BASIC RESEARCH AND THE PRIVATE UNIVERSITY 



head), and (2) asked private sponsors of all projects to pav their 

 prorated share of these costs. 



Private foundations have been understandably reluctant 

 to do either of these two things. Thev wish to see their limited 



o J 



funds going for direct, recognizable costs of identifiable proj- 

 ects. Besides, they could point to plenty of institutions where 

 the president or treasurer was a bum but the biology professor 

 was a whizz. They wanted no funds to be diverted from the 

 professor. And obviously, too, their money would "not go as 

 far" if a quarter to a third of it was allocated to indirect costs. 

 "Better to supply 1 5 hungry men with bread than only 10 with 

 butter too." 



I do not pretend to offer any easy formulas for solving this 

 problem. Many foundations and other private agencies have 

 found ways, a variety of ways, to assist. I am only settina 



J J J ' JO 



forth the problem and ask that we all face the fact that those 

 great research institutions of this country, the private uni- 

 versities, no longer have — if thev ever did — "funds of their 

 own" to disperse freely. All their funds are gifts (except, of 

 course, tuition fees). Furthermore, a large share of these gifts 

 now come on an annual basis and not in the form of permanent 

 endowments. Professors on tenure, who resist having their 

 salaries paid partly from project funds because they are on an 

 annual basis, should become aware of the fact that other sources 

 of funds are on an annual basis too and, whether we like it or 

 not, that's the way things are these days. This does not mean 

 the professors will not surely be paid; it only means that every 

 possible source of funds must be tapped. 



There are some who will bemoan the fact that the uni- 

 versities have allowed themselves to reach such a terrible state. 

 And I admit that universities have been more concerned about 

 national welfare than with their own financial security. The 

 private universities could have pulled in their necks and refused 



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