102 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



tion that such boards will serve as the governing body of the insti- 

 tution, lending stability and continuity to it, guiding its develop- 

 ment, and standing between it and the people, that the appointment 

 of a Ijoard of trustees rests. On no other assumption as to their func- 

 tion are boards needed, for the institution must of necessity have exec- 

 utive officers to whom the details of administration are in all pro- 

 priety committed, and these officers might be made directly responsi- 

 ble to state officials for the use of funds and the carrying out of the 

 laws enacted by the people. Freedom and latitude must be accorded 

 the administrative officer if efficient and progressive work is to be 

 done. 



Upon the attitude of the men comprising the board and their con- 

 ception, not only of the institution but of their own functions as 

 officers, depends in a very vital way the usefulness of the board as 

 a wdiole to the institution. Members sometimes feel that as they are 

 the trustees of the people it is their duty to see that the public's ideas 

 are being carried out, not only in effect, but at all stages in the work- 

 ing out of the details. Their office is assumed to carry large respon- 

 sibilities of directorship and administration, and this leads members 

 to undertake duties for which expert officers are necessary and have 

 been provided. Their efforts at control in detail are usually spas- 

 modic for lack of time, as they are further inefficient from lack of 

 expert knowledge. They lead the board into an impossible position, 

 resulting in ill-considered action and often in injuries to the institu- 

 tion and to individuals. 



These are not theoretical considerations but are based on actual ex- 

 perience. They indicate that a sharper distinction between the duties 

 of government on the one hand and of administration on the other is 

 very desirable from every point of view. 



The real function of the board of trustees or regents is to govern 

 the institution, to determine its general policy and to select a presi- 

 dent to whom the administration of its affairs is committed. It will 

 have discharged its highest function when it has selected an admin- 

 istrative officer, appointed a corps of workers, and made arrange- 

 ments by which these men can render the best possible service of which 

 they are capable. 



In carrying out this function the board will naturally appoint offi- 

 cers, on the nomination of the president, fix salaries, approve the plans 

 of work and the budget of expenditures, and audit the accounts. It 

 should also jjrovide means, pecuniary and physical, for meeting the 

 needs of the institution; and it may investigate complaints of admin- 

 istration which come to it in an official way. In the interest of good 

 administration it is its duty to support and sustain the president in 

 carrying out the approved policy of action, as long as he is retained 



