thing for them, but most people, I venture to assume, find that a definite plan for the future is the most successful way to get any where.

It would seem, therefore, that the best way to meet this defect is to increase as far as possible the number of those who have decided upon a vocation, or at least have some ideas of what lines they expect to follow. Most college men have a very limited fund of information about the various vocational fields open, which is quite inadequate to enable them to make an intelligent choice of their life work. The remedy, as it seems, is to offer a series of lectures on the various types of vocations, thoro enough to cover the entire field of important occupations. Due attention should be given to the technical preparation desirable for each line to attain a reasonable degree of success. In addition the nature of the work which is performed by one in that occupation, the basis of compensation and its variation; and the attractions and disadvantages of each calling should be discust.

If these lectures were delivered by a group of successful business and professional men, who would be accessible for any additional information in their respective callings, I am sure it would do much to solve this problem. Furthermore if business men would make known the requirements for the positions they offer to college graduates, while the men have an opportunity to prepare to meet them, there would be much less dissatisfaction among employers with the collegiate product that they obtain.

Moreover, it seems that there ought to be at any institution of large size some member of the faculty who would be sufficiently equipt with the technical information necessary to guide students as to the merits of the different callings, and their fitness for them. What is here suggested for the colleges might with advantage be employed in the case of the high schools. An official should be appointed there to give vocational advice to those students who do not expect to continue their education any further. The principal or dean is too busy for such duties, and faculty

advisors have not usually the technical knowledge to act in such a capacity.

Hitherto the colleges have been criticized for laying too much stress on the past, and for not giving enough consideration to the present and the future. My course at Columbia has convinced me that whatever the justification for this criticism in the past, there is much less ground for it now. Altho increasing attention is being given to present day problems of economics and politics, it seems to me that still further attention to current events deserves recognition. The prominence of courses in history, economics, and politics in the college curriculum is attested to by the fact that they attract the largest number of students at Harvard as well as at Columbia. This shows that the college is taking an active part in producing a class of citizens who are to be among the leaders in political and social reform. Every possible encouragement should be given to the students to discuss current political events. The great shortcoming of democracy is that voters judge of political programs according to superficial circumstances in which personalities play a leading rôle, and they fail to analyze the great questions presented for their judgment at the polls, and to vote on their merits. In order to promote still further interest in these matters, the college officials should take steps to invite the great statesmen of the country to address the students at frequent intervals and to give their viewpoints on the big issues of the day. The present tendency is for these speakers to appear at Commencement or on similar important occasions. A dozen addresses of this kind a year would be highly welcomed by the students. The custom at present is for small clubs to invite big men to address them, and while these meetings are open to all students, the attendance does not usually compare with what it might be if the visitor were invited to address the entire student body.

Before concluding I should like to point out what I regard as the chief defects in the methods of instruction. Many courses are given in such a manner as to fail to stimu

late the students to do anything more than the assigned reading, with the minimum amount of thinking to grasp the contents. The commonly heard query, "What's the 'prof' driving at," points out the case. The "prof" has failed to point out what he is "driving at." At the outset of the course he failed to show the significance of the course, its relation to other subjects and its bearing on life. Where an instructor has started out with such an introduction, I have always noticed a real stimulus to work, an appreciation of the fact that the course is something more than a mere discipline. If all instructors were to follow this plan and to devote a lecture or two to explain why the course is given and its relative importance, and to emphasize this frequently thruout the course, I am sure the tone of scholarship would be perceptibly improved.

It is pretty widely known that there are some courses offered in college labelled in student language as "cinches," or "snaps." This does not necessarily mean that their subject matter is easy of comprehension, but rather that the amount of work required is small compared with other courses. When an instructor lectures session after session, and merely suggests that the students are expected to read certain books to appreciate the significance of his remarks, or if he gives the substance of the required reading in his lectures, it is not to be expected that the students who are only normally conscientious are going to do any more work than they have to in order to get thru. Especially is this so when written quizzes are held only once or twice a semester and sometimes not at all. Only the student who finds the work very interesting is apt to do as much as is required in an average course. Hence, these "snaps" are chosen very readily by the busy men on the campus who are interested in all sorts of activities, and are prest for time.

The result is that a large number of men get in the habit of shirking their work regularly and doing only what is needed to get thru the quizzes and the final examinations. In this way they lose the benefit that comes from regularity, and they miss the connection between the lectures and the

required reading. This applies not only to "snap" courses, but also to some which are more difficult, but which are conducted in a lax manner. There is much to be said in favor of the preceptorial system that was established at Princeton recently. I understand that the reason this system of consultations is not established at other institutions, is due to its costliness, since it would require an addition of men to the faculty-and colleges are always in need of more instructors, as it is now. But it seems to me that if consultations with groups of four to six men, once weekly are not practicable, they should come fortnightly, even if it would be necessary to lecture to the entire class only twice weekly instead of three times as under the present system. Under this plan a certain amount of work would have to be done each week if the student wanted to pass, and the grading would be based more fairly on actual achievement. Written quizzes should be given frequently enough to prevent loafing and mental stagnation. Another improvement which would make the preceptorial system more practical would be the policy of issuing printed syllabuses which ought to contain a great deal of information that is ordinarily given during a lecture. The time wasted in this way could be utilized far more advantageously in conferences.

While much has been said against the college during the past few years by its numerous critics, it is indeed a very difficult task to sum up the tremendous amount of good they are doing, and to estimate their value to the nation. Some one has said they are the citadels of civilization. Indeed a cartoonist may well represent them as the torch bearer of a procession heading thru a dense forest and pointing out the way of progress.

COLUMBIA College

MILTON HAROLD REUBEN

V

STANDARDIZING THE JUNIOR COLLEGE

AN EXPERIMENT BY THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI

The university of Missouri has been instrumental in standardizing a number of junior colleges. Many private institutions of the state have been giving instruction in advance of the secondary school but not equivalent to the four years' course in the standard college. In the organization of an educational system they had been neglected. Since each was a law to itself, there was much variation among them and little demand for efficient development. In view of the success attained by affiliated secondary schools. some of these colleges invited the university to extend its system of accrediting to include them. This invitation was accepted willingly by the faculty and the work of accrediting was begun in 1911. After a test of three years the experiment bears the mark of success. Standards have been raised and made uniform, the colleges have gained in public confidence and patronage, and for their future development definite stimulating ideals have been recognized.

PURPOSE

In the judgment of those responsible for this movement, the salvation of these colleges depended upon their getting a recognized place in the educational system. As a class, they had no definite relation with elementary and secondary schools on the one hand and with standard colleges and universities on the other. Owing to a lack of affiliation with standard institutions, they were handicapped in attracting those desirable students who look forward to the advanced work of a standard college or university. For the same reason, they were handicapped also in giving to the students they did attract a stimulating desire for the fullest possible development by holding before them opportunities for educational achievement beyond the