Another change which has gone into effect during the past year is the new regulation for the choice of electives in college. This was first applied to the class that entered in September, 1910. Its members were called upon in the spring of their Freshman year to outline a plan for the remainder of their college course in accordance with the rule requiring both concentration and distribution of studies. In particular, they were required to designate their subject of concentration and to select three, at least, of the courses to be taken in the following year. This they did after consultation with a member of the Faculty or an instructor, each of these advisers having under his charge, as a rule, only four members of the class. To ensure that the choices compiled with the rules, or to prepare requests that an exception be allowed by the Committee on the Choice of Electives, the plans were all submitted to Professor Charles P. Parker, the Secretary of the Committee, to whom the success in administering the system has been mainly due.
Good Basis for Planning College Courses.
The rules have worked with little friction, because, they appear to supply for most men a good basis for planning a college course of study; and the cases of failure to submit valid plans were generally the result of a misunderstanding of some kind. The requests also for exceptional treatment were not so numerous and almost always fell into one of two classes: first, those of men who desired to concentrate in an eminently proper subject, such as Biology, which is not included in a single existing department or regular field for a degree with distinction. These were of course allowed. Secondly, there were the requests of men who wanted to avoid any real elementary studies in many fields. These were clear violations of the essential principle of the rules and were refused. More numerous were the requests in the autumn to change single courses selected in the spring for the coming year. Such requests are natural at the outset of a new system, and they were generally granted, unless the obvious motive was to take easy courses.
Concentration of Work.
It may be interesting to note the number of men concentrating their work in the different departments; for while the result is no surprise to persons familiar with the choice of electives by students in recent years, it displays their preference in an unusually vivid way. The following table, taken from Professor Parker's article in the Harvard Graduates' Magazine, shows for each department, or field of distinction, in one column the number of men who have selected it as the object of concentration, and in a second column the number of men who, while concentrating elsewhere, have announced their intention of taking two or more courses therein. This second column includes only a part of the men who will ultimately take two or more courses in a department outside of their main field, because they are by no means obliged to choose all their electives at so early a stage in their college career; yet it may serve as an indication of the trend of thought. Selection of Subjects by Students. It will be observed that much the largest number of choices are in the group of History and Economics, nearly one-half of the students selecting this group; and that of the single departments by far the most popular is Economics, which attracts more than a quarter of all the men in the class. This is in accord with the tendency of public thought at the present day. The next largest group is that of Language and Literature, the choices being chiefly, and in about equal number, in English and the Romance Languages. The group of the Natural Sciences is the third in size, but of the men concentrating in this field nearly one-half are really beginning in college to study their profession of Engineering; and, except for Chemistry, no other subject attracts a considerable number of students. The men who concentrate in the fourth group are few, and infact the neglect of both Classics and Mathematics as the principal fields of a college education is as marked as it is deplorable; the former subject appealing to only a little more than two per cent and the latter to an even smaller proportion of the members of the class. It may be noted, however, that as a secondary study Mathematics has a much larger following, and this is even more the case with Philosophy, which has far the largest number in the second column--a larger number indeed than any in the first column except for the case of Economics. The figures in the second column are decidedly significant; although it must be borne in mind that even the two columns taken together fail to express either the total number of students or the amount of instruction given in the different subjects; for almost every man takes in some department a single course, which this table does not show, and often before graduation to examine hereafter the choice of courses when the class has completed its college work; and it will be instructive to collate the courses chosen with the careers that the men embrace, for it will throw light on their motives for the choice. The selection of college studies by undergraduates may not always be judicious, but in most cases the choice of the main field, at least, is serious. As Professor Parker says, "No wise body of teachers can afford to disregard the states of mind in which young men approach instruction. Wherever we wish to lead them we must begin where they are. Oral Examinations in French and German. A third change which went into effect during the year is that of requiring every student before he is registered as a Junior to be able to read ordinary French or German. It has been applied for the first time to the class of 1914, and in view of the fact that each student had already been required to pass an entrance examination, or take a college course, in both languages, the results are striking. The members of the class have had four opportunities to present themselves for the oral examination--in October, 1910, and in February, June, and October, 1911. Among the five hundred and nineteen students who entered the Freshman class in 1910, three hundred and ninety-eight attempts have been made to pass the German. (The figures are given in this way because some men have tried more than once). In each case almost precisely one-half have failed, so that out of the five hundred and nineteen who entered college in September, 1910, only two hundred and one had shown an ability to read either French or German by Christmas of the next year. Need of Oral Examinations. Such a result is the best proof that an examination of this kind was needed. It shows how insufficient is the entrance examination, or the requirement of a college course, to secure an ordinary reading knowledge of a language; yet it is clear that at the present day almost no subject can be properly pursued, to the extent to which it must be pursued in college by any student who concentrates his six courses therein, without a fair reading knowledge of at least one modern language. Many of the students who fail in the oral examination have nevertheless reached the point where with a little serious effort, a little persistent practice by themselves, they could read with reasonable accuracy and fluency; and when experience of the new examinations has impressed the need of attaining that proficiency, they will no doubt profit more by the existing instruction. In the meanwhile it is proposed to offer special summer courses, which will not count for a degree, but will be devoted to preparation for the oral examinations by practice in reading the language. Seniors in College Yard. The efforts of the students, encouraged in every possible ways by the College authorities, to promote solidarity among themselves, to prevent the student body from being divided into exclusive groups, to make the College, in the common use of the term, more democratic, have had a notable growth. One of the most palpable signs of this, initiated by the students, is the practice on the part of the Seniors of getting together for their final year in the College Yard. This was mentioned in the report of last year, and it has been continued to an even larger extent, the Seniors filling substantially all the rooms in Hollis, Stoughton. Holworthy, and Thayer. For this purpose the steam heat and new plumbing were extended to the south entry of Thayer, and during the summer just passed Holworthy has been wholly refitted with new plumbing; so that all the dormitories at the north end of the Yard are now provided with shower baths, and all except a part of Holworthy with steam heat. Memorial and Randall Halls. Another means of bringing students together is found in the dining halls. The habit that has grown up among them of late years of taking their meals sporadically in different places without constant companions is unfortunate. Men would not be social creatures if they were not gregarious at meals. Moreover, it is doubtful whether proper food would be provided at a moderate price for so great a number of students if dining halls were not maintained by the University, and this cannot be done unless the students come in large numbers. But the problem is not altogether simple, for the students tend to weary of the monotony of a big dining hall as the months go by: and it is therefore satisfactory to find that both Memorial and Randall Halls were fairly well filled during the year and that both earned more than their running expenses. At Memorial the average membership was 681, and 447,513 meals were served: while at Randall, where the payments are not made by the weeks, and hence there is no registration, 433,829 meals were served. Memorial earned the interest on its debt for improvements and equipment and a small balance toward the sinking fund; Randall substantially the whole of its interest and sinking fund. In order to be able to improve the supply of food without increasing the price of board, the Corporation has determined to remit all charges upon Memorial Hall for interest and sinking fund above the sum of four thousand dollars a year. Read more in News
