"CONTACT"

Contact between faculty and undergraduate is a subject which has been discussed for more than a few years; there may be some who feel that recent increases in enrolment have just opened up the problem. This is not entirely true--of course large enrolments accentuate the situation, but it has existed for a long time. At least once a year comment has been made upon it in the editorial columns of the CRIMSON.

It may be argued that the President's "at homes", the University Teas, and the afternoons which almost all Professors keep, once a week, for students, offer ample opportunity for undergraduates to become acquainted with members of the Faculty. As a matter of fact there are some students who take advantage of these privileges, and profit greatly thereby. The recognition of the opportunity, however, usually comes fairly late in an undergraduate's life, and there are many who, when they complete their college course are utterly oblivious of the fact that they are missing anything. Obviously, there is need for stimulating the undergraduate desire for contact with the great minds of the University.

If out of each graduating class a few men, with the proper qualifications, were to teach in the college for two or three years, these men might well act as a kind of intermediary between, the student body and the faculty. They would be naturally in touch with the undergraduates, and could maintain their contact fairly easily. At the same time, by their interest in affairs academic and intellectual, they would set an example which could not fail to have its effect, and they would also be able to further the acquaintance between the student and the older members of the Faculty. The case is well put in an editorial printed in the CRIMSON on May 6, 1907:

"The benefit from such a connection depends entirely upon the personality of the young instructor, and this we believe is the key to the whole situation. There are men at Harvard, whose undergraduate life is just completed, and whose work and personality qualify them for positions as instructors, and if the men responsible for the appointments are far-sighted enough to see that standing on the College books is not the only consideration, the system may be a decided success."