New-York tribune., 1910-12-19
NEED STANDARDS, He SAYS
N. [. Cooke investigates Colleges
for Carnegie Foundation.
DEFECTS IN ORGANIZATION
Offers Suggestions for Improve
ments in Many Administra-
tive Details.

American Society of Mechanical Engineers,
has made a study of eight of the leading
| institutions of learning en- this continent
as specialist in the organization and man.
agement Of industrial establishments, and
has published his conclusions in Bulletin
No. 6 OF the Carnegie Foundation for the
Advancement of Teaching The institutions
under consideration were Harvard. Coium-
bia- Princeton, Williams, Haverford. the
University of Tcronto, the University Of
Wisconsin and the Massachusetts, Institute
OF Technology.
The report was prompted by the fact
that in the last few decades the cost OF
university education had risen powhere so
rapidly as in the United States, though its
rise had been noticeable throughout the
world Moreover. in view of the enormous
expansion Of American colleges and uni
versities, il might well have happened that
the mechanical side of their organization
had failed 10 keep up with the complex
, ties of their problems. 1t was thought that
an intelligent study Of college forms Of
organization by these who conducted IN
dustrial enterprises might open the way for
important changes
Mr. Cooke at the outset of his report de-
ifvered himself Of the opinion that, while
men connected with the colleges and uni
veIsities had formerly looked on their func-
tions as having very little in common with
those which engage the attention Of persons
in other walks OF life, they were now anx-
tous to gain any assistance that might be
given them. He then discussed. point by
point, the important problems Of admins
tration, adding in each case his own idea
Of how they might be materially improved
In the first place, he gave as the most
notable feature OF college administration
the entire absence of uniformity or ac-
cepted standardization, declaring II was
practically impossible to find any one broad
problem Of university government solved IN
the same way by two institutions AS re-
suit Of his inquiry ne was led to the con-
viction that there were very few, if any.
Of the wider principles Of management
which obtained generally in the industrial
and commercial world which were not mere
or less applica bic in the college field, and,
as far as he could discover. no one Of them
was generally observed. He held that the
colleges were not only not organized for the
exchange of help and information and data,
but as q rule it appeared that they did not
care to afford If
The autonomy Of the departments, which
was, in his opinion, at the bottom OF several
conditions that call for modification, ne
holds to have led to the absence OF much
real solidarity in the colleges and unfver-
stiles He did not begin to find the CO.
operation between departments OF a UNI
versity which was expected in the depart
ments Of an Industrial enterprise
Taking I'D the best form of organization
for an institution of higher learning, the
writer asserted that the first great object
OF organization in the art OF management
wa. to make each individual in the whole
body count for his maximum From this
he deduced the conclusion that the way
out of the difficulty was through functional
mana cement where effort was constantly
r11s:de 10 have each man perform those
functions he was best fitted TO perform,
ard to prohibit him from interfering in the
performance of those functions for which
he was not specially qualified 10 give an
or1nion-
Applied to the work of colleges. this
functional method meant that the work OF
any given institution be divided into ten
or q hundred functions in each one of
which some one person should be supreme.
Noting the absence of any gauge Of ef-
fepcy even remotely resembling, for in
stance. profits in an industrial undertaking,
Mr.. Cooke suggested perhaps the most
innediately available unit the student
hour by which was meant one hour OF
lectures laboratory or recitation room
work for a single pupil. The adoption of
some such unit, he believed. would quickly
lead to- many standards now much needeH'
This would mean not only the ellnlina-
ton of those who were unified for work,
but also a rearran cement of the scheme of
MANAGEMENT so that they might have the
fullest opportunity to perform their most
important functions we'll
To bring about this last result Mr. Cooke
put forward the suggestion that each uni
versity follow the industrial practice of
furnishing the tools to its cultured and
highly educated workman.
The title to these "tools'' was TO be OBJ
tanned by employing men under the mutu-
ally and clearly understood agreement
that stipulated part of their time should
be devoted to working up standard lecture,
la boratory and recitation room exercises,
which would then become available for
any member Of the teaching staff Of the
university.
This system of standardized lecture note.
Mr., Cooke believed would win every time
over the inspiration of the moment" idea
Another suggestion under the same head
was that men should be selected for the
lower grades who might in time develop
TO higher positions, and that bureau be
tabIished through which men could be
moved from one place TO another with less |
difficulty than now obtained. The matter |
of shorter hours. especially for those en- |
gagged in research work, was also disA |