Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 19.djvu/872

* UNIVERSITY. 744 UNIVERSITY. instruction both in natuiiil and the social sciences by Cornell Univeisitj-, ample provisions for which were made at its foundation in 1868. More re- centlj- several other institutions have vied with these in the importance of their university work, notably two, which now lead all the others in graduate attendance, namely, Columbia Uni- versity and the University of Chicago. Columbia as reorganized in 1890 provided for graduate work, in a graduate faculty of philosophy, of po- litical science, and (in 1893) of pure science. Since then the faculty of medicine and the faculty of law have become graduate faculties, and the faculty of education (see Teachers College) provides for a large number of graduate students. In numbers pursuing graduate studies this uni- versity now- leads. The University of Chicago, founded in 1891, has laid the greater emphasis upon graduate work from the beginning, and has introduced a number of novel features, some imitations of features of English universities, some of German, and some original. Several of these, such as the continuous session, and the publication department, as an important phase of the university work, seem destined to come into general acceptance. The degrees conferred by universities for ad- vanced work arc usually those of Master of Arts (A.M.) and Doctor 'of Philosophy (Ph.D.), though sometimes the Master of Science (M.S.) and the Doctor of Science (D.S.) are also given. The tendency now in both the graduate and un- dergraduate work of universities is toward giv- ing a single degree (A.B.. A.M., and Ph.D.) upon the completion of any one of a number of allied courses. The requirements for the Master's de- gree show considerable variation among the dif- ferent institutions. The degree usually indicates one year of resident graduate work beyond the bachelor's degree, though it is still frequently given honoris causa. Tlie minimum for the Doc- tor's degree is two years' work beyond the bac- calaureate, including the preparation and usually the publication of a thesis. In most cases the doctorate requires three years of graduate work. In 1873 there were 43 doctorate degrees con- ferred. 25 of which were upon examination. By the close of the century this number had in- creased to from 300 to 350 each year, with less than five per cent, given honoris causa. The graduate students in twenty-five institutions number four thousand. See Degree. Complete freedom of choice is naturally given to the student in the selection of his studies, as is now the usual, or at least the frequent custom in undergraduate studies. (See Elective Courses AND Studies.) Consequently the A.B. de- gree as well as the Ph.D. does not indicate the mastery of any particular subject or subjects. The German custom of requiring the student to select a major and one or two minor subjects prevails in most imiversities, though Harvard and Yale simply require that the kind and amount of the work be satisfactory to the ap- propriate committee. The present tendency in other institutions is away from this division into majors and minors. The amount of time or number of courses included in a major or minor varies with the viniversity. A major for a Doc- tor's degree ordinarily represents two courses of two or three or four hours weekly for two or three years, as the case may be. It is often more in amount. The minor is ordinarily one-half of the above requirement. The greatest variety of choice is oft'ered the student for his selection of majors and minors. The teaching staff is composed of professors, adjunct or associate professors, assistant profes- sors, instructors, tutors, and assistants. The American professor is always a teacher, and the amount of his time that must be devoted to actual lecturing and teaching is usually pre- scribed for him by the college regulations; it is ordinarily from eight to twelve hours per week. He has not the privilege accorded to the Ger- man professor, of 'reading' or not, but must every year go through a certain number of courses of instruction, besides being expected, in many of the colleges, to assume a certain amount of responsibility for the morals and discipline of the undergraduates. This is a verj' serious ob- stacle in the way of his ability to carry on in- dependent investigation and research, and makes the American professoriate a comparatively sterile body, though an improvement in this re- spect has been very noticeable in the past few years. The university instructor is now ex- pected to be not only a director of investigation and an investigator himself, but he is also expect- ed to publish the results of his investigations. The same kind of work is also coming in in- creased amount from the colleges, though there the instructor must spend the greater part of his time (from 15 to 20 hours per week) in class instruction. Harvard, Yale, Chicago. Cornell, Columbia, the Johns Hopkins, Clark, and other universities have now largely adopted the Ger- man conception of the professorial function, and allow the individual professor much greater lib- erty in the discharge of his duties than was for- merly the case. Harvard, Columbia, Yale, Chi- cago, and Cornell have likewise adopted the laudable plan of allowing each professor one year's leave of absence in seven, though with some diminution of salary. In organization tjie universities differ con- siderably, especially as to detail and local ar- rangements. In general the organization is into faculties of philosophy, pure science, applied science, medicine, law, etc., presided over by deans, who are administrative rather than edu- cational heads ; the faculties are divided into departments, of Greek, mathematics, etc.. pre- sided over by a head professor, who usually ex- ercises a general control over the work of the department. To him the associate professors, tutors, etc., in the department are responsible. He arranges the subjects of study, assigns the work of the siibordinate instructors, and reports to the president or chancellor from time to time upon the work accomplished. In other universi- ties the departmental organization is wholly democratic, in which the only headship is the formal one of seniority. The president (or chancellor) exercises 'a general supervision over the entire institution, and is the medium of com- munication between the faculty or faculties and the 'trustees,' 'overseers,' 'regents.' or 'governors' of the university — a body with whom usually rests the ultimate sovereignty of the institution, and who have exclusive control of the finances. These men are generally a body with the right of cooptation : but in some institutions, as in Harvard and Dartmouth, the graduates elect