A critical shortage of competent secretaries may necessitate the general use of dictating machines within the University, according to Nils F. Wessell, Associate Director of the Personnel Office.

Wessell said yesterday that "this is the worst secretarial shortage we've had since 1952," when the Korean War was at its height. "For the past four years we've always been able to fill vacancies," he said, "but this year it's taking anywhere from three weeks to three months."

He estimated that there were approximately 25 unfilled openings throughout the University which paid starting salaries of $50-$75 per week.

The cause of the shortage is not an unwillingness on the University's part to pay good salaries, Wessell said, "in fact, we pay better than the average for the quality we require." In Boston, starting salaries for a secretary with a college education average about $50 per week.

He attributed the shortage to booming local industries who need additional secretaries, and to the fact that professors expect college-trained personnel. At present, more than 60 per cent of the University's 500 secretaries have had two or more years of college.

In the past, Wessell said that student wives had served as a cushion which the University relied upon when secretaries were scarce. At present, however, he noted that there are "either fewer student wives, or fewer of them need a job."

The only foreseeable solution to the shortage, according to Wessell, is to promote the use of dictating machines among professors. He pointed out that an increasing number were being used, but that many professors disliked mechanical secretaries.

He noted that while a good dictating machine required a capital investment of approximately $700, the initial expense would be offset in the long run by the smaller number of stenographers used.