February 17, 1911] 



SCIENCE 



243 



governing boards will consider this pro- 

 posal, if it were adopted, I suspect it would 

 turn out that in order to secure efficiency 

 of administration the president would ex- 

 ercise substantially the same powers that 

 he now does; and this would be the case 

 whether or not it was originally so planned. 

 If an educational executive officer is essen- 

 tial, then he must have the powers which 

 are necessary to give efficiency, and as a 

 result of evolution these powers would 

 probably not very greatly differ whether 

 the officer were elected by the faculty or by 

 the trustees. Whether the faculties would 

 choose presidents more wisely than the 

 trustees may well be doubted ; and the 

 exercise of the function would be very 

 likely to introduce factional strife which 

 might endanger the usefulness of the man 

 selected. 



In reference to the particular point 

 under discussion — the appointment, pro- 

 motion and removal of professors — it can 

 not, I think, be charged that the president 

 does not fully realize the seriousness of his 

 responsibility; indeed, of all of his func- 

 tions that of nomination to the faculty is 

 the one through which he is able to make 

 the largest impression upon the develop- 

 ment of an institution. If he is sufficiently 

 wise in using the information and recom- 

 mendations of the deans and other officers 

 as to be successful in this and a faculty of 

 high grade is built up, the reputation and 

 influence of the university will be a rising 

 one. 



It appears probable that if there is any 

 formal development in the near future in 

 reference to appointment, it will not be in 

 the direction of taking away the nomina- 

 ting power from the president, but toward 

 having the president exercise the power 

 reposed in him, after consultation or con- 

 currence with some other academic body, 

 as in the case of the council at Hopkins 



and the advisory board at Stanford. In 

 this connection the question arises as to 

 whether or not it would be better for the 

 more numerous institutions in which the 

 president exercises this power without any 

 regulation, but under well defined prin- 

 ciples, to formulate them into rules. Upon 

 this point there doubtless will be great 

 difference of opinion. 



If future development goes in the direc- 

 tion of formulating rules for the advice of 

 the president in the exercise of his power 

 of nomination, it seems to me that it would 

 be advantageous for them to be along the 

 lines of providing a changing body for 

 each case. The great strength of this plan 

 would be that the president would con- 

 tinue to consult all the interested parties ; 

 whereas, an academic council may be 

 largely composed of men who do not know 

 the facts at first hand. This point is illus- 

 trated by the self-imposed rule of the 

 president of the University of California, 

 who, when considering the appointment of 

 a man of professorial rank, calls together 

 a committee of the professors of the five 

 nearest related departments for conference. 

 But this very case illustrates the difficulty 

 of the formulation of the principles of ad- 

 vice into rules. In some instances it 

 might not be advisable to consult with so 

 many departments as five, and in other 

 cases more than that number. 



Considering the whole situation, I think 

 it would be well to announce as a fixed 

 practise, where this is not already under- 

 stood, that the president in the exercise of 

 his authority of recommendation to the 

 governing board as to appointments, pro- 

 motions and removals, should do so only 

 after consulting the executive officers of 

 the school or college concerned, and in 

 cases where he regarded it as advisable, the 

 members of the department concerned, 

 with the recognized right of consultation 



