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be said as regards the suggestion that there may have been an



interested collusion between the academic head and the active



members of the board。 These were 〃all honourable men;〃 of great



repute in the community and well known as sagacious and



successful men in their private business ventures。







2。 Cf。 The Instinct of Workmanship; ch。 vii; pp。 343…352。







3。 A subsidiary reason of some weight should not be overlooked in



seeking the cause of this secularization of the boards; and of



the peculiar colour which the secularization has given them。 In



any community where wealth and business enterprise are held in



such high esteem; men of wealth and of affairs are not only



deferred to; but their countenance is sought from one motive and



another。 At the same time election to one of these boards has



come to have a high value as an honourable distinction。 Such



election or appointment therefore is often sought from motives of



vanity; and it is at the same time a convenient means of



conciliating the good will of the wealthy incumbent。



    It may be added that now and again the discretionary control



of large funds which so falls to the members of the board may



come to be pecuniarily profitable to them; so that the office may



come to be attractive as a business proposition as well as in



point of prestige。 Instances of the kind are not wholly unknown;



though presumably exceptional。







4。 Cf。; e。 g。。 R。 T。 Crane。 The Futility of All Kinds of Higher



Schooling; especially part I; ch。 iv。







5。 Cf。 R。T。 Crane; as above; especially part I; ch。 ii。 iii; and



vi。 Cf。 also H。P。 Judson; The Higher Education as a Training for



Business; where the case is argued in a typically commonplace and



matter…of…fact spirit; but where 〃The Higher Education〃 is taken



to mean the undergraduate curriculum simply; also 〃A Symposium on



the value of humanistic; particularly classical; studies as a



training for men of affairs;〃 Proceedings of the Classical



Conference at Ann Arbor; Michigan; April 3; 1909。







6。 Cf。 Bacon; Essays  〃Of Cunning〃; and 〃Of Wisdom for a Man's



Self。〃







7。 Cf。 ch。 viii; especially pp。 242…269。







CHAPTER III







The Academic Administration and Policy







    Men dilate on the high necessity of a businesslike



organization and control of the university; its equipment;



personnel and routine。 What is had in mind in this insistence on



an efficient system is that these corporations of learning shall



set their affairs in order after the pattern of a well…conducted



business concern。 In this view the university is conceived as a



business house dealing in merchantable knowledge; placed under



the governing hand of a captain of erudition; whose office it is



to turn the means in hand to account in the largest feasible



output。 It is a corporation with large funds; and for men biased



by their workday training in business affairs it comes as a



matter of course to rate the university in terms of investment



and turnover。 Hence the insistence on business capacity in the



executive heads of the universities; and hence also the extensive



range of businesslike duties and powers that devolve on them。



    Yet when all these sophistications of practical wisdom are



duly allowed for; the fact remains that the university is; in



usage; precedent; and common sense preconception; an



establishment for the conservation and advancement of the higher



learning; devoted to a disinterested pursuit of knowledge。 As



such; it consists of a body of scholars and scientists; each and



several of whom necessarily goes to his work on his own



initiative and pursues it in his own way。 This work necessarily



follows an orderly sequence and procedure; and so takes on a



systematic form; of an organic kind。 But the system and order



that so govern the work; and that come into view in its procedure



and results; are the logical system and order of intellectual



enterprise; not the mechanical or statistical systematization



that goes into effect in the management of an industrial plant or



the financiering of a business corporation。



    Those items of human intelligence and initiative that go to



make up the pursuit of knowledge; and that are embodied in



systematic form in its conclusions; do not lend themselves to



quantitative statement; and can not be made to appear on a



balance…sheet。 Neither can that intellectual initiative and



proclivity that goes in as the indispensable motive force in the



pursuit of learning be reduced to any known terms of



subordination; obedience; or authoritative direction。 No scholar



or scientist can become an employee in respect of his scholarly



or scientific work。 Mechanical systematization and authoritative



control can in these premises not reach beyond the material



circumstances that condition the work in hand; nor can it in



these external matters with good effect go farther than is



necessary to supply the material ways and means requisite to the



work; and to adapt them to the peculiar needs of any given line



of inquiry or group of scholars。 In order to their best



efficiency; and indeed in the degree in which efficiency in this



field of activity is to be attained at all; the executive



officers of the university must stand in the relation of



assistants serving the needs and catering to the idiosyncrasies



of the body of scholars and scientists that make up the



university;(1*) in the degree in which the converse relation is



allowed to take effect; the unavoidable consequence is wasteful



defeat。 A free hand is the first and abiding requisite of



scholarly and scientific work。



    Now; in accepting office as executive head of a university;



the incumbent necessarily accepts all the conditions that attach



to the administration of his office; whether by usage and common



sense expectation; by express arrangement; or by patent



understanding with the board to which he owes his elevation to



this post of dignity and command。 By usage and precedent it is



incumbent on him to govern the academic personnel and equipment



with an eye single to the pursuit of knowledge; and so to conduct



its affairs as will most effectually compass that end。 That is to



say he must so administer his office as best to serve the



scholarly needs of the academic staff; due regard being



scrupulously had to the idiosyncrasies; and even to the vagaries;



of the men whose work he is called on to further。 But by patent



understanding; if not by explicit stipulation; from the side of



the governing board; fortified by the preconceptions of the laity



at large to the same effect; he is held to such a conspicuously



efficient employment of the means in hand as will gratify those



who look for a voluminous turnover。 To this end he must keep the



academic administration and its activity constantly in the public



eye; with such 〃pomp and circumstance〃 of untiring urgency and



expedition as will carry the conviction abroad that the



university under his management is a highly successful going



concern; and he must be able to show by itemized accounts that



the volume of output is such as to warrant the investment。 So the



equipment and personnel must be organized into a facile and



orderly working force; held under the directive control of the



captain of erudition at every point; and so articulated and



standardized that its rate of speed and the volume of its current



output can be exhibited to full statistical effect as it runs。



    The university is to make good both as a corporation of



learning and as a business concern dealing in standardized



erudition; and the executive head necessarily assumes the



responsibility of making it count wholly and unreservedly in each



of these divergent; if not incompatible lines。(2*) Humanly



speaking; it follows by necessary consequence that he will first



and always take care of those duties that are most jealously



insisted on by the powers to whom he is accountable; and the due



performance of which will at the same time yield some



sufficiently tangible evidence of his efficiency。 That other;



more recondite side of the university's work that has



substantially to do with the higher learning is not readily set



out in the form of statistical exhibits; at the best; and can



ordinarily come to appraisal and popular appreciation only in the



long run。 The need of a businesslike showing is instant and



imperative; particularly in a business e

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