648 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIX. No. 1003 



Again (and here is a weakness in some 

 heads, fortunately of rare occurrence, which 

 Doctor Johnston fails to take cognizance of), 

 we sometimes see the head of a department 

 seeking to climb into favor with a dean, presi- 

 dent or board of trustees at the expense of an- 

 other department or other departments, by 

 depreciating the work of others, by ridiculing 

 or criticizing suggestions not emanating from 

 his own department, by intimations and even 

 fabrications regarding the efficiency of an 

 associated department, etc. Fortunately, this 

 characteristic on the part of a head is rare, 

 although the fact that it does exist in institu- 

 tions is apparent to almost any worker who 

 has been connected with universities for 

 twenty years or more. 



Now, then, admitting that this weakness 

 exists in some heads and realizing that char- 

 acteristics of this kind are found more or less 

 in many men, must we not admit the pos- 

 sibility of the same existing in the minds and 

 characters of one, two or several of the men 

 under a head? Do we not see young men in 

 the profession, desiring prominence and ad- 

 vancement in a department, impatient, sel- 

 fishly critical of their chief, undermining his 

 position when possible, with the hope of per- 

 sonal advancement and so jealous of their 

 associates of equal rank as to resort to ridicule 

 or fabrication at their expense, if it appears to 

 them necessary for their personal ambition? 

 This view, of course, is an extreme one — ^pur- 

 posely so — that we may in taking to heart 

 Doctor Johnston's excellent remarks, not fail 

 to see the other side of the question^ 



We know young men to-day — men of pro- 

 nounced mentality — hypercritical of their 

 chief and insistent upon the merits of their 

 own views of administration — views which 

 they might radically change after attaining 

 maturity of experience. Some of these young 

 men are of such self-satisfied temperament 

 that, in years to come, if they attain positions 

 of authority to which they aspire, they will be 

 more dictatorial in their departments and 

 more hide-bound in their views than the 

 chiefs whose views they now seek to belittle. 



Perhaps enough has been said to indicate to 

 us, using, in part, a time-worn phrase, that 

 there may be a middle course and that, in 

 swinging from the rocks on one side of the 

 strait, care should be taken to prevent colli- 

 sion with the opposite shore. 



The efficiency of a department is, of course, 

 the standard by which it is judged in the up- 

 building of a university. What better basis 

 is there than its ability to give graduate work ? 

 We know of an institution fortunate in the 

 possession of a dean of its graduate school who, 

 with remarkable ability in this particular line, 

 has, by many means, not necessarily through 

 the heads, acquainted himself with the powers 

 in this direction, exhibited by the various de- 

 partments in his institution. His records are, 

 therefore, an index of the comparative merits 

 and demerits of different departments and will 

 doubtless be used for reference when occasion 

 demands. Does this not show a tendency to 

 get away from the autocracy of the present 

 system ? 



In the writer's own department, a most 

 happy condition, recently inaugurated, pre- 

 vails. The leading members of the staff are 

 section heads, each with his own particular 

 line of work, his own experimental projects, 

 his own employees, his own budget. The re- 

 sponsibility of expenditures and results rests 

 directly upon the section head and he is judged 

 accordingly. The chief of the department has- 

 a general oversight over the work of his staff 

 and is in charge of the executive work of the 

 division. Regular meetings of the staff, with 

 the chief of the division as chairman, are held' 

 for the purpose of transacting business perti- 

 nent to the division, such as the approval of 

 projects or of publications, by vote; plans for 

 the betterment of work, courses given in col- 

 lege, etc., etc., and it has been found that 

 fostering a cooperative spirit upon the part 

 of the men and emphasizing their individual 

 responsibility gives far better results than the 

 opposite policy — one which is still followed 

 (sad to relate) by department heads who have 

 not yet " seen the light." F. L. Washburn 



■DNnrEEsiTT OF Minnesota, 

 Minneapolis, Minn. 



