28 



RECORD OF THE ALUMNI 



Classification of College Students, January, 1898 



These figures bring out strikingly the indisposition of boys 

 fresh from the farm to choose an agricultural course at that time. 

 Those who had been in the College for a year or more elected such 

 a course more freely, thus showing that the College was educating 

 toward the farm even under the old course. As the opportunities be- 

 came better appreciated, the drift in the direction of the specializsd 

 courses constantly increased. 



During the spring term, 1898, a four-year course in "house- 

 hold economics" was prepared and was offered to young women 

 the next fall. This was received with favor from the first, and 

 before many years most of the young women of the College elected 

 it, or its successors, rather than the general science course. 



In these courses the needs of students as the future rulers 

 of the country were provided for by including in each course nine 

 terms of history or political science. This was a large increase 

 over the old course, and was made the occasion of much public dis- 

 cussion at the time, into the merits and demerits of which no 

 entrance will be made at this time. 



In May, 1899, a new Board of Regents took charge of the 

 College and among other things provided for a revision of the 

 courses of study. The president .of the Board, E. T. Fairchild, 

 appointed a committee from the Faculty to submit revisions of the 

 courses to the Board. Professor Nichols was named as chairman 

 of the committee. The committee held many sessions, and its 

 members were unable to agree upon a report. Finally, two were 

 submitted, and the minority report prepared by Professors Nichols, 

 Hitchcock, and Willard was, perhaps with slight changes, adopted 

 by the Board. 



The names of the courses were changed to: Agriculture, 

 mechanical engineering, science, and domestic science, the groups 

 of students to which they appealed remaining practically as before. 

 In these courses the required work in history and political science 

 was cut from nine terms to five terms. The opportunity for elect- 

 ing subjects that one might choose was increased somewhat. One 

 feature that remained in effect through all subsequent changes for 



