Yale University - Banner / Pot Pourri Yearbook (New Haven, CT)

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k dh. Adminis tration

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The Mace of Yale changed hands in October, when Charles Sevmour was officially inducted as I-iftecnth President of the L ' niversit)-. Also into office cane George H Nctilcton as Act- ing Dean of Yale Q Ilege. William R. L. nglcy as Acting Dean of the Freshman Year, and Laurence G. Tighc as As.o:iate Treasurer. Later in the year William C DcVanc was ap- pointed permanent Dean of the (: )llegc and Norman S. Buck. Dean of Freshmen, both to take office next year. For undergraduate admin- istration the Senior Classes of the Gillege. Shef- field Scientific, and Engineering Sch(K ls were combined under one secretary and treasurer for the first time, aided by a council of ass«xiates from the colleges and Sheffield fraternities. In addition, a new Ginference Group was formed to advise the Dean of Yale C illcgc on undergraduate problems. In every way 1958 has been a year of material advance along ad- ministrative lines.

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Educational Policy A By CHARLtS StVMOLR I ' nder the leadership of President Anticll. Ae has just completed an era of ex- traordinary development. Of this the most obvious and spectacular but by no means the most important aspects have been the rapid j;nnvth in financial resources and the provision of superb physical t-cjuipment. Such growth is merely a means to an end. and it has led to progressive strengthenmi: of the faculty and the mtroduction of new wavs of student life which have enormi)usly raised the level of our intellectual distinc turn and have zivcn to the student fresh educational and social oppi rtunities. As regards undergraduate life, the crcatitm of the colleges has been the event of chief im- portance. As regards the university as a whole, an achievement almoit unnoticed but of vital importance has been the welding of the multifarious and KH)scly correlated parts of the university into something approaching a unified entity. X ' ithout in- troducing a prtKess of rc olutionary centralization or destroying the life of the individual units an organization has been developed that provides effective lo ordmat- ing supervisitm of the whole. Thus we are in a position to concentrate up« n our central educational purpose and to go forward rapidly along lines which have already been surveyed. The great- est of undergraduate needs, in the upper classes, is the more effective use « f the facilities offered by the colleges, espec ally in the direction of individual educational supcr ision. This I belie e can be achieved by increased emphasis upon preparatitm for the final general examinations and upon the varu)us types of educational assis- tance that can be given the student by the faculty supervisors in such preparation. An increased faculty will be necessarv- and it must be of the highest teaching equality. Closer attention must be given to the latent capacities and the obvious deficiencies of individual students The departments must increasingly provide discussion course;, in which the intellectual initiative of the student can be called upon and his intellec- tual curiosity aroused. Especial attention must be given to Frc-shman ' ear. to the period of transition from the relatively close supervision and discipline of the prep- aratory and secondary schix)! to the freedom of college. The principle of the existing counselor system is s«)und. but we have never applied it effectively and it must be our first preixcupation s«i to extend it as to ensure effective application. Of ctjual importance is an administrative alertness and wisdom that will compel the depart- ments of study to provide instructors peculiarly fitted for the needs of frethmen. The fundamental assurance of success in the education both of upper lassmcn and fresh- men will be ftiund in the faculty members we appoint and in the quality of our ad- ministrative officers. Ikcause of this and for many other reasons we must rejoice in the two new Deans, William Clyde De Vane. ' 20. Dean of YalcQ)llege. and Norman Stephen Buck. 13. Dean of Frerhmcn P gt Twemy-nx