PAGE TWO

GRINN‘ELL SCARLET AND BLACK

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Wednesday, December 18, 1940

.Building For the Future

The recently announced plan for new build-
ings on the Gi'innell campus which now com-
‘mands the attention of students and the
general public is not the only aspect of
our far»reaching program for the future.
Nor is it even the most important aspect of
our program, because many colleges have
new buildings without attaining distinction.
The measure of eminence in any school
is its scholastic standing. Without i , build
ings are of no avail; with it comes students
and friends who make buildings possible.
The new divisional plan of curriculum to go
into effect next September is a great step
forward towards this scholastic distinction
In recent years the more thoughtful stu-

GRINNELL SCARLET AND BLACK

dents at Grinnell have felt increasingly dis—
satisfied With the fragmentary and discon»
nected nature of the curriculum. of course
the recent change from a major and minor
system into fields of concentration and dis
tribution was a step in the right direction,
but it did not go far enough.

The new system eliminates this weakness
by requil'ng a student at the end of his
sophomore and senior years to pass exami-
nations calling [or some understanding of
the relation between courses in a division
as well as their content In other words,
integration of courses will be empha 7od
instead of the courses as ends in themselves

Reorganization of the curliculum along-
this lille has been under consideration by the
Educational Policies committee of the [acid
ty for several years President Stevens also
has been studying this problem over a period
of fifteen years selecting the best features
from the curriculum of many colleges, and
he is now adapting them to the specific
needs of Grinnell.

We may as well admit that the future
standing of Grinnell will not depend upon
her athletic prowess. Nor will a four year
course at Grinnell continue to mean a plea
ant series of ll'eeleelld parties where mati
monial prospects are good Most of us, we
believe, would be happier if we used some
independent thought and initiative instead
of memol ng text-book material.

The first reaction of the students may be
that the change is too radical and may prove
too difficult. But a little reflection will surge
gest that it will yield vastly more satisface
tion to those who really understand wily
they are in college.

If we feel unhappy about the new scheme
or even hostile to it, it is probably because
we do not completely understand it. Thus
it is only fair to President Stevens and to
ourselves that we attend the general “bulL
session" to be held this afternoon ill the
Alumni Recitation hall auditorium, when
Dr. Stevens will be more than glad to clear
up our perplexities. We reaffirm our con,
fidence that the revised curriculum will con-
tribute gloriously to the building of a great,
ell Grinnell.

 

OPEN ronuu

foundation upon which subsequent
achievement can be built and also
prepare the student to live with

 

To the Editor:

himself and his fellows in a

Dun'ng the last quarter of a cen-
tury many significant develop-
ments in the Liberal Arts college
have occurred Faculties and ad-
ministration: have been seriously
attempting to adapt the program
of the college to the expanding
body of knowledge made possible
through the development of the
natural and social sciences and
to the changing World which has
been so radically modified through
life application of the fmits of
these scicntl 'c disciplines. Years
ago the liberal arts college was
primarily concerned with the
study of languages, particularly
the classes. philosophy, literature,
and mathematics, for these sub-
jccts were supposed to be at once
the evidence of culture and the
essential tools of social inte'
coursc. The impact of scientific
processes on human knowledge
has been terrific. \Vholc new areas
of phenomena have been intell-
sivcly explored, ucw controls in
the discovery of truth developed,
and new laws as to natural relay
tionships formulated.

Thc method of inductive reason-
ing, as applied experimentally to
the problems of nature has at
times, threatened to plmxb in
discord the methods of deductive
logic emplwycd by philosophy. The
gradual transformation of the
modern world through the appli—
cation of scientific knowledge has
cuuscd the sciences, both natural
and social, to grow in importance
and to become the . cs for many
new professions. Consequently the
liberal oils curriculum has grade
uzlly bcoomo mmsfonucd, so that
the inquiring student might sc-
curc an adequate perspective in

regard to the nature of the world
and man.

If one is to understand the real
problems confronting college offi-
cials in the determination of an
adequate under gx‘aduate imiuing
in arts, he must become aware
of the dynamic character of the
educational situation and recog-
nize the tremendous forces that
have been operating within our
many institutions of higher learn-
ing. Today first class medical and
law schools demand a minimum
of ninety hours of pro-professional
work, and the majority of them
perfer students who have come
plated their undergraduate study.
The better journalism schools and
schools of business administration
are on a graduate boars. Engineer—
ing' requires five to six years of
study, is part of the under grad-
udte program being basically
liberal arts work. Most of these
developments have been due to
the pressure of men at work in
the several professional ficlds who
have recognized the necessity for
proper and sounder basic tmimug
if the more specific professional
and technological preparation is
to have the greatest scientific
and social outcomes in terms of
vocalionzl success.

It is to he expected that we at
Grinnl‘ll hm, e to the trends
in modcm cllucofiou and are
uuuro of the pressures which
0 ist on 'ery hand. it is the
responsibility of the faculty and
damn button of our 5 1001 to
act us intelligently as po ’blc in
the ucvclopulcut of a bi ic pro-
gram 0[ lihci-ul training which
will at oucc gunrautce that the
pompolcut student will scciu-c the
most substantial and significant

rapidly changing world with um
ilerstanding, taste. und discrimi-
nation.

The proposed changes in our
curriculum are the outgrowth of
several years of study by the
Educational Policies Committee of
the faculty and the most core-
ful analysis of the efforts made
by other institutions of higher
learning to solve the same prob-
lem, It is not the brain child of
any one person, It does not com
form entirely to any one success-

.ful plan found in any other in—

stitution. it is particularly adapt-
cd to Grinnell. Its objectives are
those which have traditionally
been a part of our educational
philosophy, Its organization grows
out of our conviction that Grill-
ncll College must be the place
Where the individual is para»
mount, The total program of
study is conceived by tho facility
is designed to give maximum
freedom of opportunity to thc
inlividual student in relation to
his known aptitudcs, proficienci e,
and iufcucsls. The primary con-
cern of the faculty has been to
make Grinnell College a more
pliable and useful instrument
which the inquiring- student can
use to carve for himself fi-o'm
the great body of human knowl-
edge a working pattern for a
good and significant life.

It is inevitable that three or-
four years will he required to
work the new progrmu into the
college’s institutionnl life in such
a way that it‘ largest values uill
become articulate .uul apparent.
IL is the llnpi‘ of the faculty
and the mlnlini ration that Grin-
nell’s new plan of liberal edu-
cation will sol-ye this and succeed»

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 18. 1940

Stevens Tells
New Curriculum

Continued from page 1

swing, a student will no required
to hike 15 courses- to gmluutc.
This allows for the four hours pcr
semester in student will be 3.“on
on free in his scmor your to work
on his independent study seminar.
According to Stevens, one
of the problems presented by
the four course plan arises
out of the possible i'ailure‘ol'
a student in a course. Under
the existing system, a person
failing a two-hour course can
easily add two hours to his
schedule ill the next semester
and compensate for it. Under
the four course plan, no such
adjustment would be possible.
“The fact that students may
fail a course has to be taken into
account and plans made which
wnl assrst the students in compen-
sifting adequately when failure
occurs." Stevens assorted.

“Although no definite plans
have been made, students who fail
a course will probably have to
attend summer school 01' some
special plan for informal study
will have to be followed by a
departmental examination in the
semester immediately succccdiug
the one in which the failure took
place,” he said.
SECRETARIAL TRAININGl

The President also told of
plans to enrich the present
course in secretarial training.

iug' generations of students well,
enabling them to enjoy intellect-
ual growth that they have ccpac
ity to grow.

We move fozwurd with the
conviction that the educational re-
sults of this curriculum reorgani-
zation will be 5. higher level of
critical judgment, is deeper in-
sight into the nature of human
society and. the world in which
we live, a. heightened sensitivity
of those things that are beautiful
and good and true, and above all
other things, more strongly en-
trenched faith in their essential
worth. We also believe that pres-
exit and future generations will
hear testimony as to the sound-
ness and significance of this new
plan.

—Sa.muel N. Stevens
President, Grinnell College

Under the plan, the course in
secreial al training now or?
fel'ed as a part of the depart-
ment of business administra»
tion will be set up as a separ-
ate program apart from the
regular college cul iculuul.

“Every effort will be made
to enrich this course of study
so that it will be outstanding
in its field," Dr. Stevens
claimed. The secretarial
training will be so coordinate
ed \lith the liberal arts pro-
rain as to prepare a person
or more advanced occupa
tional opportunity than is
normally the case, it has
stated.

“With the use of practical en‘v
pel'iellce m the steuogruphic bu-
rcau, a secretory will be ahead
of her competition,” Stevens said
NEW COUNSELLING PLAN.

Another objective of the ucw
curriculum will he the installation
of an uppiovul system of coun-
selling, DI" Stevens stated.

Effective next September, no
student will enter Gl'innell with-
out taking 2, full set of tests
which have three objectives: 1)
To determine the student's level
of educational proficiency, apti-
tude, and interest of the purpose
of assisting the counsellor in
placing him in the proper courses.
2) To determine whether or not
Grinnell is the institution in which
he can enjoy the greatest amount
of intellectual growth. 3) To
give the student the advantages
of the best psychological informa-
tion as to those types of work
for which he seems to have the
best natural apptitude.
PURPOSE OF COUNSELLING.

”The fundamental purpose of
the course," according to Stevens,
“is to prepare a student to en-
Ler Grinneli at the level at which
he is able to enter with the great-
est profit to himself.”

Evcly freshman wilI have
a faculty adviser for the first
two years after obtaining adv
mission to Grinnell. These
faculty members will undel‘~
go a special course of train-
ing in advising, and will be
reimbursed for their addition-
al duties.

“I wimt to cmpimslm.” said
riosllleht Stevens, “that these

STEVENS TELLS—
Continued on Page 3

 

““Sit downl You're rocking the bead",

 

