vote by mail on vital questions without the necessity of being present at meetings. The ordinary custom is to permit the attendance only of members of the board and the president of the institution at board meetings, but at 17 institutions the chief business officer of the college is present and at 4 others members of the faculty are admitted. Seven governing bodies permit representatives of the press to attend and the meetings of six boards are open to the general public.

In all the land-grant institutions the boards have adopted bylaws and regulations for the control of their own procedure and for the government of the institutions. The by-laws in some instances date back as far as 1865 but recent revisions have been made to meet the changed conditions in practically every instance. There are 12 governing bodies that have revised their by-laws within the last 5 years while 8 others have made revisions within the past 10 years. The boards of the remaining institutions have changed their bylaws at various dates prior to 1918.

That the boards of trustees have initiated significant modifications in the procedure and administration of a number of the colleges is indicated by the reports. Such changes are reported by 17 institutions. In several cases, an entire reorganization of the institution has been effected while in others new and modern practices have been installed through action by the governing bodies. The changes consist principally of improvements in the business organizations, in the expansion of educational activities, and in the enforcement of new policies affecting the academic programs, staff, and students. As members of the governing bodies are frequently uninformed about the particular questions and business transactions to be considered at the meetings, it is advisable that they be furnished with briefs in advance of the sessions. This plan is followed regularly in 11 land-grant colleges and in 31 occasionally. Copies of the minutes of the meetings are supplied to the president in 36 institutions and to all board members in 33. The minutes in 32 cases are sent to the members immediately after the meetings. There are four cases where they are presented to the board immediately before the next following meeting. In making reports of the meetings, stenographic reports of all discussions are made by only one institution while the discussions are incorporated as a part of the official proceedings in one. The remaining boards limit the records of proceedings to motions, resolutions, balloting, and formal items. Proceedings of the governing bodies of 7 institutions are published in printed form, 2 being printed annually, 2 biennially, 2 after each meeting, and 1 at indefinite times.

Attention has already been called to the fact that the members of the boards of trustees serve without pay. Of the 44 colleges reporting, the members receive no compensation in 35 institutions and in the remainder the amount of pay is so small as to be nominal with one exception. The board members receive $5 per day while actually employed on official business at one college, $6 per day at one, $10 per day at one, $100 per year at one, $1,000 per year at one, and $3,000 per year at one. In the latter case the board is a regular department of the State government. There are also two institutions where the members of the board receive no compensation, but the treasurer is paid $875 annually in one and the president $200 annually in another. Expenses of the members are paid in 29 colleges, while they pay their own expenses in five. One institution reports that its trustees rarely accept reimbursement for their expenses. That such a large number of American citizens as are found on the governing boards of the land-grant institutions should accept the responsibilities of trusteeship without remuneration indicates an inspiring and lofty attitude of public service and civic loyalty.

Chapter III.-Chief Executive Officer

In the conventional organization of higher educational institutions the president is the chief executive officer. Associated with the president, usually in direct subordination to him, are commonly two administrative offices-the business office and the registrar's office. Less uniformity of title and function exists with reference to other offices and agencies that are concerned primarily with administrative matters. However, official organizations of the faculty constitute a group of administrative agencies that normally are responsible for a considerable portion of the detailed administration of educational policies.

In addition to this group of faculty bodies, a variety of important administrative offices have been charged with specific phases of institutional life. In this miscellaneous group may be included the deans of men and women, directors or deans of instruction, research, and extension, the vice president, and assistants to the president. All of these agencies of administration, president, business and registrar's offices, faculty bodies, and miscellaneous officials, would have to be considered in a logically developed examination of executive functions in any higher educational institution. Since, however, the subject of administrative organization constitutes but one element in this survey of the land-grant colleges and universities, it is more convenient to discuss the details of some of these phases of institutional administration in subsequent parts of the survey report. Detailed treatment of the business office will be found in the section on business management and finance 3; of the registrar in the part on registrar's information ; of the deans of men and women in the section on student relations and welfare; of the librarian in the section on library "; of deans and directors of instruction, research, and extension in the sections dealing with specific subject-matter fields, adult education and graduate and research. This section of the report will, therefore, deal only with president, vice president, and assistant to the president.

The chief executive officer of the land-grant institutions is elected by the governing board. His official title is president except in a few cases where he has been designated as chancellor. The tenure of office of the president varies in the different institutions. It consists of one year in 11 colleges, of two years in 1, is indefinite in 31, and is for life in 1. Where the term of office of the president is limited, this results from the necessity of conforming to State law and his reelec

* Part III.

4 Part IV.

5 Part VI.

Part VIII.

tion at the expiration of the term is a mere formality on the part of the governing body.

The length of service of the president is a question of vital significance. Permanent and constructive policies for the development of the institutions can not be effectively pursued, if frequent changes are made in their chief executive officers. A total of 308 presidents has served in 44 of the land-grant colleges since their establishment. Of this number there are 228 that severed their connection with the institutions by resignation and 34 by death, while the remaining 44 are still in service. Data on two presidents were not furnished. That the actual length of service is short and that there is considerable turnover in the position is disclosed by the fact that 167 presidents served less than five years. Of the latter, 25 are still in service. The reports also show that 76 presidents have served between 5 and 10 years, so that for the group of colleges as a whole a great majority of the presidents have held their positions for periods less than 10 years. Responsibility for this situation may be due to the fact that the institutions are public but frequent changes in the chief executive officer tend to retard the orderly and progressive advancement of the institutions. The office of president of a State higher educational institution should not be a political position and should not be subject to the uncertainties of elective public service.

In the case of the remaining presidents, 28 have served from 10 to 15 years, 20 from 15 to 20 years, 9 from 20 to 25 years, 3 from 25 to 30 years, and 1 more than 30 years. The chief executives of 2 institutions served 39 and 41 years.

It is not within the province of this survey to appraise the personal qualifications, training, and abilities of the presidents of the different land-grant colleges. Certain information, however, has been collected concerning age, marital status, place of birth, degrees, teaching experience, and authorship of 48 of the 52 incumbents of the office for the year 1928. Its presentation is of interest. The oldest chief executive of any of the land-grant institutions in 1928 was 74 years of age and the youngest 35 years. The median age was 55 years.

There were 4 presidents between 65 and 70 years of age, 8 between 60 and 65 years, 13 between 55 and 60 years, 10 between 50 and 55 years, 8 between 45 and 50 years, and 3 between 40 and 45 years.

According to these figures, 22 of the presidents, or almost 50 per cent, were less than 50 years of age, an indication that executive heads of the institutions are to a large extent of middle age. With two exceptions, the presidents of all the colleges are married. An examination into birthplace of the executives discloses that 7 were born in foreign countries, 4 in Canada, 1 in Mexico, 1 in Scotland, and 1 in Wales. The remainder are natives of 22 different States.

Six of the presidents were born in Ohio, 3 in Iowa, 3 in Virginia, 3 in Utah, 3 in Indiana, 2 in Michigan, 2 in Tennessee, 2 in Wisconsin, 2 in Illinois, 2 in

Missouri, 2 in New York, 1 in Pennsylvania, 1 in Nebraska, 1 in Maine, 1 in Mississippi, 1 in New Jersey, 1 in Minnesota, 1 in Arkansas, 1 in Massachusetts, 1 in North Carolina, 1 in Vermont, and 1 in West Virginia.

The chief executives of nine colleges were born in the same State in which the institutions are located.

Using the number of degrees earned as a criterion, the amount of academic training of the presidents of the land-grant colleges varies to a considerable extent. Seven of the executives, or 15 per cent, hold only first degrees. The master's degree is the highest held by 13, or 27 per cent, while 28 presidents, or 58 per cent, hold the doctor's degree. First degrees of 4 and the highest degrees of 2 chief executives were received from their own institutions. Twenty-five presidents hold honorary degrees, seven such degrees having been conferred on the chief executive of 1 land-grant institution, five on 2, four on 3, three on 3, two on 7, and one on 9.

Of the total of 48 presidents concerning whom data were collected, 42 have had actual teaching experience. In a number of cases the subject-matter fields in which such teaching experience was obtained applies directly to the land-grant type of education. Nine presidents have had teaching experience in agriculture, 3 in engineering, 2 in extension, 9 in natural sciences, 5 in economics, 5 in education, 2 in English, 2 in ancient languages, 1 in social science, 1 in philosophy, 1 in public speaking, 1 in business administration, and 1 in law. In 16 cases the teaching experience was secured in the institutions where the chief executives are now serving.

Thirty presidents are authors of various types of publications in specialized subject-matter fields. Works on agriculture have been published by 7 chief executives, on education by 7, on economics and finances by 3, on history by 3, on political science by 2, on natural sciences by 2, on English by 2, on astronomy by 1, on philosophy by 1, on religion by 1, and on law by 1. According to the information. gathered, 18 presidents have not been the authors of any publications. The president is the chief executive officer of the governing board. In this capacity he is responsible for enforcing the decisions, actions, policies, and regulations adopted by the governing body for the operation of the institution. The president should present all business and other matters considered by the board at its regular annual and special meetings. An examination of the reports reveals that this responsibility is vested in the president in all of the 43 colleges reporting on the point and that in the case of 9 colleges the chief business officers, deans, and other officials also present matters to the board upon specific request of the president. In one institution the: faculty is permitted to submit proposals to the board of trustees without the president's intervention. New policies dealing with all