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Caption: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1944
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UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS I08l mentary instruction. In others they act as quiz masters and laboratory assistants. During the decade from 1923 to 1933 the percentage of assistants in relation to full-time members of the instructional staff varied from 28.5 percent in 1923 up to 34.5 percent in 1929. During the depression years this figure dropped to 24.3 percent. During the peak enrollment years of the past decade this figure reached a high of 29 percent but since that time has steadily decreased to 24.5 percent in 1941-42. The relative number of assistants on the teaching staff in 1941-42 was lower than at any time since 1923-24 with the single exception of 1933-34, at which time the figure was only .1 percent lower than the 1941-42 figure. The University administration is fully conscious of the dangers of assigning teaching responsibility to inexperienced personnel whose primary interests, for the time being at least, are directed toward the securing of advanced degrees. The figures make it fully evident that there is a studied administrative policy at the University of Illinois directed toward the reduction of the number of graduate assistants used in teaching. The Commission commends the administration on this policy. Scholarly Productivity of the Faculty Another index of the quality of a faculty is its scholarly productivity. With the exception of a single year, there has been a steady increase in the volume of books, articles, and reviews published. This exception was the year 1938-39, which may be explained by the fact that the rapidly accelerating university enrollment reached its peak that year. The total volume of these publications increased from 991 in 1933-34 to 1,584 in 1940-41. Since the staff also has increased during this period a better measure is the ratio of publications to staff. The number of articles, books, and reviews published by members of the faculty of professorial rank has increased from an average in 1932-33 of 2.8 to an average of 3.8 per staff member in 1940-41. Obviously, a question could be raised regarding the quality of the publications just reported in quantity only. The Commission is fully aware that no consideration has been given to this factor, nor was it possible within reasonable limits of time available to make such a study. Hence, the conclusion can take [A.C.E. Report—63]
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