The Summer Session was first established by the Regents in 1900 as a
separate division of the University. Courses in the summer had been
given since 1894 under the direction of a committee from the Faculty of
Literature, Science, and the Arts, but the Regents had assumed no real
responsibility for this work and the fact that the chairman and all the
members of the committee, save one, were of the rank of instructor
indicates the minor place it assumed in university affairs. With a
reorganization in 1900 under the chairmanship of Professor John O. Reed,
'85, of the Department of Physics, a new life was given to the School.
From that time it grew rapidly, until in the summer of 1919 it had an
enrolment of almost 2,000, including students in the Law School, Medical
School, Engineering College, and a summer library course, though the
majority, of course, were enrolled in the Literary College. When
Professor Reed became Dean of the Literary Department in 1907, Professor
John R. Effinger, '91, became Dean of the Summer Session. After the
death of his predecessor, he in turn became Dean of the Literary
College, and Edward H. Kraus, Syracuse, '96, Professor of Mineralogy,
who had been Secretary, took his place as administrative head of the
Summer Session.
CHAPTER VIII
A STATE UNIVERSITY AS A CENTER OF LEARNING
Michigan's position as a state university has been strongly reflected in
its ideals and policies. It could not be otherwise. But this
relationship, the source of its strength in many aspects, has also
carried with it certain dangers. The University has a two-fold function:
it must teach the youth of the State and the Nation; but to do this
effectively, it must also aim to do its share in enlarging the field of
knowledge by encouraging scholarship and research on the part of members
of the Faculties as well as by a certain proportion of the more advanced
students. It is this latter function that is too easily overlooked in
the demand for the ordinary and more "practical" courses which
necessarily form so large a part of the modern curriculum. Yet even the
most elementary college work cannot be given properly unless the
instructor is in touch with the latest developments and discoveries in
his own field, and this familiarity only comes through research, on his
own part or by his colleagues.
But more than this the University, if it be worthy of the name, owes it
to the State to be a leader and a guide in the development of the
highest cultural standards; it should be a reservoir upon which the
people of the State can draw for truth and guidance in the difficult
problems of modern life. This cannot come without a strong emphasis on
original and productive scholarship.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account