TRAINING OF PARK EXECUTIVES 999 



EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES Now BEING OFFERED IN 

 VARIOUS INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING THAT RELATE TO THE 



TRAINING OF PARK EXECUTIVES 



While it is true that no institution of higher learning in America is 

 at the present time specifically giving a course or courses for the training 

 of park executives, the elements of a possible four-year course of training 

 are to be found in many such institutions. In some few institutions the 

 elements of a post graduate course may also be found. 



Institutions Offering Courses in Landscape Architecture. 



One of the functional fields of activity most closely and fundamentally 

 related to park service is the field of landscape gardening or landscape 

 architecture. "Approximately fifty colleges, universities and technical 

 schools in the United States are now giving a total of several hundreds of 

 courses in landscape gardening. These courses have practically all grown 

 up in the past twenty-five years, and their propagation visibly continues." 

 (Frank A. Waugh, Landscape Architecture, October, 1926, page 60. Extracts 

 from paper prepared for the International Congress of Plant Sciences at 

 Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, August 1926.) 



The majority of these courses are more cultural than professional in 

 their objectives. And, in so far as they relate to the training of undergrad- 

 uates, Mr. Waugh suggests that landscape gardening should be a cultural 

 subject to one hundred college students for every one who studies it profes- 

 sionally, just as art is now. As a cultural subject, he further suggests, it 

 should emphasize the social values of the following objectives: (i) To make 

 snug, comfortable and beautiful homes. (2) To make clean, healthful and 

 beautiful cities. (3) To protect and interpret the native landscape. 



To the student who elects to fit himself for park executive work the 

 distinction between the cultural and professional aspects of a course or 

 courses in landscape gardening is a very important consideration. The 

 probabilities are, in view of the many other fundamental fields of activity 

 and knowledge with which he must be more or less familiar, that he will, 

 in relation to the field of landscape gardening, have to pursue the subject 

 further than if he were studying it for cultural objectives, and not so far as 

 would be necessary for professional purposes. In this case, however, the 

 training would partake more of the nature of a cultural training than of a 

 professional training. 



Courses of Interest to Park Executives. 



At some of the institutions offering these courses special attention has 

 been given to the requirements of park executives. The following are 

 excerpts from a statement (Parks and Recreation, Vol. IX, No. 6, July- 



