EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



Vol. XIX. Xove:mber, 1907. No. ;>. 



The problems of organization and administration of station affairs 

 become more difficult year by year as the activities and relations of 

 the stations become more extensive and complicated. This seems inev- 

 itable, but it calls attention to the need of adjustment to the new 

 conditions. 



At one time a station council headed by a chairman was deemed 

 sufficient to settle and manage the station business, or a college presi- 

 dent through whose office the funds could bo allotted and certain 

 general business and correspondence conducted. We soon outgrew 

 both of these arrangements, and have come to regard the station as 

 a unit — not merely as an aggregation of separate departments grouped 

 together for the purpose of sharing certain common funds. There 

 are common aims and interests which bind the different departments 

 together, and aside from this the station as a whole has certain out- 

 side relationships and responsibilities. These things have empha- 

 sized the need for a distinct organization and for a separate adminis- 

 trative officer. Effective organization has been one of the most 

 important factors in developing the American stations and in giving 

 them individuality. 



While the desirability of a director and a certain degree of organi- 

 zation has become generallj^ accepted, our conception of the duties of 

 the director's office has not always kept pace with the growth in the 

 station's activities and the responsibilities imposed. Coupled as these 

 duties usually are with other services and reponsibilities, it becomes 

 almost inevitable that some things should be left undone which ought 

 to be done in the interest of good administration. 



This is said in no spirit of criticism, but rather to call attention to 

 several points which suggest themselves from a view of the field as a 

 whole. The changing conditions of the stations incident to their 

 development seem to make greater attention to these matters desirable 

 at this time, as we are still to some degree in a condition of transition. 

 What is said, therefore, is by way of suggestion, in an attempt to i)oint 



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