@prefix edm: .
@prefix dcterms: .
@prefix dc: .
@prefix skos: .
edm:dataProvider "CONTENTdm"@en ;
dcterms:isReferencedBy "http://resolve.library.ubc.ca/cgi-bin/catsearch?bid=1208747"@en ;
dcterms:issued "2016-08-10"@en, "1953"@en ;
edm:aggregatedCHO "https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/presrep/items/1.0115185/source.json"@en ;
dc:format "application/pdf"@en ;
skos:note """ The President's Report 1951-52
THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA THE
President's
Report
1951-52
THE UNIVERSITY
OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
VANCOUVER, CANADA, 1953 PRESIDENT'S REPORT
ERRATA
Pare 30, Registration for 1951-52,
line & reads Nursing 914. Should
read Nursing 104. To The Board of Governors and Senate of
The University of British Columbia
Ladies and Gentlemen:
It is my pleasure to transmit to you the Annual Report
of the University covering the academic year 1951-52.
Although the report is an abbreviated one and does not
cover the mass of detail which was submitted to you at the
regular Board and Senate meetings, it is my hope that it
will convey to the widening circle of friends and supporters
of the University something of the work we are attempting
to do, of the points of view that animate the work and of
the problems and tasks currently confronting us.
I should also like to take this opportunity of expressing
very sincere thanks to the members of the Board and Senate
for the time and trouble they take over University affairs and
for the zeal they have unfailingly shown in promoting the
University's well-being and development.
i J President's Report
For September, 1951 to August, 1952
This annual report gives me each year an opportunity
to review some of the highlights of the previous year and
to say a word about the continuing work of the University
and the problems involved in developing that work.
The highlights contained in this report are necessarily
much briefer than the full reports submitted by the heads of
departments, but I am sometimes concerned because much
of even a brief report is concerned with highlights and that
gives a distorted impression of the work of the University
as a whole.
The major part of the University's business goes on in
the lecture rooms, the laboratories, the library, club rooms,
in private study and in research. Behind such figures as
those of our student enrolment is hidden the real story of
the University's efforts, development and progress. This
story has to do with the passing on to generations of students
the accumulated knowledge and culture of our civilization,
the attempt to instill intellectual curiosity in individual
students, the attempt to provide them with the equipment
necessary to earn a living and to sharpen their intellectual
and refine their emotional appreciation of life, and, above
all, with the development of the total individual personality.
This task makes continuing demands upon the teaching
staff—demands to which they rise because they have chosen
a life of teaching and because, for the most part, they enjoy
1 their life's work. These demands are difficult to meet,
because of the numbers of students that each individual
teaching member is called upon to advise, guide and stimulate. Education cannot be successfully carried out except as
between person and person and at the moment we are
attempting to deal with too many students in too many large
groups. This situation has improved in recent years, and
the ratio of staff to students is now better than it has ever
been in the University's history. It is still, however, too large
a ratio and makes too many demands on the individual
teacher, if he is to refresh himself with private study and
research. I have purposely chosen to emphasize the teaching
function of the University because I believe it is the basic
function and in view of all that is currently being written
and said about the job of higher education today, I think it
is worthwhile to assert that teaching should come first;—
teaching by qualified scholars who have time for private
study or active scholarship or research, whichever name
people like to give it.
A great deal of what is called research should in my
opinion be regarded as the normal and natural refreshment
of scholarship for teaching purposes. There is of course a
kind of research over and above this which is concerned
with pushing back the frontiers of knowledge. Relatively
few scholars, and most of them in the sciences, are involved
in these pursuits. The vast majority of scholars are not
deployed at the frontiers of knowledge but are concerned
with re-interpreting the knowledge and values of other
scholars and this work is, in my opinion, of inestimable
value not only to classroom teaching but also in giving
advice and guidance to the society of which the University
is a part. It has become fashionable in recent years to stress
the value of research as a thing almost apart from teaching. My effort here is to re-assert its intimate relationship to the
teaching function and to stress once more the value of that
scholarly activity, whether or not it is called research, which
is concerned with the re-interpretation of scientific, human
and social values in the lecture hall and in society. If by
doing this I can emphasize the basic importance of teaching
and pay tribute to those members of the teaching staff who
spend their days and years in sharpening, stimulating, and
encouraging the student, I shall have succeeded in my chief
aim. In the rest of this report I shall be concerned with the
chief additional activities of the constituent elements of the
University society.
The Faculties
The basic faculty in any university is the Faculty of
Arts and Science. It, in a very real sense, is the core of the
University and its responsibilities are two-fold. First it is
responsible for the academic preparation of those students
who are going to make a career out of their training in the
liberal arts and sciences. In this sense it provides, so to speak,
vocational training for those who make their living by virtue
of their undergraduate and postgraduate scholarship in
such fields as English, philosophy, economics, history, political science.
The second function this faculty performs is that of
providing pre-professional education for all those who are
going on to study medicine, law, engineering, etc. Because
of these two functions and particularly because the faculty
determines in some measure who will go out to the professional faculties, there is always a lot of discussion about both
the range of courses offered and the kind of standards maintained by this faculty.
I do not intend at this time to enter into a discussion
of what kind of pre-professional education should be offered
3 by the Faculty of Arts and Science, beyond saying that a
number of the members of that faculty are following with
interest the experiments in "general education" which are
taking place in such centres as Harvard and Chicago. I
would like, however, to comment briefly on one responsibility of the whole university which seems in danger of
being relegated exclusively to this faculty and indeed of
being made the specific responsibility of one department
within the faculty. I refer to the general responsibility which
all faculties and departments share for seeing to it that their
students not only know something about the subjects they
are studying but that they are also capable of expressing
what they know. The complaint that university graduates
cannot use their mother tongue either in writing or speech
with adequate facility is too widespread to be treated lightly.
And yet when this complaint is passed on to the various
faculties within the University there is a tendency on their
part to regard training in the use of language as the exclusive
responsibility of the Department of English within the
Faculty of Arts and Science. A moment's reflection should
be sufficient to remind anyone that this is not so and yet
the habit of mind persists. The confusion of course arises
from the fact that the study of English language and literature embraces both the study of English as the language of
instruction and the study of literature as a body of knowledge. Departments of English have the major responsibility
for the study of English literature as a body of knowledge
(though even this responsibility is shared insofar as great
literature is both literature and history of literature and
science) but—and this is the point I want to make—departments of English should not be held more responsible than
all other departments, schools and faculties in the university
for the study of English as the language of instruction. It
is true that "English composition" is a required subject in
4 the first year of University and that it is offered by the
Department of English. It may also be true that it is at this
point that other departments within the University come to
regard the responsibility for competence in expression as an
exclusive responsibility of the Department of English. If
this is so I would suggest that practice in writing should be
more widely spread over all departments responsible for
the instruction of first year students so that instructors in
all departments might come to regard both competence in
knowledge and competence in the communication of knowledge as their particular responsibility to all the students
who sit under them. Departments of English have I think
the special task of seeing that this point of view is understood throughout the university but they cannot take away
—or carry—for a professor of engineering, or physics or
psychology, the responsibility for seeing that students of
engineering, or physics of psychology, are able to communicate their knowledge with facility. Until this responsibility
is understood and accepted by every department, school and
faculty, our universities will not be in a position to meet and
answer the complaints (even though these are often exaggerated) of those who suffer from the inability of some of
our graduates to communicate their special knowledge with
facility.
I have thought it worthwhile to elaborate a little on
this subject because it seems to me to be much misunderstood even within our universities.
An allied subject has to do with the adequacy or
inadequacy of the preparation of students who are entering
our universities. It is argued by many that our high schools
are not equipping the students for university entrance.
During the past year there has been a good deal of public
controversy on this subject in Canada. I am not one to blame high schools for being the chief cause of concern in this
connection. It is, I think, true that a great many students
come to university inadequately prepared. The reasons for
this, however, are much more complex than most critics of
the school system seem prepared to realize. The reasons
stem from the total educational task we are all faced with.
Canadian society has demanded that all members of society
should be educated formally as far as possible. Further, they
are to be educated primarily'for "participant citizenship."
Now these two objectives, though I share them with the
vast majority of Canadians, are much more costly in money
and personnel than we seem prepared to recognize,—let
alone provide for.
If we want general education on the broad basis indicated and if we want education for citizenship first, and for
further formal education second, then we must make further
provision for vocational education, education for citizenship, and education for higher education. This would, of
course, involve further outlays of money for the different
types of school required and it would also involve attracting
more, highly qualified, teachers to the educational system.
I myself think that it is amazing that so many young men
and women do at the present time respond to the call for
teachers and dedicate themselves to a life of teaching, in
spite of the discouragements and burdens characteristic of
this profession. We are at present asking our teachers to
carry too great a load of undifferentiated duties and to deal
with classes which are already too large.
When some of us at the universities complain of the
lack of preparation of the students who come to us from the
high schools we seem unaware of the fact that the problems
arising out of the total educational task involve the universities and the communities just as fully and as intimately as they do the high schools. In short, it is time that the universities, the departments of Education, the Canadian Educational Association, the Canadian Teachers Federation and
the Canadian Association of School Trustees came together
to discuss their joint and several responsibilities, rather than
have each of them accusing one or more of the others. The
total educational job is a most difficult and complex one
and it cannot be tackled effectively except by collaboration
and in co-operation.
There have been, during the year under review, few
new developments in our Faculties of Applied Science,
Agriculture, Forestry and Pharmacy. The Faculty of Law
has now settled down to a post-war enrolment of about 260
students and during the past year moved into new quarters
which were officially opened by the Prime Minister, the
Right Honourable Louis St. Laurent, at the beginning of
the present academic term. The new Law Building is, I
think, admirably designed for the Faculty's purposes and
both the building and library are now adequate for all
practical purposes.
The Faculty of Medicine enrolled its second class of
sixty students and it is, I think, a tribute to the process
of selection and to the zeal of the students that the whole
of the first class completed their studies satisfactorily. I
should like to take this opportunity of paying a tribute to
Dean Weaver and his associates in the Faculty. The University is extremely fortunate in the very high calibre of teacher
who has been attracted to this University by the opportunity of pioneering in the development of a new medical school
and I think I am perfectly safe in saying that the quality
of teaching staff and students in this new faculty is second
to none anywhere.
Our Faculty of Graduate Studies is developing modestly, and we hope, with due regard to the maintenance of high standards in both the M.A. and Doctoral work. Here
again, the University is fortunate in having, in the person
of Professor Angus, Dean of the Graduate Faculty, a person
of exceptionally wide experience and exacting standards.
During the past year there were 187 students enrolled for
the Master's degree and 51 students for Doctoral work in
certain limited fields in physics, chemistry, biology, botany,
zoology and mathematics. The response on the part of
students from many parts of the world to the opportunity
of undertaking doctoral work at this University has been
very gratifying, but we do not intend to develop this work
more rapidly than our resources, either in personnel, or
facilities, will permit. Nor will we develop it to the detriment of sound undergraduate instruction.
Teaching Staff
The full-time teaching staff during the past year,
consisting of professors, associate professors, assistant professors, instructors and lecturers totalled 369 and the part-time
staff numbered 452. Among the part-time staff are included
the clinical professors and instructors in the Faculty of
Medicine, field-work supervisors in social work, lecturers
and honorary lecturers in law, as well as a very large number
of demonstrators, assistants and research assistants, and
teaching and research fellows. It is perhaps worth noting that
the full-time student-staff ratio is approximately 15 to 1
and that the student-staff ratio, reckoning the part-time
staff as half-time, is in the neighbourhood of 9 to 1. This
ratio, as I indicated earlier, is better than it has ever been,
but it is still short of the desirable for the very important
functions which the faculty is expected to perform. Considerable attention has been given during the past year to the
formulation of a University policy statement on the selec- tion of staff, promotion and tenure. There is, however, a
good deal of work still to be done before we find a clear-cut,
adequate and yet flexible statement of policy in this connection. The principal assets of any university are the quality
of the men responsible for the instruction and guidance of
students, and the quality of students themselves. The University has been very fortunate in the quality of instructional
staff that it has attracted to its services, but there are real
problems and great problems in insuring that a proper
balance and distribution between experience and youth be
arrived at and that a proper balance between the various
professorial grades be maintained.
It is difficult and it may not be desirable in a growing
institution to have a rigid and clear-cut establishment, but
it is also necessary and desirable in a young and growing institution that we should maintain a healthy balance between
the various instructional age groups, and also that we should
not over-commit ourselves in periods of expansion to a level
of increment which it would be difficult, if not impossible,
to maintain in less favourable circumstances. We are fortunate in having on the Faculty Affairs Committee, which is
attempting to develop policies to meet these problems, a
strong and vigorous representation of the professorial staff
as well as representatives of those who bear at the present
time most of the administrative responsibilities for this all-
important business of staff selection, and we are hopeful that
we may develop and plan a program that will serve the best
interests of good scholarship at this University for many
years to come.
The Student Body
But what of the students, the young men and women
who compose the numerically greater part of the University
community? In the year under review they totalled 5,548, not including those who took extra-sessional classes and
correspondence courses or the number who attended the
1951 summer session. Because of the large number of
veterans who had graduated in the spring of 1951 there was
an expected decline from the previous year's registration
of 6,432, but it was still twice the registration of 1941-42
(2,537) and more than three-and-a-half times the total of
1933-34 (1,606). Although the full details of the year's
registration are to be found in Appendix, certain of them
are of such significance that they deserve mention here.
The ratio of women students to men decreased slightly.
They numbered 1,381 as against 4,167. It would appear that
the slight decline is in part accounted for by the increasing
cost of a year at the University and of the diminishing possibility of young women being able to earn the requisite
amount of money in their summer occupations. The distribution of women students within the University is a matter
of some interest, as it would appear that the decline, such
as it was, took place in the general Arts courses. There were
840 taking courses leading to a B.A. degree, but there were
also large numbers of them in Home Economics (167),
Nursing (102), Physical Education (39), Education (39),
Social Work (50), Commerce (24), Agriculture (30), Pharmacy (28), and Graduate Studies (32). A pioneering few
continued to make their way in fields which are generally
regarded as masculine prerogatives; in Engineering, 1; in
Architecture, 3; in Law, 17; in Medicine, 8; and in
Forestry, 1.
I have listed the registration of the women students in
order to illustrate the very wide range of professional and
educational interest of the women students who come to us,
as there continues to be some public feeling that a university education is for most women merely a social preparation
10 for matrimony. It is encouraging also to note among our
graduates the number of women students who, even after
they become involved in domestic and family cares, continue
to make part-time or full-time contributions to the community out of their special skills and professional knowledge.
A word might be added here with regard to the geographical pattern of our total student body. As might well
be expected, about 50 per cent of the students came from
Greater Vancouver, including New Westminster. But there
is scarcely a town, a village, or a hamlet in the province that
was not represented at the University: Agassiz, Alberni,
Bella Coola, Boston Bar, Chilliwack, Cobble Hill, through
to Wells, Whonnock, Williams Lake, Wyndel, Yarrow and
Youbou. The University continued, too, to draw increasing
numbers from outside the provincial borders: 222 from
Alberta, 111 from Saskatchewan, 98 from Ontario, 44 from
the United States, 19 from Central America and the West
Indies, 14 from the British Isles. Varied too are the racial,
religious and social patterns. To the University came young
men and women of practically every race and every creed,
and from practically every type of background. But this is
all as it should be, for as I have said before a university is a
centre for all students without restriction to race, or creed,
or nation.
They are an interesting group. A great many of them
come to us with a clearly formed vocational objective. They
want to be doctors, lawyers, engineers, physicists, teachers,
agriculturalists, chemists, social workers, or some other of
the great variety of clear-cut professional occupations. A
great many of them, on the other hand, have no clear-cut
vocational objective and I am often asked whether it is not
a waste of time for people to attend university who don't
know what they want to do. My answer invariably is that
1 it is certainly not a waste of time if they have intellectual
curiosity and a desire to find out more about their own
capabilities and their own range of interest. There are so
many things that a young man or woman of seventeen or
eighteen can't know about. There are so many ways of
making a contribution to society and earning a living that
they even have not-heard about at that age, that it does not
worry me at all, and I don't think should worry either the
student or the parent that a youngster has not a clear-cut
vocational objective, if he is intelligent, is curious, and has
the capacity for hard work. Sometimes I am inclined to
believe that we approach the matter of vocational interest
almost in reverse. By that I mean that very frequently young
boys and girls become interested in a particular profession
because of romantic literature that they have read or movies
they have seen about that profession. There has been, for
example, a great deal of very good and very attractive literature written about scientific occupations, and perhaps in particular about medical science, with the result that a number
of young people develop a fixed purpose to enter this or that
particular profession before they have discovered enough
about alternative occupations and enough about themselves
and their own capacities and fields of interest. I have seen too
many young men and women come to the University with
the fixed idea of becoming a doctor, a lawyer or an engineer,
and I have seen them struggle to qualify for entrance to
these professions and I have seen them defeated—not because
of any lack of ability, but simply because they did not know
enough about where their real interest lay, and did not
spend a year or two in exploring their own potentialities in
terms of the University's subject offerings. Instead of becoming second class doctors, lawyers or engineers, they might
well have the capacities and range of interest to become first
class research chemists, teachers, biologists, or social workers.
12 Because of this, it often seems to me that even when a
student has a clear-cut vocational objective, he should spend
the first year or so checking his own idea of what he wants
to be against the record of his achievement in the subjects
he studies and should remain willing to change his vocational end to conform with the subjects he finds of most
interest and in which his record indicates a marked aptitude.
That is to say, I am inclined to believe the most important
thing a young man or woman can do in his education is to
find out first what he can do well and what he finds satisfaction in doing—and then look around to discover what profession or occupation opens out in his field of interest. The
interest and satisfaction comes first; the vocational objective
second to this.
If young men and women therefore are interested in
coming to university simply because they want to know
more and are curious, that in itself should constitute a good
and sufficient reason. It may take them a few years to find
their own particular niche and their own particular means
of fulfillment, but history is full of examples of people of
great capacity who have not found exactly what they wanted
to do throughout their university course and even for some
years after they graduate. In these cases their promise can
be checked by their devotion to and interest in what they
are doing—by their sense of direction, so to speak, rather
than by their final goal.
Counselling and Placement
To meet this situation the University some years ago
established a student counselling and placement service.
This Department now offers to all students, on a voluntary
basis, various vocational, educational, and intelligence tests,
which help the individual student to gain insight into his
13 own academic and vocational problems; it arranges for
counselling for those students who fail to make adequate
grades on their Christmas examinations; it serves as an
employment agency for students seeking jobs during the
Christmas and summer vacations; it helps place students in
permanent employment on graduation; and it acts as a
recruiting centre for the non-academic members of staff.
Some of the statistics for the past year indicate the extent of
the work being done. For example, representatives from
seventy-one Canadian and American firms visited the
campus and in the Department's offices interviewed 1074
students who were graduating. The great majority of these
students are now placed in industry throughout the province and the country at large. The Department also
arranged summer placements for 1091 students; helped 587
get Christmas employment; and placed 720 in part time
jobs during the year. It also continued the counselling of 423
veterans; gave counselling tests to 350 freshmen; and interviewed all students in first year Arts and Science who had
failed in their Christmas examinations. I hope to see the
work of this Department strengthened and developed
because I believe that expert guidance and counselling can
diminish the currently too high percentage of academic
failure, caused by an uninformed application of talents and
energy. It is not, of course, to be hoped or desired that tests
should replace motivation or that students will not in some
cases have to learn by trial and error.
Library, Museums and the Fine Arts
The University Library and its Museums are closely
integrated with the entire program of study and research.
Last year in my annual report I devoted considerable space
to the special problems of the Library. I am glad to say that
14 under the wise and vigorous guidance of the new librarian,
Mr. Neal Harlow, many of the problems I then mentioned
have been lessened or have disappeared. The problem of
really adequate financing remains, especially for those
departments that are expanding their undergraduate and
postgraduate programs. But with the aid of time and generous benefactors even this problem may diminish, though
I do not expect it to disappear.
The various museums have also continued their programs of continued expansion and community contribution.
A great number of rare acquisitions marked the year for
the Museum of Anthropology as perhaps the most notable
in its history. With the addition of a number of items from
the Southern Kwakiutl area the Museum has now one of
the greatest Kwakiutl collections in the world. These additions were made possible through the generosity of Dr.
H. R. MacMillan, to whom the University is deeply indebted for this, as well as for many other acts of kindness.
Other noteworthy collections were given by Mr. F. L.
Beecher and Mrs. M. G. Fyfe Smith, bringing to a total of
over a thousand the items added during the year. I should
like, too, to stress the ever-increasing role of the Museum as
a teaching centre and as an extra-mural agent for the University. It provided teaching and research materials for students
in anthropology; it was a centre of interest for many students
in other departments; it was visited by an increasing number
of the interested public; it arranged for talks to about twenty
groups from the city's primary and secondary schools; and
it sent loan collections to special exhibitions at the Vancouver Art School, the Portland Art Museum, the Seattle Art
Museum, and the Taylor Art Museum, Colorado Springs.
And finally its display cases continue to have a freshness and
originality that mark the Museum as one of the most attrac-
15 tive, as well as one of the most important cultural centres
in the Province.
The Herbarium, and the Geological and Geographical
Museum also had good years. The Herbarium reports acquisitions for the year totalling 2,634 specimens, some by
exchange, some by donations, but the greater part by departmental collectors. The Geological and Geographical Museum commenced a project of redecoration, re-lighting, and
rearrangement.
The informal aspects of a university education should
not be overlooked. The noon hour lectures, the debates and
parliamentary forums, the club activities, the presentations
of the Musical Society and of the Players' Club all contribute
to the development of the average undergraduate. The Fine
Arts Committee (consisting of students and faculty representatives, as well as representatives from the University
Chapter of the I.O.D.E. and the friends of the University)
and the Special Events Committee have done much to
present informal programs of fine arts. Under the guidance
of the Student Body the Fine Arts Committee, at the University Gallery, presented a continuous program of over twenty
exhibitions, including the notable Massey Collection of
English Paintings, which was seen by some ten thousand
people during University Week. The Committee also presented Dr. Ernest Mundt, the Director of the California
School of Fine Arts, in a noon hour lecture, followed by
four seminars; it brought the well known Welsh poet, Dylan
Thomas, to the campus for a noon hour reading of poetry;
it organized five very successful noon-hour panels on the
Massey Report; and presented a noon hour series of recitals
by Professor and Mrs. Harry Adaskin. I should like to thank
all those who have contributed to the success of these programs, and I should like to mention especially the members
16 of the University Chapter of the I.O.D.E., who have done
so much over the past few years in creating and supporting
the work of this committee on the campus. It is significant
that at the end of the year Professor Binning was given a
generous grant by the Carnegie Foundation to make a study
of fine arts programs and educational methods in the United
States, in Great Britain, and in Europe. Our present fine arts
program, though it has grown very considerably in the past
few years, is still not too well defined. I should like to see it
clarified; and adequately supported financially and I should
like to see it continue to grow. A society that has no appreciation of the beauties that are to be found in painting,
sculpture, music, drama and the crafts is likely to be an arid,
an unpleasant, and an unhealthy society.
Research
As I indicated at the outset, there seems to me to be a
good deal of confusion about what actually constitutes
research. The word in recent years has come to be associated
with the type of activity that is normally carried on almost
exclusively in the various departments of science. That is
to say, the word "research" has come to be appropriated, in
large measure, by the accumulators of new knowledge and it
has also come to be measured to some extent, unfortunately,
by the publication of papers. Now for most of this activity
I have the highest of admiration. I think it is important and
I am glad that this University has been able to develop
increasingly in this direction.
But there is another kind of research, or as I prefer to
say, "active scholarship," which is concerned with the sorting and sifting and re-interpretation of old ideas: philosophic, scientific, social and humane, which may or may not
be published, but which is of the very essence of good
17 scholarship and which is also most important to the stimulation and awakening of the student mind. I think that we
are inclined to make too much of the need for publication
in both the fields to which I have referred. I sometimes feel
that publication should be a by-product of good teaching,
rather than that good teaching should be sacrificed in even
slight degree in the interest of scholarly publication. The
results of research can gain currency through the classroom
and through the public lecture quite as easily, and sometimes more effectively, than through the pages of a learned
journal. I hope that what I am attempting to say will not
be misunderstood. I am not depreciating the active scholarship of those who are engaged at the frontiers of new knowledge. I am concerned rather to re-stress the value of the
activities of those who are more concerned" with re-assessment and re-interpretation in the classroom and in the
public lecture and whose efforts are sometimes underappreciated at the present time.
I wish I could report that our University were one of
the great research centres of our time. This I cannot do,
but I am pleased to report that it is becoming one of
Canada's really important centres of active scholarship in
the humanities and social sciences, no less than in the various
fields of science, and I hope to see it develop in my own
time into an institution known equally for the profundity
of the cultural insights of its scholars, as well as for the
development of new areas of knowledge. I believe that the
kind of activity I have been talking about provides a great
stimulus to students and members of the Faculty alike—a
stimulus that will lead undergraduates into continuing
graduate or private study, and will constantly keep the
scholar aware of the changes that are taking place within the
realms of knowledge. But I also believe that it is through
18 this kind of active scholarship that the University can make
one of its most important contributions to all the communities of which it is a part—the local, national and
international.
I have already mentioned the increase in graduate
enrolment that has taken place. I should like to draw attention to some typical research projects—picked at random—
to indicate the variety, and significance of our present
program. The Department of Anatomy, for example, is
carrying on research in the still unsolved areas of hypertension, arterioslerosis, and cancer. In Biochemistry, studies
were made of the biochemical changes in tumor bearing
animals and on the antibiotic and normal control of tubercle
bacillus. In Biology and Botany investigations are being
made regarding such diverse subjects as the culture and
conservation of marine algae; the effects of nicotine and
caffein in experimental hypertension; the effects of 2,4-D
on enzymatic activity of marquis wheat; the diseases of
western hemlock and red alder; the enzymes in cancer; the
ecology of the forests of the Pacific Northwest and the plant
sociology of the forests of British Columbia. The Department of Economics, Political Science, Anthropology and
Sociology took an extremely active part in the Doukhobor
Research Program. Members of the same Department also
made important contributions through archeological and
anthropological surveys, and through studies on family
relationships, and on civic governments and financial structures. In Zoology, various staff members ranged far and wide
to make oceanographic studies, to report on the fish found
in the San Juan Island area, to analyze the nutrition and
growth of coast deer, to study the physiology of young
salmon, to appraise the bark-beetle problem and its effect
on the Douglas fir in the Quesnel area, to check, once again,
IQ on the feeding habits of B.C. trout, and to study the regeneration of vegetation in a burned over area near Kamloops. In
Horticulture many diverse studies were made—for example
the effectiveness of sawdust mulching of strawberries, and
the effects of calcium cyanamid as a weedicide and a fertilizing material; and in Animal Husbandry important investigations were instituted into certain aspects of the breeding
and feeding of beef cattle, the commercial production of
bacon hogs on Vancouver Island, and in certain nutritional
problems in the breeding of mink.
If I had the space I should like to draw further samples
from many other departments—from Physics, Chemistry,
Mining and Metallurgy, Forestry and Geology. This I
cannot do but I should like to point out that the current
research program has grown in extent and range with the
decline in veteran enrolment and to repeat the hope that
a better ratio of staff to students will further quicken the
variety of scholarly studies within the University.
Research is an extremely expensive activity, and I
should like to express my thanks to all who have contributed
financially towards it. Large sums of money have been
received from the National Research Council and from
the Defence Research Board, as well as from other federal
and provincial agencies, from private industry, and from
individuals. Grants also from the Rockefeller and Carnegie
Foundations aided immeasurably in the expansion of research activities in certain areas of study, especially Slavonics, Anthropolgy, History, and the Fine Arts. Without
such grants-in-aid, and gifts, our research program could
not have gone ahead as it has in recent years.
20 Summer Session
The thirty-third Summer Session of the University was
held from 2nd of July to 19th of August. The total registration was 974, slightly less than the two previous sessions,
markedly less than the registration for 1947, which totalled
1834. It is apparent from these figures that the inflated
enrollment of the post-war years has disappeared and that
a certain degree of stabilization has been attained. A wide
variety of courses was offered by a total of fifty-eight instructors, twenty-two of whom were visitors, one from England,
eight from the United States, and thirteen from other parts
of Canada.
During the same period the Department of University
Extension carried on its usual lively program in the Theatre,
the Fine Arts and in handicrafts, which was, as usual, well
supported by enrollments. This University offers great
opportunities for the further development of our summer
session activities, whether they are for university credit or
for personal satisfaction. With our situation, our climate and
with the cultural assets of Vancouver at our door, we have
great opportunities to develop a most rewarding series of
summer courses in all the cultural fields. At the moment,
we are only on the threshold of what can be developed, but
I look to a great increase in our activities during the summer
months over the next few years.
Student Activities
I have already touched on certain student activities in
conjunction with the Fine Arts Committee, but I should
like to stress again the great values students receive through
club activities and through the administration of the Alma
Mater Society in all its branches. I cannot review these in
detail, and those who are interested can find a good sum-
21 mary in the annual issue of the student publication the
Totem. I must say, however, that I am especially glad to
see the continued vigour of those organizations that are
interested in world affairs—the United Nations Club, the
International Students Club, the International Students
Service, the International House Committee, and the Parliamentary Forum. Through organizations of this kind
many students are being brought into fairly direct contact
with at least some of those problems that are troubling the
modern world and are thus gaining the beginnings of the
knowledge and perhaps the wisdom needed in an approach
to world affairs. The modern university should be the breeding ground of statesmen as well as of atomic scientists.
During the year the three armed services—the UNTD,
the COTC, andjhe University Reserve Squadron of the Air
Force—continued their programs of recruitment and instruction. The three services all offer excellent opportunities
to students who wish military training; and I should like to
congratulate all of the officers of the three units not only on
the efficiency of their training programs but also on the care
with which they made their selection of candidates, and the
healthy impact they have had on campus life. Their way has
not always been an easy one. The powerful attraction of well
paid summer employment has at times made recruiting
difficult, and at times, also the services have suffered from
the uninformed and illogical attitudes of our country in
peacetime—if indeed we are at peace. There are always those
who fail to realize that the tensions of our world demand a
vigilant and a miltarily well trained cadre of citizens if
our way of life is to be made secure.
Obituaries
I record with sorrow the deaths of the following members of staff during the year:
22 Dr. Maxwell Cameron, Professor and Director of the
School of Education, died on 29 September, 1951, after a
long illness. He had served the University for twelve years,
and had brought honour and credit to the institution and
to himself through his work as a teacher, administrator and
as the author of the "Cameron Report."
Dean Esli Longworth Woods, Professor and the first
Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy, died suddenly on 31
December, 1951. He had been with the University since
1946, and during the trying post-war years had done much
to bring the Faculty to the enviable position that it holds
today.
Dr. John Douglas Grant, Assistant Professor in the
Department of English, died after a very brief illness on
25 December, 1951. He, too, had been with the University
since 1946 and in that brief period had gained a fine reputation as teacher, scholar, and colleague.
Mr. John R. Evans, demonstrator in the Department of
Civil Engineering, died on 12 April, 1952, after five years
of unstinted and beneficial service on the University staff.
Dr. Harry Ashton, former Professor and Head of the
Department of French, died on 12 July, 1952. A distinguished scholar and noted teacher, he had been the French
Department's first Head, from 1915 to 1933, and after
thirteen years of teaching at Cambridge University had
returned to this University to help in the critical post-war
years from 1946 to 1948, when he retired.
Dr. John Morton Ewing, the Principal of Victoria
College, died on 28 February, 1952. An admired administrator and a much loved teacher, he had worked closely
with the University for many years in the cause of advancing higher education in the province.
23 Further Developments
I cannot conclude this report without mentioning some
of the special problems which must be solved if the University is to develop as it should. These include the need for
more buildings, the expansion of the present number of
faculties and departments, and the need for a re-examination
of the University position relative to the school system of
the province; the need, too, to take a new and a thorough
look at our own curriculum to see if the courses and programs that we are offering are the very best that can be
offered in our present society.
For the casual visitor to our campus the strongest impression that he probably receives, apart from our magnificent setting, is perhaps the long rows of war time huts on
the East and West Malls. These huts are still necessary, but
they are costly to maintain and they constitute an ever-
present fire hazard to the whole University. It is true that in
the past few years we have had a declining university population, and that we have made notable advances in our building program. But we have also increased our faculties and
have added numerous courses to our curriculum. The semipermanent buildings, such as the Arts Building, the Agricultural Building, and the Geology and Forestry Building,
are also aging. They are now all over a quarter of a century
old and they were not built to last much longer. It is quite
evident, therefore, that we need at the earliest possible
moment new buildings for the Faculty of Arts, the Medical
Sciences and for Commerce and Education, and more permanent residences for men and women. At present much of
the medical work, both teaching and research, is being
carried on in huts, and it is a poor risk to house valuable
equipment and books and research notes in highly inflammable quarters. I am most interested, too, in seeing perman-
24 ent dormitories built for at least the majority of those
students who come from out of town. The new women's
dormitories, excellent as they are, can accommodate only
one hundred and fifty girls, a small percentage of the total;
and Fort Camp and Acadia Camp, valuable though they
have been, and are, as temporary residences, have only the
permanence of tar paper and wooden frames. They are
currently used to capacity and their destruction or disintegration will constitute a tragic loss if permanent replacements can not be made.
Though we have added a large number of faculties,
schools, and departments in the last seven or eight years,
there seems to be a serious need for a Faculty of Dentistry
in the Province and we have already started to study the
financial, staffing, and building problems that must be
solved before this Faculty can be established.
Apart from these problems, we will be faced very soon
with the problem of a rising university population, for we
shall soon begin to feel the effects of the greatly increased
birth rate of the early forties, and of the sharp rise in the
Province's population that has taken place in the past dozen
years. In the next decades the resignation at the University
will mount sharply. This we must plan for; if we do, I am
sure that we shall be able to admit all qualified matriculants
who may seek entrance in the years ahead.
Finally, I feel that in our own programs we need to be
constantly aware of changing needs and of the possibility
of growing deficiencies and weaknesses. We have developed
extremely rapidly as an institution and undoubtedly we do
not always achieve perfection. Under the demands of modern business, industry, and the professions, too many
students seek specialization too early; too many students
consequently fail to get from their university education that
25 breadth and depth of knowledge and understanding which
should mark the university man or woman. Without a carefully planned program, which co-ordinates essential knowledge, the humanist and the scientist have all too little
understanding of each other, and the narrow specialist does
not understand the world in which he lives. I know that
many of the staff are aware of this and allied problems and
I hope that their pooled efforts will result in a continuing
development and broadening of our own educational ideals
and principles.
Prizes, Scholarships, Bursaries, Loans
The University is grateful to many organizations, firms,
and private individuals for providing funds for scholarships,
prizes, bursaries and loans. Most of those who have established awards in past years are continuing to make annual
donations and each year brings a number of new awards.
Since a list of these donations is published twice a year and
is distributed at our spring and fall congregations, it is not
possible to enumerate them all here. I should like to mention, however, the generous gift of Mrs. Carl J. Culter and
her sons, Mr. Richard H. and Mr. Lawrence B. Culter, of
Vancouver, who donated the sum of $25,000 during the year
under review to set up a revolving loan fund.
It is estimated that in the course of a year assistance to
students from funds administered by the University, from
Dominion-Provincial Student Aid, and from organizations
closely related to the University, amounts at the present
time to about $270,000 and is shared by some 1,100 students.
Nevertheless, the University finds itself unable to take care
of many good students who deserve to attend and cannot
find the money to do so. In particular, many more entrance
scholarships, such as those set up by the Chris Spencer
26 Foundation and the Alumni are required. There is also a
special need for more numerous and larger scholarships in
the graduate field, not only to permit our students to study
here, but to continue their work elsewhere. It is hoped, however, that if and when donations are made, conditions imposed on the gifts will not be so restrictive as to fields of
study that those responsible for considering applications
will find it necessary, as so often is the case at the present
time, to pass by the outstanding student because no funds
are available in his field.
I should like to record the University's thanks and
congratulations to Dean Walter Gage and his committee
for their unremitting efforts to collect and make available
to students increasing amounts of badly needed assistance.
27 Summary of Revenues and Expenditures
April 1, 1951 to March 31, 1952
Revenues
Total
Provincial Government
Dominion Government Supplementary Grant
Student Fees
Grants for Teaching and Research
Miscellaneous
$1,969,500.00
42.78
549,610.75
11.94
1,339,742.55
29.11
635,047.45
13.79
109,810.28
2.38
$4,603,711.03
lSC.CC
Expenditures
Salaries
and Wages
Supplies and
Operating
Expenses
Total
%
Teaching Cost
(including Library)
$2,414,951.89
$ 486,781.17
$2,901,733.06
63.03
Research
205,986.01
285,181.47
491,1.67.48
10.67
Maintenance
339,169.45
346,833.71
686,003.16
14.90
Administration
202,671.10
50,600.66
253,271.76
5.50
Miscellaneous
3,463.49
268,072.08
271,535.57
5.90
$3,166,241.94
$1,437,469.09
$4,603,711.03
28 APPENDIX
Registration for 1951 52
Enrolment (Winter Sessions) by Years
Veteran Enrolment 1945 1952
Graduates by Years
Geographical Source of Students,
Where Does ihe University Dollar Come From
Where Does the University Dollar Go REGISTRATION FOR 1951-52
ARTS A NO SCIENCE
HOME ECONOMICS
PHYSICAL EDUCATION
TEACHER TRAINING COURSE
APPH£0 SCIENCE
NURSING
PHARMACY
MEDICINE tFirit ymr only)
FORESTRY
SOCIAL WORK
CHADUATT STUDIES IS«iol W«i* Boehtlor o4 Bjucarif; vnd olh*r
jrndualr d((j,etfl included I
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
Arts and Science 2595
Commerce 362
Home Economics 167
Physical Education 137
Teacher Training 146
Applied Science 725
Architecture 87
Nursing
-^2>
Agriculture 235
Law ...,....i... 264
Pharmacy 135
Medicine 120
Forestry 85
Social Work 117
Graduate Studies 271
* Includes freshman class, many of whom will proceed to degrees other than B.A.
30 ENROLMENT (WINTER SESSIONS) BY YEARS
' OKiCi
9000
WOO
'IXH!
6« .
sooo
*ono
3000
2000
1000
"E
jl
kj_
!■
/
/ !■■■ X
ilium
iiiiiiii
—MmmtS IIIIIIII
l°36.37
y.. ■:■■;
.;■ J i
42-
.:■■ .; ■
08-45
50-51 l°51-52
1936-37.
1937-38.
1938-39
1939-40
1940-41.
1941-42.
1942-43.
1943-44
1944-45
1945-46
1946-47
1947-48.
1948-49.
1949-50.
1950-51.
1951-52.
2049
2223
2286
.2371
.2487
2537
.2538
2430
.2974
.6632
.8741
.9374
.8810
7572
6432
.5548 VETERAN ENROLMENT 1945-1951
3.1 :■ v
■Jit. J V
i««
J-H'j 1>-Jfcvli
IW0-5I
VM-51
&
200
1945-46
3200
1946-47
4796
1947-48
4339
1948-49
r3230
1949-50
2084
1950-51
1000 GRADUATES BY YEARS
•.-■•:
2000
IH00
1600
1400
1200
1O00
900
600
400
200
/ \\
.M
1944 1945 1946
14? 1950
19&I
1952
1944.
401
1945.
446
1946.
.1034
1947.
.1198
1948
.1682
1949.
2202
1950.
.2198
1951
.1721
1952
.1368 GEOGRAPHICAL SOURCE OF STUDENTS 1951-52
CANADA
VANCOUVER
OTHER PARTS OF B.C
OTHER PARTS OF CANADA
3127
1716
528
FOREIGN
AFRICA
6
ASIA
18
BRITISH ISLES
14
CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES
EUROPE
NEW ZEALAND, AUSTRALIA
SOUTH AMERICA
19
20
4
9
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
UNSPECIFIED
44
43
TOTAL
5548 1947-48
1948-49
1949-50
1950-51
1951-52
WHERE DOES
THE
UNIVERSITY DOLLAR COME
FROM?
1 n
30.31c
47.91c
17.60c
|
1 1 1
'■ 33.66c
48.08c
12 50c
1
38.32c
41.00c
7.13c 10.88c 1
1
43.30c
33.45c
3.82c 11.81c
42.78
29.11
11.94
13.79
1947-48
1948-49
1949-50
1950-51
1951-52
2.23c
1.95c
3.84c
1.92c
2.67c
7.62c
2.38
L
PROVINCIAL GRANT
1 „ :J STUDENT FEES
| | D.V.A. SUPPLEMENTARY GRANT
| | GRANTS FOR TEACHING, AND RESEARCH
■■■ MISCELLANEOUS
WHERE DOES THE UNIVERSITY DOLLAR GO?
II
1 l
1 90C 28 03..
■
II 1
59 32c
■i .„-. : ;■■ .;>■ -
29c N 23c
II
i
5971c
s asc i ■( . -
•37c 13 3 k.
1
61 15c
9.68c 17
«3c 6 34.-
J
63.03
i air u fo i sn
5.68c
2.05c
.28c
1.25c
5.20c
5.62
.28
| TEACHING
RESEARCH
MAINTENANCE
ADMINISTRATION
MISCELLANEOUS
LOSS ON FOOD, HOUSING AND
OTHER OPERATIONS"""@en, "Alternative titles in chronological order: Report of the President of the University of British Columbia for the academic year ending August 31st., 1929 ; Report of the President of the University of British Columbia for the academic year ending August 31st., 1930 ; Report of the President of the University of British Columbia for the academic year ending August 31st., 1931 ; Report of the President of the University of British Columbia for the academic year ending August 31st, 1932 ; Report of the President of the University of British Columbia for the academic year ending August 31st, 1933 ; Report of the President of the University of British Columbia for the academic year ending August 31st, 1934 ; Report of the President of the University of British Columbia for the academic year ending August 31st, 1935 ; Report of the President of the University of British Columbia for the academic year ending August 31st, 1936 ; Report of the President of the University of British Columbia for the academic year ending August 31st, 1937 ; Report of the President of the University of British Columbia for the academic year ended August 31st, 1938 ; Report of the President of the University of British Columbia for the academic year ended August 31st, 1939 ; Report of the President of the University of British Columbia for the academic year ended August 31st, 1940 ; Report of the President of the University of British Columbia for the academic year ended August 31st, 1941 ; Report of the President of the University of British Columbia for the academic year ended August 31, 1942 ; Report of the President of the University of British Columbia for the academic year ended August 31, 1943 ; Report of the President of the University of British Columbia for the academic year ended August 31, 1944 ; Report of the President of the University of British Columbia for the academic year ended August 31, 1945 ; Report of the President of the University of British Columbia for the academic year ended August 1st, 1946 ; Annual Report of the President 1946-1947 ; Annual Report of the President 1947-1948 ; The University of British Columbia President's Report 1948-1949 ; The President's Report 1949-50 ; The President's Report 1950-51 ; The President's Report 1951-52 ; The President's Report 1952-53 ; The President's Report 1953-54 ; The President's Report 1954-1955 ; The President's Report 1955-1956 ; The President's Report 1956-1957 ; The President's Report 1957-58 ; The President's Report 1958-1959 ; The President's Report 1959-1960 ; The President's Report 1960-61 ; The President's Report 1961-62 ; Report of the President for the Academic Year 1962-1963 ; Report of the President for the Academic Year 1963-1964 ; Report of the President for the Academic Year 1964-1965 ; Report of the President for the Academic Year 1965-1966 ; Report of the President for the Academic Year 1966-1967 ; The President's Report 1967-68 ; The President's Report 1968-69 ; The President's Report 1969-1970 ; The President's Report 1970-1971 ; The President's Report 1971-1972 ; The President's Report 1972-73 ; The President's Report 1973-74 ; The President's Report 1974-75 ; The President's Report 1975-76 ; The President's Report 1976-77 ; The President's Report 1977-78 ; The President's Report 1978-79 ; The President's Report 1979-80 ; The President's Report 1980-81 ; The President's Report 1981-82 ; The President's Report 1982-83 ; The President's Report 1983-84 and 1984-85 ; President's Report on the Library ; Toward the Pacific Century ; President's Report on the Creative and Performing Arts ; The President's Report on British Columbia's Centre of Teaching and Research in the Health Sciences ; 1995 President's Report on Social Sciences and Humanities ; Annual Report 97/98 ; Define a university ; Annual Report 99/00 ; Out There: 2000-2001 Annual Report ; What do you think?: University of British Columbia 2001-2002 Annual Report ; Influencing a new generation of global citizens: 2002/03 Annual Report"@en ;
edm:hasType "Periodicals"@en ;
dcterms:spatial "Vancouver (B.C.)"@en ;
dcterms:identifier "LE3 .B79"@en, "LE3_B79_1952"@en ;
edm:isShownAt "10.14288/1.0115185"@en ;
dcterms:language "English"@en ;
edm:provider "Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library"@en ;
dcterms:publisher "Vancouver : University of British Columbia"@en ;
dcterms:rights "Images provided for research and reference use only. Permission to publish, copy, or otherwise use these images must be obtained from The University of British Columbia Library: http://www.library.ubc.ca/"@en ;
dcterms:source "Original Format: University of British Columbia. Archives"@en ;
dcterms:subject "University of British Columbia"@en ;
dcterms:title "The President's Report 1951-52"@en ;
dcterms:type "Text"@en ;
dcterms:description ""@en .