses for the college and university. While in the very nature of its task of giving young children the tools of interpretation for life and further training, the program of the elementary school must always remain more or less uniform and homogenous, there are already signs to indicate that even here greater flexibility must come in the regions of physi- cal, moral, and manual education and probably in re- ligious education as well. It is in the secondary or middle part of the educa- tional spread, that social economy is to-day demanding a far wider differentiation of units and courses, so that the adolescent to whom this stage is the last period of adjust- ment before he enters upon self dependent life may be better adapted for personal and social efficiency. These proposals and needs for diversification are bewildering in number and variety. The junior high school has arisen for the better adaptation of the youth from twelve to fourteen years of age to social and educational demands and possibilities, but there is already great danger that CONSTRUCTIVE MEASURES 219 this new unit imposed between the elementary school and the high school for the benefit of a group of children, for more than three out of four of whom it constitutes a finishing school for life, will serve the needs of the regular high school for selection, elimination, and specific preparation far better than it does the social and eco- nomic needs of the larger group. The proposal to establish junior colleges in our larger and more prosperous small communities so that the youth may secure his freshman year at home has much of merit in it. Undoubtedly it would relieve, in part at least, the state university of a large expense which would be met by the local school system. Many students of immature years would be better conserved by another year at home, and the mortality of the first year of college would doubtless be reduced. There is, however, much more than a fancied danger that a serious loss in interest and purposefulness of work would result because of the inability of the locality to provide the electives now offered by the university. It is not at all improbable that in some communities the junior college, unduly emphasized, may even increase the reliance upon col- lege entrance standards and credits at the expense of other educational adaptations to social demands on other groups which the schools should make. More vital still, the whole program of differentiation in the secondary school waits not only upon a changing social and educa- tional point of view but upon public resources from tax- ation as well. Is it too radical to suggest that the pro- vision of facilities for the better preparation of long neglected groups for greater social competency needs to be made the first consideration ? The differentiations of the secondary school period need to be made in terms of the social needs of all persons of secondary school age — by this I mean all persons over 220 EDUCATIOX.U SESSION fourteen and under sixty, let us say, who have by school- ing and experience arrived at a secondary grade of maturity of mind and purpose. Without neglecting one jot or tittle the interests of those going to college or finishing the regular high school or any of its courses as their way out to efficiency and happiness, the public schools must differentiate sharply between this group and the larger and many-sided group that does not, will not, or cannot follow the traditional path. There is no refuge from this except the contention, exploded by ex- perience, that the practically uniform treatment for all of secondary age is best for all. The organized educational process under public auspices centers around the teaching of groups having common interests and needs — the groups being large enough and the need worthy enough to justify public support. Differentiation for the purpose of social adapta- tion is first of all the search for groups with common needs. Second, it is an analysis of environment to deter- mine what is demanded and therefore what shall be taught. Finalh^, it is the adaptation of courses and methods j^roperly to meet the task. Differentiation in secondary education needs to discriminate at the verA^ outset between those who go to the regular school to fit for college; those who go to the high school to fit directly for social and vocational competency; those who leave school to go to work as soon as the law permits ; and those who attend school a year or two beyond the compulsory age limit with the hope and desire for special and direct preparation for civic and wage-earning duties. As soon as this analysis is made there opens before the school almost a new world of human beings and of service. At once the desire for social service recognizes, for example, the need of differentiation between those who have and those who have not gone to work, for the obliga- CONSTRUCTIVE MEASURES 221 tion of the state does not cease because the youth has be- come a wage worker, but is increased because of his larger deficiencies. Part time, half time, dull season, general continuation, general evening, and special even- ing preparatory and extension classes in vocational sub- jects become at once needed additions to the public school machinery; and they need separate organization and close supervision of the important task of expanding them into an infinite variety of flexible unit courses, full courses, and general courses, presenting a wide array of general, civic and vocational subjects necessary to the interests, capacity, and purposes of this wage-earning group, many times as large as the adolescent group at- tending all day schools and infinitely more varied in its immediate interests and demands. The task before the school of discharging its obligation of social adjustment to these many-sided groups and groups differentiated within groups, is a new and sacred responsibility and the mark and measure of the social worth of our high calling. The problem before the state university is no longer that of securing through the secondary schools as feeders a sufficient student body to give support and prestige to the university program and needs. That day is past, for practically every state university is to-day confronted with a student body almost beyond its capacity to ac- commodate, and every year the swelling enrollment breaks all previous records. There is some danger that we may measure the worth of these institutions by their comparative registration rather than by the character of their work. Numbers are not always an index of excel- lence. Certain it is that our universities, dependent upon public taxation for their support, are to-day confronted by grave financial and administrative problems that call for readjustment on the basis of sound principles and policies for the future. 222 EDUCATIONAL SESSION For the group it serves, the state university, with its comparative absence of social distinctions and its wide differentiations and adaptations to the interests and needs of its many-sided student body, is probably the most democratic institution in the world. But this very democracy of spirit and service has, in some cases at least, inevitably led to the adaptation of standards and require- ments to the ability of students not conducive to thorough-going work and the sound scholarship demand- ed by the times. As a larger percentage of our youth go to college, pro- bably a larger percentage of our college students are not capable of the earnest, purposeful, scholarly work the university would like to require and in its upper years, at least, should require. With its battle for a large student body gloriously won, what shall be the policy of the state university for the future % Shall it continue its program and effort to secure greater and even greater numbers, or should it be content with a smaller annual increase in registration and use its opportunity through better standards to select those best able to profit by a college career and to send from its halls the youth of America better equipped for leadership ? It is altogether likely that popular opinion will in- sist that the state university shall continue to be a place for the social training of high school graduates, as well as the technical preparation for leadership of those who dis- tinguish themselves in college work. If this be true, then the university must continue, through liberal entrance re- quirements, to accept an increasing number of our youth who because of indifference or lack of capacity are unable to measure up to high standards of scholarship in college classes. To these undoubtedly the college with its demo- cratic atmosphere and its wide diversification of courses furnishes opportunity for social training and for voca- CONSTRUCTIVE MEASURES 223 tional adjustment of many young people of immature years who have not yet found themselves, but it does not do away with the fact that the college is constantly lower- ing its standards for their accommodation. This is evi- denced by the large mortality in the freshman and sopho- more years, particularly the freshman year, of all of our higher institutions of learning. Confronted with this situation, the university must either surrender, to a considerable extent, high standards and requirements for the work or it must in some way differentiate its groups and courses in order, on the one hand, to meet the needs of the more capable, and, on the other hand, to do fair justice by the halting students more or less on trial in college classes. It is perhaps too early to predict how this will be done. That is must be done all are coming to recognize. The state university and its special schools should not be content merely to tolerate the same program of wide differentiation in units and courses of the secondary school, by which the university is meeting so commend- ably the interest and need for vocational competency of its students. It should stimulate public school officials, and all other educational agencies concerned in any way, in their task of adapting the organization, courses, and methods of the lower schools to the life interests and vo- cational requirements of all our youth, whether bound for college or bound for immediate wage earning. This service by the university, even if there were no other con- siderations involved, requires the establishment of a col- lege of education well equipped with a broad outlook and the use of scientific methods to aid the public schools in the study of occupations, the search for groups with common needs, the making of courses of instruction, the adaptation of organization, and the practice of sound methods of teaching new subject matter. 224 EDUCATION.^ SESSION We shall have an infinite differentiation of units and courses and methods, but we shall gain, beyond all vision to conceive, in oneness of purpose in our schools, our democracy, and our social economy, when the open door of opportunity through training is made broad enough to include all the educational paths that make for self- realization and competency, and when equality of privi- lege in education becomes equality of right to the proper adaptation of the interests, tendencies, abilities, and talents of many-sided youth to the social and vocational demands of the age. CO-OPERATION BETWEEN COLLEGES AND UNL VERSITIES DONALD J. COWLING, PH.D., LL.D. President of Carleton College Cooperation is a popular word. Its spirit is gradual- ly finding its way into the field of higher education where in the past there has been a conspicuous lack of mutual understanding, sympathy, and cooperative effort. Educational institutions have regarded each other as competitors, and suspicion and jealousy, and sometimes fear, have too much prevailed. This has been true even of institutions of the same type, trying to do the same work. I cannot see very much difference between colleges and universities in this respect. The scrambling of a dozen colleges in a given territory for students, present- ing their claims as competitors to high school graduates, is not essentially different in spirit from the policy of three great universities, which I happen to think of, not very far apart, each building up a graduate department in a certain very narrow field, when the faculty and equipment of one would amply provide for the students of all three. This lack of cooperation is still more evident when one compares institutions of different types, where dif- ferent ideals and methods and spirit prevail. It is frequently said that America has no system of education. Whether one agrees with that statement or not, it certainly comes more nearly being true in the field of higher education than in any other department of our educational activity. There is much to be desired in the 226 EDUCATIONAL SESSION way of clarifying our aims, systematizing our methods, and broadening and deepening our sympathies. And yet it must be admitted that mere cooperation for its OAvn sake is not a goal of any very great im- portance. Whether or not the educational interests of the country would be furthered by increased cooperative effort depends entirely upon the nature and conditions of the cooperation. I think we should all agree that it is not desirable that all the educational institutions of this country should become of the same type, or that their forms of development should proceed along identical lines. There is room in this country for a great variety of institutions; and educational progress and national stability are better safeguarded by a multiplicity of tjipes than by a stand- ardized form which represents the views of some special- ist as to what a college or university should be. There must be ample opportunity for variation and wide free- dom for growth in different directions. The complex needs of our one hundred five million people will be bet- ter served when institutions grow up from the people rather than when they are imposed from above, either officially by the government or unofficially by the con- certed action of the stronger types of institutions now holding the field. There is reason to believe that if Germany had had a greater variety in her institutions of higher learning, and particularly in the matter of their financial support, the Prussian military regime would never have been able to secure a strangle hold on them as it did, and through them on the whole German system of education. There were raised in Germany generation after generation for seventy-five years, fathers and sons inculcated with the in- sidious doctrines of the little coterie in power, who made their teachings effective through the best organized sys- CONSTRUCTIVE MEASURES 227 tern of education which the world has ever seen, but which resulted in the complete breakdown of their na- tional life and in inconceivable disaster for the whole civilized world. America is fortunate in having its higher education carried on half by institutions supported by the state and half by institutions on private foundations, and I believe it is equally fortunate that the undergraduate students of America are half in colleges associated with universities and half in independent institutions with no such univer- sity relationships. The four-year American college of liberal arts is the oldest institution of higher education in this country, and until about fifty years ago was the only one. Its record constitutes one of the brightest pages of our country's history, and its contribution to our national life in states- sanship, in scholarly achievements, and in moral and spiritual uplift is excelled by the fruits of no other type of institution to this day. The need for these institutions was never more acute than now, and the future never seemed brighter for those that can secure the funds to do their work in accordance with the standards which the times demand. These institutions need and deser^^e the help which the universities can give, and the universities in turn will profit greatly by their increased prosperity. It is some- times suggested that the liberal arts work of the univer- sities should be turned over entirely to these separate col- leges, leaving the universities free to develop their gradu- ate and professional work. Such a course, inmy judgment, would be nothing short of a national calamity. Instead of having the universities give up the liberal arts col- lege, I should have them regard it as the heart and center of all their work. Progress will not be made by eliminat- ing the college from the university nor by allowing the 228 EDUCATION.\L SESSION separate colleges to die, but by strengthening the work of both, and bringing them into relations of cooperation. The most important opportunities for cooperation between colleges and universities is found in the need for renewed confidence in liberal arts ideals. I shall not undertake, this afternoon, to discuss the whole program and purpose of the American college. I shall confine myseK to a brief consideration of two chief points, — the length of the college course and the nature of the liberal arts curriculum. What I shall say in respect to both points will apply as well to academic departments of universities as to independent colleges. During the past twenty-five years, the four-year col- lege of liberal arts, both in the university and outside, has been called upon in a very definite way to show reason for its continued existence. With the marvelous develop- ment of the public high schools, on the one hand, and the equally marvelous development of technical and profes- sional schools, on the other, many friends of education have questioned seriously the further need of the four- year arts college. A great many suggestions have been proposed as solutions of the problem. One has been that the high school course should be extended to include the first two years of college, and that at the end of this six-year period, the student should enter at once upon his techni- cal or professional training in the university. This sug- gestion, of course, means the complete elimination of the college as a distant institution, and, what is of even greater seriousness, the elimination also of the ideals for which the college stands. This suggestion that the high schools take the first two years of college work has been repeatedly made during the past twenty-five years, but no extensive movement has so far resulted from the agi- CONSTRUCTIVE MEASURES 229 tation. I should be sorry to see the high schools, as such, attempt this work. In large centers of population, where money is avail- able for the separate organization of a junior college in connection with the public school system, there is every reason to encourage the multiplication of local opportuni- ties for higher work, and I believe, too, that many institu- tions which carry the college name without possessing resources sufficient to offer substantial college work, should become junior colleges and limit their efforts to the first two years. But the establishment of separately organized junior colleges, whether a part of the public school system or in separate institutions supported by gifts, is a very different thing from merely expanding the high school course with the hope of covering the first two years of college work. Another method of modifying the four-year liberal arts course has been to compress its work into three years. Clark College at Worcester, Mass., is an example of this type of institution. The experiment here has been tried under the most favorable conditions and under the leadership of admirably qualified men. But no great en- thusiasm has resulted from the experiment, and there seems to be no tendency whatever on the part of colleges generally to yield a particle in the matter of the four- year requirement. A third proposed method of dealing with the prob- lem is to combine three years of liberal arts with one of professional training, and grant an A.B. for the four- year combination. The temptations to this plan are more alluring in colleges associated with universities than in those separately organized, although there have been many instances of agreements of this sort between col- leges and universities. For example, a dozen years ago the institution which I serve had arrangements with the 230 EDUCATION.^L SESSION medical schools of Harvard, Northwestern, and Minne- sota, by which our men would leave us at the end of the junior year, and after completing the first year of the medical course at the university, would be given their bachelor's degree with us. The arrangement stood as an open invitation to our men to leave us at the end of three years and, after a brief and unsatisfactory trial, was discontinued. A college cannot accomj^lish its full purpose with the average student in less time than four years, and I am persuaded that any college that has a majority of its stu- dents for only part of the time, cannot do for the four- year men what a school with a majority of full time sui- dents can do. If I were asked to assist a prospective stu- dent in selecting a college, I should strongly advise him to inquire how large a percentage of its students a given college graduates and, other things being equal, I should advise him to go to the college that graduates the largest percentage of those who enter. Such an institution is able to maintain scholarly standards of a far higher level than ungraded colleges which are willing to do the miscellaneous work required by irregular students. A college with a majority of its students four-year people is also able to maintain a richer and more inspiring atmosphere than the other type of school; the incidental phases of its life are more signifi- cant. What I mean finds illustration in the difference in the English that one learns in a six months course at a business college and the use of his mother tongue that he acquires by years of residence at Oxford. Merely to live at Oxford is to learn to speak English well. G. Stanley Hall has well emphasized the importance of the indirect educational influences of a college. He says, ''The best education is not that which comes with effort from direct attention and application, but there is an unconscious CONSTRUCTIVE MEASURES 231 education, which is much more important, and which is carried on in the penumbral regions of the mind. This environmental education needs more time. ' ' This statement from Dr. Hall not only buttresses the argument for the four-year course, but it also sounds a note of warning to the college that it shall jealously guard that intangible something which we call its atmos- phere, in order that the influences that affect the marginal regions of the student's mind may be influences saturated with scholarly ideals and earnestness of spirit. There is no question that a large percentage of irregular or part- time students dilutes the atmosphere and seriously neu- tralizes the educative forces of a college. Furthermore, I think is may justly be maintained that it is in the last two years, and not in the first two, that a college accomplishes its purpose with a student, and creates within him its distinctive ideal. It is not in connection with freshman mathematics, or beginning languages, or elementary sciences, that the college finds its real opportunity. The work of these first years is largely a preparation for what the college has to offer in the years that follow. It is only when the student begins to delve into philosophy and economics and the social sciences, and when he begins to understand the natural sciences in their implications, and has developed a real taste for literature and something of perspective in his- tory, — it is only then that his personal philosophy of life begins intelligently to take on final form. If the college of liberal arts, both in the university and outside, cannot develop citizens of broader outlook and deeper sympathies than other types of institutions, then I should say they fail of their chief function and there is little hope of their permanent existence. But I believe there is a difference and I am convinced that the difference is shown chiefly in those who have taken the 232 EDUCATI0X.\L SESSION full four-year course and have become the children of their alma mater, and not by those who have joined the college household temporarily. Any college in taking a student does so with the hope that ultimately he will come to represent the ideals the college stands for, and every genuine college in the coun- try' desires to graduate the great majority of her students and have them permanently for her children. The senti- ments and loyalties that cluster around an alumni rela- tionship to a college that has already inspired and given one a start, are among the most significant and satisfying influences that can ever possess a man. They constitute the chief assets of a college and are a lasting blessing to the graduate himself. But four years' time is not the only condition of a satisfactory college course. The content of the course is of equal importance. There has been a great deal of dis- cussion the past twenty years as to what high schools and colleges should teach. There has been a feeling that too much of our teaching is not adapted to the needs of the the students and does not fit them for their life work. The subjects are not practical, it is held, and the feeling in many quarters is strong that they should be replaced by others more nearly related to the demands of every- day life. There can be no possible objection to the various forms of industrial and vocational education which have been so splendidly developed in recent years. Underly- ing any permanent social structure are the gi'eat eco- nomic necessities for physical well-being that must be provided if there is to be any society at all. The result of this unalterable necessity is the further necessity that the vast majority of any population must be employed in pro- ductive industries and the trades. But in our effort to make our training practical, let •as not forget to make it worth while. Life is more than CONSTRUCTIVE MEASURES 233 meat and the body than raiment. While I believe that every boy should be taught to make his living and that any education is a failure which leaves him dependent on others for support, I also believe that at least a few drawn from all ranks of society should be given a higher education whose value cannot be measured in dollars and cents, and which those who have it would never barter for silver nor gold. With all due allowance for the undoubted advan- tages that have been introduced by recent changes in our courses, I cannot help admiring the curriculum of the older colleges. From the standpoint of the work they undertook to do in training a few men to be leaders in letters, in statesmanship, and in the professions, the older colleges were a splendid success. Their course was not rich in content, nor was it calculated to make the student familiar with the learning of the world, but it did put him in possession of himself and it did train him to think and to judge and to rely on his own judgment. It con- sisted of a few subjects chosen from the whole realm of knowledge, selected not for their own sake, but for their value in the training of men. These new subjects were well organized and well applied, and the boy got the bene- fit of what there was. What they did they did well and it was performance rather than opportunity that constituted the distinguish- ing mark of the early colleges, as contrasted with the emphasis upon opportunity and so little upon per- formance, so characteristic of the colleges and universi- ties of our day. The old course was simple, compact, ef- fective. What it lacked in breadth it more than made up in intensity, and as an instrument of intellectual and moral training it has never yet been excelled. I do not advocate a return to the rigid course of the older colleges, but I do believe that the ideals they 234 EDUCATIONAL SESSION cherished are fundamental ideals, and that the qualities they developed are permanent possessions of educated men everywhere. The basis of such a course is the languages, and it would seem that every student should have considerable knowledge of at least two, — one ancient and one modern. The method of acquiring this knowledge gives the stu- dent invaluable mental discipline, and there is no surer way of developing insight and appreciation of any civil- ization than by learning its language. The second great group of liberal arts subjects comprises the philosophical and social disciplines. These attempt to give the student some understanding of the relations that exist among persons; the social sciences, the persons comprising human society; and the philo- sophical sciences, the personality of the universe with all that that pregnant phrase implies. This should include some general knowledge of the conclusions of the out- standing thinkers of our race on these great themes and some training also of the student for fresh thought on his own part. The third group presents the facts of nature and at- tempts to give man practical instruction as to how he should behave in the presence of these facts, so that nature may help and not hinder him in his progress. These three aspects of a liberal arts curriculum are about equally important, and the disposition to allow the student to specialize in one to the neglect of either or both of the others, such as the open elective system permits, has proved unwise and even its extreme advocates have given it up; while the disposition to substitute pro- fessional or technical subjects in place of these liberaliz- ing disciplines has defeated the purpose of liberal arts and has turned out specialists rather than educated men. The aim of a college is just as definite as that of any CONSTRUCTIVE MEASURES 235 professional school. That aim is to develop the student with respect to all his capacities into a mature, symmetri- cal and well-balanced person, in full possession of all his powers, physical, social, mental, spiritual, with an intel- ligent understanding of the past and a sympathetic in- sight into the needs and problems of the present. I would use the word culture to define what I mean, if that term were not so much misused that many people with red blood in their veins have come to feel a repugnance for it. I am not advocating that pseudo-culture which is too re- fined to concern itself with the things of real life, and too haughty and too supercilious to keep in touch and in sympathy with common men. A liberal arts training should broaden a man's sympathies and deepen his pur- pose to serve the common good. It should create in him a disposition to face facts squarely whatever they may be, and the ability properly to appreciate and evaluate them when found. It should enable him to recognize and to test his own prejudices; it should keep him open-minded and tolerant in his attitude toward others, and at the same time enable him to anchor himself to the truth because he is able to detect its outlines and trace its leadings. He will be able to live worthily in the present because he understands the past. He will be in possession of convictions based on the experience of the ages, and not be unsettled and blown about by every Utopian wind stirred up by those who would cure the world 's ills in a day. At a time like this, when there is so much uncertainty in public life, when social theory is in a flux, and business methods are approved and denounced alternately at every sitting of Congress, when morals themselves are mobile, and religious convictions unsettled, — at such a time what we need most of all is men of leadership, wise, sane, well- balanced statesmen in every department of life, men who 236 EDUCATIOX.\L SESSION shall be able to steady and to reassure, and to lead un- failingly to higher things. I do not maintain that the training of these leaders is the exclusive work of the college but I do believe that it is its most important work, and that our colleges will fail in doing for society to-day what their prototypes did for our fathers of old, if they fail in this supremely im- portant function of training a few men who shall be, to their fellows, trustworthy guides and interpreters of the finer and higher meaning of life. As our forefathers in their poverty needed the college to save them from the grossness of the material, and to prevent their lives from becoming sordid and crude, as they struggled after its barest necessities, so does this age in its wealth need men to direct its thoughts to higher things, in order that it may be saved from the sordidness of luxury and absorp- tion in the things of sense, which is at once the tempta- tion and the testing which wealth brings. The colleges to-day will fail utterly of their highest opportunity if they cease to inspire at least some of their students with a love of the beautiful for its own sake, some with an enthusiasm for truth, some with a passion for righteousness, worthy leaders of their fellows — poets and philosophers, and prophets and seers — men who shall feel and inspire others to feel the spiritual side of things, and whose hearts are on fire with the glory of the divine in life. How can our colleges and universities, working to- gether, help each other in sending out into society the needed number of men ? First of all there must be a sense of fellowship in a common task. Colleges and universities must no longer regard each other as competitors, and their relations should have in them nothing of jealousy or suspicion or fear. If there can be developed a sense of common respon- CONSTRUCTIVE MEASURES 237 sibility for the higher life of the state and if there can be brought about an understanding of each others' prob- lems and limitations, there is hope that such sentiments will find expression in practical forms of cooperation adapted to the needs of individual institutions. It is not difficult to suggest how certain given situa- tions could be improved. Take, for example, a typical mid-western state with a great state university and a dozen separate colleges, most of them affiliated with re- ligious denominations. I cannot see why the president of such a university could not take the presidents of the col- leges into his counsels and regard them as a sort of un- official cabinet. These men are all interested in the great institution which the state supports, and they are all men who are trusted by important groups of citizens and would bring to the university the fruits of their ex- perience in smaller fields. Such a body of men, called to- gether two or three times a year, should prove wise coun- sellors in matters of university policy, and I cannot help thinking that in the long run it would create increased public sentiment in favor of additional appropriations for liberal arts. But whether or not such an arrangement would be of much value to the university, there is no question it would mean much to the colleges. There would be im- mense encouragement merely in the fact of being brought into direct personal touch with university problems. But there could easily be more than that. The university might list in its catalogue the names of the colleges and the advantages to be found in them, and it could well afford to encourage many students to take their undergraduate work in the separate institu- tions. Most colleges secure their students only by per- sistent publicity efforts in one form or other, and a little cooperation at this point from the university would be of 238 EDUCATIONAL SESSION immense help. This help would be reciprocated at the end of four years and a university in such relations with the colleges of its territory would naturally draw the great bulk of the graduates of these institutions into its own graduate and professional schools. I believe, too, that the university might well cultivate intercollegiate relations of all sorts, — in athletics, in debate, in public speaking, — with the colleges of the state, and not have these relationships limited only to other universities out- side of the state. Much more could be done by frank publicity all around than is now accomplished, for example in the matter of annual financial reports. It is true that the financial facts are available in connection with state uni- versities, but it is also true that they are not usually in a form that enables one to tell with certainty how much was spent strictly for the arts college, and are, therefore, not readily comparable with similar reports made by the colleges. If in some way, without antagonizing the col- leges, the university could persuade them to publish each year a financial account of their situation and bring this into comparison with the standards set by the university, I believe it would be a powerful factor in developing a better situation. May I suggest also that the faculties of the colleges in a given state could be brought into much closer re- lations with the university than is now done ? I have no doubt that, at the present time, the college men are wel- come to the use of the library and other facilities of the nniversity, but their actual use could be greatly increased by the establishment of the more definite relationships which I have in mind. Men teaching the same subjects in the university and in the colleges could be brought closer together by de- partmental meetings which would include the college CONSTRUCTIVE MEASURES 239 men, and in many instances investigations could be planned in which the men from the colleges would have a part. Many university men would doubtless welcome teachers from the colleges as associate members of some of the faculty social clubs, giving them in this respect privileges similar to those given to teachers in the under- graduate departments of the university. In these and many other ways the colleges of a state could be brought into cooperative relations with the uni- versity and many advantages of the Canadian sytsem of affiliated denominational colleges could be secured, even thougli the colleges are not on the university campus. Such relations in a more limited form could also be established with universities in other parts of the countr>\ The arrangement which Harvard has established with a group of six western colleges, and which has now been in operation for nearly a dozen years, is the first step of what could become a great national movement of bring- ing the colleges and universities together. I do not see why the great universities on private foundations could not each select a group of colleges in which it would be- come especially interested and toward which it would feel a sense of responsibility similar to that carried by the religious denominations. It is not to be expected that the universities would assume any direct financial responsibility for these col- leges, but the fact of the relationship would tend to create confidence in the institution on the part of its own consti- tuency and in the long run it would doubtless result in in- creased interest and gifts. The relationship with Har- vard which these six western colleges have enjoyed, is highly prized by every one of them, and, in addition to the intellectual stimulus and professional fellowship 240 EDUCATIONAL SESSION which the visiting professors have brought, the arrange- ment has added much to the regard in which the colleges are held by their own friends, because Harvard has thought it worth while to be interested in them. America needs the liberal arts college, and in the im- provement of undergraduate work, both in colleges con- nected with universities and in those separately organiz- ed, lies the greatest hope for educational advancement. CO-OPERATION WITH THE VITAL ACTIVITIES OF LIFE HONORABLE FREDERICK P. FISH, A.B. Trustee, Massachusetts Institute of Technology From the beginning all progress has been to a large extent based upon close cooperation between the various forms of human activity. Under the simpler conditions that prevailed until recently, such cooperation was in great part unconscious and automatic. Each individual in the community, while on the surface largely actuated by purely selfish motives, instinctively recognized that prosperity and well-being could only be attained by the proper correlation of his effort and that of the class or group to which he belonged with the efforts of those who were dealing with other phases of the world's work. Con- sciously or unconsciously he acted on that assumption. By such cooperation and coordination, our methods of production and distribution have been established and our governmental and community relations developed. Our social organization with its positive laws, its customs and habits which are even more controlling than positive laws, and its sense of right and of responsibility by which the conduct of men has been so largely determined, is an outgrowth of the same tradition. It has always been recognized that education should be coordinated with and correlated to the other activities of life. Its aims has been to fit men, whatever may be their place in the community, to play a satisfactory part in life and to be of service to themselves and to society. For countless generations there was practically no education except that which came from participation in 242 EDUCATIOX-\L SESSION active affairs and from contact with those who by ex- perience had acquired such training as curi'ent conditions permitted. Even to-day in a large part of the world there is no formal education. Most men who have lived ujDon the earth have been taught only by contact, from childhood, with the environ- ment in which they lived and by the example and precept of their elders and associates whose activities and mode of life they constantly observed and shared. Formal education, when it came, was recognized as supplemental to the ordinary forms of training that were open to everyone. For example, the most intelligent and ambitious man might not have the opportunity to learn to read and write unless there was provided some syste- matic plan by which he might be taught to do so. "When the value of reading and writing was recognized, methods were devised liy which men could be educated in those subjects. As the world grew older it became more and more apparent that there was a very large and important field for such supplemental education, and systematic plans were originated by which those subjects of human know- ledge which were deemed important, in view of the stand- ards of the time, but which could not be acquired mere- ly by contact with the environment, should be definitely taught to those in a position to receive such training. But up to a comparatively recent time such educa- tion was only for the few. It was not recognized that the vast majority, whose work was confined to small affairs, needed any other education than that which came to them from their surroundings. The methods of formal education have been to a large extent only indirectly correlated with the practical affairs of life, as illustrated by the prominence of poetry, music, and dancing among the Greeks, of the scholastic CONSTRUCTIVE MEASURES 243 philosophy of the Middle Ages, and,' of the ancient lan- guages and theology in the schools of comparatively modern times. But the teaching even of these subjects, and education in general, were consciously aimed at the development of intelligence and at the promotion of thought, imagination and knowledge, for the benefit of the individual and of the community. The underlying principle was undoubtedly sound as far as it went and was based uopn a real desire for the cooperation of edu- cation with practical affairs. The thought in Greece as well as in Medieval and comparatively modern univer- sities was that if men were trained in the subjects taught in the schools, their minds and characters would be de- veloped, they would get more satisfaction out of life and be better qualified to serve their fellow men and to con- tribute to sound social and economic development. It was believed, as was definitely stated by John Locke, that men who had had such training would be so improved in intelligence and capacity that it would be relativley easy for them to fit into affairs, where they would be sure to ac- complish more than would have been the case if they had not had such training. Much later it was gradually recognized that all men needed special training, such as can be given only in schools. They should at least be taught reading, writing and arithmetic as tools essential even to the narrowest of vocations or the most humble position in life. The his- tory of the progress of this idea, which has prevailed in all civilized communities, illustrates the general accept- ance and publication of the principle that education and the institutions through which education is applied and developed, should cooperate and be coordinated with the practical affairs of life. Confining our attention to this country, we cannot doubt that the educational practices of former times, 244 EDUCATIONAL SESSION simple, narrow in scope, and relatively unscientific as they may have been as compared with the more standard- ized methods of to-day, were effective and of great practical utility. It may be doubted if our modern methods have been productive of substantially broader or better scholarship in the higher grades, or have result- ed in greater intelligence or greater capacity in the com- munity as a whole or in any class of the community, to deal with the current problems of existence, which were, in the old days in many respects, so unlike our own. "When we consider the statesmen, lawyers, theolo- gians, literary men and business men of former genera- tions, there seems but little ground for assuming that they were less intelligent or less capable than men of to- day whose activities are the same in kind. Even those who labored with their hands and the small tradesmen clearly had sufficient training adequately to play their part in their relatively narrow field. All seem to have contributed much to life and to have gotten much out of it. It may even be true that there is to-day not much more real scholarship in the community at large than was the case a hundred years ago, and there seems to be no great amount of evidence that at that time the average citizen was not as well fitted, so far as education was concerned, for the life he had to lead (not, of course, for life in our time) as are the men of the twentieth century for the lives which they have to lead. However that may be, the far-reaching changes in environment and social and economic conditions that, as we all realize, have come during the last fifty years, necessarily required a change in the methods of education that they might be made to fit the new situation. If those formerly in vogue qualified the men of two or three generations ago for satisfactory effort and the pursuit of hajDpiness under the conditions which then existed, they CONSTRUCTIVE MEASURES 245 must have required revision before the educational pro- gram could meet the needs of a radically new and much more complex civilization. It is only necessary to call attention, as an illustra- tion, to the vastly greater number for the teaching of whom the schools of all grades have had to be adapted. Not only are all now obliged to attend school but they must attend up to a more advanced age. The aggregate population has greatly increased while the people have crowded into the cities, bringing together masses of chil- dren, all of whom have to be educated. The number of students in the higher institutions of learning fifty years ago was relatively so small that it was not difficult to maintain the personal relations between instructor and student which in many cases made up for what may seem to us now defective programs or unscientific methods. This difficulty of increased numbers has been met, as far as possible, by what we call ''organization," bring- ing with it some disadvantages because of its inflexibility and machine-like character, by reason of which it is not perfectly adapted to bring out the best there is in a body of students, no two of whom are alike and each of whom would profit more if greater personal attention could be given to his individual personality. But perhaps one of the most far-reaching of the many changes, necessitating the revision of educational meth- ods, that have come during the past fifty years, resides in the fact that under the present conditions of our society, our established schools are called upon to do far more towards the education which our youth are to re- ceive than was formerly the case. I have already referred to the fact that in its theory and inception our school system was essentially supple- mental to the general all around and practically uncon- scious education acquired by all from their environ- 246 EDUCATIONAL SESSION ment and from contact with those with Avhom they were associated, the results of whose experience were absorbed and whose example was followed. Under modern conditions the opportunities for ac- quiring education in this way are substantially reduced and schools of all grades are expected to extend their work accordingly. It is worth while to consider for a moment the extent and character of this non-scholastic education and its possibilities. It is, of course, absurd to assume that the entire edu- cation of any man or woman is obtained at school or col- lege. The education of each of us begins with his first conscious apprehension of the environment in which he lives, soon followed by an effort to enlarge his knowledge of that environment, and continues to the day of his death. The greater part of the process is one of self -educa- tion, and the difference in quality, character and attain- ment between one individual and another largely results from the difference in capacity for self-education. It seems to me a weakness in our schools that this truth is not more clearly recognized and a more definite effort made to impress on those who are taught, the vital im- portance of constant effort, independent of any set in- struction, to find out for themselves by obsen-ation judgment and reasoning the realities of nature and of life and the facts which must be accurately known before truth can be determined and self-deception avoided. The family circle should be, and once was, one of the greatest of all educational forces. The fundamental principles of right living and of service, efficiency and an instinctive aspiration to be useful and to conform to social requirements, which are essential to true success in life, are relatively simple. They are recognized uncon- CONSTRUCTIVE MEASURES 247 sciously even by those who do not practice them. They should be instilled into the children by practice and pre- cept of the father, and particularly of the mother, and should be developed by the relations of the children to each other and to their parents and associates. Under the former and simpler conditions of life this type of family education undoubtedly prevailed, in most classes in the community, to a far greater extent than at the present time. Extravagant state paternalism and the undue emphasis that has been placed upon book learning, as distinguished from other forms of education, to- gether with the excitement and struggle of modem life, which have to some extent turned the attention of the fathers and mothers away from what formerly seemed their chief obligation, namely, to look after the sound development of their children, have led to a condition where a large part of the community feels that the state must take the responsibility even of that portion of the child 's education which was, up to a recent time, instinc- tively assumed by the family. This is certainly the case with many of our foreign born populatiton, where the parents (some of whom never even learn our language) lose control of their children largely because the latter, educated in the public schools, can talk English and par- ticipate in the affairs of the environment in which they live in a way impossible for the parents. Under such con- ditions the respect of children for their father and mother and their reliance upon them for guidance, is apt to disappear, with the loss of sound parental influence. This loss cannot be made up by any institution, but the burden of the attempt to compensate for it is definitely imposed upon the schools. There can be no doubt, also, that the churches former- ly exercised a much more important influence than they 248 EDUCATIOX.\L SESSION do at the present time and the schools are expected large- ly to take their place as an educational force. "While what I have just said may seem to apply to the schools of lower grades rather than to the colleges, the work of the colleges and their effectiveness is clearly influenced and to some extent controlled by the assump- tion of new burdens by the schools as a whole. There is another direction in which the conditions of modern life have operated to deprive those who must be educated, of a part at least of the out-of-school training which was formerly open to them, and which was and is of the greatest possible value, thus imposing a further burden ujoon the schools, and in this case to as great an extent upon the higher institutions of learning as upon those of lower grade. Under the conditions which prevailed up to within a generation or two, the greater part of the children and youth were continually in touch with the practical side of every-day life far more than at the present time. Ex- cept in rare cases, they themselves, from very early age, participated in all the forms of activity which were carried on around them. They knew what work was and the spirit in which it should be approached. Not only did those who lived in the comitry, which included far the larger portion of them, have the many advantages of freedom from the evils of city life, but they acquired automatically and instinctively, as it were, an intimate acquaintance with all the surrounding phases of human activity and effort, so that they were from day to day un- consciously fitting themselves for the environment in which they were to live and for service in that environ- ment. Every moment they were educating themselves for their life's career. Even those whose homes were in the cities, where the social organization was simple as compared with that of to-day, themselves worked and CONSTRUCTIVE MEASURES 249 were familiar with the crafts, the trades and the general activities of their surroundings and with the way in which people lived and thought, to a much greater extent than is possible at the present time. In both city and country, people generally, old and young, were closer together. Those who were of the pro- fessional class and the more prosperous were in actual and close touch with the small tradesman, the mechanic and craftsman and the laboring man to an extent that is now impossible. Each group in the community inevita- bly obtained a better undertanding of the attitude, of the aspirations, of the character and of the life of the men of the other groups. In practical matters there was less specialization and more general knowledge and informa- tion on the part of all than is the case to-day. This gave not only the young but those of mature years a better understanding of current conditions and of the ideas and motives of men, and a broader and more intelligent out- look on human nature as well as on current affairs. The so-called different classes in the community were less self-centered. Men had a real knowledge of their neigh- bors and their characters and aspirations, and therefore they had an inevitable sjnnpathy with the thoughts and ideas of classes other than their own. There was less temptation to establish strata of class consciousness and less occasion for thought in that direction. Under modern conditions it is apparent that society is not so homo- geneous as it was a few generations ago and that to a far greater extent than formerly, there is the tendency and the inclination for the members of each group to think and act on narrow lines of so-called class interest rather than broadly for the general good. A most unfortunate result of what seems to me this obvious degradation of the social instinct has been that each group in the community, in its ignorance of the real 250 EDUCATION.\L SESSION characteristics and the real personality of those in the other groups, has become inclined to concentrate atten- tion on, the faults and social errors of those outside of its own narrow circle and to ignore the obvious truth that most of the men and women of the community, what- ever may be their station or the character of their activi- ties, are largely of the same view as to underlying principles and social obligations, and that it is because they are misunderstood that members of one class are distrusted and regarded in a hostile spirit by those of other classes. If this condition of affairs exists, as I believe to be the case, it is most unfortunate from one point of view. Politically, such conditions develop distrust of govern- ment and its institutions, and may lead, as in the case of Eussia, to the destruction of the bases of society and civilization. Socially, they result in hostile and unfriend- ly attitudes on the part of some sections of the people towards others, attitudes that have little justification and yet lead to that discontent and resentment which are fatal to cordial relationships throughout the community. Economically, such a condition of misunderstanding is definitely a source of inefficiency that is much to be de- plored. The practical work of the world requires a clas- sification of workers in which each man devotes his energies, intellectual or physical, to work for which he is adapted ; but it is a most serious detriment to any one, even if he is and intends to be loyal and zealous in his service, if he does not recognize the part that others play in bringing about the common result and does not ap- preciate the true relations of others, without whose co- operation his own work would be definitely ineffective in the affairs of life. A social condition in which each individual is so self- centered as to think and act only in terms of his own self- CONSTRUCTIVE MEASURES 251 ish interest, or that of a class to which he regards him- self as belonging, is not only fatal to sound government, particularly in a democracy, but is equally fatal to social well-being and to economic efficiency. There can be no doubt whatever that such an unfortunate attitude is based only upon ignorance and a failure to understand the realties of life. If, as I believe, modern conditions are such as to bring about this unfortunate state of affairs, and it is true that those who are growing up to take their place in the world have not the advantage of the old-fashioned family education and the intimate contact with men and the work of men which formerly did so much to fit them for their active career, it must be the fundamental duty of those who are responsible for and are shaping educational methods to see that as far as possible the schools, from the highest to the lowest in grade, respond to this new need. The other work of the schools must be supple- mented to the utmost with the definite effort to give to the pupils as much general knowledge as possible of prac- tical affairs as they exist, and a sound understanding of the true relations which the citizens of a great democracy, each working in his own special direction, should have to each other. Independent thought and aspiration in the right direction should be stimulated. The necessity of self -education outside of the specific school organization should be accentuated. The student should never be allowed to forget that it is of the utmost importance that he should always have his eyes open to what is going on about him and should think and reason for himself about the facts and conditions which he observes. He should be instructed that from his formal schooling he can get only a certain part of that education which he needs to enable him to succeed and be of service in after life. It may be that definite attention could be given to such 252 EDUCATIONAL SESSION matters as part of the school program, but it is quite probable that this would not be necessary. If properly trained teachers were available, they could contribute a very large amount of such instruction indirectly and as an incident to the rest of the school work. We need teachers who are better trained for their work, and part of their training might as well be such as to qualify them, through their teaching, to stimulate their pupils to obsen^e carefully and intelligently the condi- tions of life around them and to reason sanely and honest- ly about the things which they observe, that they may supplement their school work by a more complete under- standing of the environment in which they are to live, and be better educated to play a useful part in that en- vironment and to prosper accordingly. It may be that current normal school courses, be- cause of their specific objectives, have led away from and not towards this desirable result. In this direction there is an opportunity for coopera- tion on the part of educational institutions, from the highest to the lowest, with the practical activities of life that is of vital importance. There is every reason why the situation should be studied to determine whether, through our schools and methods of education, something can not be done to promote such outside training and an appreciation of its importance. It would not only be valuable in the direction of fitting the student for the actual work of life but also it would train his mind and his imagination and develop his powers of dealing with situations as they arise. Success in such work would be an achievement of which any plan of education or any school system might well be proud. Consideration of the simple and elementary phase of educational effort to which I have confined my attention, may seem out of place upon this occasion, where, in the CONSTRUCTIVE MEASURES 253 halls of a great university, matters of great importance relating primarily to university work are under discus- sion. It is, however, largely because of my conviction that more than ever before it is essential that our entire scheme of education should be definitely correlated with the every-day activities of the world that I am so much interested in the efforts that are being made, through our educational programs, to bring the schools and school work into closer touch with business enterprises and the affairs of practical life. The movement in this direction is illustrated by some of the new activities that have been introduced into the secondary schools. To a certain extent it is at the basis of that so-called manual training that has become a dis- tinctive feature of educational work. Even more em- phatically, it is exemplified in the vocational schools which are growing in number throughout the country. All such manual training and vocational work in the secondary school is of value as a means for training the hand and the eye and of developing deftness and the capacity for handling tools. In so far as such work can be shaped so as actually to give the pupil a real sense of what work is, the conditions under which it is carried on and the attitude and relations of the men who are prac- tically employed in it, its value will be largely increased. In many instances there have been established most effective relations between secondary schools and private enterprises by which the value of the vocational effort in the school curriculum has been greatly increased. Not- able instances of successful effort in this direction are in the cities of Fitchburg and Beverly in Massachusetts, where industrial establishments have willingly cooperated to make the vocational work of the city schools more effective, by receiving the pupils into the factories and giving them the opportunity of working under shop con- 2S4 EDUCATIONAL SESSION ditions while at the same time there is no sacrifice of the educational motive. Cooperation of a similar kind has been developed in connection with the courses of many high schools of commerce. The Boston High School of Commerce, for example, has for many years placed its students in com- mercial establishments, not only in vacation time, but, under proper conditions, during the school term. Their work in actual going concerns has served to give them a realizing sense of the relation between their school studies and the practical application of those studies and a know- ledge of men and of affairs such as they might never otherwise obtain throughout their course in the school. Such cooperation can undoubtedly be carried on to a much greater extent. It is comparatively easy to develop such relations with industrial enterprises in the higher engineering schools. You are all familiar with what has been done by the University of Cincinnati. Similar courses have been adopted by the University of Pittsburgh, and by Marquette Universitj' in Milwaukee. Schools abroad, such, for example, as the Faraday House in London, the College of Science and Arts in Glasgow, and the Univer- sity of Copenhagen in Denmark, have worked out similar plans. One of the most interesting developments in this line is the cooperative course in electrical engineering in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in connection with the Lynn factory of the General Electric Company. A complete description of this course is published in the Bulletin of the Society for the Promotion of Engineer- ing Education, Vol. X, No. 10, 1920, and a summary of it in ''Science" for Friday, August 20, 1920. This course is so comprehensive and interesting that it is worth while to state brieflv its character. CONSTRUCTIVE MEASURES 255 It covers five years, the first two of which are identi- cal with the regular course in electrical engineering at the Institute. During the last three years the students, who are divided into two sections, work practically half the time at the Institute and half the time at the plant of the General Electric Company in Lynn. Each year is divided into four periods, during which the men alternately spend thirteen weeks at the Lynn factory and eleven weeks at the Institute. This, with a vacation of two weeks, makes up a full year. The men work in the Lynn factory for full time and under shop conditions, and their production, which must be up to shop standards, goes into the regular output of the plant. They are compensated by the Company at a rate which considerably more than pays their tuition at the Insti- tute. Through the sympathetic effort of the General Electric Company, the living conditions in Lynn are most satisfactory. During the entire period of the work in the shop, the educational aspect is controlling. While the men have to work under factory conditions and to conform to high standards of production, the situation is so controlled that what they do fits into the theoretical training which they receive at the Institute in such a way as to promote the quality of that training and impress upon the men its direct value in practice. The length of time spent in each department of the factory is regulated, not by the needs of that department but by the value of the experience to the students. Whenever the student has acquired suf- ficient knowledge in one department, he is changed to another. Outside of the regular work of the course, the stu- dents have the advantage of many lectures and demon- strations from practical men in the factory who thus in- cidentally convey to them a large amount of information 256 EDUCATIOX.\L SESSION and instruct them in shop methods and in details of manufacture to which their attention might otherwise not be called. The Institute exercises constant super- vision over the students in the factory. The fifth year of the course is to a great extent given up to advanced or post graduate research work and crea- tive design. In so far as possible the individual pre- ferencea of each student are considered in determining just what his work shall be during the fifth year. At the end of the course, those who pass successfully receive the degrees of Bachelor of Science and Master of Science. There is no obligation on the part of the men to enter the employ of the General Electric Company. No such obligation should ever be imposed; but the Company believes that it will get from the graduates of the course a number of men who will strengthen its organization. As to the others, while it pays them well for their work and has the burden of modifying its organization to meet the requirements of the course, it intends to get and will get returns from each individual man as one of its regular workmen, and is glad to make such a marked contribu- tion to the development of well trained engineers for the benefit of the electrical industry in general. Thus far the course is an unqualified success. The Company is more than satisfied with the work of the men and has in addition the satisfaction of cooperating in a notable development in education. The students work earnestly and persistently in the factory and the instruct- ing staff are practically unanimous in reporting that in their theoretical work the men show increased mental alertness and a greater fund of information than do those who have not had the advantage of such factory experi- ence. There is every reason to believe that the men who take this course will be better qualified for their work m CONSTRUCTIVE MEASURES 257 life than Avould be the case if they did not have this ad- mirable shop training contemporaneously with their theoretical studies. Last year forty men were enrolled in the course. This year the number was limited to sixty. There were five times as many applications for membership in this year 's class as in that of last year. This indicates the popularity of the course with the students. Every engineering school should study this Massa- chusetts Institute of Technology-General Electric Comp- any cooperative course with the view of determining whether it should not establish similar courses in its own neighborhood. The industries will surely respond to efforts to secure such cooperation. As a rule, they are only too glad to promote education, not only because they know that more highly trained men are needed in every industry, but also because they have a definite desire to help in the development of sound education. There is no doubt that everywhere many industries would take the same broad view of the situation as does the General Electric Company and welcome the oppor- tunity to cooperate with engineering schools in a simi- lar way. Harvard University, in its relatively new Engineer- ing School, proposes to develop a like cooperation with industrial enterprises. Its program is discussed by Pro- fessor Hughes in the number of the Harvard Garduates' Magazine for September 1920. In addition to the course carried on in conjuction with the General Electric Company, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has a five year course in Chemi- cal Engineering which is also on a cooperative basis. During the last two years of the course, the school work is carried on in a series of stations each located at and associated with some chemical industry. The class is 258 EDUCATIONAL SESSION distributed among those stations in groups of equal size, each group remaining at a station for a certain number of weeks and then going to a new station. By this plan, also, the men, concurrently with their theoretical work, will learn factory conditions, the nature and character of the type of men with whom they will necessarily be associated in practical affairs, and the real relations between their theoretical studies and the application of those studies in practice. While their education is going on, they will become alive to the nature of the problems with which that education is fitting them to deal. This course also promises to be most successful. Such methods of cooperation, whether by universi- ties or secondary schools, are undoubtedly of the great- est value in giving to the students as an incident to their general education a practical acquaintance with the activities of life which under modem conditions they are not likely otherwise to get to an adequate degree. They learn to view their theoretical work much more nearly in true perspective. They come to apprehend how definitely the study of principles should be co- ordinated with the practical applications of those prin- ciples. Their interest in their work is greatly promoted by the definite knowledge which they acquire of the relation between theory and practice. The history of vocational education in the second- ary schools shows clearly that many boys and girls who have displayed no aptitude or inclination for study and have accomplished little in the ordinary school courses, are so stimulated by their practical work, where they can see the results of their efforts, that they soon real- ize that book education is of essential value. Thus as an incident to their vocational activities they gain a real CONSTRUCTIVE MEASURES 259 capacity for achievement in the very studies in which they formerly took no interest. The cooperative courses in the engineering schools undoubtedly operate in a similar way. Men who can not definitely api^rehend the value to their future career of the study of principles as taught in books and in the lecture room and who therefore do not take a live in- terest in such study are, because of their shop work, in- cited to more intelligent, sympathetic and enthusiastic effort to master the theories which they now find to be at the foundation of all practical effort. They learn to appreciate that theoretical study is essential and inti- mately associated with the activities of life. In addition to this underlying value, from the point of view of educational efficiency, of cooperation between such institutions and the industries, there can be no doubt that the plan results in many other advantages. It is extremely helpful for men who are entering upon their life 's work to have already, as an asset, some prac- tical acquaintance with the conditions and methods of the industry to which they propose to devote them- selves. If when they are thrown upon their own re- sources, the practical aspects of the business are all new to them, they are sure to make mistakes which count against them to an unreasonable extent. This danger is reduced if they have already had actual experience. But to my mind the great value of such cooperation is that it clarifies the situation so that the students in every way work more intelligently and enthusiastically and with a more complete apprehension of the relations between theory and practice. Attempts at definite cooperation between educa- tional institutions and outside enterprises have been to a large extent confined to the fields of engineering, com- merce and industry which are obviously well adapted 260 EDUCATIONAL SESSION for such cooperative effort. In many departments of education it would undoubtedly be something of a prob- lem to devise suitable methods for supplementing school training by contract with outside activities. For ex- ample, it would be difficult to establish such relations of a kind that would help toward a more comprehensive and effective education in languages, history or philoso- phy. All studies, however, should surely be carried on Avith the conditions of practical life definitely in mind. On the other hand, sound education in economics would surely be advanced if the students could be brought into practical touch with the social, commercial and business situation of the world, that they might test out theories and be in a position to determine how far they were compatible with practical conditions. At the present time there seems to be no field of educational effort that is less satisfactory than that devoted to find- ing and teaching the truth as to economic relations and theories. University work in that field to be valid and comprehensive requires a knowledge of practical con- ditions such as cannot be adequately acquired in the library or lecture room. If some method could be de- vised by which both teachers and students could come into active contact with the economic problems of the day as they really exist in business and in society, they would be much more likely to get sound theoretical prin- ciples, as well as acquire sound views as to the wise and sane application of such principles to existing condi- tions. Every effort should surely be made to bring about definite cooperation between institutions of learning and those engaged in the practical work of life, for the determination of economic principles and the intelligent application of them. The views, as to economic truths, of those in the community who are dealing with things CONSTRUCTIVE MEASURES 261 as they are, are based upon an experience such as teachers can not get or books reflect, and are therefore entitled to respectful consideration. They should be definitely taken into account in all academic work. Generally speaking, it seems that the work of all de- partments of education should, as far as possible, be co- ordinated with the practical conditions of life. Where- ever a definite plan can be devised by which educational institutions can work in close cooperation with those who are actively engaged in the world's activities, so that theory and practice may go hand in hand and each be viewed in the light of the other, so that each will react upon the other with constructive results, the quality and effectiveness of education will surely be ad- vanced. I have already referred to the fact that vocational work in the secondary schools and cooperation with the industries in liigher institutions in many instances lead to an appreciation of the value of book study and an in- terest in it that do not exist until the views of the stu- dents are clarified by practical work. In like manner it seems clear that in all departments of education, from the highest to the lowest, many students fail to have a real interest in their work because they do not see its bearing upon the activities of their life. They are in- clined to look upon their school work as something im- posed upon them by arbitrary authority. They do not realize its value and therefore cannot bring themselves to devote to it the energy necessary for success. This is particularly true of those in the lower school grades. Many children leave school as soon as the law allows, not because their families cannot afford to keep them longer at school but because neither they nor their parents have a realizing sense of what education means 262 EDUCATIOX-\L SESSION and the part that it might play in their future work if the opportunity for it was properly utilized. To some extent the same is true of students in the higher institutions of learning. They do not all appre- hend the real purpose of education and what it would mean in after life if full advantage were taken of edu- cational opportunities. Such men, not taking much in- terest in their school work, get little from it. There is less of this sort of misunderstanding in the professional schools where even those who have regard- ed their educational opportunities in college merely as an incident and not of real value, frequently wake up to the fact that the work which they now are doing is con- cerned with the actualities of life and is of importance to their subsequent careers. But even in the professional schools the truth is not always clearly apprehended. The only way to meet this difficulty is to devise ways by which, during the school period, all students shall surely become impressed with the actual relation between education and the affairs of life, that they may realize how important it is that they should take advan- tage of every opportunity for training. It is unfortunate that so many college graduates enter into the work of life with wrong ideas as to the nature of that work and the conditions under which it is to be carried on. Many failures are due to the fact that the men find themselves unable to approach prac- tical conditions in such a spirit that they can adjust themselves to their surroundings. I have known graduates of law schools who while well grounded in the principles of law have been so ignorant of the part that the law plays in society aad of the true function and real relation of the lawyer to the community, that they have not succeeded at the bar in proportion to their ability. CONSTRUCTIVE MEASURES 263 It must be of the utmost importance that in every department of education and throughout the entire school and university courses the most definite effort should be made to correlate the school work with the normal activities of life. To as great an extent as possible the student should be brought in touch with affairs, not in a blind fashion but with such guidance that he may apprehend in true perspective the real function of school education and how thoroughly it should be made to fit one for the environment in which he is to live. Such effort will undoubtedly lead to some substantial modifications in our school courses, and to marked change of emphasis in others. In addition to cooperation with the industries and with the other activities of life, cooperation should be sought from individual men. Those who are actively employed in the world's work and who have attained to leadership in their respective lines of effort should be commandeered for service. The present practice of bringing before college students men of note who are familiar with current affairs, to address them and talk familiarly with them, should be extended. But the men should be carefully selected. They should be wise, sincere, and broad-minded. The subjects discussed should be, generally speaking, those of fundamental importance, bringing before the student the normal con- ditions of life and of the activities of life in their true relation. It is not important that fads or temporary and perhaps sentimental issues should be presented. Even in the law school it might be of the greatest advantage if each year a number of judges and outside lawyers of high character and large experience could talk to the students, not to instruct them in legal principles or the application of those principles, but to 264 EDUCATIONAL SESSION give them a clear idea of what should be the standards and aspirations of the men in that profession. There is another field of cooperation between uni- versities and the normal activities of life to which it is proper to call attention. Sound knowledge is the basis of wise action in every form of social and business effort. The problems of government as well as those of commerce and industry, not to speak of the more irregular movements in the direction of social change, can not be dealt with wisely or satisfactorily except with full knowledge of the rele- vant facts. Moreover, before it is safe to act, these facts when known must be brought together and carefully analyzed and viewed in their true relation. This re- quires the exercise of trained powers of observation, judgment and reasoning and careful study on the part of trained men as well as imagination of a high order. Many in the world at large have some of the necessary qualifications for such work, but for the most part they are hampered by definite limitations. They are too actively employed in practical affairs to have oppor- tunity for systematic investigation and careful study. They are often not accustomed to the kind of mental operations that are required to cover all portions of the ground that must be covered. Sometimes they are biased by their own relations to the situation or their own prejudices. It would be of the greatest value to society if the higher institutions of learning could organize so as to help in the solution of all such problems, as recognized authorities whose advice would be sought and respect- fully considerd in matters of general interest which re- quire expert investigation. The whole course of legislation throughout the country shows conspiciously to how large an extent men, CONSTRUCTIVE MEASURES 265 for the most part well intentioned, are willing to pass laws, often carelessly framed, without sufficient know- ledge of the conditions and with practically no thought of the reactions which may follow. Not infrequently governmental policies fail because of the shortsighted ignorance of those responsible for them. The time may come when the higher institutions of learning will be so constituted as to attain a recognized position as advisers in such matters. It seems as if no- where else could be developed a body of suitable quality and prestige for such work. This may be but a dream. It can be realized, if ever, only when, by definite effort, the professional scholars of the university have correlated their theoret- ical training and knowledge with such a clear apprecia- tion of practical conditions that they will have and will deserve the confidence of the community as a whole, as well as those who are responsible for legislative and gov- ernmental activities, as to their capacity as advisers. But at the present time there is a great opportunity for the universities to aid in the solution of engineering problems and in the development of all forms of in- dustry. Much has already been accomplished in this direction. Agriculture has been to a large extent pro- moted by the cooperation of the universities and many of the universities have done much, by way of research and advice, in the solution of engineering and industrial problems. While the larger industries are recognizing more and more clearly the necessity for scientific work in the development of improved methods and machinery and the discovery of new ways in which the forces of nature may be controlled, and many of them have admirable research organizations of their own, there is a great field for effort in this direction on the part of the universities. 266 EDUCATIOX-U SESSION They can surely organize so as to succeed in such work and no other organization, governmental or private, can be suggested which is so promising. Original scientific investigation and research, the bringing together of all available information from all sources, including books, and the scientific arrangement and • coordination of all the material collected, are well within the scope of the universities. If they can show that they can really serve the in- dustries in this way, there is no limit to the extent to which they will be called upon for such service. Business men will welcome the opportunity for submitting their problems to such a body of trained men as the universi- ties might bring together, working with such libraries and in such properly equipped laboratories as would give adequate facilities for investigation. The advantages to the universities of development in such directions are obvious. If they could acquire the confidence of the public in such work, it would be crowd- ed upon them and their value to society would be even more generally recognized and appreciated than is the case to-day. As their prestige and the pride of the com- munity in their achievements increased, there can be no doubt that their importance to society would be more than ever recognized in terms of adequate financial support. Incidentally, I believe that their efficiency as educa- tional agencies would be greatly promoted by pursuing such lines of development. Certainly, such close co- operation with the activities of life would bring about that reaction between educational methods and the necessities of practical affairs that seems essential to the best educational work. The whole atmosphere of the institutions would be invigorated bv the reaction of the CONSTRUCTIVE MEASURES 267 methods of research and of expert service upon the methods of teaching. I am glad to know that this, the State University of Michigan, is taking definite steps to establish and pro- mote such research and advisory work in cooperation with neighboring industries. There are no limits to which such efforts may prove effective for the promo- tion of our national well being. And the time may come when methods of a like character may to advantage be extended beyond the fields of engineering and industry, even to the point where, through our universities, care- ful study and research by trained investigators and thinkers who are thoroughly and sympathetically in- formed as to practical conditions, may be available to aid in the work of legislation and of social development, where at the present time action is too often based on sentiment and on beliefs and conclusions that are too hastily formed, instead of on sound thought and reason- ing. THE AET OF EXAMINATION A. LAWRENCE EOWELE, PH.D., LL.D. President of Harvard University We have met here not only to participate in the inauguration of Mr. Burton as the new President of the University of Michigan, and to express our hope and con- fidence in the future of that great institution; but also to take an account of stock in the educational progress of the nation. Everyone will admit that the present condition of of education in this country has its merits and its defects. The product of our schools and colleges shows a remark- able degree of resourcefulness and adaptability. This may not be wholly due to our educational system, but in part to the environment, which tends to develop these qualities in our people; for they are shown also by men \vhose systematic education has been exceedingly limited. Nevertheless, it is easy to underrate the effects of school- ing. Men often attribute far too little to their instruction, and too much to their own inherent qualities. It is cer- tain not only that our education has not tended to dimin- ish natural resourcefulness and adaptability, but that these very traits have been shown most markedly among college-bred men, as w^as seen among our college grad- uates in the late war. The two qualities of resourceful- ness and adaptability have been, indeed, those that we have most needed in the past. They have been abso- lutely essential for the great American achievement, un- paralleled in so short a period, of bringing under culti- vation a vast wilderness, of developing the mines and other natural resources of a continent, and of developing THE ART OF EXAMINATION 269 various industries for a hundred millions of people. But all this has now been in large part done; the cream has been skimmed ; and the great need of the hour is a better conservation, a more complete and scientific use, of our re- sources. In short, the time for superficial treatment on a large scale has largely passed, and the time has come for the greater thoroughness of an older civilization. Wisdom consists, not in glorying in one 's merits, but in curing one 's defects ; and the great defect in American education has been the lack of thoroughness. The Euro- pean professional man is apt to have a wider knowledge and a broader foundation than the American. Professor Maurice Caullery, in his recent book on the universities and scientific life in the United States, in speaking of engineering education says, ' ^ The conditions of the train- ing of the American engineer and his French colleague are very different. The latter has certainly a very mark- ed superiority in theoretical scientific instruction. I am told, indeed, that since the war has brought into the American industries a rather large number of our engi- neers, this fact is well recognized. There is in the United States nothing to compare with the preparation for our competitive examinations for the Ecole Poly technique and the Ecole Centrale. The first-year students — the freshmen — in the engineering schools are very feebly equipped." On the other hand, he says, '*It is not less true that the American engineer gives abundant proof of the combination of qualities which he needs." He then goes on to give an example from Mann's Bulletin on Engineering Education to show that of the freshmen in tewnty-two engineering schools only about one-third could solve a simple algebraic equation. We are told also that the English physiologists have a great advantage over ours in a more comprehensive knowledge of physics and chemistry; and probably anyone familiar with 270 EDUCATIONAL SESSION learned professions in the two countries could give other examples. As usual, a number of causes no doubt contribute to the lack of thoroughness in American education. One obviously is the briefness of time spent in study from birth through graduation from college. This is especial- ly true in the younger years. Our children begin late and go slowly, apparently on the theory that the less con- scious effort a boy puts into the process of education the more rapidly will he proceed. Another cause is the con- stant insertion of new subjects which are either not of a very severe nature or ought to be extra curriculum ac- tivities, subjects which are inserted to the displacement of more serious ones. If someone suggests that rural walks and the observation of nature are good, the school, instead of providing for them outside of school hours, in- serts them in the school time in the place of language, history or mathematics. A third cause is the absence of rigorous standards which, until a few years ago, pervaded most college work more than it does to-day, and which I fear is still too largely present in the schools. Last year a boy from a good high school not far from the central part of the country offered himself for the College Entrance Board examinations. He was the valedictorian of his class, and yet in five subjects — in all of which he had obtained a double A at school — his marks were as follows: English Literature 50; Latin 41; American History 37; Ancient History 30; Plane Geometry 33. In Physics, in which he had a B at school — which is, I suppose, an honor mark — his mark was only 28. The papers of the College Entrance Examination Board are not made out, nor are the books marked, by any one college, but by a body representing the colleges and schools. A difference in preparation might very well affect to some extent an examination in THE ART OF EXAMINATION 271 literature and history, possibly even in Latin; but sure- ly a boy who obtains an unusually high mark at school in plane geometry ought not to fail any entrance examina- tion with so low a grade as 33 per cent. The failure to maintain rigorous standards may well be connected with the American system of measurement by credits instead of by attainment. Courses, whether in school, in college or in any kind of education, instead of being treated as an end, should be regarded as a means; and a test in them should be, not a final award, but a mere measure of progress. At present the credit for a course is treated like a deposit in a savings bank, without a sus- picion that the deposit is rot of gold that can be drawn upon at its face value, but of a perishable article. To change the metaphor, we treat it like wheat poured into a grain elevator, whereas it is often more like the con- tents of a cold storage plant without the means of re- frigeration. Indeed, it is sometimes more like the con- tents of an incinerator. There is an old saying in England that an educated man should have forgotten Greek. If the adage is true, it is not because the man had forgotten Greek, but be- cause he retained something worth while from having learned it. Even if the material put into the mind be not perishable, we ought to distinguish between information and education. Let me quote again Professor Caullery. He says, ''One must not confound education and infor- mation. There is in the American system, from the intel- lectual point of view, too much of the second and too little of the first. ' ' Storing in the mind is not enough ; we must also train the student to use the store ; and accumulating credits for things done is not the way to attain the result. When a man's life ends, we ask what he has done; but a diploma from a school or a degree from a college or uni- versity is not an obituary, and when a student's educa- 272 EDUCATIONAL SESSION tion ends we should ask, not what he has done, but what he is or has become. Can we measure what the boy or man is or has be- come; can we measure him as he stands? It does not seem impossible. Yet most of our examinations are adapted to ascertain little except knowledge, which tends to promote mere cramming ; Avhereas the tests in the great school of active life depends rather upon the ability to use information. Surely examinations can be framed to measure not only knowledge but the ability to compre- hend and correlate what is known. In short, to test the grasp of a subject as a whole. Such a grasp requires a more rigorous training in fundamentals than we are in the habit of exacting. An examination of this kind would be not only a measure of that which we desire to ascertain, but it would tend also to direct attention to a field of thought instead of to small isolated fragments of it. In short, it must not be forgotten that examina- tions essentially control the content of education. If examinations demand a thorough knowledge of funda- mental principles, the teachers will provide it and the students will attempt to acquire it. If they require merely a certain amount of miscellaneous knowledge, that will be the aim of instruction ; and if, as in many schools, there is no examination at all, there is naturally less in- ducement to attain a very high standard of any kind. The mechanical practice of credit for courses is, I believe, the gravest defect in the American educational system, and we ought to strive for some method of general examinations testing the real grasp of a subject as a whole. But if such examinations are possible, it is nevertheless certain that they demand skill which can be acquired only by practice. The art of examination is a difficult one, and in America it is still in its infancy, particularly in the matter of measuring the ability to THE ART OF EXAMINATION 273 use one's knowledge. The new psychological tests are interesting as an attempt to do this, to measure the capacity of the boy or man as he stands. They are crude, and for our purpose they suffer under the defect of assuming only the most elementary information. We need tests that will measure ability to use scholarly and specific knowledge. Anyone who attempts to introduce examinations of this kind will be disappointed at first, because the art has not yet been sufficiently developed. To use them effectively, we need to learn that the conduct of examinations is as important and worthy a part of the educational process as giving lectures, and quite as stimulating to the teacher. Ascertaining what the pupil knows, measuring his progress and deficiencies, is, in- deed, a part of teaching, and quite as essential a portion of it as the imparting of information. The true teacher should be constantly both developing the mind of his pupil, and ascertaining how rapidly and beneficially the process is going on. One of the defects of much of our teaching — and especially of the lecture system — is that this second part of the function of education is to a great degree lost from sight. An improvement in our examina- tion system which will measure the grasp of a whole sub- ject is, I believe, the most serious advance that can be made in American education to-day. THE SALARY PROBLEM HON. CHARLES L. SOMMERS, A.B. Regent of the University oj Minnesota In mathematics, problems may be classified accord- ing to the definiteness of their solution. A problem may have one, and only one possible solution, in which case it is said to be "uniquely deter- mined. ' ' A problem may have a limited number of solutions, or again, it may have an unlimited number of solutions, each of which satisfies its conditions. In this case it is said to be "indeterminate." A problem may have no solution, in which case it is called "impossible." The problem before us clearly falls in this last class. It is one that is neither "uniquely determined" with a single solution, nor "indeterminate" with many. It is a problem with no beginning and no end, whose terms and conditions change from month to month, and even from day to day; a problem that baffles and puzzles not only regents and trustees and presidents of our univer- sities, but also the executives and administrators of all other institutions. It is the spectre that haunts the of- fices of railroad officials and bank presidents; it worries the managers of our industrial plants and troubles and perplexes the Avhole world of trade and commerce — ever present and never presenting a definite solution. Truly, it is an impossible problem. One can study it and pon- der over it — in fact, one must do that — but to no one of us will it ever be given to put doAvm an answer in black and white, with the letters Q. E. D. below it! THE SALARY PROBLEM 275 In industry, the problem, while always present and troublesome, is nevertheless far from hopeless. Here there is always the chance, or expectation, of passing along possible losses to some one else. In schools and colleges and institutions which must live within a fixed income, the problem is acute. We may not hope to solve it ; the best that we may do is to seek to understand it and to try to benefit by such understanding. The gist of the whole salary problem, as applied to educational institutions, is the question as to whether or not the teaching staff, under present conditions, is being paid an adequate wage for the service rendered. On this subject masses of statistics have been gathered by our national bureaus, both of education and labor. It will be unnecessary for me to quote these to any great extent. It may be accepted as proved that teachers' salaries are inadequate and that the whole profession, as compared with trades, vocations and professions generally, is great- ly underpaid. Professor Carl Holliday, of the University of Toledo, using the figures of the Bureau of Education as a basis, finds that the average salary of all American college teachers is $1,549.29 per annum, or $29.79 per week. In our state-supported universities and colleges the figures are as follows: Full professors $2,476.25 Associate professors 1,898.96 Assistant professors 1473.65 Instructors 1,135.50 or $21.84 per week for college instructors! Taking the group of the six leading state univer- sities of the middle west, the average salary of the above grades is considerably high. But even here we find that out of 1,913 teachers receiving $1,000 or more per annum, about 1,400 (or nearly 75%) received salaraies of less than $3,000. 276 EDUCATIOX.\L SESSION The average maximum and minimum salaries of all the sixty-eight land grant and state universities, accord- ing to figures supplied by the Case School of Applied Science of Cleveland, are as follows: Maximum Minimum, Deans $3,745.00 $2,827.00 Full professors 3,185.00 2,228.00 Associate professors 2,375.00 1,779.00 Assistant professors 1,900.00 1455.00 Instructors 1,557.00 900.00 Let us assume that it takes about eleven years of study after the grammer school grades, and an invest- ment of somewhere between $5,000 and $15,000 to prop- erly equip a college teacher. If he averages $1,800 a year for the first ten years of teaching, he is very for- tunate. Compare this with the earnings in industry. An average drygoods or boot-and-shoe traveling sales- man will earn $3,000 to $3,500 per year, and all his road expenses paid. In the writer's own business there are a dozen travelling men whose individual earnings are more than the average salaries of the deans in the sixty- eight land grant universities above referred to. But travelling salesmen belong to the so-called ''white-collar-class." Presumably they have some edu- cation, a good address, and natural tact and ability. Let us make our comparison with the class of skilled labor, — with men who work principally with their hands and whose training has cost them little or nothing. Ac- cording to statistics furnished recently by the Building Trades Council of a large city of the middle west, cer- tain classes of skilled laborers are to-day earning ap- proximately the following wages, based on an eight-hour day — due allowances having been made for the average of lost time in each particular trade, but not counting earnings from possible overtime: THE SALARY PROBLEM 277 Steam-fitters, plumbers, and electricians $2,280 per year Carpenters 2,04x5 " Bricklayers and plasterers 1,950 " Painters i ,800 " The average of these figures is considerably higher than that paid to associate professors in our state-sup- ported universities. The average earnings of laborers in the anthracite coal industry, according to figures of the U. S. Department of Labor Bureau and Statistics, in the year 1919-1920, was $73.39 semi-monthly, or $1,761.36 per year. Compare this with the average of the assistant professors in our land grant colleges! Government statistics give the average earnings of all factory laborers in the State of New York for the latter part of the year 1919 as $26.32 per week, or $4.48 per week more than the average of the men instructors in our state-supported universities. Xo wonder that an eastern paper, after reporting that the Bureau for the R€-emplo}Tnent of Soldiers received in the same mail a request for a mechanic at $31.00 per week, and a college professor at $19.23 per week, headlines the news item, "Why Go to College?" The college teacher does not expect to make money out of his chosen profession. Whether consciously or not, upon entering college walls for his life work, he pledges himself to a life of material sacrifice. He feels justified, at least, in expecting a living — such a living as will enable him to work at his best, to collect a few books, and to find some opportunity for self -improvement. Teachers' salaries were admittedly too low in the pre-war period. Since that time, except under the un- usual circumstances of extreme merit, or rapid promo- tion, there have been few, if any, actual academic salary increases. Adjustments have been made from time to time, in order to keep pace with the decreasing purchas- ing power of money. These have fallen short of their 278 EDUCATION.AL SESSION objective, and salaries to-day, are relatively lower than at any tinie within the past decade. One of our large state universities shows the follow- ing scale of so-called salary increases in present schedule, over 1914: Professors 25.1% Associate professors 8.7% Assistant professors No Increase Instructors i3-7% The Bureau of Statistics shows that the cost of living of the average American family increased 94.8% between July 19th, 1914, and March 1st, 1920. Further advances prior to July 1st brings the percentage of increase well over the 100% mark. A teacher in 1914, with a salary of $4,000 per annum could buy as much and was as well off as with $8,000 to-day. His 25% increase makes his present wage only $5,000, with a buying power only five- eights as much as he had in the pre-war period. Ex- pressed in decimals, his buying power has decreased ZlYiJo. So his increase has really been a delusion and a snare. The fact is that college teachers are to-day relatively worse off than before. Stories of great distress are current on every cam- pus — stories of ill-health and sickness caused by lack of proper food; of families of teachers, at whose table the luxury of butter is unknown; where no new clothing has been purchased in years; where entertainments, un- less free, are tabooed; where the price of domestic ser^'- ice of any sort is prohibitory; where children are an ex- travagance rarely peiTuissible ; where the teacher's wife must help toward support by becoming a wage-earner, — sewing for others, keeping boarders, tutoring, or doing clerical work. Some basis there must be to all these tales; it certainly must be true that under present con- ditions, decent normal living for the teacher depending THE SALARY PROBLEM 279 on his salary alone, is almost out of the question. Briefly- stated, the situation is this: ''Either salaries must go up or prices come down." The question then is ^^Will prices come down?" AVill the present high cost of living continue? My an- swer to this is a mere guess. It is no better than yours, and yours, no doubt, is as good as any. A member of the President's cabinet recently likened the present price structure to a house just after an earthquake, either about to topple over or to settle more firmly on its foun- dation. Personally, I, for one, do not expect the earth- quake, or any great price tumble, which will materially reduce the present cost of living. Downward adjust- ments there will be; some have already taken place, — others are sure to follow. On the other hand, many important elements in the cost of living — rent, fuel, domestic sendee, house furnishings, transportation, amusements, etc., are to-day higher than ever and show no downward tendencies. All told, it seems to me that during the next year or two before us, there will be no sweeping reduction in the cost of ordinarj^ living — no price tumble of such proportion and magnitude as will help in a large measure to solve the serious problem of the teachers' living expenses. If material relief is to come to him, it can come in only one way, and that is the way of a substantial salary increase. The question goes beyond that of mere help to the college teacher. The future of the educational system of the country is involved. President Burton said recently: ''The whole teaching profession is, at present, seriously endangered. Men of first-class ability cannot enter upon the teaching career with assurance. Their self-respect compels them to seek other lines of service." One hun- dred thousand teaching positions in the United States are reported as vacant or filled by teachers who are be- 280 EDUCATI0N.\L SESSION low grade. At present the supply of first-class men for university teaching is growing steadily less. Thou- sands of new recruits are needed annually. The serious problem is where and how to get them. **As long as the economic status of the teacher is as low as it is at present, as long as the Ph.D. is graded commercially in the class of cheap labor, no one can conscientiously ad- vise the young man of promise to enter the college or uni- versity branches to take up the teaching profession." Yet '*no man is too well-equipped or possesses too much ability to perform the high task of training our youth." No profession is more important to the welfare of a state or nation than that of teaching. The present sys- tem of paying a lower wage to teachers than to other workers of equal ability means a lowering of standards in the future. Only men of ''mediocre intellectual en- dowment" will enter the teaching profession, — and only those will remain ''who have not the ambition or self- confidence to take the chance of a change of occupation. ' ' As one cynic has said, "Those who can, do — those who can't, teach!" The race for ever-increasing salaries may be over- done. Our schools cannot and must not compete with the sky-mounting salaries of industry. To do this, or even to do all that certain groups in our colleges are ask- ing, would hopelessly embarrass the entire educational world. The teaching profession must continue to have in the future, as it has always had in the past, other ideals and other aspirations than those of the market- place. Perhaps the warning of William James is needed: "The fear of poverty among the educated classes is the worst moral disease from which our civilization suf- fers. ' ' Yet, on the other hand, there is a sort of poverty which harasses the body and breaks down the spirit, and which, sooner or later, leads to inefficiency and medioc- THE SALARY PROBLEM 281 rity. The non-academic world is prone to complain of narrowness, pessimism, and lack of inspiration on the part of college teachers. Perhaps a great deal of this and much of the inferior quality of some of the teach- ing that we have to-day, is directly traceable to the strain and worry on the part of the teachers over their own personal finances. John Stuart Mill says, "Education is one of the subjects which require to be considered by various minds and from various view-points. " So it is with this salary question. Every angle of it presents a new aspect and a new problem. Some few of these I will mention briefly, principally for the purpose of later discussion : 1 — Should there be a definite salary schedule? For- merly the answer was invariably. No. Latterly, many of our leading institutions have adopted schedules. Presi- dent Butler, of Columbia, has this to say on the question : "There are grave objections to fixing a hard and fast compensation for all teachers of a given grade, regardless of their effectiveness, length of service, and other similar considerations. It will be wise for the trustees always to keep in their own hands the adjustment in particular instances. But a strong- argument may be made for fixing and announcing the amount which the trustees, under present con- ditions, regard as the suitable normal compensation for incumbents of the several academic grades." A normal maximum and minimum salary for each rank will go a long way towards removing the feeling of un- certainty and doubt now clouding the minds of college faculties. 2 — The question of extra-university employment. To what extent should this be encouraged? What outside work is legitimate, and what discredits and cheapens both the university and the man? It is generally con- 282 EDUCATIOX.\L SESSION ceded that outside work of the right sort broadens and humanizes the teacher, keeps him up-to-date and abreast of the times. In the end, it helps the institution. There must be limitations to all such outside activities, but hard and fast rules are difficult either to draft or main- tain. It has been said that all such service should be public, rather than i^rivate, in its nature; that the spirit of research and the purpose of advancing knowledge in the teacher's chosen field should be the governing principle. 3 — The questions of teachers' insurance, retiring al- lowance and pensions are now up before most of our major institutions for discussion. These questions will have to be worked out in a broad way and in a spirit of fair- ness. Of a like nature is the question of vacations and the Sabbatical leave of absence on half-pay. 4 — The problem of the growing radicalism in our schools and colleges. More and more are our teachers, es- pecially in the social science groups, allying themselves with extremists, agitators, and with self-appointed re- formers of all kinds. ''Red card" socialists are not missing from our faculties. In several state universities whole groups of teachers have joined the American Fed- eration of Labor. That is and of itself may not be very serious, yet it tends to divide the teaching staff into groups and to accentuate differences. Just how far this situation is traceable to inadequate salaries is hard to tell; at any rate, low salaries have ever been a fruitful source of discontent, which is always the fore-runner of radicalism. 5 — There is that most perplexing question of the dis- crimination between the salaries paid similar positions on the same campus. Sometimes there is a wider gap between the pay of professorships in the art^ college and in the technical schools (especially law or medicine) THE SALARY PROBLEM 283 than between instructors and full professors in the first mentioned group. In schools where only the occasional teacher of rarest talent reaches a maximum of $4,000, a wage of double that figure is not uncommon in other departments of the same institution. Yet, unquestion- ably, the arts college is, or should be, the most impor- tant unit of every campus. On the rock of a liberal edu- cation every university worthy of its name has been founded, and, in the final analysis, on its character and reputation the whole institution will be judged. My plea is not for reduced salaries in the professional schools; rather for a grading up of the salaries in the ''merely educational" group. My sympathy is all for the teachers of history, mathematics, and literature, and their co-workers. I am hoping for the day when they will have their due reward. 6 — The question of filling vacancies in college posi- tions. The present system amounts to about this: that every college or university grabs as many teachers as pos- sible from every other school. They seem to be no respect- ers of time and place. For them there is always the open season. They go a-gunning wherever game abounds and a-fishing in anybody's waters. In industry, there is such a thing as commercial ethics. Few reputable firms are so lacking in business etiquette as to attempt to steal away a neighbor's, or even a competitor's workers, without at first taking up the matter with the chief executive in advance. No such consideration is shown by our universities. If they want a man for a given position, they go after him without any asking or any by your leave. This suggests another point of even greater importance. The system in vogue in many schools of making salary increases mainly dependent upon an offer from some other institution, is indefensi- ble and demoralizing. It puts the premium on the floater 284 EDUCATIOX.\L SESSION and the discontented, — those who regard every position as temporary and who are always angling for other jobs. It leads to "inspired calls," and sometimes to imaginary ones. It tends to discrimination and unfair- ness, and puts the salary schedule out of joint. The pre- mium is on the self-advertiser, and the loyal, faithful, modest worker, who, perhaps, is the ablest teacher in the school, is apt to be overlooked. It is a most expen- sive system. There have been cases where a single va- cancy has caused five or six different schools to advance salaries for one particular position, and yet left the original vacancy unfilled. 7 — Finally, there is this greatest of all questions ; If higher salaries are to be paid, where, oh where, are our universities, especially our state universities, to get the funds for this purpose? Their sources of revenue are limited. Briefly, they are four in number: A. The income from investments, land-grants, etc. — Practically a fixed amount and not easily increased. B. From the United States govenmient. — Sums re- ceived for special purposes and not to be diverted. C. From state appropriations. — The usual unthink- ing remark that one so often hears (especially from faculty members) is, ''That state is rich." True enough, but the wealth of the state for the most part is in the hands of its citizens and can only be made available for educatioal purposes after a long, and at times rather trying, process. There are definite limits to the amount that can wisely be raised by taxation. Not a few believe that this limit has already been reached. D. From student fees. — For state universities, this is a source that should be tapped only as the ulti- mate resort. The ideals of these institutions should be "free education." Only sen'ice enterprises, THE SALARY PROBLEM 285 such as the furnishing of food, housing, health ser- vice, and the like, should be a charge upon the students. There remains one, and as far as I know, only one, possible source of revenue,— one, which as yet has been but slightly drawn upon by our state universities. It takes the form of endowments, gifts, legacies, and memo- rials from alumni, friends, and the public at large. State- endowed schools have been very loath to develop this source of income. Possibly the needs and necessities of the future will drive them to it. In conclusion, I quote from the summary of a report of the Minnesota Survey Commission, changing and paraphrasing it slightly so as to make its application more general: ''Certain facts are well established and recognized by all institutions. I. The salaries were too low in 1913-1914 to at- tract a sufficient number of the finest types of instructors. II. The increases granted since then do not equal the increases in the cost of living. III. The universities are now relatively worse off than in 1913-1914. IV. Any institution that now fails to make in- creases in salaries, loses its relative position among American universities. V. Years of effort and much money are necessary to re-establish the personnel and reputation of an insti- tution, which once loses its standing." The time has now come when the people of these mid-western states must determine the question of whether they desire to maintain the present standing of their universities. These must receive a large increase in revenue if past achievements are to be maintained. STUDENT FEES AXD TUITIOX CHAEGES HON. THEODORE M. HAMMOND Regent of the University of Wisco?isi}} Graded and secondary schools are established every- where by state constitutions, and the prime character- istic of their establishment is that these schools shall be ''free and without charge for tuition." This is the basic idea — that educational facilities shall be available to all the children of the state and that all the necessary ex- penses of conducting them be borne by all taxpayers, whether these taxpayers be parents or not. I think without exception every community in the country bears the expense of teaching and of the superin- tendence and maintenance of buildings and grounds. In most of the large cities the local government bears also the expense of furnishing school books, and in many com- munities, particularly the rural ones, free meals, or meals at exact cost, or free partial meals are not at all xm- common, but it is also true that these privileges are limit- ed to bona fide residents of the community, and a nominal fee charged to non-residents to at least partially offset the cost of tuition. While this is the situation with regard to the public school, and while there has never yet been any appreci- able or expressed objection to this freedom of service, the situation with regard to normal schools and state uni- versities is not so clearly defined by statute or by custom, and a greater or less degree of opposition to the entire freedom of so-called higher education is always present, though happily seldom insurmountable. True, state uni- STUDENT FEES 287 versities were created for the avowed purpose of furnish- ing the benefits of higher education to the youth of the state at the expense of all the taxpayers and at a mini- mum of cost to the student, on the indisputable theory that every educated youth is a commercial, as well as an ethical, asset. Here again arises the question of what constitutes, or rather, what is included in the term, <^ tui- tion." In our own State of Wisconsin this question was decided by the Supreme Court about forty years ago, when a resident of the state, who was a law student in the university, refused to pay an incidental fee of $4.00, on the theory that the constitution of the state guaran- teed him free tuition. The regents excluded him from attendance upon classes. Mandamus proceedings were instituted by the embryo lawyer and the case was car- ried to the Supreme Court, which decided that, whereas tuition, per se, was free to every resident of the state, the necessary heating and lighting of the rooms of the university constituted a necessary expense in accom- plishing the aims set forth in the statute establishing the university, and that under that statute the state could exact a reasonable proportionate sum to be used in meeting such expenses, to be known as an incidental fee. This same Supreme Court's decision also calls at- tention to the fact that, while the constitution provides that all district schools shall be free and without charge to the residents of the state between the ages of four and twenty years, no such restriction is mentioned as to fees or charges to be paid by students in academies, nor- mal schools, the university, or any of the schools con- nected therewith. The Board of Regents of the University of Wiscon- sin, having no authority or powers other than that con- ferred upon it by statute, has therefore maintained that free tuition meant only what it said, and has exacted 288 EDUCATION.^L SESSION reasonable fees for service other than teaching, and so far as my information goes, has set the pace for a number of other state miiversities. Unfortunately, we have not always had entirely plain sailing in our relations with our state legislature, and from time to time certain dissatisfied elements in the legislature have brought pressure to bear to increase the revenues — a state of mind no doubt brought about in part by the necessarily heavy building expenses in the last score of years, with the result that a number of charges have been brought about, mainly the raising of the non-resident tuition fee from $50.00 to $124.00, and the charging of tuition for extra studies, and for stu- dents in university extension and summer session divi- sions, all of which charges are authorized by the ingen- ious language of the above mentioned supreme court decision. I am informed that recently the oflScers of the Uni- versity of Michigan caused to be made a complete study of the subject of fees for matriculation, diplomas, inci- dentals, hospitals, etc., at various leading universities, and that this study brings out the fact that a non-resident tuition fee is charged at Michigan, Minnesota, Wiscon- sin, Indiana, and California, with a uniform fee for resi- dents and non-residents at Illinois and Ohio. There ap- pears also to be a wide divergence between the sums charged for non-resident tuition, ranging from a mini- mum of $20.00 at California to a maximum of $124.00 at Wisconsin. Just a word as to the maximum non-resident fee of $124.00 charged at Wisconsin. This sum was fixed by legislative enactment, and in opposition to the expressed opinion of the regents as to its entire propriety, and is considerably in excess of the amount that was recom- mended by the regents. The law was passed, but a con- STUDENT FEES 289 ciliatory amendment was added, under the terms of which the regents may give free tuition to a number of non-resident students amounting to eight per cent of the total non-resident enrollment. Naturally, there is a keen competition for this advantage, and the effect upon non-resident scholarship in general has been decidedly salutary. About twenty per cent of these free tuitions are awarded to graduate students, thus recognizing the advisability of encouraging non-residents to engage in graduate work. The contention of our legislature was that the im- position of this heavy non-resident fee had become neces- sary by reason of the increasing financial burden of car- rying the university, and that it was desirable to place the excess cost of carrying non-residents upon the non- residents who secured the benefits, and it is fair to pre- sume that every other state legislature which has im- posed a non-resident tuition fee has done so upon an en- tirely similar contention, and yet it is difficult to see how $20.00 should cover this excess cost in one state, and certainly $124.00 more than covers it in ours. We must here bear in mind the distinct difference between what is known as excess cost to the state and average cost to the state. As to average cost per capita to the state, I remember one very amusing incident that took place in Wisconsin during the celebrated Allen sur- vey in 1913. Sitting in the office of our then business manager. Dr. Bumpus, later President of Tuft's College, I was conversing with him when in came a messenger from the office of the Allen survey with a request from Dr. Allen for a statement of the exact per capita cost to the state during the preceding biennium. Dr. Bumpus sent word back that he should be pleased to furnish such a statement if Dr. Allen would kindly indicate just what he wanted the figure to be, ''For," said he, "I can fur- 290 EDUCATIOX.U SESSION nisli indisputable figures and statistics proving beyond the possibility of contradiction that it is $81.67 or $412.44, or any figure in between, ' ' and I have no doubt his state- ment will be appreciated by anyone who has juggled with the figures of a great university. However, the accountants at all state universities agree that while no exact figure can be set down, it is entirely fair to say that $200.00 will approximate the average cost per student to the state, including in this all direct and indirect expenses for instructional and its associated research work done in residence. If this figure of $200.00 be taken as the approxi- mately correct average cost, and if the principle were advocated of charging non-resident students the average cost, this would bring non-resident tuition fee far in ad- vance of the maximum now in force at Wisconsin and would put it in the class of the large endowed institu- tions. If, on the other hand, it were argued that non- residents should be charged only the excess cost, it is quite probable that California's minimum will not cover the cost, and for purposes of discussion, it might be well to suggest for a non-resident tuition fee a uniform sum of $100.00 per year per student, or one-half of the ap- proximate average cost. All universities recognize the advantage to them of an interchange of non-resident students, and it goes without sa}T.ng that there would be a vast advantage to the non-resident student population in being able to plan their chosen work on a uniform financial basis, for it must be borne in mind that the non-resident student is the serious-minded student, and usually the student with the lean and hungry purse. I therefore suggest, as my contribution to this forum, that steps be taken among all middle-west state univer- STUDENT FEES 291 sities to accomplish legislation looking toward a uni- form $100.00 per year non-resident fee. As to other student fees, a careful study of the pres- ent situation suggests no possible uniform arrangement, as circumstances vary so greatly in different institutions. A matriculation and a diploma fee are practically the same thing in effect, as each is levied only once. There is undoubtedly considerable justice in charg- ing a matriculation or entrance fee, for every student who enrolls at an institution must be accounted for by records kept practically in perpetuity, independent of whether the student stays a semester, or completes a four-year course. This naturally entails an expense which can best be apportioned by charging all students a matriculation fee. A diploma fee covers expenses somewhat similar to the expenses presumably met by a matriculation fee, and an analysis shows that Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio charge such a fee, $5.00 at Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and the Michigan Agriculture College, and $10.00 at the University of Michigan. In endowed institutions we find a matriculation fee is charged at Chicago, Cor- nell, Columbia, Pennsylvania and Princeton, although this is not necessarily a uniform custom in all the col- leges of the institutions mentioned. Material differences exist regarding the diploma fee, which varies from $5.00 to $10.00 at the state univer- sities, and from $10.00 to $20.00 at endowed institutions, no diploma fee being charged at Har\'ard. There are certain clerical disadvantages of a matric- ulation fee due to the necessity of differentiating between the new and the old student, and for that reason Wis- consin has established a so-called incidental fee, which for many years was fixed at $10.00 per semester. When the privileges of the gymnasium were made available to 292 EDUCATIONAL SESSION all students and with the establishment of the university clinic, the fee was increased to $12.00. Recently, with the establishment of a new student infirmary, where students are cared for without extra cost, the incidental fee was increased to $15.00 per semester, $3.00 being ap- plied to the operation of the student infirmary', thus practically providing a student community health insur- ance fund. As the activities of our universities have expanded, many additional expenses have been incurred which are not direct teaching expenses, and which may fairly be charged direct to the students. I am informed that here at Michigan a $5.00 fee is charged to all students for the support of their magnificent Union. Students are constantly importuned to subscribe for the support of other worthy student activities, and it has been sug- gested that each student be charged a sum which will cover the student daily paper, the student annual, and also support the conduct of intercollegiate games. This suggestion, however, is an extreme one; nevertheless with comparable facilities for the care of student health, and for necessary social activities, there is ample justifica- tion for comparable fees covering these items at our various institutions, and chargeable to all students in residence. The high prices which have existed for some years, the inadequate income under which the regents and trustees have attempted to conduct state universities, coupled with other difficulties, has made the question of fees particularly pertinent. Many of the state institu- tions are this year putting into effect fees from twenty- five per cent to fifty per cent above those existing last year, some recognizing this merely as a temporary ex- pedient. It is quite probable that all will agree on the wis- STUDENT FEES 293 doni of keeping university expenses to students as low as possible, for we are more interested in helping the student of moderate means who is ambitious to gain a higher education than the student of wealth, to whom the fees are at most a trivial matter. If this is recog- nized as the point of view from which the question should be considered, it is perfectly obvious that if the state legislature will provide sufficient funds for operation and maintenance, there is no need for increasing fees. If, on the other hand, the support from the state is in- sufficient, it is certainly justifiable for the regents or trustees to increase fees in order to enable a more ef- fective conduct of university work. There are actually some advantages of flexibility to this fee situation, and as differences in available state funds must of necessity vary with our state institutions, there is no material advantage in suggesting uniformity of fees other than the non-resident tuition fees. Any tendency toward extreme student fees will nat- urally be checked, for if fees of this type are raised to a point comparable to those of endowed institutions, then the state has distinctly failed in its efforts to pro- vide higher education at moderate cost to the youth of the state. And I may add here a brief page from my own experience in the matter of the meeting of college expenses by the financially poor student. I am well aware that my statement may be challenged, but I think I am right in my conclusions. Back in 1891, when the new University of Chicago organization was just taking shape, I went to Dr. Har- per, whom I had known intimately in a personal way since his boyhood, and long before he had become a great man, and told him of my observation of the struggling students in the days of the old University of Chicago, and how all the boys had worked their way at odd jobs 294 EDUCATIONAL SESSION throughout their courses, and laid out to him a plan which I had formulated for the organization of a sys- tematic employment bureau, to be operated by the uni- versity, for the purpose of furnishing employment to needy students, and for controlling a series of so-called jobs in perpetuity, with a complete system of checks upon the work performed, money earned, etc. The plan was adopted by the new university and I was selected as its first bureau chief, my first official bulletin cover- ing the plan being issued in the spring of 1892, some six months before the opening of the new university. The plan was a success, and has been adopted almost in its entirety by practically all the larger institutions since that time. I left the university in 1897, after hav- ing furnished employment to something over three thou- sand students altogether. Naturally, I have been inter- ested in keeping a check, as far as possible, throughout the following years upon those young men and young women who were the recipients of aid at the hands of the organized employment bureau, and my definite conclu- sion is that the aided student has not succeeded in after life to the same extent as has the student whose way was paid by parents or friends. His health has not been as good, and he has been lacking in initiative and in ac- complishment. I am well aware that there are glaring exceptions to this statement, but in looking at a ques- tion of this character, we must look at a large number of cases, just as an insurance company determines tables of mortality. One man who is insured in a life insur- ance company may have an expectancy of twenty years of life and may live sixty years afterward, but many thousands will die just exactly according to schedules of mortality. The university course of to-day is a strenuous one. At best, it is an expensive one. There is not an idle STUDENT FEES 295 hour provided for, and there is precious little that is free. The student who gets what he should get out of his col- lege course has plenty of work and a minimum of rec- reation mapped out for him, if he gives no thought to his expenses, or, rather, to the source of his income. Few indeed are the students who are so constituted physically that they can carry the full college course and meanwhile earn money with which to pay for it, either in whole or in part, and carrying away their diploma with ' ' mens Sana in corpore sano." My contention, after all these years of observation, is that the young man has got to begin hustling soon enough, and has got to keep it up long enough after he starts, and that in all good con- science he is entitled to all the joys of life during those splendid days of student life, days which will never come again, and which ought to bear fruit in a memory of golden days; sentimental, care-free days, rather than a memory of the eternal grind and the midnight oil. It is no disgrace to be poor; it is no disgrace to bor- row money with which to pay for an education. The man who is compelled to borrow it is in better shape to earn money and pay back what he borrowed after his graduation, than the man who worked his way through is to even pay his own way, with no debt to liquidate. And so, while I lay claim to the establishment of the organized student employment bureau, I freely admit that I have no such claim to immortality as has the man who established the idea of a university loan fund, which gives a better opportunity to the poor student, and at the same time gives him the idea that life has some sunshine and is not all shadow. I am convinced that the well-meaning philanthropist who leaves a loan fund legacy to a university does a far greater good than does he who builds a chapel or a gymnasium which shall have his name carved over the door. 296 EDUCATIONAL SESSION Wisconsin's plan of the remission of tuition to a maximum of eight per cent of the non-resident popula- tion is a step in the right direction. We aim to remit these fees in cases where the student is not only unable to pay, but unable comfortably to borrow, and we claim that the plan is highly successful and satisfactory to all concerned. I have been assigned a dry subject, comparable per- haps with the city directory or the multiplication table, and I have found it a difficult matter to keep from be- ing extraordinarily dry and boresome after such a feast of reason and flow of soul as has been your portion dur- ing these few days. To sum up, perhaps all I have said may be compassed in a few brief sentences. First : There should be a uniformity in non-resident tuition fees. Second: Extra-curricular expenses should be borne by the student. Third: A certain proportion of deserving students should enjoy a remission of fees. Fourth: Students should be advised against en- deavoring to earn their way through college. Fifth: Permanent loan funds should be solicited, or, better still, established by appropriation. If any or all of these suggestions shall eventually bear fruit, I think we shall all feel that we have not lived and labored in vain. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY, LOS ANGELES EDUCATION AND PSYCHOLOGY LIBRARY This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. Form Lu-5/Jl-6,■t»6^.JlC>»6S^ j49oyA — o-oJ UCLA-ED/PSYCH Library LB 2301 M582 1920 L 005 642 739 6 fjlC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY D 000 453 756 9