Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1940 [PAGE 156]

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UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

153

cerning the condition of the Pharmacy buildings and offered to assist the Board in obtaining an appropriation for a new building. President Mayer informed the delegation of the action of the Board, taken earlier in the day, transferring the activities of the College to the New Medical and Dental Buildings; whereon the members of the delegation expressed their satisfaction, thanked the Board, and retired.

REORGANIZATION O F THE C O U L E G E S O F MEDICINE, DENTISTRY, AND PHARMACY (29) T h e Bureau of Institutional Research is making studies of the Colleges of Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmacy, covering (1) utilization of space, (2) methods of instruction, (3) departmental teaching loads and practices, (4) problems of the correlation and integration of educational and research programs, (5) problems of administrative organization, (6) affiliations with hospitals and other agencies, and (7) student guidance, supervision, and housing. It has recently submitted a report and recommendations relating to the administration of the Chicago departments, which take into consideration four options: A. Continuation of the present system of three separate and independent administrative units. B. Appointment of a Dean of the Colleges of Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmacy (or a Superintendent of the Medical Colleges) directly responsible to the President of the University, with an Associate Dean for each College. C. Continuation of the present system of a separate dean for each College, and the establishment in the Chicago departments of an office analogous to the Bureau of Institutional Research directly responsible to the President of the University, which would concern itself with objective collections of data and appraisals of them, thus providing a further source of information as a basis of deciding upon educational and financial policies. D. Continuation of the present system of separate deans and the appointment of a general administrative officer, with the rank of Vice-President or Provost of the Chicago divisions, who would represent and act for the President of the University in the administration of the Chicago departments. T o these I should add another, very similar to D, viz.: T h e appointment of a "Dean of the Colleges of Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmacy," or, if a shorter title is desired, simply "Dean of the Chicago Division," retaining the present separate deanships which would be subordinate and responsible to the general dean who would report to the President of the University. T h e Advisory Committee to the Bureau of Institutional Research recommends option D. The Advisory Committee also recognizes that there would be serious objections to the appointment of a general administrative officer: 1. It is the judgment of the Committee that such an officer, serving as Vice-President or Provost of the Chicago Colleges, should be a man trained in the biological sciences and possessing a medical degree. Such an appointment would undoubtedly meet with opposition on the part of the faculty of the College of Dentistry on the ground that it might result in possible submergence of that division. T h e Advisory Committee feels that if the right person can be found this doubt and suspicion will be removed by the greater freedom in research, easier conditions of teaching, and the stimulus of new developments that might be made possible by savings effected through consolidation and coordination. T h e autonomy of the three divisions would be preserved by continuing the present system of deanships. 2. T h e danger arising from divided administrative responsibilities of the type represented by Vice-Presidents. In this case, there are two such dangers. First is the precedent that might be set for the appointment of officers of the same rank elsewhere within the University. T h e greater autonomy which