Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 19.djvu/874

* UNIVERSITY EXTENSION. 746 UNIVERSITY EXTENSION. UDiversity extension teaching has been in- troduced, sometimes in a modified form, and suc- cessfully carried on in the United States, Ger- many, France, Belgium, Austria, Denmark, Scandinavia, Russia, Australia, and Canada. In a few instances, notably in the State of New York and in Vienna, the enterprise has received Government aid. But in general it has been supported by the fees of the students, assisted by college grants or private subscriptions. The subject of university extension was first publicly presented in the United States at a meeting of the American Library Association dur- ing their session in the Thousand Islands in Sep- tember, 1887. The English system, as adapted to American local needs, was promptly taken up by librarians in Bulfalo, Chicago, and Saint Louis. In these and many other cities the idea was gradually developed and extended by the co- operation of university graduates with libraries, churches, and other local institutions. In .Jan- uary, 1888, Melvil Dewey, then chief librarian of Columbia University, laid the plan before the regents of the L'niversity of the State of New- York, and at the L'niversity convocation in Al- bany, July, 1888, advocated university exten- sion in connection with public libraries. In Feb- ruary, 1890, a committee of New York colleges and universities urged the regents to establish, Tinder State supervision, a system of extension teaching. On ]May 1, 1891, a bill was signed by the Governor of New York appropriating .$10,000 for the State organization of university extension. No part of the grant could be used for the pay- ment of lecturers, but only for purposes of or- ganization, supervision, and printing. This grant of $10,000 is tlie first case on record of a State appropriation for university extension. In 1890 a few public-spirited citizens of Phila- delphia founded the American Society for the Extension of LIniversity Teaching. In 1891 fol- lowed the Albany movement mentioned above; and upon its opening in 1892, the University of Chicago established an extension division as one of the main departments of its work. Mainly from these three centres university extension in the United States has been carried on, though other educational institutions in various parts of the country have done similar work. Some of the more notable of these are : Johns Hopkins, Brown, Stetson ( Fla. ). and Northwestern univer- sities ; the universities of Wisconsin, Indiana, Iowa, Wyoming, Kansas, Colorado, and Cali- fornia; Colby College (Me.); Rutgers College (N. J.) ; Lowell Institute. Boston; Brooklyn In- stitute ; People's Institute ( N. Y. ), etc. Teachers College, Columbia University, h.is also conducted extension classes, and in 1903 Columbia LIniver- sity instituted an extension department, the administration of which is vested in Teachers College. Mention should be made of the .system of 'free lectures to the people' of the New York Board of Education, embodying most of the fea- tures of university extension work. As a system of instruction, university exten- sion involves the following elements: The ComsE of Lecture.s. The lectures must be given by one instructor, usually at weekly or fortnightly intervals. The lectures in <a course mu.st be correlated, dealing with a particular epoch of history, or author, or school of litera- ture, or section of a department of science, etc. They must be scholarly, as representing the thought of the universities; they nmst be [Kipular to attract and hold the auditors. The number of lectures in a course varies with different or- ganizations. The unit adopted by Oxford, by the American Society, and by Chicago is the six- lecture course. Cambridge has a twelve-lecture unit; and Columbia a six-lecture unit for its more popular courses, and a thirty-lecture unit for its academic and professional courses. The lectures are frequently illustrated by stereopti- con, or by demonstrations. The Class. By 'class' is meant the group of people of the audience who remain after the lecture for questions, discussion, and suggestions on the subject of the lecture. Individuals, also, may here get personal advice on their work and reading, and criticism of their essays. The Students' Association. This is a club of students and readers desirous of getting the stimulus that working in common afi'ords. The Students' Association has its own organization, and its regular programme of work, both before and after, as well as during the lecture course. The Syllabus. Systematic guidance in every lecture course is provided in a special syllabus, outlining each lecture, selecting the best books on the subject, offering topics for thought, read- ing and papers, and illustrative notes, and pre- scribing the work required for certificates. Traveling Libraries. To facilitate the student work in places not provided with adequate li- brary facilities, the central organization usually provides a select library of perhaps fifty volumes of books recommended by the lecturer. The E.xamination. At the close of each course of lectures a written examination is given by the lecturer to those auditors qualified and willing to take it. The qualification may be the read- ing of certain books, the presentation of a cer- tain number of essays during the course, regular attendance, etc. The certificates obtained by successful candidates in these examinations are sometimes valuable in special ways. For ex- ample, in England they are credited toward the Government requirements for pupil-teachers' standing. In Chicago they count toward the baccalaureate degree of the university. In Columbia the thirty-lecture courses receive the same credit as the corresponding courses within the university. Local Centre. University extension is based on the principle of local initiative. It requires that those who desire to avail themselves of its assistance shall be organized as a centre. By 'local centre' is meant a group of people who are willing to adopt extension aims and methods, arranging through a local committee on the one hand and the central organization on the other for systematic courses of extension lectures. Cambridge in 1901-02 gave 85 courses, with an attendance of about 16,000; London. 1901-02, 195 courses, with an attendance of 15,500; Oxford, 1901-02, 190 courses, with an attendance of 21,- 000; the American Society, 1902-0."?, 98 courses, with an attendance of 26.000; Chicago. 1902-O.S. 208 courses, with an attendance of 43.500: and the New York Board of Education, 1902-03, 4200 lectures, some given in courses, with a total at- tendance of 1,250.000. Consult: Adams, in Reports of the United States Commissioner of Education, (a) 1898-