REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE UNDERGRADUATE 

 COURSE LEADING TO THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF 

 SCIENCE IN FORESTRY. 



It is an axiom that no superstructure can long endure unless it rests on a 

 firm foundation. Whatever opinion one may hold as to the length of time 

 needed to train a man for the practice of forestry as a profession, we are all 

 agreed that he should be well grounded in the fundamentals. The purpose of 

 this report is to set forth what in the judgment of this committee constitutes 

 the groundwork of a technical education in forestry, whether or not it is to 

 be followed later by a more specialized study. 



This report is based on the assumption that the normal undergraduate course 

 in professional forestry will cover a period of four years. This the committee 

 believes should hold as the absolute minimum. For easy comparison with 

 existing curricula these years may be divided into eight terms of 15 or 16 

 weeks of actual instruction each, exclusive of vacations and term examination 

 periods. The four-year period will thus include three summers of approxi- 

 mately three months each. 



It is further assumed that upon the successful completion of course work 

 aggregating 130 credit hours, more or less, in accordance with the regulations 

 of each forest school, there shall be conferred on the candidate a bachelor's 

 degree. The committee has not considered whether that degree should b 

 styled Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Science in Forestry, in that this is 

 a matter that for the most part is regulated by the faculty, or other legislation 

 governing individual institutions. 



The committee was assigned the duty of outlining an undergraduate course. 

 The question of whether such a course will give a man adequate and full prepa- 

 ration for the practice of the profession is the province of other committees 

 of this conference. On tljis point the committee, as a body, expresses no opin- 

 ion, although its members, as individuals, have very definite ideas thereon, 

 ranging from the viewpoint of Prof. Bruce that four years is enough, to the 

 opposite extreme, which would favor six or even seven years of college work 

 as being none too much to permit the prospective forester to get all that he 

 really ought to have. In this report, however, the committee deems its func- 

 tion to be to set forth how a student who desires to fit himself for profes- 

 sional work in forestry, and who has only four years to devote to college train- 

 ing, can use that time to the best advantage. 



Before proceeding to the consideration of the curriculum which it presents 

 for discussion, there are a few general points on which the committee desires 

 to go on record. 



Taken by and large, the committee is in substantial agreement, except perhaps 

 as regards a foreign language, with the statement of " Requirements for a De- 

 gree in Forestry," announced by the committee that in 1912 reported on Stand- 

 ardization of Instruction in Forestry, as set forth, on pages 344 to 347 of the 

 Forestry Quarterly, Vol. X, No. 3, September, 1912 (pp. 4-7 of the separate of 

 that report). But, on the basis of the experience of the past decade, the com- 



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