In order to get a clear distinction between the different systems, perhaps it might be well to give a brief explanation of each. The dean of students and the dean of freshmen are so well known that they need no explanation. By faculty advisor, we mean the members of the faculty at large or of the freshman faculty who have each a certain number of freshmen, usually not more than thirty or forty as their advisees. Student advisers may be senior students as in the case of Harvard or any upperclassmen as in the case of Antioch.

The Mentor System of Michigan is described by Dean Bursley as follows:

That plan (the Mentor plan) provides for the appointment of a head mentor for each class as

it enters the University. This advisor selects a number of assistants from among the faculty so that each of these mentors has a group of students to whom he gives advice and counsel during their freshman year. The head mentor acts as guide although he has very little contact with them for the class right through its four years in college, after their freshman year.

The directors at Miami each have about two hundred students and it is said by Dean E. E. Brandon that "they are able to have rather frequent interviews and to get an idea of the student's vocation."

The Faculty Committee on Freshmen at the University of Georgia was designed "to bring instructors of Freshmen together, to discuss policies and pass on individual cases

needing adjustment." In the opinion of Dean C. M. Snelling, this Committee does not function satisfactorily.

The Freshman Friendship Council is one of the two advisory systems at the University of North Carolina, the other one being faculty members instructing freshmen acting as advisors. The Freshman Friendship Council is set up by the Y. M. C. A. "It is composed of that ten per cent. of the freshman class who have been members of High Y Clubs before coming to the University. The remaining membership of the class is apportioned out among these men and the Freshman Friendship Council meets monthly and attempts to keep in touch with the problems of their class, both group and individually."

The Personnel Office at Northwestern interviews all freshmen when their midsemester reports are received. "Advice is given them in regard to the use of time, specific problems are taken up and a general survey of the student's background is made."

Quite different from all the above reported plans is the advisory system adopted at Dartmouth, which is not shown in the Table. At Dartmouth the freshman class is treated as an administrative unit. Dean E. Gordon Bill tells about this plan as follows:

It (the freshman class) has its own dean, registrar, etc. Assisting the dean is a committee of ten or twelve younger members of the faculty one being chosen from each department of freshman instruction. They are chosen because of a known capacity to meet freshmen unofficially and to get close to their problems. . .. When a freshman is reported as having trouble with some of our courses he is advised by the advisor from that department. A freshman down in several courses is therefore being advised by several experts who have the proper sympathetic contact with him. Incidentally, when disciplinary action is in order the advice of this advisory council of ten men, many of whom know the boy intimately, is very valuable.

From our study above, it seems there is no general practice in regard to giving advice to freshmen, with the exception of

faculty advisors. Wherever there are faculty advisors, the nature of advice is generally both academic and general, except in one or two cases where only academic advice, that is, advice concerning program of study or grades, is given. The number of students each advisor has varies from about ten to thirty or forty and in the case of deans or directors, the number is very much larger. Although the systems are so diversified, they, nevertheless, all aim at one purpose, namely, to give the freshmen personal attention and help in solving their particular problems.

The orientation work as it is practiced to-day, besides serving its immediate purposes as we outlined above, points out to us several tendencies in our present educational system. In the first place, it makes clear the gap between the high school and the college. The organization and administration of a college are quite different from those of a high school and the method of instruction is usually of different types. More than this, a high school graduate is in many ways unprepared for college work, perhaps with the exception of college entrance requirements. He has no general outlook on life and lacks cultural background to appreciate what the college has to offer and most important of all, he has not been trained to exercise his mind. so that he can judge and evaluate for himdifferences between a college and a high self. Part of the gap is created by the very school in organization and administration which perhaps are inevitable at least for some time yet to come. But a greater part of the gap can be bridged if the college changes its standards in admitting students. For the past the college has laid the chief emphasis on certain academic subjects and the high school has taken as its chief purpose to produce graduates well equipped with such subjects in order to supply the demand. Now, the college finds that the very material it itself demanded is not satisfactory for its purpose and consequently has to pay the price of re-preparing it for its production. It is very uneconomical for

the manufacturer to reprepare the material if the right material can be supplied only by setting up the right standards. In the opinion of the writer, much of the orientation work done by the college can be taken over by the high school or at least the high school can in a large extent coöperate with the college in meeting the same problem which orientation lectures are trying to solve.

The emphasis on general cultural subjects in orientation courses indicate an awakening in college education. Due to departmentalization and specialization in colleges and universities, each student is confined to a very narrow field of study. An engineering student usually gets very little besides mathematics, mechanics, physics, and other engineering subjects from the time he enters the college to the time he graduates. Experience has shown us that the results have not been satisfactory. College graduates with specialized knowledge and skill but without a general cultural foundation and a clear thinking mind fail to meet problems, not only in life in general, but also in their own profession in particular. It is a good sign that many colleges and universities are giving courses like "Contemporary Civilization, ," "Citizenship," "Reflective Thinking" and other similar courses so that the students may be enabled to have better evaluation and appreciation of life. It is only to be

regretted that in many cases these courses are not yet commonly given in professional schools. As we have said before, it is the professional students who need most of these courses. Let us hope again that many more will awaken to this point.

The prevalent practice of advisory systems indicate another hopeful tendency in college education. Until this new tendency to give personal attention and help in the development of each individual student, education has been conceived on a quantity production basis. Each student is just part of the raw material to be turned out by the machinery of college as a uniform product. product. But we have failed to realize that the personal influence that one can get in college is an important part of education. The inspiration, leadership, and guidance of the experienced, sympathetic, and understanding members of the faculty usually mean great assets to the life of the students both while in college and afterward. The personality and character of a student can be best developed only through personal influence; and the problems of college and in life need the guidance of those who know more and have experienced more. The present tendency of advisory systems is a very timely attempt at individual development. While we realize it is now just a spark of light, we hope it will grow to a strong illuminating power.

-DANIEL CALDEWOOD

-PHILLIP BROOKS

T

HE plan being used in the high school at Benton Harbor, by which the scope of the curriculum is extended far beyond the limits usually set by a public school budget, is well worthy of the attention of those concerned with school administration. It has passed the experimental stage and has taken its place as a desirable aid in the effort to provide a more comprehensive program of secondary education. With this in mind, it is hoped that the following report, which is based on an examination of the plan in operation, will stimulate enough interest in the idea that those who determine our educational policies will consent to study its possibilities. Philosophy on Which the Plan is Based

A very small proportion of our children enter high school; a smaller proportion finish high school; and a still smaller proportion go to college. The large number who do not go to college presumably go out into the work-a-day world with an educational equipment which was designed for use in college. If we are to have the equal educational opportunity which is one of the ideals of America we must provide the larger group with an educational background which will fit them for their future environment as effectively as the recognized curriculum of the high school now fits those who go to our universities. This means vocational training.

As the largest number of our high school students attend schools which are in smaller cities most of the training would have to be provided there. The number of vocations for which a small community could provide

teachers is very small. Moreover, the number of students who might be interested in any one vocation would also be small. Therefore a method has to be found which need not increase the teaching staff, but which will, if necessary, provide a separate course for each student. There are available through private schools and through some of our universities, courses which may be pursued profitably by one student in any community.

If a coöperative plan could be devised by which the experience of these correspondence schools could be utilized by the public schools, and by which the pupils could have the benefit of their wide range of subjects while at the same time they could have the instruction which a public high school can provide, an ideal condition would be created.

History of the Plan

With these things in mind, Mr. S. C. Mitchell, Superintendent of Schools, Benton Harbor, began to study the question while he was superintendent of schools in a small town. He realized that his school was serving only a very small proportion of his community as the curriculum was designed to meet the needs of those who expected to enter college. He felt that the large majority who should not, could not, or had no desire to go to college, were as much entitled to specific training to meet their future needs as the minority who were already provided for in this respect. It occurred to him that there already existed a number of private organizations which were actually satisfying this need through