Northeastern University - Cauldron Yearbook (Boston, MA)

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She (Eautormt, 191 7 schools in, or near Boston. At last in the fall of 1909 the courses opened with eight students ; two taking the Civil Engineering Course, who were assigned to the Boston and Albany Railroad Co., two taking the Mechan- ical Engineering Course, who were placed with the Boston Elevated Railway Co. ; three others taking the Mechan- ical Engineering Course, two of whom went to the Bos- ton and Maine Railroad Co.. while the third was em- ployed by the Boston Consolidated Gas Co., having as his alternate the eighth student who took the Chemical En- gineering Course. The men worked in pairs, alternating between the School and the employing firms at one week- intervals. At school they took Drawing, Chemistry. Physics, and English in the day, and Mathematics and Surveying in the evening. Thus the first year of work started with four students in school, who exchanged places with the other four at the close of each weekly period. There were in all, four instructors, who taught on a part-time basis, coming in only at the regular hours for each subject, either day, or evening. From the first the plan demonstrated its capacity for successful opera- tion. The students made excellent progress with the em- ploying firms, and at school showed the capacity for hard, intelligent work that is so essential an element of success. During this first year the Association Building on Boyl- ston Street was destroyed by fire, and the school work was omitted for a short period. Soon, however, we started again in temporary quarters at the Boston Young Men ' s Christian Union, and later were housed at Ashbur- ton Place. The headquarters of the students at this latter place was a small room about ten feet by six feet, on the top floor, which was just capable of holding four desks crowded closely together, with the four chairs for them, and a very small table for the instructor and one chair. The blackboard was about five feet by four feet in area. By the late spring of 1910 we got out a small printed prospectus of about sixteen pages, which was mailed to about one hundred high schools and, in addition, I visited many of the high schools to personally explain the work we were doing. In the fall of 1910, the courses opened with about thirty-eight students, two more part-time instructors, and several more firms employing the students. By the close of that year, it was demonstrated that the idea was not only entirely feasible, but met an absolute need in the community, that was cared for by no other agent. As a result, the Co-operative Courses were changed to the Co-Operative School of Engineering, with myself as Dean, and have since been continued on that plan. Thus in September, 1911, the School opened for the first time as a complete entity, with about sixty students, eight part-time instructors giving courses in the day, the evening work for the men reduced to only two subjects, and several more firms employing the students. Also an additional Course, Electrical Engineering, was added to the curriculum. 1912 and 1913 saw still further growth in the enrollment, and the spring of 1913 saw the first

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Ofte (ttaul nm, 1917 of many such young men, for it obviously would enable them to finance their education by the returns from their outside work. Furthermore, in such an educational plan, unless it extends for more than four years, which seems to me undesirable for many reasons, only the essential subjects, required in the profession, can be taught, hence such entrance requirements as the modern languages, his- tory, literature, etc., do not seem to be necessary and hence can be omitted. Under these conditions many stu- dents could easily prepare to enter such work by taking special high school subjects in the last two years of their course. On the other hand, to carry on work of engi- neering character and grade, requires a mental maturity that is not ordinarily found in students younger than high school graduates, and so while the specific, scholastic requirements might be reduced to such fundamental sub- jects as English Composition, Mathematics and Physics, the general requirements in regard to character, demon- strated capacity, and maturity of mind, must be very rigid for such an entrance basis to be efficient. The foregoing considerations led to the basis adopted for entrance to the School, namely, graduation from a high school, or its equivalent, and entrance examinations in English, Mathematics and Physics, supplemented by a careful consideration of the candidate ' s fitness, as deter- mined by our inquiries in regard to his personal character, ability, attitude toward study and work, as furnished by school officials, employers, and others with whom we com- municate in regard to him. It should be borne in mind that we are fully impressed with the desirability of a broad, general education, and the inclusion of general subjects in any college curriculum, but in a course of this kind it is felt that the fundamental object is to fit the stu- dent to occupy a definite position in a very limited time, and hence only the necessary training can be given thoroughly. Another, and very important, advantage in such part- time education, is the opportunity it affords the student to find himself. The combination of school studies and practical engineering, brings home to the student, in a way accomplished by no other means, just what his chosen life work is to be, and early shows whether he has made the right choice, or not. Our experience has de- monstrated that this is one of the greatest advantages of this type of education for a large number of men. Being, then, in hearty sympathy with the idea, having the neces- sary conditions for carrying it out, and not being ham- pered by traditions, or unsympathetic committees, it was decided to give the plan a trial. The next move was to get some engineering concerns to agree to take our students on the part-time basis. Through the efforts of the organization then known as Boston — 1915 the following firms were persuaded to take our students : The Boston Elevated Railway Co., The Boston and Maine Railroad Co., The Boston and Al- bany Railroad Co., and The Boston Consolidated Gas Co. The next work was to get out a prospectus, which was done in typewritten form, and sent to about fifty high

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Ofte (Jaulbron, 191F graduating class, four members of the original eight, who had started four years before. In the fall of 1913 the School moved into its present quarters in the new Association Building, starting out for the first time under favorable conditions of housing and equipment. At that time the enrollment was about one hundred and ten students. During that year it was de- cided to try a two-week alternation period in place of the single week, and this arrangement went into effect about the middle of the year. The longer period was found to be much better from the standpoint of employers and students, and so was adopted permanently and has been continued ever since. During this year, all night courses were given up, and the entire schedule of studies has since been carried on during the day. During the years of 1915 and 1916, the student body kept up its steady growth, and the present school year sees one hundred and sixty students enrolled in the various courses. The co-operating firms have been in- creased from the first four, to nearly forty, and whereas in the early years of the School, it taxed one ' s persuasive powers to the utmost to get a concern to even consider giving the plan a trial, at present, owing to the fine rec- ords made by the students in their work, we cannot supply enough men to fill the positions offered. In the School, the courses have been modified and added to, in pursuance of the policy that has predominated from the start, that our function was service to the young men, and that only by the best education that we could give, could such service be rendered properly. The standards, al- ways high, have been continuously raised, and the in- structing staff, steadily increasing in number and effi- ciency, has grown from the first four part-time instruc- tors to the present ten full-time and six part-time men, who are so ably working to bring the School to still higher efficiency and ideals. While the foregoing statements tell what the School has done, it is the graduates who are the only true measure of the work, and it is with the greatest pride that we look at the men who have gone into the world ' s work after their training with us and so ably demonstrated the value of our work to them. Although relatively few in number, being in all less than seventy-five, they are to be found scattered about the United States, in Canada, Porto Rico and the Philip- pines, some as electrical engineers, some designing drafts- men, others construction engineers, still others foremen, and yet others teachers, but, wherever they are found, they are showing the world that the School is doing its share to train men, not only to carry on the work of en- gineers, but to be men of high character and ideals, whose greatest satisfaction lies in the fact that they are per- forming their duties ably and conscientiously, and so are making the world better for their being in it. H. W. Geromanos.