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第21章

the higher learning in america-第21章

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apportion the funds assigned for current expenses in such a way



as to favour those 〃practical〃 or quasi…practical lines of



instruction and academic propaganda that are presumed to heighten



the business acumen of the students or to yield immediate returns



in the way of a creditable publicity。







    As to the delegation of powers to the academic head。 There is



always the reservation to be kept in mind; that the academic head



is limited in his discretion by the specifications of the budget。



The permissible deviations in that respect are commonly neither



wide nor of a substantial character; though the instances of a



university president exercising large powers are also not



extremely rare。 But in common practice; it is to be noted; the



academic head is vested with somewhat autocratic powers; within



the lines effectually laid down in the budget; he is in effect



responsible to the governing board alone; and his responsibility



in that direction chiefly touches his observance of the pecuniary



specifications of the budget。



    But it is more to the point to note that the academic head



commonly holds office by choice of the governing board。 Where the



power of appointment lies freely in the discretion of such a



board; the board will create an academic head in its own image。



In point of notorious fact; the academic head of the university



is selected chiefly on grounds of his business qualifications;



taking that expression in a somewhat special sense。 There is at



present an increasingly broad and strenuous insistence on such



qualifications in the men selected as heads of the universities;



and the common sense of the community at large bears out the



predilections of the businesslike board of control in this



respect。 The new incumbents are selected primarily with a view to



give the direction of academic policy and administration more of



a businesslike character。 The choice may not always fall on a



competent business man; but that is not due to its inclining too



far to the side of scholarship。 It is not an easy matter even for



the most astute body of businessmen to select a candidate who



shall measure up to their standard of businesslike efficiency in



a field of activity that has substantially nothing in common with



that business traffic in which their preconceptions of efficiency



have been formed。



    In many cases the alumni have much to say in the choice of a



new academic head; whether by courtesy or by express provision;



and the results under these circumstances are not substantially



different。 It follows as an inevitable consequence of the current



state of popular sentiment that the successful businessmen among



the alumni will have the deciding voice; in so far as the matter



rests with the alumni; for the successful men of affairs assert



themselves with easy confidence; and they are looked up to; in



any community whose standards of esteem are business standards;



so that their word carries weight beyond that of any other class



or order of men。 The community at large; or at least that portion



of the community that habitually makes itself heard; speaks to



the same effect and on the same ground;  viz。; a sentimental



conviction that pecuniary success is the final test of manhood。



Business principles are the sacred articles of the secular creed;



and business methods make up the ritual of the secular cult。



    The one clear note of acclaim that goes up; from the avowed



adepts of culture and from those without the pale; when a new



head has; as recently been called to one of the greater



universities; is in commendation of his business capacity;



〃commercial sense;〃 executive ability; financiering tact; and the



effectual canvass of his qualifications does not commonly range



much outside of these prime requisites。 The modicum of



scholarship and scholarly ideals and insight concessively deemed



indispensable in such a case is somewhat of the nature of a



perquisite; and is easily found。 It is not required that the



incumbent meet the prepossessions of the contingent of learned



men in the community in this respect; the choice does not rest



with that element; nor does its ratification; but rather at the



other end of the scale; with that extreme wing of the laity that



is taken up with 〃practical;〃 that is to say pecuniary; affairs。



    As to the requirements of scholarly or scientific competency;



a plausible speaker with a large gift of assurance; a



businesslike 〃educator〃 or clergyman; some urbane pillar of



society; some astute veteran of the scientific demi…monde; will



meet all reasonable requirements。 Scholarship is not barred; of



course; though it is commonly the quasi…scholarship of the



popular raconteur that comes in evidence in these premises; and



the fact that these incumbents of executive office show so much



of scholarly animus and attainments as they do is in great



measure a fortuitous circumstance。 It is; indeed; a safe



generalization that in point of fact the average of university



presidents fall short of the average of their academic staff in



scholarly or scientific attainments; even when all persons



employed as instructors are counted as members of the staff。 It



may also be remarked by the way that when; as may happen; a



scholar or scientist takes office as directive head of a



university; he is commonly lost to the republic of learning; he



has in effect passed from the ranks of learning to those of



business enterprise。



    The upshot of it all should be that when and in so far as a



businesslike governing board delegates powers to the university's



academic head; it delegates these powers to one of their own



kind; who is somewhat peremptorily expected to live up to the



aspirations that animate the board。 What such a man; so placed;



will do with the powers and opportunities that so devolve on him



is a difficult question that can be answered only in terms of the



compulsion of the circumstances in which he is placed and of the



moral wear and tear that comes of arbitrary powers exercised in a



tangle of ambiguities。(7*)







NOTES:







1。 An instance showing something of the measure and incidence of



fiscal service rendered by such a businesslike board may be



suggestive; even though it is scarcely to be taken as faithfully



illustrating current practice; in that the particular board in



question has exercised an uncommon measure of surveillance over



its university's pecuniary concerns。



    A university corporation endowed with a large estate



(appraised at something over 30;000;000) has been governed by a



board of the usual form; with plenary discretion; established on



a basis of co…optation。 In point of practical effect; the board;



or rather that fraction of the board which takes an active



interest in the university's affairs; has been made up of a group



of local business men engaged in divers enterprises of the kind



familiar to men of relatively large means; with somewhat



extensive interests of the nature of banking and underwriting;



where large extensions of credit and the temporary use of large



funds are of substantial consequence。 By terms of the corporate



charter the board was required to render to the governor of the



state a yearly report of all the pecuniary affairs of the



university; but no penalty was attached to their eventual failure



to render such report; though some legal remedy could doubtless



have been had on due application by the parties in interest; as



e。 g。; by the academic head of the univer

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