University Missourian. [volume] (Columbia, Mo.) 1908-1916, 1909-01-13

4 Ntl'1 'iu'ii'it. WI
nell. and California provided retir
in" allowances f"r their professors:
now. thanks IL the Carnegie Founda
ti"n. >iNuy-rw" institutions can a>>ur,
their teaching force a decent and com
Portable old age. These pensions. liz,
those of railroads and industrial cnrpo-
ration-. have :,> their ultimate aim. the
Improvement uf the service. The aver
age Pr"fr>>"r> salary ut the present
time i 81 .2'm year less than that "r
Il successful nc-na>"n or carpenter.
/ The Carnegie Foundation ha- recent ~
""llrctrl statistics ~Irnwin" the salary
record "f the hundred largest. richest
and most influential American umivrr-
ties. I'm these. the y"un" man who i
ambitious for the academic life. after
! spending" several Wears i'm graduate
work. begins his career at twenty eight
aS an instructor on Il salary of Sl.2JO.
II he succeeds. h" l. promoted. when
about thirty Wears old to AN assistant
pr"lr>>"r-hip. which pays him Sl.1jo.
At 1iirty-thrcr. ii fortune continues to
smile upon him. he becomes an a-~oci-
ate professor at S2.22jO: and ut thirty
iiv". If IL" arrives. j. installed in a full
pr"fr>>"r> chair at S2.:Jn This is not
the Record "f failure but that ni IL
successful man in the highest grade "f
American college. There are in>titu-
i"n-. "f course. that pay more than
this: the average at Yale i $500. at
Harvard i.4l3. at Columbia l2S9
Nearly all incrmb.nt~ Of college chairs.
however. are forced I" exc out their
>Par-" incomes in various ways. The
few that can command Il general liter
AIRY market write for tn" magazines:
Others penny u line in the newspapers:
"t hers lecture. and many yearly give up
the long summer vacation which is one
81 the attractions al the profession and
teach summer schools. Even under
these conditions. the average professor
can seldom do more than ~crapc to-
-c"ther money enough to pay his house
rent and butchers bills. ANY provision
for old age i entirely out al the puc~
ti"n. His financial position i much
worse than that Of the average, brake
man. for the latter ha- far lower
standard ri Iivin" and thus can save Il
part "i the wages upon which the
college professor can barely exist.
I'm it, attitude toward it, old teach
"r~. tn" university j. in precisely the
same pn-iti"n a. Il railroad. II cannot
turn them out t" misery and want. and
on the her hand. To keep them in pc"
~iri ions for which they have Ion" since
exhausted their Usefulness i crime
against th" y"un" generation. Until
the Carnegie Foundation was establish
ed. most American colleges had to Il"
their work handicapped in this way. \
certain part of the force had brcomr
inefficient through old age and brilliant
y"un" men We're kept in subordinate
pp>itinn-.
Mr.. Henry $. Prirchcrt. cN N-prc~idcn,
of the Massachusetts Institute Of Tech
n"l"%v. is the man who originated the
Carnegie plan for retiring college pr"
fe~~"r>. Largely OWN" To his efforts.
the Carnegie Foundation now ha- IL
fund "i sonnet hin" more than Sl5.O0O.- /.
0nO. the income of which i available
for pcn~ioning college professors The
trustees aim at accomplishing more
than merely giving colleges IL chance tn
frc>h"n their Statf>: their plan comprr /
hrnd> the advancement of the whole
system. For this reason
they have adopted system of "accep-
ted institutions" They have selected !
Il certain number of colleges. that j..
whose professors. on reaclin" il certain
age and >ervin" Il certain number nr
Years. automatically go upon the pen
sion list. OF the nine hundred and fifty
institutions in this country that call
themselves colleges ar universities on
" sixty three are on the accepted list /.
ii the Foundation In select i'm" the
colleges who's" professors are To bc pen
.i"ncd. the trustees have adopted Ger
ain arbitrary requirements that in
heir estimation. make for educational
Efficiency. To secure retiring allow
'nrr> for it, professors. Il college must
rave an endowment oi S2OOWO. must
nave at least six professors givin" all
heir time I" the college work Il course
If four full Years leading up tn the
lcadcmc degree. and must not be con
rolled by religious sect
The trustees hrlirvc that "A college or
University controlled by Il particular
rct and managed in its interests ,
h"uld Il" supported by that sect. The
purpose "f the Foundation j. not mis- ,
innary drnnminatinnaI work but simply {
duration. The Forndat ion. however .
: =" liberal in it, Interpretation III sec
that II" great in Justice j. ,