CAULKING THE LEAKS

The decision of the Governing Boards of the University to increase the requirements for admission to the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences is a measure calculated to permit the faculty of that school to devote its time to the training of only those men whose ability and interest warrant their taking advanced work. The rapid growth of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences along with similar decisions on the part of the other graduate schools in the University are the underlying causes for this change. This policy of admitting only those whose past record justifies their taking graduate work indicates the desire of this faculty to devote its complete attention to the development of able men without the hinderance of those whose interest is purely superficial.

The greatest advantage of this rule is that it will enable those men who are admitted to carry on personal research under the direct tutelage of the instructor. With the weeding out of the dilettante element, the faculty will be able to concentrate its efforts and the students will be able to develop their individual inclinations unhampered by the routine that the presence of less able persons necessitates.

Another healthy phase of this change is that the new requirements are sufficiently flexible to include those men who have shown ability worthy of cultivation. Necessarily arbitrary, and dependent upon marks, through the clause admitting men who have shown distinction in any field they are broad enough to leave a loophole for those whose personal capabilities in one subject alone are indicative of their elegibility. It is by measures such as these that the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences can hope to be included with institutions primarily intended for the training of specialists.