University of Michigan - Michiganensian Yearbook (Ann Arbor, MI)

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III! ? . IIIMIII III! CIHHIII Illl iCwAHINlil C IIINUI Illl A HINIII cil, established by the Regents on May 29, 1931, consists of 57 members including the Presi- dent, 22 other administrative officers ex officio, and 34 members who are elected by the several faculties, the number from each faculty being proportionate to the size of the school or college concerned. These latter serve as representa- tives, not individuals, so that the University has a representative government like a city council. The Senate, however, still retains certain powers of review over the legislative acts of the Uni- versity Council. The Council itself has five standing commit- tees: Program and Policy, Educational Policies, Public Relations, Student Welfare, and Plant and Equipment. These represent the major phases of faculty interest in the University and its concerns. The existing committee of the Senate, nearly thirty, are now directly responsi- ble to the council. They have been distributed among the standing committees, each of which is expected to give attention to general questions of policy arising within its scope though the for- mer committees retain their previous responsi- bilities. It is thought that the new arrangement will be much more business-like and effective. CHANCES PROPOSED In his annual report to the Regents, Presi- dent Ruthven outlined several of the major needs of the University at the present time. The need for dormitories for first year men was termed a very real one. Not because suit- able rooms are not available, but because the first year is one during which the student should receive assistance in adjusting himself and in organizing his work, it is highly desirable that these men be housed together. With the system of deferred rushing now in effect the desirability of dormitories for men is even greater than be- fore, the report stated. Among other needs of the University are listed an endowment fund for the salary of a super- REGENT R. PERRY SHORTS WEBSTER H. PEARCE, State Superintendent of Public Instruction CLARENCE S. YOAKUM, V ice-President in Charge of Educational Investigations Page Twenty-Four

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Illl W. iiiMiii mi c iiiHin 1111 con; A IIINIII c IIINIII m tin A HINIII another, but for the purpose of securing and in- suring the welfare of society. In this address the President took for his thesis the super-university, using the term he ex- plained to direct attention to the evolutionary processes now in these institutions. The scope and function of these schools are undergoing re- definition. Commenting on one of the func- tions of the super-university , intramural and extramural instruction, Dr. Ruthven said that by offering extension courses to those who cannot afford to attend the University for the pre- scribed periods of time, universities are extend- ing the practice of the best schools of refusing to admit that brains and the opportunity to de- velop them are restricted to those persons who have adequate means. Education, he stated, does not end with col- lege, although organized and supervised study may be abandoned with the last examination. If the university may appropriately supervise study during and even prior to the college period, it is difficult to see why it may not as justifiably take an interest in the welfare of its graduates to the extent of aiding them in continuing their intellectual growth. Alumni, however, are not the only adults who can and should use the university ' s facilities. The University as the highest school in our system is the one to which most adults must turn for instruction, and the institution is not doing its full duty to society if it does not recognize the education of adults as at least a legitimate function. The alternative point of view means duplication of effort and waste of facilities. UNIVERSITY COUNCIL PLAN ADOPTED Further administrative changes went into ef- fect this year with the reorganization of the ad- ministrative committee of the University by the University Council, a move to expedite the transaction of business which formerly had been under the University Senate, a body with a membership of 531, and too large to handle the committee business easily. The University Coun- REGENT ESTHER M. CRAM REGENT RALPH STONE REGENT RICHARD R. SMITH Page T-uienty-Thret

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Illl W. IIIMIII Illl CIIIHIII Illl C IIINIII SSUII A , 1IINIII visor of religious activities, a new observatory, and endowment funds for specific researches. The president ' s plan for the establishment of a director of religious activities is based on the fact that state universities have not as yet discovered a satisfactory method of encouraging religious education or of providing training which will produce religious leaders or informed laymen. Not only are there objections to formal instruc- tion in this field and to required courses, but ex- perience shows that little can be accomplished by these methods. President Ruthven believes it is an experiment worth trying to treat re- ligion in a state university not only as a student activity, but as one which the university recognizes as of sufficient importance to warrant the selection of an able adviser who can by sug- gestion and with an understanding of the spiritual needs of young men and women encourage and help them to obtain through their own efforts a practical working knowledge of the funda- mentals of life. A reorganization need outlined by President Ruthven is for the co-ordination and redirection of efforts to promote the welfare of students. Faculty control of students is now vested in several committees which are responsible to the University Senate through the Committee on Student Affairs, a joint committee of students and faculty, and to the President through the Dean of Students. However the organization being loose and changing is not conductive to a co-operative effort to develop student initiative in self-government. President Ruthven believes that jurisdiction over student affairs should be vested in the University Council and should be stimulative and suggestive as well as wise in its counsels. PATERNALISM, THE YEAR ' S LEADING PROBLEM Moreover, President Ruthven has shown that he has clear understanding of the problems of student government, although the Administra- tion at which he is the head has not shown any DR. JAMES D. BRUCE, Vice-President in Charge of Universit Relations SHIRLEY W. SMITH, Vice-President in Charge of Business Relations IRA M. SMITH, Registrar Page Twenty-Five