annual budget, which sets aside specific amounts to be expended by each department for this purpose. Two institutions prescribe that the travel expenses of only administrative officers and deans shall be paid to educational conventions. Another institution allows but one representative from each major division to attend meetings of professional organizations while two others limit the number of trips of members of the faculty to one every year. Only half of the expenses of staff members are paid by the institution to educational gatherings in one case. It was found that travel requests were approved by the dean in one college and by the head of the department at another without submission to higher authority.

Regardless of the regulations and limitations in force, a fixed policy governing travel should be adopted. The Connecticut Agricultural College submitted the following principles for the government of the payment of traveling expenses of staff and faculty members to conferences of professional associations, which might well be followed by every land-grant college:

First. That the basis of decision shall be the needs of institution rather than that of the individual.

Second. When the necessity that the institution be represented at a conference is clearly evident, then the institution should pay salary, railroad, pullman, hotel, and living expenses.

Third. When it is desirable but not essential for the institution to be represented, then the institution may pay part of the expenses and the individual himself bear part of them, under some such arrangement as the following: Institution to pay railroad and pullman fares, individual to pay meals and hotel bills.

Fourth. When it is desirable for the institution to have an individual secure additional professional training through attendance at such association or conference, then the institution should pay salary when in attendance, but bear none of the expenses of the trip, all of which should be borne by the individual concerned.

Although at wide variance, stringent regulations requiring receipted vouchers for expenditures made during travel are enforced by most of the institutions. There are three colleges which require receipts for travel expenditures of every character. The travel rules of 15 institutions provide that receipted vouchers must be secured for all items above $1, while in one other the minimum is fixed at $1.50. Two require affidavits with expense accounts. Receipts for railroad transportation are required in 7 cases, for Pullman fares in 10, for hotel bills in 13, and for meals in 2. No requirements as to receipts have been adopted by six land-grant colleges.

Travel allowances for the use of privately owned automobiles on official business are made by 39 institutions. Specific authority is required for such travel, the approval of the president being necessary in 33 cases, the chief business officer in 3, and the dean in 3.

Allowances for travel by private automobiles are on a mileage basis in 36 institutions, the amount being 5 cents per mile in 2 institutions, 6 cents in 3, 7 cents in 7, 8 cents in 6, 9 cents in 1, 10 cents in 7, and between 4 and 10 cents in 8. Two land-grant colleges make monthly allowances. In one of them from $5 to $15 per month is allowed and in the other from $25 to $50 per month. There are 3 institutions which allow full railroad fare for travel in private automobiles. No procedure for checking the mileage has been developed in a number of the institutions. At others the mileage meters are carefully checked and the distances verified by road maps.

The reports show that only 18 institutions advance traveling expenses to administrative officers and faculty members prior to departure on trips. In the remainder the practice has not been adopted. No reason seems to exist why costs of travel should not be advanced, particularly where staff members are compelled to do a considerable amount of traveling on official business.

Central Employment and Civil Service

Proper business administration requires that there be a central control over employment and discharge of clerical, office help, and other service employees. The distribution of such authority among a large number of administrative and educational officers leads to disorganized practices and to confusion. It is preferable that control be concentrated in the business office. An examination of the reports, however, discloses that in only 17 land-grant colleges is central control maintained over employment. In view of the large number of clerks, stenographers, and other types of service workers employed, it would seem that sound business principles would necessitate the establishment of a central authority responsible for their employment and discharge.

Whether due to the failure to adopt a system of central control or not, the reports show that State civil service laws have been made. applicable to six land-grant institutions. The classes of employees included under the civil service regulations comprise administrative officers at 3 institutions, clerks and stenographers at 6, library staff at 2, and other service employees at 6. In nearly all the cases the rules are so rigid as to permit practically no exceptions. One institution is allowed to employ three administrative officers not under civil service and in another the law is not applicable to the secretaries of the president and the deans. At none is the teaching staff affected.

Except in the case of one institution, no noticeable difference in morale and efficiency has resulted from the placing of employees of land-grant institutions under State civil service, according to the returns. The University of Wisconsin, however, reports an improvement in both respects, while the Colorado Agricultural College indicates that a slightly increased tenure of office has occurred.

Retirement and Disability Compensation

An important instrument for the development of high standards of efficiency and morale is a retirement or pension system. Protected against economic risk and assured of annuities in old age, members of the faculty can generally be depended upon to give their best services.

Although many of the land-grant colleges have been established for 25 or more years, the number in which old age or retirement funds have been provided for the protection of teachers and other members of the staff is extremely limited. Reports indicate that in only 14 institutions have retirement or disability systems been established, of which 8 are of State origin, 3 of institutional origin, and 3 of private endowment origin. An additional college is just completing plans for the inauguration of a retirement system in conjunction with the State university.

The institutions where a State pension retirement service is in operation are the Connecticut Agricultural College, University of Hawaii, Massachusetts Agricultural College, Rutgers University, North Dakota Agricultural College, Ohio State University, Rhode Island State College, and the University of Wisconsin. Various plans have been adopted. In three States the beneficiaries are limited to the teachers, in three both teachers and other institutional employees are included, and in one employees only. Any old age or disability service, which does not provide for all types of officials and employees of the modern institution of higher learning, is incomplete and should be amended. Contributions to the retirement fund are obligatory in six States, while they are optional in the other two States. Fifty per cent of the principal sum is contributed by beneficiaries and 50 per cent by the State in most instances. One institution, however, pays 50 per cent and the teachers the other 50 per cent, the State not contributing directly to the support of the system. Another university reports that the pension service is based on the plan of assessments against the salaries of teachers and against county tuition funds of 10 cents for each child of school age. The Rhode Island State College teachers make no contributions, the State paying the entire pension. Levies against the salaries of the beneficiaries in the different States range from 1 to 5 per cent, the contributions amounting to 1 per cent of the annual salary for the first 10 years and 2 per cent for the next 25 years at 1 institution, 4 per cent at 1, and 5 per cent at 3. In another the size of the contribution is dependent upon sex, age, and nature of employment. Refunds with 4 per cent

interest are made in the event of withdrawals in practically all of the State teachers' retirement systems.

Age and disability retirement funds organized by the institutions or through private endowment are operated on the same basis as State pension services. The three land-grant colleges, which have institutional retirement systems are the Colorado Agricultural College, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of Illinois. Known as the contributory retirement annuity, the system at the Colorado Agricultural College is voluntary and applies only to faculty members who have attained the rank of assistant professor or over. The fund is made up of contributions by the beneficiaries of 5 per cent of their salaries, the institution contributing a similar amount. The age of retirement is 65, the maximum annuity being $1,800 annually. At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a similar pension plan is in operation except that it includes both members of the teaching staff and administrative officers. In establishing the system, the institute contributed the flat sum of $25,000 and has since paid an amount equal to the payments of the beneficiaries into the fund. The maximum annuity is $1,200. Retirement of all members of the staff and employees in service at the University of Illinois for 15 years or more is optional at 65 and obligatory at 68. The amount of pension is 50 per cent of salary with a maximum of $3,000. Payment of the annuities is provided by annual appropriation. Of the three land-grant colleges where retirement funds are provided through private endowment, Purdue University and the University of Minnesota have taken advantage of the Carnegie Foundation retirement allowance. A special retirement system at the third, Cornell University, has been established through the Russel H. Sage pension fund. Only full professors and certain administrative officers are eligible, the annual contributions varying according to the age of beneficiaries at the time of application.

No retirement or pension fund should be allowed to operate long without an actuarial study being made to determine its soundness. In the case of one land-grant college with an institutional retirement system, such a study has not been made, according to the returns. A similar situation is found with regard to two State pension systems, while another institution failed to report on the point. Actuarial studies have been made to determine the integrity of the retirement funds in the remainder.

A statute providing for a workmen's compensation system has been enacted by 33 of the States. The law is applicable to the landgrant colleges in 24 of them, all members of the faculty, officers, and workers being entitled to compensation in 17 and only service

employees in 7. There are nine States with workmen's compensation laws which are not applicable to their higher educational institutions. Two State universities report that they carry compensation insurance for the benefit of their staffs and workers. In some instances compensation payment is based on disability due to accident and in others it covers any kind of injury occurring in the performance of duty.

Commencement

The expenses of commencement exercises are met from various sources in the different land-grant colleges. Twenty-seven report that the entire cost is paid with institutional funds. At nine institutions the expenses are met by both graduation fees and institutional funds. There are seven others where the complete cost is defrayed by fees assessed against the students. Diplomas are standardized as to size in 35 of the institutions, while the returns of 6 indicate that no attempt has been made at standardization. The material consists of genuine parchment in all cases except four where paper is used for the diplomas. Total cost of a single diploma, engrossed, tied, and ready for delivery, varies from $1.35 to $6 in the different colleges.

Honorariums of considerable amount are paid commencement speakers. One institution pays from $250 to $500, another $300, four $200, eight $150, eleven $100, two $75, and three $50. It is the custom with 10 colleagues not to pay any honorarium.

Unit or Per Capita Cost Figures

Compilation of unit or per capita cost figures by the land-grant colleges is of unquestioned advantage in the preparation of budgets, in the comparison of expenses of the various departments, and in the analysis of expenditures for different years. Every institution, therefore, should install a system of cost accounting.

The whole problem of securing unit instructional costs is complicated. Any plan of the mere division of the total fiscal expenditures by the number of students enrolled is fallacious and furnishes figures of no real value. In order to develop a plan of obtaining such data, it is essential that an adequate system of keeping financial records be established, which, as already pointed out, has been neglected in a number of the institutions. There must be a suitable classification of expenditures, complete statistics on enrollments, a record of the distribution of time and services of every member of the staff, and complete data on the use of space in the buildings.

Of fundamental importance is an accounting system so complete in its scope as to provide classifications of all varieties of expenditures since the compilation of unit or per capita costs is dependent entirely upon expenditures. Segregated expenditures should be kept for sal