Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1952 [PAGE 624]

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1951 ]

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

721

Any doubt that the committee may have had regarding the propriety of scrutiny by a university committee of the internal affairs of a college was quickly dissipated. The committee found that the situation in the College of Commerce and Business Administration demanded impartial outside examination for two reasons: (1) There is no present prospect of a meeting of minds within the College. Conflict has solidified around two opposing groups, each of which is sincerely convinced of the essential rightness of its point of view. Tangible evidence of this division is afforded by the tactics of caucusing and block voting employed alike in the election of the Executive Committee of the College of Commerce on January 19, 1951, and in the election of the Executive Committee of the Department of Economics on February 15, 1951. No solution safeguarding minority rights seems likely to emerge unassisted from an atmosphere so unreceptive to compromise. (2) The interests of the University are affected, because the welfare of a component part affects the welfare of the whole. Furthermore, economics is an area of knowledge which extends far beyond the bounds of the College of Commerce. As a first step in executing President Stoddard's charge, the committee submits its report concerning the organization of the College of Commerce. It was the opinion of the committee that consideration of the organizational question should precede nominations for the deanship. I

PROCEDURES FOLLOWED BY THE COMMITTEE

At the outset the members of the committee were agreed that the views of all persons interested in or affected by the organization of the College should be solicited, both for the information of the committee and as a matter of fair procedure. This approach resulted in the receipt of many written communications and in numerous personal appearances before the committee. The facts and opinions thus made available have been of great assistance to the committee. The committee also had the benefit of a survey made jointly with the Executive Committee of the College in which a questionnaire was circulated to the deans, heads of accounting departments, and heads of economics departments of the leading schools of the country. This survey disclosed a variety of organizational patterns. In general, each respondent indicated satisfaction with his own present form of organization. The result, in the opinion of the committee, is inconclusive insofar as concerns a solution of the local problem. The committee also perused such published material as is available, and found that it too was inconclusive. II

ESTIMATE OF THE SITUATION

Although the views communicated to the committee have been directed mainly to the question of whether or not the Department of Economics or some part thereof should be transferred to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, they have nevertheless afforded considerable insight into conditions within the College. While precise evaluation of this testimony is manifestly impossible, it is nevertheless evident that substantial grounds for dissatisfaction exist. In some instances these grounds may be more apparent than real, but the fact remains that they are very real in the minds of the individuals concerned. The sincerity of purpose of everyone who appeared before or wrote to the committee was unquestionable. a. A substantial group within the Department of Economics maintains that the College is preoccupied with training for business careers and therefore is not in sympathy with the broader social point of view that characterizes economics as a discipline. The same group holds that for this reason the College does not provide an environment favorable to the existence of economics as a social science and at times shows hostility to it. No considerable amount of factual evidence was available to the committee on this point. This may have been due to the intangible character of the issue. However, the committee has encountered within the College some lack of appreciation of the fact that the Department of Economics has any substantial function other than to supply instruction essential to education for business. In fairness, it should also be observed that a group in the Department of Economics tends to disparage