12 



National Resources Committee 



Tlie universities have been slow to recognize the importance 

 uf this development. Research and statistical courses, with 

 few exceptions, provide little training in the new techniques 

 for mass resoarcli. Few schools in the country now give a 

 slatistical course which concentrates attention primarily on 

 this type of research, including study of such matters as re- 

 search planning, schedule construction, instruction writing, 

 field operation, editing, coding, tabulation, analysis, and report 

 writing. The various governmental agencies have likewise 

 done relatively little toward training personnel in the new 

 techniques. 



Tlie consequences of the shortage of well-trained and com- 

 petent senior analysts are serious. Many research projects 

 have been inadequately directed, and accordingly have failed 

 to secure the best results. The small staff of competent per- 

 sonnel available has had to carry a heavy burden, and fre- 

 quently has been seriously overworked. The universities, which 

 have provided most of the personnel now available, have suf- 

 fered serious inroads on their teaching staffs, with consequent 

 impairment of academic work. Governmental agencies have 

 frequently been handicapped in initiating research which was 

 urgently needed for administrative planning. 



Recruitment Through Internships 



No attempt is made in this report to enumerate the 

 changes in civil service regulations which are needed 

 to improve the research personnel of governmental 

 agencies. Kecommendations have been presented in a 

 number of recent documents prepared by those who 

 have made the civil service a subject of special study. 

 It is appropriate, however, to present in the interest 

 of improved research in the Government a description 

 of an experiment in internship training of employees 

 of the State Government which has been inaugurated 

 by the University of Wisconsin. The plan, adopted in 

 this experiment is so closely related to the plans com- 

 mon in the large industrial laboratories and in all 

 institutions which prepare physicians, that it seems 

 worthy of careful consideration by the Congress and 

 the Civil Service Commission. 



The University of Wisconsin makes it advantageous 

 for students to specialize during their senior year in 

 studies which prepare them for governmental posi- 

 tions. After the student completes the specialized 

 study of his senior year he is taken into the employ 

 of the State for a period and is trained through direct 

 contact with a State office in the methods of dealing 

 with governmental problems. The internship plan is 

 described briefly in the following statement supplied 

 by the University : 



Public service scholarships — their nature. — The Wisconsin 

 Legislature has provided for a University Scholarship which 

 makes use of apprenticeship in-service training in the various 

 State departments. The only students eligible are those who 

 have entered or are about to enter their la.st year in pursuit 

 of a degree in the University. Students selected as scholars 

 will be granted a loan not to exceed $400, which will be paid 

 to them In monthly installments during the school year. The 

 scholars agree to work in some State department or depart- 

 ments for a period not to exceed two years at the prevailing 



salary for the kind of position taken. During this period, the 

 loan is repaid to the regents. This apprenticeship work begins 

 upon completion of the work for the degree, usually in July. 

 The work is of a detiuite apprenticeship, educational character, 

 aimed to acquaint the scholar with some aspect of the admin- 

 istrative functions of the State. After completion of the 

 apprenticeship period, those scholars interested in continuing 

 in the State service will take the regular competitive examina- 

 tion in the civil service. 



Under plans now in operation, no ai)pointments are made 

 except where a prospective vacancy in some State department 

 has been certified to the university by the director of pei-sonnel. 

 But the act provides that "if no position in the State is made 

 available for him as provided hereunder, all interest on the 

 loan will be waived, and the regents wiU, if he desires, appoint 

 him as a research fellow or assistant for the ensuing academic 

 year at the prevailing stipend for such positions, and will make 

 reasonable provision for repayment of the loan without finan- 

 cial hardship." 



Method of selection. — When, during the year, a prospective 

 apprenticeship opening has been certified to the university by 

 the State director of personnel, the appropriate university 

 departments are notified. They then recommend a candidate 

 or two for the scholarship. The candidate must have a high 

 grade-point average and must be considered an excellent pros- 

 pect for such a position. His candidacy must be approved by 

 the university public service scholarship committee. The State 

 director of personnel, with the advice of the State department 

 directly concerned, and after a study of the candidate's i-ecords 

 and an interview, then makes the final selection of rejection. 



Students of exceptional merit who are interested in these 

 scholarships should make their interests known to the faculty 

 member in their major department who is managing them. 



Other universities have organized schools and courses 

 for the training of candidates for public service but 

 have not articulated these instructional programs di- 

 rectly with either State governments or the Federal 

 Government. 



Experiments in voluntary service in Washington Tju- 

 reaus. — Some efforts have been made by certain univer- 

 sities and private organizations to find places in the 

 Washington bureaus for college graduates who are con- 

 templating entrance into governmental service. Such 

 efforts are handicapped because there is no legal recog- 

 nition of internship status in the Government. Bu- 

 reau chiefs may admit mdividuals to certain activities 

 which supply some training, but the arrangement is 

 one of tolerance of the mdividuals rather than effective 

 internship. 



In-Service Training 



Beyond initial training, governmental employees 

 often require training in service. The most extensive 

 program of such training is found in the Graduate 

 School of the Department of Agriculture. This school 

 conducts more than 50 courses and enrolls students to 

 the number of more than 3,000. Some of these students 

 belong to departments other than Agriculture. 



Similar, though less extensive, programs of training 

 are organized in other branches of the Government. It 



