Mabch 25, 1910] 



SCIENCE 



445 



tions necessarily imposed by correlation of 

 departmental work. There is, however, a 

 plentiful sprinkling of "Should have con- 

 trol," which sounds as if the wish rather 

 than the possession were father of the 

 thought ; and also others, of which the fol- 

 lowing are selected as typical: "None." 

 ' ' Given, usually, freedom in conduct of my 

 classes. " "A marked tendency on part of 

 head to urge his own methods." "The 



professor of decides the texts 



to be used and the amount of work to be 

 covered." "The presence of his superior 

 in the room (as is the case in some depart- 

 ments) overseeing his work is, to express it 

 mildly, damnable." "In general, not 

 enough freedom is allowed in those courses 

 which require several sections taught by 

 several men." By way of variety, one 

 reply suggests : ' ' Possibly less freedom and 

 more supervision in some cases might be 

 better. ' ' 



The aim of query 19 was to disclose the 

 conditions of nature and amount of work 

 required, and whether these reasonably 

 favor carrying on advanced work and in- 

 tellectual growth. Eleven blank or non- 

 committal replies were received. Exactly 

 50 reported conditions from "reasonably" 

 to ' ' extremely ' ' satisfactory. Fifty-one re- 

 ported conditions as unsatisfactory for one 

 or more of the following reasons : Excess of 

 elementary work; correcting exercises; 

 preparation of laboratory material; com- 

 mittee work; inadequate equipment or 

 library; heavy schedule of instructional 

 work; lack of presence and inspiration of 

 advanced students, and pressing need to 

 spend all available time in supplementing 

 salary. 



The actual amount of scheduled work 

 seldom ranged below 10 hours, while as 

 high as 18 appears to be the rule at some 

 of the institutions; as high as 20 is re- 

 ported and 15 is not uncommon. Here are 



a few typical, significant replies: "Have 

 ideal research position. " "So many do not 

 take advantage of the existing opportuni- 

 ties that I should suppose a reduction of 

 routine duties would not be of advantage 

 to the university." "Conditions not fav- 

 orable to research beyond that necessary 

 to do teaching well." "Have had almost 

 no time for past five years for research or 

 investigation." "Nights, holidays and 

 vacations must be used for advanced work 

 instead of recreation." "An excess of 

 work is not forced upon us, but it is at 

 hand, and the conscientious man does it to 

 the detriment of his own studies." "It is 

 only by working to the limit that I am able 

 to carry on any research work." "The 

 nature and amount of work demanded of 

 me have made me deem it necessary to aim 

 at good teaching. This has been favorable 

 to intellectual growth but not to research." 

 "The heaviest part of the burden of 

 routine teaching work is borne by those 

 below the rank of professor. There is, 

 however, good opportunity for research 

 and advanced work, if one could be re- 

 lieved of the awful feeling of lack of ma- 

 terial provision for the future, and of fam- 

 ily responsibilities not adequately met in 

 the present." 



The twentieth question was: What are 

 the conditions governing tenure of the as- 

 sistant professorship, and are they the best 

 for reasonable independence of thought 

 and action? Typical replies are here 

 grouped, not according to individual in- 

 stitutions, but according to the seven pre- 

 vailing systems of tenure. In the outset 

 it should be stated that, judging by the en- 

 tire lack of mention of such in the replies, 

 influences upon tenure from outside the 

 university are gratifyingly non-existent. 



1. No fixed policy. 



" We have no fixed policy. Would be more 



