COLLEGE COMMUNICATIONS

NOTICE OF FACULTY MEETING

The Faculty of the College of Liberal
Arts and Sciences will meet on Monday,
April 20, at 4:30 p.m. in the auditorium
of Frank Strong Hall, Please note the
change of day from the usual Tuesday to
Monday.

COLLEGE ENROLLMENT

The following table shows the actual

student attendance as of November 1 and
March 1 in the College of Liberal Arts

and Sciences for the last two years:

Fall 1940 = 1997 students
Fatl 394] « 1925 . Decrease 3, 6%

Spring 1941 - 1816 " ,
Spring 1942 —- 1689 " Decrease 7%

The decrease in students this year over
last year averages 5,2%, Our teaching
load in credit hours, however, is down
9,4%»

The following College departments have
this year held their own or had an in-
crease in their student credit-hour load:
Bacteriology, Mathematics, Chemistry,
Speech and Drama, Physiology, Physics and
Astronomy, and Home Economics,

In order of credit-hour loads the follow-
ing are the ten largest College depart-—
ments: English, Mathematics, Chemistry,
Romance Languages, Psychology, History,
Physics and Astronomy, Sociology, Geology
and Geography, and Physiology.

ACADEMIC STANDARDS IN WAR TIMES

We hear much these days about speeding up
our educational programs, With this pol-+
icy we are in hearty sympathy since, if
properly done, it is an educational pol-
icy not inconsistent with the best inter-
ests of both students and the winning of
the war,

We should bear in mind, however, that war
demands even better trained workers than
are required in times of peace, for upon
their skill, accuracy, and mastery even
more now depends, In colle ge we must
produce better workmen, just as the world
outside of college walls is being called
upon to do a better job than ever before,
If we do this we must maintain high stand-
ards of work and scholarship, if anything
even higher standards than we have hither-
to had, Fortunately, the government, the
army, the navy, and the other agencies
looking to us for trained men, are urg-=
ing us not to lower our standards of

April 17, 1942

achievement in the least, And it is
significant that all the regional ac-
crediting agencies have united in urg-
ing all colleges not to lower the re-
quirements for admission, and not to
lower the requirements for graduation in
either quantity or quality,

 

THE LIBERAL AND HUMANE TRADITION

“There can be little doubt that if the
war continues as long as now seems prob=
able there will be many drastic altera-
tions in our colleges and universities,
There can be little doubt also in the
minds of those who have confidence in
the future of this country that once
the war is over our academic institu-
tions will again thrive, Readjustments
may be necessary in a post-war period,
Indeed, some changes which have been
long overdue may be forced upon the
educational world, On balance, it seems
to me that the period of stress and
strain on which we are now entering will
probably be beneficial to the academic
world, Contrary to a view prevalent in
certain quarters, universities are among
the most conservative institutions in
human history, An occasional jolt is
thoroughly beneficial; it forces adapt-
ations to new needs of society which
have perhaps remained unrecognized,
That at least is the evidence from the
past, Taking a long-range view, there
fore, we may be cheerful about the fu-
ture of the university tradition in the
United States,"

~-James Bryant Conant,

oe RS ee ae

"But if the nation needs the technical
expert today, it needs still more the
mah of vision tomorrow, If the demo-
cratic tradition is to be upheld and
strengthened, if a new order of freedom
is to be established after the present ay
struggle is over, new leaders must be &
developed, The colleges cannot evade %
this task, even though it will make
vast demands upon their resources, Stu-
dents now are clamoring for training
adequate to the times in which they

live, for a deeper understanding of the
forces at work in history, and a clearer
vision of their duties as citizens in 4
democracy, When the work of the soldier
and the technician has been accomplisheda,
the world will require the genius of the
builder and the oreator, The need of a

 

 

‘liberal education, sych as the colleges

can give, was never wore urgent than at
present,” :
--"What the Colleges Are Doing,'