Hunter College of the City of New York 695 Park Avenue New York 21, New York PART I were essential. Though many objections were raised to building a school for girls on the outskirts of the city, the site chosen was HISTORY OF THE COLLEGE the square block from Sixty-eighth to Sixty-ninth Street on Park Avenue. When architects and city officials worked too slowly for Hunter College, founded in 1870, takes its name from its first the president, he drew his own plans, found his own draftsman, president. In 1850 an Irish schoolmaster arrived in New York. He i cut through the red tape of a hesitant board, and began construc- was a young man, extremely handsome, very well disciplined, with tion. In September 1873, the students moved into their new home a powerful will and deep-rooted convictions. Thomas Hunter did j -"a most beautiful edifice" according to the standards of the day- not look forward with any particular pleasure. however, to a teach- a four-story red brick structure with Gothic tower and lancet ing career. His memories of northern Ireland and his observations I windows. of New York, though necessarily limited, made any other way of During these early years, Thomas Hunter worked and planned earning a livelihood seem preferable. He had lost his position at for the end he always kept in view: the improvement and the home for the freedom with which he urged republicanism in a extension of the course. At first the college offered a three-year unionist stronghold and for his persistent defense of the rights of program to girls who had finished elementary school. In 1879 the a minority religion whose views he himself did not share. He was course was extended to four years. In 1888 the college was incorp assured, however, by the very people who dismissed him that the orated and two courses were offered, the "Normal," a four-year qualities that cost him his place in Ireland might very well make program for future teachers, and the "Academic," taking five yean his name in America. for completion. By 1903 the entire course was extended to seven But in New York there were other difficulties. Corporal punish- years, and the first four yeam were legally separated and accredited ment, which he abominated, was still the rule; teacher training was by the Board of Regene as Normal College High School. By 1908, virtually neglected; and political interference in education was two years after Thomas Hunter retired, Normal College offered to accepted as a matter of course. Fortunately for the city and for qualified high school graduates a four-year academic course with a himself, Thomas Hunter nevertheless did accept a position in the fully accredited degree of Bachelor of Arts. public school system. Twenty years later his reputation was secure. j Thomas Hunter was succeeded by George Samler Davis. During He was known as a gifted teacher, an able administrator, and an i his admistration, from 1908 to 1929, the curriculum, the plant, the honest and outspoken man. When the members of a particularly i administration, and even the name were changed. In 1914 "Normal notorious city administration surprised everyone-perhaps even 1 College" became "Hunter College." Courses were liberali;ed, and themselves-by appointing an independent and wellqualified Board the familiar pattern of majors and minors was introduced. The of Education, plans were begun for a much needed normal schooL growing student body necessitated a new building on Lexington The Board looked for the best man available, and Thomas Hunter, Avenue, and in the twenties the college maintained a large Brook- who shared none of the administration's views, was their choice lyn branch as well. Problems arising from this steady expansion for president - .. L... called for administrative adjustments, and in 1915 the College was .. On February 14, 1870,.,the "Female Normal and High School" given its own Board of Trustees. A second and greater change was osned its doors for registration, and the history of Hunter College made in 1926, when all the city colleges were placed under the officially began. The staff consisted of the president, a lady super- Board of Higher Education. It was under President Davis too that intendent, and four professors. Classes were held on the second the Summer Session was founded in 1916, and the Evening and floor of a rented loft building at Fourth Street and Broadway. A Extension Sessions in 1917. Both sessions have since gmwn phe- little later the name was changed to "Normal College." From the nomenally. Finally, in 1920, the College was honored by the first, of course, the president realized that better accommodations establishment of the Nu Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. 8 9 J) I - From 1929 to 1993 James M. Kieran was president. During his students, teachers, and lecturers from abroad, deepened and term of office, the Bronx buildings were constructed, and one after strengthened the tradition of democratic idealism that has char- another, Gillet Hall, the Student Hall, Davis Hall, and the Gymnas acterized Hunter history from the start. ium Building were ready to receive the freshmen and sophomores. Another positive note in the Hunter tradition has been a constant The development of the Bronx center has been extraordinary. The awareness of the real world of which the College is a part and a site of diplomatic meetings of international import, a base for naval healthy freedom from the mistaken detachment that sometimes training during war years, and the object of a major innovation separates an academic institution from the community. The Pres- in college policy-the story of the Bronx deserves separate treatment, ident's record is in keeping with that spirit. Dr. Shuster's active and it is provided in the article immediately following. participation in UNESCO of which he has served as chairman of Late in 1933, Eugene A. Colligan succeeded President Kieran. the National Commission, his presidency of the World Student One of Dr. Colligan's major contributions was the extensive revision Service Fund, his chairmanship of the Board of the Institute of of the curriculum, the result of a four-year investigation by the International Education, and his many other activities as writer Curriculum Study Committee. It was during his presidency too and lecturer, have been largely responsible for bringing Hunter that a change in administration, perhaps more far reaching than College to the attention of educational leaden the world over. His any in the College history, introduced in 1939 the present demo- public service, including in the past many periods of duty with the cratic organization of the faculty and of all departments. But Department of State, was signally recognized by the United States another change grew out of an event no one could foresee. In 1936. Government in his appointment in 1950 and 1951 as Land Com- on the morning of the College's sixty-sixth birthday, the old Gothic missioner of Bavaria. structure burned. The president arranged for classes to be con- The curriculum in both centers has also kept pace with the tinued in borrowed quarters, and immediately, with Alumnae changing times. In addition to the A.B., the College also confers, support, he pressed for the construction of the new building on in the Day Session and in the School of General Studies (for so the the old site. Evening Session was re-named in 1950). the following degrees: B.S. In September 1940, after a year's leave of absence, Dr. Colligan (Home Economics); B.S. (Music); B.S. in Education; B.S. in Edu- retired and was succeeded by George N. Shuster, who had come to cation with major in Nursing Education; B.F.A.; Mus. B.; A.M.; Hunter in 1939 as Acting President and Academic Dean. In M.S. in Education. Under the Teacher Education Program, Hunter October 1940 the College simultaneously celebrated the inaugura- also provides a rich and varied course leading to an A.M. for those tion of its fifth president and the dedication of its new building, who plan a teaching career. Matriculation for all these degrees is a sixteen-story structure with ninety-five classrooms, two floors of open to qualified city residents, and the Teacher Education Pro- gymnasia, a swimming pool, twenty-two lecture rooms and studios. gram, both graduate and undergraduate, is open to qualified an assembly hall seating twenty-two hundred, cafeteria, fifty science residents of the state as well. A twuyear Pre-Engineering Curriculum laboratories, a spacious library, and a Little Theater. is also given in the Bronx. In addition, a Professional Certificate The 1940's were years of great expansion and of growing influ- in Guidance Practice and Administration is open to students with ence. The decade began with a visit from the President of the A.M. degrees who have had acceptable previous training in United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Not long after, a group guidance. of citizens purchased the Roosevelt home on East Sixty-fifth Street The Elementary School and the High School are also memben and presented it to the College as the Sara Delano Roosevelt of the Hunter family. Thomas Hunter, realizing the need for a Memorial House. The religious clubs meet there regularly, and it demonstration and practice school for the College students, began is also the home of the College's major social organizations. The a model school at St. Mark's Place while the College was still at College war record at this time and the welcome since given to Broadway and Fourth Street. Especially adapted for gifted children, 10 11 I - it now mcupies its own section of the College building. The kinder- and music. The administrative offices of the uptown center and the garten division of the Elementary School, originating in the fint auditorium are also in this building. In Davis Hall, named for the president's interest in Froebel, has as its descendant the widely second president of the College, all the other sciences have their known nursery school. For a long time the high school department, quarters, as well as the foreign language departments, mathematics. now located in the Lexington Avenue building, was actually part philosophy, art, home economics, and business. There is an arts of the College. In 1903, however. the secondary school was legally lounge, the Thomas Hunter Room, on the main floor of this build- separated, though it continued under the supervision of the College ing; the College bookroom is on the basement level. until 1913, when it was given its own principal. Upon the transfer The Gymasium Building offers hne facilities for a physical educa- of the seventh and eighth grades from the Elementary School in tion program for all students, not only those majoring in the field. 1943. Hunter College High School has become a six-year secondary The medical offices are also in this building. On the second floor school. are the quarters of the students in home economics, who live on No outline of the facts of Hunter and its affiliated schools, how- campus for short periods during their senior year. ever, can suggest with sufficient force what counts most in the Student Hall contains the principal library collections at the history of the College: the conviction of its founder and his followers Bronx center; reserved books are kept in the third-floor reading -teachers and students and staff-that free higher education is mom in Gillet Hall. According to the original plan, the fifth productive of lasting good and is worth all the effort and sacrifice building to be erected on campus was to have contained the College involved in maintaining it Library, and designs had been drawn for library quarters that would prove entirely adequate for an undergraduate division of the College. The present quarters will continue to be used for a short HUNTER IN THE BRONX time only, it is hoped. The student cafeterias are on the main level of Student Hall. The Bronx center of the College was opened in the autumn of There is also a faculty cafeteria on the north side of the Hall, street 1931. In the preceding decade rapid growth in the student pop level. On this level too there is a recreation room for students. ulation had made it necessary for the College to rent additional In Student Hall there are also a number of offices for the principal quarters in Manhattan, an arrangement which had proved quite student organizations. The Little Theater is on the second floor. unsatisfactory. In 1927, therefore, the City had granted the College On the third floor are three lounges where the smaller student thirty acres of land for the development of an uptown campus. parties are held. The dining rooms are used for the larger parties The site. lying south of Bedford Park Boulevard and east of the and evening dances. Reservoir, was well chosen. The campus has the seclusion of a Outdoors there is ample space for recreational activity; there are counuy college. It is a half hour's journey from Bedford Park to sixteen tennis courts and extensive playing fields. The Lehnm Grand Central by the Woodlawn division of the subway lines. Rock Garden, named for the first professor of geology of the College, A short walk from the station brings one to the College. The is north of Gillet Hall, and south of Davis there is another planting fonnal landscaping design is entirely suited to the traditional of shrubs and trees, outside the greenhouse of the botany and biol- Norman Gothic architecture of the College buildings. The original ogy depamnen~ plans called for nine buildings; four had been erected before 1933. For twelve years, from the opening of the Bronx center until the Gillet Hall, named for the acting president of the College after winter of 1943, students and staff continued to enjoy the seclusion President Hunter's retirement, and Student Hall were the lint two of this country campus in the city. But the War had come, and buildings opened. Gillet Hall today houses the English and speech Hunter had begun to make every effort to cooperate in government classes, as well as the social sciences. education, physics, geology, and local planning. Late in 1942 the City agreed to the Nayr's IS I - proposal to take over the Bronx center, and the College suffered all the new students, particularly for the physical education and a sea change, for Hunter in the Bronx became in February, 1943, sports program for the new men. the U.S.S. Hunter, the good ship of the WAVES. In the three years Now arrangements go forward for the expansion of the curric- that followed, 93,000 young women were trained for Navy duty on ulum at uptown Hunter, and faculty committees, on which admin- the College campus. The uptown students were meanwhile accom- istrators and st& members from both centers sit, are drawing up modated in the now greatly crowded Manhattan building, in the detailed plans. The President has long hoped for an adult education College's High School, afternoons, and in the neighboring public program at the Bronx, and wber the City can allow the funds for school at Sixty-eighth Street. the induction of such a program, arrangements will be made The U.S.S. Hunter became a familiar name throughout the for evening classes and lectures to meet the needs and interests of country, but the College was destined for world renown. In March. the community. 1946, two months after the Navy had left the campus, the United The President's representative on the campus is the Dean of Nations Security Council convened for the first time in the United Administration, who acts as the executive officer of the Bronx States on the Hunter campus, and the name of the College was division, as well as the coordinator of plans for both centers of the carried around the world. The Security Council sessions were held College. The Deans of the Facultg and the Bureau of Educational continuously through August of that year. Then plans were made and Vocational Guidance maintain offices at the Bronx, and there for the re-opening of Hunter in the Bronx, and for the restoration is too an uptown Registrar's office. The Dean of Students and his of the College buildings to their pre-War condition. staff serve the interests of the student body. Before the War only freshman and sophomore classes had been The common aim, in both centers, is to maintain the academic held at the Bronx; for their junior and senior years students had standing of the College, and to incorporate into Hunter's traditional been transferred to Manhattan. Througho~tthe College's long modes of education all that is best in the newer educational history only women students had been accepted in the Day Session. philosophies. Now came the first major change, for Hunter, like so many other women's colleges, now arranged for special classes for men who had served in the armed forces, and who were eager to continue their education under the terms of the G. I. Bill. The men's colleges could not accommodate all the returning veterans. For two yean, 1946 to 1948, classes were held at uptown Hunter for men and women students in separate sessions. But coeducation was on the way: serious thought was being given to the proposal that one division of the College become a cwduca- tional center. Again and again citizens of the Borough had urged that a full four-year division of the College, for both men and women students, be established in the Bronx, and a study made by a faculty committee in 1950 revealed a strong demand on the part of high school students for such a center. Accordingly, in the spring of 1951, plans were drawn for the admission of both men and women students to the uptown center in the following autumn, and for the development of a full four-year program at the Bronx. Some structural changes were immediately made to accommodate 14 unless he is at the same time recommended for permanent appoint- ment as an instructor. All appointments made, as well as all salaries paid, are matters of public record, so that there are no confidential YOUR RELATIONS WITH THE BOARD arrangements. OF HIGHER EDUCATION 111. Leaves of absence are granted by the Board. There are sabbatical leaves, maternity leaves, and special leaves. The regula- The Board of Higher Education is your employer. It consists tions governing these are outlined in the By-Laws of the Board. of twenty-one members appointed by the Mayor of the City of It is important that before you plan to ask for a leave of absence New York for terms of nine years. The powers of the Board are you consult your Department Chairman and find out what the defined in the State Education Law, and it is there made responsible terms under which the request may be granted are. Some leaves for the administration of the four municipal colleges, known col- can also be renewed, but Board policy limits the number of leaves lectively as the College of the City of New York. There are a for which any one individual may ask. number of standing committees of the Board, and each of the IV. Any member of the staff who is dissatisfied with the treat- colleges has an Administrative Committee. The Board maintains ment he has received may appeal for redress. Such appeals are, if an office at 695 Park Avenue. This has its own Administrator and intended for the Board, dispatched to it through the President. It personnel. is not considered good procedure to approach a member of the We shall uy to outline very succinctly your relationships with the Board directly. There exists at Hunter College a very democratic Board of Higher Education. spirit and organization. No one is penalized for speaking his mind. I. You are appointed to your post by the Board, acting on the recommendation of the faculty and the President. Notice of this On the other hand it is expected that grievances will be expmvd openly and on the campus. appointment has been mailed to you and is your contract. While V. By reason of the fact that tenure under the Board of Higher your continuance in service is contingent upon "financial ability Education has legal status, the amount of security accorded the and schedule conditionsw-which means, upon the availability of individual instructor is unusually large. When a case of "conduct funds and upon the presence of students-, the Board has always been sincerely mindful of its ethical responsibility to those whom unbecoming a teacher" does arise, the regulations provide for the it has engaged. No appointments save those of the College PIS preference of charges. In most instances, the initial hearings are conducted by the colleagues of the individual concerned. When idents are initiated by the Board itself. the Board itself hears charges, right of counsel is accorded. While 11. Permanent appointment is made in accordance with the you will, to be sure, not plan to become involved in any matter Tenure Statute. This fixes minimum and maximum salaries, deter- likely to be construed as "conduct unbecoming a teacher." it is mines what the annual increments shall be, and prescribes the urged that you seek on occasion to discuss the procedures with your manner in which permanent appointments can be made. If you Chairman so that you will understand the care which is exercised are interested, you may ask at the President's office for information to safeguard the legitimate rights of instructors. about the maximum salary in your grade and about increments. VI. The Board maintains direct relation with the faculty on Insuuctors are given tenure, when recommended, at the end of three levels. First, officers of the Board meet with the officen of three years of continuous service. Professors may be given tenure the Legislative Conference, which is a fouriollege committee elected at the end of one year of service. Neither lnstructors nor Professors by the faculty to discuss and make recommendations concerning can he retained for a fourth full year if they are not recommended matten affecting the welfare of the staff. In some instands, this for tenure. The regulations in the case of the tutorship are some- Conference and the Board collaborate in advocating legislation what different. A tutor may serve five full years without tenure. deemed likely to benefit the colleges. Second, the Board may hold but cannot be recommended for appointment to a sixth full year I7 16 - it desirable to appoint a special committee to consider a problem 4. To present to the Board the budgets of the entire college such as salaries, teaching schedules, or professional advancement, system. and in such cases will usually invite collaboration by the faculties Thus the Council assumes the obligations which in complex of the four colleges. Normally also it has asked representatives of educational systems are normally entrusted to a Provost or Chan- the faculty of a given college to confer with it when a new president cellor, and it will continue to do so until such time as it may prove is to be chosen. Third, special arrangements are made to bring the possible or expedient to appoint a Provost or Chancellor. Respon- members of the Administrative Committee closer to the college. At sibility for the progress of each College remains in the hands of the Hunter, the members come to dinner once each semester with the several Presidents individually. members of a Department designated in alphabetical order. These . What does the Council do? It has already formulated uniform dinners are associated with a survey of some of the work done by procedures in highly important areas, such as admission require- the Department ments and fees. It has devised methods for dealing with the City in VII. The Board conducts a public hearing once each year at budgetary matters in the manner best calculated to improve the which the Budget Request to be submitted to the City is discussed. financial position of the Colleges, and has taken an active part in At these hearings spokesmen for faculty committees may present promoting legislation thought to be advantageous to the staffs and requests, offer suggestions or criticisms, and in general urge con- the Board. It can properly be inferred that the duties of the Chair- sideration of special needs. It should always be borne in mind that man are very onerous, since he must assume the burden of repre- the Board is not empowered to grant funds. It can only petition senting the Council. the City to do so, and the City in turn must inevitably weigh the It may be added that the Council exercises jurisdiction in num- over-all financial situation. erous other ways. Recommendations submitted by the Dean of Teacher Education must be approved by it. The Council has its own research staff, which has made studies of procedures in such areas as purchasing, administrative staff organization, and printing. In 1945 the Board of Higher Education established the Adminis It is in close touch with the Legislative Conference. trative Council, by empowering the four Presidents of the municipal Council meetings are held during the school year at intervals of colleges to act as a body in matters calculated to "insure unified and two weeks. cooperative leadership in higher education in the City of New York." The chairmanship of the Council rotates, each term being for two yean. The duties of the Council, as defined by the Board. THE PENSION SYSTEM are: 1. To formulate, and revise periodically, a coordinated and Although you have just amved at Hunter College you need to reasonably complete system of higher education for the City of New give attention to a matter which seems to belong more appropriately York and indicate for each constituent institution its specific func- to the very distant future. According to existing law, all teachers tions in the city-wide plan of higher education. on annual salary are required to join the Teachers' Retirement 2. To present to the Board recommendations of scope, pro- System of the City of New York. You will be asked to contribute cedures and policies that affect more than one of the constituent a certain portion of your salary each month to an Annuity Savings colleges. Fund which will provide an annuity for you when you retire. The 3. To recommend ta the Board plans for the development of City of New York will also contribute to a fund which will provide the total physical properties which will further the general educa- a pension for you. Thus you will have a retirement allowance made tional program. up of your annuity plus the City's pension. PART IV in the Library. The Library is the depository for Hunter M.k theses. THE LIBRARY Particular attention may be called to important reference tools The Library is a division of the College whose purpose is to possessed by the Library: Library of Congress Catalog of Printed serve the needs of the students in all Departments. Its collection of Cards (in facsimile) with supplements to date; the new British 200.000 volumes and serials is classified and shelved in the stacks Museum Catalog in process of publication; Biblio (the serial index and in the divisional rooms of the tenth and eleventh floors of the to French publications): practically all of the indexes to various Park Avenue Building, and in Student Hall and Gillet Hall on the types of current materials, including The International Index (of Bronx campus. All facilities of the Library are available to enrolled foreign and scholarly periodicals); Bibliographic Index (cumulative students of Hunter College regardless of the borough in which they bibliography of bibliographies); a collection of books on the history may be canying the major portion of their scholastic programs. of printing, books, and libraries, and of important scholarly catalogs. Functionally the collection has been separated into those mater- such as Sabin's Dictionary of Books Relating to America, Pollard ials reserved by instructors for syllabi and collateral reading for and Redgrave: The Short Title Catalog of Books Printed, 1475- specific courses and into the General Reference. 1640, Brunet: Manuel du Libraire, and the British Museum's The collections in each service division have been placed under Catalog of Fifteenth Centuy Books (with facsimiles). the control of a specific member of the staff who is on duty con- The history of the Hunter College Library is an inspiring one. tinuously. These librarians are able to give special assistance to In the beginnings of the College, the students were markedly library students in the investigation of broad fields of knowledge or in conscious, establishing two libraries of their own in the Alpha Beta specialized problems, as well as guiding them in the use of the md Gamma and Philomathean Societies. It was the Alumnae who catalogue, the most efficientmethods of consulting reference mater- established the College Library by raising the funds with which ials, and in the preparation of bibliographies. Assistance in the use they purchased the book collection, engaged a librarian, and issued of periodicals and government documents is readily available at a printed catalog, eventually turning over thisS'Alumnae Library" the service stations for these materials. to the College. From time to time gifts of money and needed titles The professionally trained library staff consider that their work by classes of the Alumnae and by students and faculty have been consists not only in the efficient distribution of the Library's mater- most helpful aids to the needs of the Library. This generosity is ials, but even more importantly in the distribution of information, all the more beneficial to the present day students of a college which advice, and helpful consultation. depends largely upon the municipal budget for its support. Students of the School of General Studies have equal privileges The Teachers Central Laboratory, located in the Park Avenue with those of the Day Session in the use of the Library facilities. Building of Hunter College, serves students of education in the Because of their different hours, a limited duplicate collection of five-yearTeacher Education Program of the four municipal colleges, books in heavy demand is maintained for their exclusive use. and supervisors, cumculum committees, and teachers of the It is the aim of the Library to maintain live collections and to metropolitan area. The Laboratory displays on open shelves about be self-sufficient for the needs of the curriculum in order that its four thousand textbooks, workbooks and guides, and sixteen organization may be fully effective. Permits are issued for the use hundred careiully selected courses of study. The twenty-four vertical of the Reference Department of the New York Public Library and, files contain thousands of teaching aids and a comprehensive, cata- as need may arise, for the use of specified matrials in other libraries logued collection of group and individual standard tests. This needed for individual research. Books not obtainable in the resource library, open until 10 p.m., is well staffed with an educa- metropolitan area are borrowed on inter-library loans. Films of tional director. a full and a half time professional librarian and are books may be purchased for use in the Recordak film reader other assistants. 72 73 THE ROOSEVELT HOUSE THE BOOKROOM

Sara Delano Roosevelt Memorial House, the social and religious The Bookroom at Hunter College, situated on the Commons center for Hunter College students, is located at 47-49 East 65 Street, level in the Park Avenue Building and in Davis Hall in the Bronx between Park and Madison Avenues. It was the home of President Buildings, is an institution almost unique among colleges in that, Franklin D. Roosevelt and his mother, Sara Delano Roosevelt. In through it, for a reasonable fee, students are supplied on a loan 1943, the residence was purchased and presented to Iiunter College basis with their textbooks. The Bookroom is an auxiliary College by a group of citizens interested in fostering a knowledge of religion, activity responsible administratively to the Business Manager of comradeship, and intergroup understanding among the students. the College and educationally to the Faculty Council Committee Roosevelt House is host to all the students and faculty of Hunter on Educational Supplies and Services. Its executive officer is the College. The main and second floors are used by all students for Manager of the Bookroom. This service to the students is made such functions as meetings, teas, luncheons, dinners, parties, con- possible, in large part, by the cooperation of the faculty in general, certs, and lectures. There arr two browsing libraries and a reception and Department book committees in particular, who cboose their room in which students practice on a cherished piano presented textbooks in accord with the regulations of the Educational Supplies by the mother of George Gershwin in his memory. The remainder and Services Committee. of the House is assigned to six major College organizations who The regulation of purchase is necessary in order to operate within have their offices and meeting rooms located here. They are a budget which permits adequate service at low cost to the student Panhellenic Association. Toussaint L'Ouverture Society. Hillel body. The Educational Supplies and Services Committee leaves Foundation, Newman Club, Hunter College Protestant Association. the choice of texts entirely in the hands of the various Departments, and House Plan Association. but it specifies under current regulations, that no more than one Faculty members use Roosevelt House for meetings, Department text may be purchased per course and brought up to registration teas and dinners, and for entertaining classes. All student parties each semester, and that once purchased, a textbook must be used to which men are invited must have a faculty guest chaperon. This - for three years. The Bookroom has been in operation since 1941. is the opportunity for the faculty to learn to know the student out- At present there are 151,994 books on the shelves with 2,087 differ- side the classroom. It is an outward sign of appreciation, and a ent titles. The department purchases each semester (within reg compliment to the teacher for his understanding of students as well .. ulations) keep a constant flow of the latest materials in all fields as his scholarly attainment. upon the shelves. Sara Delano Roosevelt Memorial House welcomes teachers and The books are issued, each semester, in accord with the instruc- students every day during the school year. The daily hours are: tions of the Department Chairman. The main text for each course, Monday and Wednesday Noon to 10 P.M. of which every student receives a copy, is listed on a "Book List" Tuesday and Thursday Noon to 6 P.M. and withdrawn during registration week. Other books are issued Friday and Saturday Noon to Midnight upon assignment in class and some, in limited supply, are shared Sunday 2 P.M. to 6 P.M. by two students. All these categories, each semester, are worked A hearty greeting awaits your amval and inspection of the out and listed by the Bookroom in close cooperation with Depart- religious and social center of Hunter College. ments and with the approval of Chairmen. You can, at any time. determine the texts for any coune by asking the Bookroom staff. A complete Kardex inventory of all titles, with quantities, date of purchase, and distribution is kept in the Bookroom and is open assistant, in Room 934, who is prepared to assist instructors in the to the faculty at all times. Changes in assigned texts however, or selection of suitable films and to operate the projector during their issuance of additional books for any course must come through the showing. A part-time visual education assistant in the Bronx Department Chairman. In the event of any problem, the swiftest Buildings has her office in Room 1-104 and performs similar services procedure is: a) consult the Bookroom as to the facts, b) consult for teachers assigned to Bronx classes. your Department Chairman as to possible alleviation. The materials used in the visual education program in the above Since the entire stock of textbooks has been purchased with Departments consist of slides, charts, films, and film strips. A student fees, the Educational Supplies and Services Committee has collection of approximately 150 slides has proved to be of greatest had to rule that texts may not be issued for faculty use-there are . . value in the teaching of history. These slides are available in certain exceptions of which the Manager can inform you-but c duplicate for the use of classes in the Bronx Buildings. Charts are available that deal with various subjects relating to the fields of generally speaking, teachers are expected to obtain "desk copies" .-I from the publisher. There is a Teachers Textbook Alcove in the economics and government. Several of these have been prepared Bookroom where most of the new textbooks in any field are -- in duplicate for Bronx classes. The committee owns forty film available for inspection. By special arrangement, the Bookroom strips and ten films. Approximately two hundred films, most of will purchase books of all descriptions for staff members, giving which are secured on a rental basis, are being used in the several them the benefit of any discount. A service fee of ten cents per social science Departments and are proving especially valuable in book is charged, in addition to the City Sales Tax. introductory courses. The educational quality and variety of films is continually improving. Films and film strips may be ordered through the Visual Education Office at 68th Street. A careful file THE VISUAL AIDS PROGRAM of new films and film strips and those in current use is maintained in the Visual Education Offices in both centers. All staff members The use of visual education materials is encouraged in all areas are invited to examine the file at any time, and are especially urged of College instruction. Several Departments have their own slide to do so when the following semester's film schedule is being and chart collections. Others have projectors and make frequent prepared in the final weeks of each semester. A digest of new films use of educational films. Arrangements for the use of such materials appropriate to social science courses is prepared by the visual in all Departments, except the social sciences and education, should education assistants and distributed to staff members at frequent be made through Department offices or in the Office of the Dean of intervals. Arrangements for previewing films for use in social Faculty at 68th Street where there is a film projector which may science classes should be made with the visual education assistant be used by any Department in the College. at 68th Street. Visual Education Service to Social Science and Education Concern should be taken in the classroom use of films to insure Departments and Fifth Year Teacher Education Courses. their fullest value as an education medium and to safeguard against An interdepartmental committee headed by Professor Ruth G. their use as a mere entertainment device. To this end visual Weintraub directs the visual education program in the four social education experts recommend that teachers should give students science Departments (Economics, History, Political Science. Sociol- pre-instruction on the films to be shown, indicating details to look ogy and Anthropology), the Department of Education, and all fifth for, reasons why the film has been chosen and the teaching message year Teacher Education courses. A faculty member from each of of the film. It is further recommended that time be allowed for the above fields of study serves as a Department representative on full discussion of the film after its showing. It is desirable, therefore, this committee. Arrangements for visual aid materials in these that the actual film showing time should occupy no more than fifty areas of instruction should be made with the visual education per cent of any class period. 76 77 tive Assistant, one Educational and Vocational Counselor, eight First Assistants, one Teacher of Library, one Nurse, three Clerks, THE HIGH SCHOOL and sixty-two Assistant Teachers. Policies and procedures are determined at regular monthly meetings of Principal and First Hunter College High School is the campus laboratory school Assistants; Principal and Staff: and also First Assistants and their for girls admitted on the basis of a special entrance examination, departments. Appointments are made in accordance with the and includes grades seven through twelve. In addition, the school By-Laws of the Board of Higher Education. serves the special role of a laboratory center for the Teacher Hunter College High School provides student-teacher opportun- Education Program. The aim of the school is not only to lay a ities for those Hunter College students who are preparing for strong foundation for admission to institutions of higher learning, educational service on the secondary level. On the prestudent- but also to develop a high degree of social competence for life in teaching level, we provide opportunities for participation in exua- a democracy. curricular activities and free classroom observation. On the student- Admission to the High School is based on competence in English teaching level, we offer demonstration lessons, directed observation, and mathematics as measured by competitive examinations in each and practice teaching. Practical field work in group and individual at the 7th, 8th, or 10th grade levels and upon the recommendation testing is made available. Fint Assistants teach courses at Hunter of the lower school principals. Girls are admitted according to College in Special Methods in Secondary School Subjects in co standing in the examination to the extent of the school's capacity operation with the Department of Education and also act as at each level. Also, girl g~aduatesof Hunter College Elementary supervisors of Practice Teachers. School are automatically admitted provided they are recommended The extra-curricular activities of the school are governed by the by their principal. Geneal Organization as provided by the By-Laws of the Board of The course of study is based on the requirements of the College Higher Education. A faculty-student committee, the Extra-curricu- Entrance Diploma of the University of the State of New York and lar Activities Committee, synchronizes the activities of the various the entrance requirements of Hunter College. The material for organizations and clubs. grades 7 and 8 is comparable to that in schools under the Board of The Parent-Teacher Association, a very devoted group of parents Education with the addition of 90 minute workshops in art, drama. and teachers, meets to consider mutual problems and solutions. mathematics, and science. The work of grades 9, 10, and 11 is In addition to loyal support, it has made many generous useful prescribed with the exception of the choice of modern language material gifts to the school. which must be French, German, or Spanish. Latin is the required second language. All who enter grades prior to the 10th year are required to take a minimum of three years of Latin. Those Junior THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL High School graduates who enter the 10th year are required to The Hunter College Elementary School is maintained under the take a minimum of two years of Latin provided their major lan- direction of the Board of Higher Education and the President of guage sequence is French, German, or Spanish. In the senior year Hunter College primarily as a demonstration and practice school the foundation course is supplemented by specialized elective work for students of Hunter College. Policies of the school are form- in language, science, social studies, mathematics, or major art. ulated by the Campus Schools Committee, composed of the The school is run on a single session Emm 8:30 to 2:00 with an Chairman of the Department of Education, the Coordinator, the occasional 245 class for certain grades. All classes are held in the Principal of the Hunter College High School, and the Principal 930 Lexington Avenue Building. of the Hunter College Elementary School, who is the supervisor At present the staff is composed of one Principal, one Administra- of this school. 78 r- .- . All teachers in any Department of Hunter College who wish to observe the children or to bring their classes to visit are welcome. The Elementary School provides opportunities: TRADITIONS OF HUNTER COLLEGE (1) for students of Hunter College to observe and to partici- pate in the teaching of pupils from nursery school through COLLEGE EMBLEMS the sixth grade. The Hunter College emblems are as follows: (2) for advanced students, members of the faculty, and other Colors: Lavender and white qualified persons to engage in research connected with Motto: "Mihi Cura Futuri"-Mine is the Care of the Fururt child development. Plant: . IVY (3) for experimentation in the techniques of teaching that Flower: Wistaria promise advancement in the field of education. Stone: Amethyst (4) for teachers in service and others interested in comparative Song: Fame education to observe various methods of instruction The College seal contains the College motto, the head of Athena, adapted to several age levels. the ivy leaf, and 1870, which is the date of the founding of the The curriculum includes the course of study of the New York College. City Public Schools, but is not limited to this. A workshop is now . planning a revision of the course of study to meet the needs of Hunter College has many traditional events that are cherished children with superior mental ability. An enriched program is and participated in by students, faculty, and alumnae. These events provided, including visual and auditory aids, excursions, and other add to the spirit of college. firsthand experiences provided through the cooperation of many of Sing, the inter-class song competition, is the major function of the specialists in various fields in the College and by outside the year and is held in the spring term only. All undergraduates agencies. After-school clubs and recreational activities are spon- participate in a spirit of good sportsmanship and cooperation. The sored by the Parents Association. participants are grouped according to their collegiate years and the Pupils between the ages of 3 and 11 are accepted for pre-school competition is never among individuals, but instead among fresh- groups and for classes through the sixth year. All pupils, both boys men, sophomores, junion, and seniors. Each group makes its own and girls. must transfer to other schools when they have completed scenery, costumes, and other decorations deemed necessary, in the sixth grade and are ready for junior high school. addition to writing all their own scrolls, scripts, and lyrics. They It is regretted that the children OF faculty members cannot be are judged upon originality, skill, and general effectiveness by given preference for admission but at the present time pupils are faculty members elected to this position by Student Council. Sing accepted who furnish records indicating that they are mentally su- attracts a larger majority of the student body than any other campus perior and have physical, social, and emotional development com- activity, and is one of Hunter's strongest and most popular mensurate with their age, and are admitted in order of ranked scores traditions. on intelligence tests. It is seldom that more than one or two Field day is an event held during the latter part of May on the vacancies occur in any class during a year and long waiting lists Bronx campus. The program consists of an opening flag-raising exist at each level. The total enrollment is approximately 450, ceremony, folk dancing by selected students, and class competition with a maximum number of pupils of 18 in the nursery school, in athletic events. After the formal part of the program, all 25 in the kindergarten, and 28 in other classes. activities are open for student and faculty participation. This The registration period each year is from February 1 to March activity is a project of faculty and students with the guidance of 15 for the following September. the Bronx Dean's office and the Physical Education Department 80 81 - - revision or approval. It may be made the basis for a news release; 7: 15 by the Teachers Club of the School of General Studies. in the otherwise it is filed as an official information source. The office Faculty Club Room (Room 312); the Bronx Faculty Club serves will also be pleased to have a couple of glossy photos, if the faculty coffee every morning and tea every afternoon in Gillet Hall, member can conveniently supply them. Room 1-113. If a faculty member wishes publicity for a speech that may be of The Faculty Clubs are open to all members of both the teaching interest off-campus,the office can do a better job if the faculty mem- i and administrative staffs on the payment of stated dues. These ber will give the reporter covering his Department at least one dues provide for minimum refreshments and matron services. copy of the speech at least a week before the date on which the Membership may be for a semester or for an academic year. depend- speech is to be given. Even longpracticed reporters like to work ing on the club's constitution, but members who have teaching from such copy, because it protects them against possible error. c programs on both campuses or in both sessions may enjoy limited If the faculty member speaks impromptu, his speech will be membership in another club by paying reduced dues. To meet the covered by a reporter, who will submit the news item to him for problems of those who may be transferred to another campus for approval before it is released. Faculty members are not quoted in [ the second semester, constitutional provision is made for the partial College press releases without their express permission. remission of annual dues and for joining a club for the second If the faculty member is about to have an article published that semester only: may be of general interest, he should let the office (Room 141, Tel- Since the dues provide for only the simplest fare, it has become ephone extension 260) know well in advance so that a story based customary for members to serve as host once or twice during the on the article may be released when the article is published. If year and to provide additional refreshments at that time. Although he is having a book published, he should see that the reporter members in general are limited to six guests during the course of covering his Department, or the oflice, is informed. If he is going a semester, the host of the day is free to invite any number of on leave to undertake some job for a governmental or other agency, non-quota guests for the occasion. he should see that the office learns about it while it is news. And At the beginning of each academic year, each club holds a tea if he is to receive some honor or award because of his academic or at which new members of the staff are welcomed to Hunter College. community activities, he should let the oEce know promptly. Other functions for which the clubs assume responsibility are the No story is released by the office that has not been approved by Alumnae Day Tea sponsored by the two Park Avenue Clubs and a member of the pre-Journalism staff. Copy is read carefully to the luncheons at Christmas and on Field Day, organized by the make sure that names are correctly spelled, and the facts are Bronx Club. checked as closely as possible. An occasional error creeps in, but the . batting average of the office's reporters is high. THE ASSOCIATE ALUMNAE

THE FACULTY CLUBS The Associate Alumnae of Hunter College was organized in 1872 and incorporated in 1889. It has a paid-up membership of over The Faculty Clubs are perhaps unique at Hunter College, The following table state dues currently in effect (1952.55) being the only associations which have no avowed educational aims. DUES Their sole established functions are to promote social intercourse Remission Club Annuol ld scrncsfn 2nd smcrter 2nd rmerrer among colleagues and to provide a comfortable place to relax and Park (Day Smion) 64.00 $250 (2.00) $150 chat. Tea and coffee are served every afternoon by the Park Avenue Park (School of $2.00 $2.00 General Studie) Club, and on Monday through Thursday evenings from 5:00 to Bronx $2.00 $2.00