Plans for a Convocation Week.

The Association of American Universities has passed a vote recommending the adoption of a "convocation week" to permit learned societies to hold their meetings at some other time than during the summer vacation. This action was taken as a result of the request made by a committee of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, headed by Professor Charles S. Minot of the Harvard Medical School. Formal report of the vote has been made to the fourteen universities which constitute the Association, and their decision is now awaited.

The week in which Jan. 1 falls has been proposed in this connection. If the scheme meets with general approbation, it will be necessary for most of the universities either to grant leave of absence to those who wish to attend the meetings, or to lengthen the Christmas recess. Columbia has already arranged its calendar for next year, setting free the week of January 1 for convocation purposes, and other universities are expected to follow this example. The course which Harvard will adopt will probably not be known until after the next meeting of the University Council.