THE

MICHIGAN ALUMNUS.

Vol. IV. FEBRUARY, 1898.-No. 31.

THE PRESIDENT'S ANNUAL REPORT

FOR YEAR ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 1897.

By request of President Angell, I have prepared, and beg leave to present to you, the President's annual report for the year ending September 30, 1897. In the performance of this duty, I have labored under considerable embarrassment by reason of the fact that during the year that the report covers, I was identified with but one department of the University and had only a limited opportunity for observing the work of the University as a whole. For the most of this report I am indebted to the heads of the different departments, who, at my request, have kindly furnished me with necessary information and with suggestions as to pressing needs.

Appended to the report will be found a list of the appointments, reappointments, and resignations of members of the Faculties during the year; a statement of the degrees conferred since the last report; a summary of students in attendance, and a list of the examinations for advanced degrees held during the year.

As will be seen in the summary of students in attendance, the total enrollment of the year, exclusive of Summer School students, was twenty-eight hundred and seventy-eight, a slight falling off from the attendance of the previous year, which was twenty-nine hundred and twenty-two. In most of the Departments, however, the attendance was larger than ever before, the decrease being mainly in the Department of Law. But this was expected, and was due to the change in that

Department from a two to a three years' course.

It should

But

be noted in this connection that the attendance of the present year exceeds that of any previous year, it having now reached the unprecedented number of 3,090. It is probable that the total enrollment of the present year, exclusive of Summer School students, will reach 3,150. One fact in connection with the attendance of the last few years must especially challenge attention, namely, that the number of Michigan students has been steadily gaining. During the years 1893-4, 1894-5, 1895-6, and 1896-7, the attendance from Michigan was, respectively, 1,400, 1,551, 1,632, and 1,747. The University of Michigan belongs to the people of the State, and that there is a growing appreciation among the people of the advantages offered here is certainly apparent from the increasing attendance of Michigan students. With over sixty-five per cent. of our students coming from Michigan homes, it cannot be doubted that the influence of the University is rapidly permeating every part of our commonwealth. while we are gratified with this proof of local appreciation, we should not forget that our non-resident contingent contributes much to the strength and influence of the University. It is certainly a matter of congratulation that the non-resident attendance continues to be so large and that so many States and countries are represented in our student community. During the last year the non-resident students numbered 1, 131, coming from forty-four different States and territories and from the following foreign countries and provinces: China, England, Japan, Germany, Hawaiian Islands, Austria, Barbadoes, Bulgaria, Norway, Russia, South Africa, Ontario, and Quebec. Illinois sent us the largest number, 307. The number from Ohio was 199; from Indiana, 102; from Iowa, 82; from New York, 70; from Pennsylvania, 68; from Missouri, 39; from Wisconsin, 33; from Massachusetts, 30; from Kansas, 24; from California and Kentucky, each 23; from Minnesota, 19; from Colorado and Utah, each 17; from Montana and Nebraska, each 13; from Washington, 11. Ontario

sent us 16 students, and 63 came from the New England States.

The number of women in attendance was as follows: Department of Literature, Science, and the Arts.........

Department of Medicine and Surgery.......

Department of Law..........

School of Pharmacy.........

Homœopathic Medical College........

College of Dental Surgery......

551

71

6

7

7

5

647

In the last report of the President, the number of women in attendance was given as 601. The increase of 46 was mainly in the Literary Department, although, with one exception, there was a slight increase in all departments.

The notable event of the year was the appointment of President Angell to the Turkish mission. Three times before during his long and brilliant service as chief executive of the University, he has been summoned by our General Government to public duties of great delicacy and responsibility. And in the discharge of these public trusts he has always brought signal honor to himself and to the University. learning, his natural temperament and abilities, together with his large experience in public affairs, so eminently fit President Angell for diplomatic service that his selection for further labors in that field met with a generous and universal approval. Although regretting the temporary withdrawal from active duties here that the acceptance of the call would necessitate, and the loss to the University that would inevitably come therefrom, the members of this Board were of the opinion that the wishes of the Administration and the public should be respected. They, therefore, unanimously granted a leave of absence.

In the general work of the Literary Department during the past year there was little that calls for special comment. The different courses were given as announced, and it is the universal feeling that the best of results were realized. In some lines of work the instructors labored under serious

embarrassment by reason of the large classes that they were compelled to conduct. In lecture courses, the size of the class is a matter of small importance, but in courses in which the scheme of instruction contemplates that the student shall receive individual attention and drill, if substantial advancement is to be made, it is of the highest importance that the sections be of a size that will admit of personal work with each student at each exercise. My inquiries have led me to the conclusion that in the departments of modern language particularly the classes are over-crowded, and that relief should be afforded by enlarging the instructing force as soon as the necessary funds are available.

The Professorship of Philosophy, which had been vacant for nearly two years, was filled at the January meeting of this Board, in 1896, by the election of Professor Robert M. Wenley. He entered upon his duties October 1, 1896. Under his direction the department was reorganized during the past year and more fully equipped. Provision was made for instruction in physiological psychology, and, by reason of the increase in the instructing force, the department was enabled materially to enlarge its field of work. As a result, a new impetus was given to the study of philosophy and larger numbers were at once attracted to the courses.

During the past year there were eighty-six students doing graduate work in the Literary Department. Five of these were studying in absentia for the Master's degree and five, although candidates for an advanced degree, were enrolled in other departments. The enrollment of the previous year in the Graduate School was seventy-four. This slight increase in attendance is encouraging, but the growth and prosperity of the Department is not what it should be, or what it would be if the necessary funds for its development were forthcoming. Our first duty as a State University is undoubtedly to the undergraduates. This is emphatically true so long as the State makes no special appropriation for the equipment and maintenance of a graduate department and the department is