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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



minious failure, and being apprehensive that 

 the disastrous consecpaences which must 

 follow will be felt in all the other colleges 

 of the land. And yet, after all, this is not 

 entirely a question of possibilities or proba- 

 bilities. The experiment has been tried al- 

 ready, and tried until it is no longer an ex- 

 periment. It has been tried at least long 

 enough to prove that it is not surrounded 

 by any of the dangers which seem so formi- 

 dable to the distinguished president of 

 Princeton, and that it is truly attended by 

 all the advantageous consequences which 

 are anticipated from it by the enlightened 

 and progressive president of Harvard. This 

 identical experiment has been tried for a 

 period of more than four years in Columbia 

 College ; and it is this fact which has in- 

 duced me to intrude the expression of my 

 opinions into this discussion. 



More than four years have now elapsed 

 since the ordinary modes of compulsion, by 

 which the attendance of students upon scho- 

 lastic exercises is commonly enforced in col- 

 leges, were abandoned in this institution. 

 As a substitute for these, the simple rule 

 was adopted, that any marked irregularity 

 of attendance on the daily exercises should 

 debar the student from the privilege of at- 

 tending the stated periodical examinations, 

 through which every candidate for gradua- 

 tion is obliged by statute to pass, and to 

 pass satisfactorily, before he can receive a 

 degree in Arts. And, in order to remove 

 any uncertainty which might exist as to the 

 amount of irregularity which should be con- 

 sidered sufficient to deprive an individual 

 of this privilege, the limit of tolerated ab- 

 sences from any particular department of 

 study was put at one-fourth of the total 

 number of exercises in that department. 

 This limit was fixed upon, because it had 

 been already tried, for several years, with 

 results entirely satisfactory, in the School 

 of Mines which is associated with the col- 

 lege, and which is carried on, on the same 

 grounds. Under this system, a student may 

 absent himself without being called upon to 

 assigu any reason for his absence. He may, 

 if he pleases, assign such a reason volunta- 

 rily, or he may state in advance his desire 

 or intention to be absent from a future ex- 

 ercise, and, in case he does this, a note is 

 made of the reason so assigned, which is 



preserved for a purpose which will presently 

 appear. In order that he may be always 

 aware of the state of his absence account, a 

 bulletin is kept constantly posted where it 

 is accessible to him, exhibiting the number 

 of his absences from every department sep- 

 arately, up to the current date. The data 

 for this bulletin are derived from the daily 

 reports of the college officers made to the 

 president each officer presenting his report 

 for- the day, immediately after the close of 

 college hours and from these the proper en- 

 tries are made in the bulletin immediately. 

 An abstract of this record is furnished 

 monthly to the parent or guardian of every 

 student ; so that, if there be any unjustifia- 

 ble irregularity, it is referred to the au- 

 thority most suitable to investigate the 

 causes and to apply the proper correction. 

 If, at the close of the session, any student 

 appears, from the record, to have exceeded 

 his limit, in any department, he is notified 

 that he is debarred from examination in 

 that department ; and the loss of an exam- 

 ination, in any single department, deprives 

 him of his standing as a candidate for a 

 degree. He is not on that account com- 

 pelled to leave college. He may continue 

 to attend as before ; but, if, on account of 

 growing irregularity, or inattention to study, 

 his attendance should be deemed unprofit- 

 able to himself, or prejudicial to others, he 

 may be required to withdraw. In this event, 

 he retires silently, and without censure. 



In case a student, whose absences for 

 the session exceed the limit of tolerance, 

 should be able to make it appear that all 

 these absences were occasioned by causes 

 beyond his control, or were otherwise justi- 

 fiable, the faculty are at liberty, in their 

 discretion, to raise the ban, and to admit 

 him to examination. But, if a single one 

 of these absences appears to have been 

 wanton or unwarranted, it is of no avail to 

 him that all the others were unavoidable 

 he loses his standing as a candidate for a 

 degree. 



Under this system an appeal is made to 

 a higher motive than the fear of censure. 

 It is inculcated on the student continually 

 that to attend the college exercises is a 

 privilege and a duty ; to be absent a loss 

 and a wrong to himself. And, when this 

 idea becomes familiar, he will not only be- 



