Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1944 [PAGE 1102]

EXTRACTED TEXT FROM PAGE:

U N I V E R S I T Y OF I L L I N O I S

IO99

by maintaining the operation of the institution, educational and otherwise, at its highest continuing efficiency. He should be the central figure in constant leadership toward educational improvement. In a university the size of the University of Illinois, it is inconceivable and humanly impossible for the president to give personal attention to all the numerous details which are involved in the discharge of his responsibilities, both as the executive agent of the board of trustees on the one hand and as educational leader on the other. In order that these duties be properly taken care of, it is necessary for him to delegate many of them. The crucial issue lies in the nature of what he delegates and what he himself does. The danger lies in the operation of the delegated powers; because of the constantly growing heavy demands upon his time, he may more and more come to depend upon the recommendations of those who are his immediate advisers and assistants and become himself an educational figurehead. This danger is particularly real in connection with the educational program of the institution, which at best is highly complex. The avenues through which the president delegates authority and the methods by which these delegations are exercised finally come to determine the centers of educational leadership and control over the institution. The Provost According to the Statutes of the University of Illinois, "the Provost, or such university officer as may be designated by the Board of Trustees, shall exercise the functions of the President in his absence and shall at all times be of such assistance as he can to the President by the exercise of such functions as the latter may delegate to him." It is very clear from the foregoing quotation that it was not the intention of the framers of the Statutes that responsibility for the educational program of the University should be delegated to a general administrative officer subordinate to the President of the institution. From an analysis of the actual duties performed by the Provost, as submitted to the Commission by the President of the University, it is found that he is concerned with: (1) advisory matters, (2) administrative matters, and ( 3 ) re-

f A.C.E. Report —81]