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Tuesday“, November 6, l93¢l

 

 

(Editor's note: The Armour Tech
Nr'ws at this time presents the first
portion. of the first gcnm‘al report
proscntcd by Dr. ll'illm'd E. Hoichw
kiss to the Board of Trustees since
hc too/c office in January, 1933. This
portion of the rcport covers the legal
stops taken. in the reorganization of
the lustimlc, the findings of the Me»
Kinsey Sludy of Armour? problems,
and the changes in curriculum and
personnel which won: an outgrowth
of this study. In next wee/G’s issue,
we will present the second half of
the prcsldcnt's report, which deals
with the financial standing of the
Insiilnlc, the plans for a. fulm‘c sitc
and plum, the follow; position of (he
lustilmion in (he Chicago area, and
the administration’s policy of stu-
dent loans and scholarships.)

tional value to the Institute during
the past fiscal year was the gift of
$2500 from a friend of long stand.
inf: to cover the cost of the Survey
by James 0. McKinscy and Com-
pany, autho 'zcd soon after the pres-
en administration assumed office.
Due to the fact that Mr. McKinsey
contributed his own services to the
value of several thousand dollars
there was a residue of some $800
from this gift available for gen-
eral expenses. There were also seV»
eral contributions of $1000 and a
considerable number of $500 but as

short of meeting the hood.

Sinco lhis report covers the period
from January, 1933, payments of
some $45,000, made between Janu-
ary and June, 1933, in fulfillment of

 

The constitution and by-laws
adopted on June 1, 1934, provide,
that the President shall make an
Annual Report to the Board of
Trustees.

The present administration of the
Institute took office in January,
1933. The legal, educational, admin—
istrative, and financial developments
since that time constitute an inter-
woven sequence. This report, there~
fore, will cover the whole period
from January, 1933, to the end of
the academic and fiscal year just
closed.

Mission, lmstitulcc Consolidated

The legal status of the Institute
and its properties has been greatly
clarified during- this time. Able and
untiring efforts of the late Lester
L. Falk so far untanglod a maze of
legal relationships between Armour
Mission and Armour Institute of
Technology that on October 25,
1933, the two Boards of Trustees
were in a posilion to vote a merger
of the corporations under the name
of Armour Institute of Technology.
On April 6, 1934, after Some un-
avoidable dclay, the merger was
finally consummated.

When it appeared army in 1934
that the opcraling deficit in last
year‘s budch would not be met by
contributions il, became imperative
to release trust lunds ior thia pur-
pose. Conference was had with Mr.
John E. Machish and Mr. Homer
H. Cooper of Scull, MacLoish and
Falk, of which firm Mr. Falk had
been a partner, and the services of
Mr. Cooper as uciicral counsel wcrc
generously made available without
cost to the Institute. As such, he at
once undcitook a comprehensive
legal analysis 01' all the properties
which the present Armour Institute
of Technology had acquired through
the merger with Armour Mission and
otherwise. His findings were cm-
bodicd in an extensive brief upon
the basis of which Judge Hugo
Friend ‘of thc Circuit Court of
Cook County entered a favorable dc-
crcc on August 9, 1934. This decree
accomplished the following results:
1. It confirmed the acts of the
Boards of Truslccs of Armour
Mission and Armour Institute of
Technology, and the consolida-
tion of those two corporations.

. It authorized the new corpora-
tion to negotiate for disposition
of and give clear title to certain
real estate under the direction of
the court.

It permitted the sale or hypothe—
cation of securities in restricted
endowment funds up to $100,000
for the purpose of meeting: the
uncovered deficit in the 1933-34
budget umlor the Instilule’s un-
dcrtakiny; to rodorc the fund
whcn ablc.

 

N

F”

Contributions

 

These proceedings, in which the
heirs of the late Philip D. Armour
coiopel'ated generously, enabled the
lnslilute to meet a current emerw
ency and to carry on while bringing
operating income and expense more
nearly into balance. The vast
amount of legal detail involved in
preparing- the brief and carrying the

suit through the court and tho cxtra- ‘

ordinary wisdom with which Mr.
Cooper handled the whole proceed—

ings places his:I contribution, 1,0—
g‘cther with that of the late Mr.=
Falk, in a unique position and

makes it in both dollars and moral
value. easily thc outstanding contri-

closed.
Another

contribution of excepv

previous pledges, should also be re»
corded. ’l‘hcsc payments were ap—
plied to the operating deficit of the
year 1932‘33. Further discussion of
finances will follow references to
certain educational and administra-
tive changes.

 

Survey Findings

 

__...._——————————————
In January, 1933, when the new
administration took up its duties the
Development Committee, created
and given large powers by resolu-
tion of the Board of Trustees on
September 4, 1931, had just com—
pleted an extensive survey of Engi-
neering Education. This study out
of which had evolved the so—callcd
Armour Development Plan had not
concerned itself primarily with in.
tcrnal conditions at Armour. The
McKinscy Study, of which mention
has just been made, constituted
among other things, a ice-examina-
tion of the Armour Plan directed
especially toward the solution of
picssing problems with which the
Institute was immedlalcly con/-
fronted. The Study was carried on
in close co-operation with the ad-
ministration and the stufi‘.
Study Covers Personnel, Curriculum
It was obvious that any approach
lo practical measures would have to
take account of the historical back-
gzound of the Institute and of the
nature and quality of the service
whzch it had rendered in the past.
Out of this background there has
come on accumulated good-will re‘
fiected in a flow of qualified appli-

ycm‘ which has meant an actual at»
tcndance of upwards of 800 stu—
dents and an unquestioned poten-
tial allcndance considerably great-
c'. The Survey naturally explored
\‘l ‘5 and means of consolidating this
good-will.

Without arrogating to itself the
wisdom required to define, much less
to standardize, the art of good
fcachim: or even good administra~
tion, the Survey considered man by
man the personnel of the teaching
and administrative stalls, primarily
{mm the standpoint of the service
5 which each person was in a position
ito render the Institute, both indi‘
vidually and as a member of a
working team. Similar consideration
was given to questions of curriculum.

Although there were several fea—
tures of the so-callcd Development
Plan which were based upon an ab-
lstract approach considerably differ—
, ent from the path of Ai-mour’s past
development, the present adminis-
, tiation proceeded from the premise
‘ that for some time to come the 1m
l stilu‘c will continue in all essentials
l to be the same type of school it has
:bccn heretofore. This premise as-
} sumes a fourvyear undergraduate
iCollege of Engineering and Archi-

tecture in which students are given
‘, opportunity to qualify as beginnn’igr
l practitioners in their professions,
l and at the same time are able to se—
‘ cure such fundamental education as
‘will promote their growth and aid
‘thcm in discharging whahever re-

 

 

 

 

 

;sponsibilities their native talents,
‘training and opportunities may
l, bring.

1 Study ShOWs Over-Specialization

; From the standpoint of the type
| of school Armour is and has been.
‘ and of necessary financial and time
l, that

limitations, it appears

to maintain.

Ar-
mour in common with many other
engineering schools has had a tend-
lcncy to overload some of its cur—
l, ricula with useful but somewhat spe-
butiou of the academic year just i cialized subjects which are expensive
Besides being expen-
sive, Loo many such subjects limihl

 

 

 

 

l

unduly the time available for basic
subecls, which in all competent dis-
cussion of engineering education
are recognized as indispensable. For
the most part, specialization can be
more profitably carried on either as
graduate work or in industrial and
engineering research laboratories.
Some Subjects Substandard
Another weakness which the Sur~
vey revealed was also one widely
prevalent in American education. It
arose from the fact that the organ-
ization and teaching of certain im-
portant subjects had not kept pace

indicated above, the total fall far] with the times, nor with standards

recognized as essential for an out-
standing engineering school. With-
out implication of criticising indi.
viduals, this appeared to be notably
true in English, in the Social Sciences
and in Shop Courses. Considering
the question of teaching as a whole
it is believed that our discoveries
also ran true to form for colleges
generally. Some teaching of excep—
tionally high order was found, a
preponderance of good teaching, and
some very poor teaching. Substan~
tially the same thing can be said in
respect to internal administration.

In addition to the problems direct-
ly connected with teaching, admin-
istrative personnel and curriculum,
the new administration found it
necessary to consider almost imme-
diately a closely related question
arising out of the research and test»
ing carried on by certain members
of the faculty with the use of In-
stitute equipment. It is the policy
of the Institute to encourage its
teaching stafl' to undertake research
for industry and for the advance of
engineering science, and there is no
occasion to define research in a nar-
row or highly restricted sense. It is,
however, highly essential that any
pecuniary features of work done for
industry be not permitted to dom-
inate the teacher's interests not to
conflict directly or indirectly with
his teaching obligations. It is also
of course axiomatic from a business
standpoint that the school in all such
cases receive adequate consideration
for the wear and tear on its equip—
ment. If work that is not strictly
icscarch is done, prices charged for
it should, in fairness, be higher than
commercial prices.

Sound Touching is First Thought

While Armour has much important

cunts for admission from year to l research to its credit, its immediate

contribution must lie first in the
soundness of its curriculum, the
quality 01' its teaching, and in the
effectiveness of in; administration.
Its present task is to maintain cx~
ccllcncc in these lines without easy
accesn to great resources. Armoui‘s
problem now, its problem during all
the period covered by this report,
and for some time prior thercto. has
been one of crisis, and crisis forcos
retrenchment. But here again our
situation differs from that of most
American colleges, if at all, only in
degree and not in kind, and re~
trenchmcnt frequently becomes a
stimulus to improvement.

 

1

Curriculum and Personnel
Adjustments

 

From this background it is pos-
sible to take slock of the various

adjustmcnls in curriculum and perv-

sonrnel that have taken place since

January, 1933. The first major ad-

justment was assumption of juris-

diction by the Institute over all re-
search and testing activity in which

Institutes equipment is employed.

This action of course had the effect

of abrogating contracts and under-

takings based on any different con-
cept. The change afi‘ccted both the
relationships between the Institute
and faculty members who do work
of this kind and the mutual rela~
tionsliips between such fuculty mem-
bers themselves. There are a mum
ber of details in connection wuh
previous arrangements which ii. is
not necessary to rehearse, but the
principal cfi‘ect of the change was
to place a new emphasis upon tho
obligations to the Institute which
faculty members assume in carrying
on engineering work for industry
with Institute equipment.
Finnegan to Coordinate Research
In order to make a consistent

policy affective, Professor Joseph B.
Finnegan was appointed Director of
Roscau'h'and Testing, and given spe-
cific instructions including the fol-
lowing items:
1. All arrangements concerning re-
search, testing and consulting ac-
tivity by members of the faculty,
in which the use of Institute equip-
ment. is a factor, are to be made
a moLLcr of record with the Di-
icctor of Research and Testing.
The Director of Research and
Testing: is responsible for insur—
ing payment to the Institute of an
amount adequate to cover the
wear and tear an. Institute equip.
man in connection with such ac.
tivitioa.

3. The Director of Research and
testing, the Dean, and the Direc—
tors and Chairman of departments
are joinLly responsible for sched-
ulinp; research and testing activ-
ity by members of the faculty so
L1H to avoid conflict with teaching
and other obligations to the bin
stiiauto.

4. The Director is advised that it is
the policy of the Institute, in
haimony with the above provi»
sions. to encourage members of
the faculty to carry on research
in cooperation with industry.
Tho Director is instructed to co-
operate with members of the fac.
ulty and with industry in enlarT‘
ing the scope of the industrial re-
search Iprogram, always in har—
mony with the policies set forth in
paragraphs one, two and three,
above.

N

CH

Research to be Increasingly Vital
Experience of more than a year
under the new orientation has amply
justified the present approach lo
this subject both from an education—
al and a financial piont of view. With

 

SOCIOLOGY l6 THE SCIENCE OF
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the revival or industry it is believ-
ed that a. program of engineering
research in cooperation with indus-
try will become an increasingly im-
portant part of Institute activity.

Conduct Survey of Shop Courses

The second major adjustment of
the new administration was a tem-
porai'y suspension of Shop Courses.
While this action was taken under
the pressure of financial necessity
and reduced immediate expenses
nearly $20,000, its justification rests
primarily upon educational grounds.

Looking toward early rc-estab-
lishmcnt of Shop Courses, a com—
prehensive investigation to ascer-
tain the most advantageous setup
of such courses was at once under—
taken by a faculty committee with
Professor Joseph B. Finnegan as:
chairman and Professor Philip C.
Huntly as vice-chairman. The re.
port. of this committee is a document
of which the Institute has reason to
be proud; its publication at an early
date is conLemplated. Shop courses
in conformity with the recommend-
ations of this report will be started
as soon as the exigencies of the
budget permit; provision for them is
the next item in our educational
program. It is to be hoped that the
new courses can be instituted early
enough so that no student will have
graduated from Armour without
having the benefit of shop work.

Enlarge English Department

It will be recalled that English
was also mentioned as a subject in
which the McKinney Report ro-
porl revealed that instruction was
not up-Lo-datc. Much of the Eng-
lish offered was estimable but it was
not well articulated nor was the re-
quired work adequate in amount.
Allhough one member of the Eng:
lish staff was retired last year and
one this year, a third member has
had the scope for his talents cn—
larged and two highly competent in.
structors have been added to the
stall with a net saving: of $2600. The
organization and content. of the
work has been improved and made
more pertinent to student need and
its amount nearly doubled. Even
the present. amount is close to the
minimum recognized by the Society
for the Promotion of Engineering
Education.

Correlate Business, Engineering

In Social Sciences the problem
was more complex. Difficulty arose
in part from a tendency of engi-
coring- students to regard non-engi—
coring work lightly, in part from
heavy schedules and in part. from
the rather casual way in which 80-
cial Science courses had previously
been embodied in the curriculum.
Prolonged deliberation led to the
present organization of work in this
field. Instruction now aims to em—
phasize the relationship of subject-
matter to the actual work of on engi-
neer. To this end, the courses start
with business and engineering
problems and proceed in the senior

 

and public policy as they affect the
engineer. In the course of this
study, the student is introduced to
such subjects as accounting and cost
finding, principles of industrial
management, and elements of eco-
nomics and finance. After a care-
ful survey of results in numerous
engineering schools the traditional
course in general economics has
been. omitted.

Social Science Study Incrcaued

While work in the Social Sci-
ences as now offered is; of such a
nature that. no thoughtful engineer
or engineering student can fail to
recognize its necessary place in en—
gineering education, it has not been
the purpose to set up the Social Sci-
ence courses on any narrow bread—
and-butter basis any more than the
fundamental science and engineer-
ing courses are on that basis. Elec-
tive courses in History and Political
Science have been retained, and
other elective courses will be of-
fered to as great an extent as budg-
at and schedule limitations permit.
The total amount of required work
in the Social Sciences is fifteen
semester hours, or roughly double
the number prior to the academic
year 1933-34.

In the case of Social Sciences it
has not been possible as it was in
Shop Courses and English to real-
ize any immediate or ultimate sav-
ing. On the contrary, there was an
increase of some $8500 in the cost
of instruction in this field, which
amount has been materially re-
duced by changes this year.

Faculty Changes Made

The faculty as; a whole has under-
gone considerable change during the
past two years.

At. the beginning of the present
school year it lost one of its highly
esteemed members, Professor Van
Bauman Teach of the Department
of Mathematics, who was taken by
death on September 8, 1934.

Dr. George L. Scherger, whose
cosmopolitan versatility has made
him a prominent figure in Chicago
life, has been granted a leave of
absence from his service as Chap-
lain and Professor of History and
Political Science, in order that he
may devote his full time during the
current year to the pastorate of St.
Paul's Church with which he has
been long associated.

Professor Charles W. Leigh,
whose fine culture, comradeship and
distinction as teacher and scholar
have made him beloved by students,
alumni and colleagues alike, has had
to be retired for disability.

Two members of the faculty have
gone to better paying positions, six
teachers were released by suspen-
sion of Shop Courses, and readjust;—
ments following the McKinsey
Study displaced fifteen others. Five
men previously on full time are now
on part time. The reduction in pay
roll from the above changes is $86,-
615. Eight full-time and five part-
timo men have been added to the

(Continued on page 5)

 

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THE CONTENTS OF" THE HUMAN
MIND HAVE ULTlMATE RELATIONS
TO THE. GOVERNING: PRINCIPLES
HE 7 ClENCE 0F 50(2th
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