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 REPORT AND 
 
 RECOMMENDATIONS 
 
 “ T '>* • 
 
 SPECIAL COMMITTEE 
 of 
 
 The Chicago Association of*Comm«-ce 
 
 I 
 
 on the 
 
 CONDITIONS AND AFFAIRS 
 
 of the 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 Urbana-Champaign, III. 
 
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 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Alternates 
 
 https://archive.org/details/reportrecommendaOOchic j 
 
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 Y OUR committee, appointed to inspect the conditions and 
 affairs of the University of Illinois and lend the sup- 
 port of the Association to the budget to be laid before 
 the legislature for its maintenance and development, begs 
 leave to report as follows : 
 
 We have examined into the affairs of the University as 
 fully and carefully as time and opportunity would permit 
 and have given consideration to its present condition and fu- 
 ture needs. Two members of your committee have visited the 
 institution and have consulted with various officers and mem- 
 bers of its staff. We have also examined the annual report 
 of the Comptroller for the year ending June 30, 1920, and 
 several statements issued by the President of the University 
 describing its present difficulties and setting forth the finan- 
 cial plan for the coming biennium. 
 
 Like all citizens of Illinois who have not been previ- 
 ously acquainted with the University, we have been very 
 greatly impressed both by the magnitude of the institution 
 and the diverse character and excellence of the services which 
 it is rendering the people of the State. It is a matter of 
 surprise to us that so many of our fellow citizens are but little, 
 if at all, acquainted with the greatness of this institution, and 
 its high standing among the educational and scientific insti- 
 tutions not only of the country, but of the world. Some means 
 should be devised to bring the University before the people 
 so frequently that at least a majority of our fellow citizens 
 would have some adequate idea of what it is and what it does. 
 For, as a former Governor once said, “The University is not 
 merely a center of instruction where young men and women 
 may prepare themselves for efficient citizenship, but it is also 
 an important center for scientific investigation, in which sig- 
 nificant and far-reaching contributions are constantly made 
 towards the solution of problems concerning our agriculture, 
 manufactures, and commerce.’ ’ He might have added also 
 towards the solution of some of our complex legislative and 
 social problems. 
 
 3 
 
Needless to say, an institution of the extent and diverse 
 activity of a modern university, especially a state university, 
 requires large and constantly increasing* funds to prosecute 
 its work. This is true not only because the number of young 
 men and women seeking an education at the University is 
 constantly increasing with population, but perhaps in a larger 
 measure because the increasing complexity of the life of the 
 State throws upon the University a demand for investigation 
 into an increasing and multiferious complexity of technical, 
 economic and social problems. Practically every interest of 
 the State is calling upon the University for the solution of 
 problems whose solution adds to the general welfare. As will > 
 be indicated later, the solution of these problems returns to 
 the State, even from an economic point of view, far more than 
 their investigation costs, so that money expended on the re- ?' 
 search side of the institution is properly regarded as an in- 
 vestment yielding direct returns. It goes without saying that 
 the training of our men and women is an investment of even 
 a more important character although its economic returns are 
 less direct. 
 
 The Physical University 
 
 Considered as a physical plant, the University of Illinois 
 has two great divisions. The main University is located at 
 Urbana on the border line between that city and Champaign, 
 so that it is equally well described as being located for rail- 
 road, telegraph, and express purposes, at either Urbana or 
 Champaign. The other great division of the University, com- 
 prising the College of Medicine, the College of Dentistry, and 
 the School of Pharmacy, is located in Chicago in the neigh- 
 borhood of the Cook County Hospital. 
 
 At Urbana the University has 60 buildings, 230 acres in 
 its campus, and 991 acres in its farms. A considerable por- * 
 tion of the campus proper is taken up with experimental 
 plots in agriculture, including floriculture, forestry, and other 
 sub-divisions. As the University is in the heart of the corn 
 belt, it is favorably situated for practical experimentation and 
 demonstration of agricultural problems relating to corn pro- 
 duction, but its agricultural work extends to every part of 
 the State and to every large agricultural interest. When we 
 
 4 
 
remember that agriculturally Illinois is more diverse than 
 almost any other state of the Mississippi Valley, we appre- 
 ciate the multitude of lines of experiment which the College 
 of Agriculture and its Experiment Station must conduct. 
 
 Among the principal buildings are the Physics Labora- 
 tory, the Chemistry Laboratory, the Natural History Hall, 
 the College of Commerce Building, the Educational Building, 
 Engineering Hall, Ceramics Building, Laboratories of Me- 
 chanical and Electrical Engineering, the Locomotive Testing 
 Laboratory, the Transportation Building, the Agricultural 
 Building, the Law Building, the Smith-Memorial Hall of Music 
 and the Armory — the latter one of the largest and most com- 
 plete buildings of its kind in the United States. 
 
 A further word about the Militiary Department may not 
 be out of place. It is perhaps the largest and most important 
 university military organization in the country. At present 
 the work requires 103 cadet officers, and 14 United States 
 Army officers, together with 100 enlisted men. Training is 
 given to about 2,700 young men at the present time. Besides 
 the training in infantry, training is also given in cavalry, ar- 
 tillery, signal corps, engineering corps, and aeronautics. 
 
 According to the Report of the Comptroller of the Uni- 
 versity for the year ending June 30, 1920, the original cost 
 of the land owned by the University is $1,079,315, and the 
 original cost of the buildings, including cost of additions, 
 is $5,295,785. The present value of the land and buildings 
 is probably much greater. 
 
 Some idea of the extent of the physical plant may be 
 gained from the statement that the University supplies its 
 own heat, light, steam, electricity, and water. 
 
 The Divisions and Work of the University 
 
 The work of the University may be divided into four or 
 five different divisions, i. e., the usual under-graduate college 
 teaching, although in many more subjects than some of the 
 older institutions treat; the graduate work of training new 
 faculty and executive staff, investigation and research, and 
 extension work of various kinds. 
 
 5 
 
As a teaching institution the University has eight col- 
 leges and four schools and several bureaus and divisions. 
 The colleges are the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, 
 the College of Agriculture, the College of Engineering, the 
 College of Commerce, the College of Education, the College 
 of Law, the College of Medicine which is in Chicago, and the 
 College of Dentistry also in Chicago. The schools are the 
 School of Library Science, the School of Music, the School of 
 Pharmacy in Chicago, and the Graduate School. The bureaus 
 and divisions are Military, Physical Education, and the Stu- 
 dent Health Service. 
 
 The University has museums of Classical Art, Arch- 
 aeology, European Culture, Natural History, and Oriental 
 History, but it lias no building in which these collections can 
 be displayed. 
 
 The University as a Public Service Institution 
 
 Research and extension work are classed under this head. 
 Research is conducted through three organizations, the Grad- 
 uate School, the Engineering Experiment Station, and the 
 Agricultural Experiment Station. The Graduate School is an 
 organization of all departments of the University to train in- 
 vestigators and to conduct research in every line. The Agri- 
 cultural Experiment Station is specifically devoted to agricul- 
 ture, and its great work is too well known to need descrip- 
 tion. The Engineering Experiment Station was the first of 
 the kind in the country, and its investigations are known for 
 their great value. 
 
 The extension work of the University is limited but im- 
 portant. Members of the staff are called on to go to all parts 
 of the State many times a year, and several men are going 
 about for this purpose practically all the time. 
 
 Staff and Students 
 
 The total number of people required for the operation of 
 the University, including the teaching and research staff, the 
 administrative staff, the clerical staff, and employees of all 
 kind, is 1,331. The educational staff numbers 861. The gross, 
 enrollment of the University for the academic year 1919-1920,. 
 
including the summer session, was 9,208. The gross enroll- 
 ment for the current academic year will he over 10,000, includ- 
 ing the summer session. The number present and seeking 
 and receiving instruction in November of 1920 at one time, 
 not including the summer session, was 8,262. Of these some 
 2,400 were in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; 1,700 
 in the College of Commerce; 1,600 in the College of Engineer- 
 ing; 1,100 in the College of Agriculture; 750 in the Chicago 
 Departments, and the rest in smaller groups in the other col- 
 leges and schools. 
 
 Comparison With Other Institutions 
 
 The important part of the University is, of course, its 
 men and women. In these days good teaching and research 
 require more than ever expensive equipment. Ten years 
 ago the Association of Commerce gave its influence to the 
 promotion of the interests of the University so powerfully 
 that the institution received a great impetus in the improve- 
 ment of its equipment and in the increase of its operating in- 
 come. At that time our institution was inferior to its leading 
 competitors, both in its physical equipment and the means at 
 its command for employing a proper staff. Although much 
 has been accomplished in the intervening period, other insti- 
 tutions have also forged ahead, and the relative situation of 
 our State institution today is not much improved over what 
 it was eleven years ago. The needs of the development of 
 the University have gone forward in the past decade by leaps 
 and bounds. It is important, therefore, to compare the pres- 
 ent status of the University of Illinois in certain respects 
 with that of some of her sister institutions. 
 
 The heart of an educational institution is its library. In 
 this respect the University of Illinois is much below the posi- 
 tion which it should occupy. It must be remembered that 
 the main University is down in the country where it is not 
 possible for students and faculty to have access to great col- 
 lections of books other than those which the University itself 
 possesses. Comparative figures upon this subject are as fol- 
 lows : 
 
Total vols. within easy 
 
 Name of reach, incl. vols. in Vols. in Univ. 
 
 Institution Univ. Lib. Library 
 
 Columbia 5,780,000 709,849 
 
 Harvard 4,312,000 1,940,600* 
 
 Chicago 2,477,500 570,849 
 
 Pennsylvania 2,265,500 481,190 
 
 Yale 1,425,500 1,253,830 
 
 California 1,039,000 392,682 
 
 Johns Hopkins 1,010,000 216,137 
 
 Minnesota 983,000 280,000 
 
 Michigan 885,000 413,666 
 
 Wisconsin 743,000 481,3951 
 
 Cornell 630,000 603,100 
 
 Princeton 532,000 429,286 
 
 Illinois 462,000 (Urbana only) 418,949 
 
 * Includes volumes and pamphlets in all departments. 
 
 1 Includes Wisconsin State Hist. Library in same build- 
 ing. 
 
 The per capita student investment in buildings in several 
 institutions is shown in the following table, and again it ap- 
 pears that Illinois is low, showing that the expense of main- 
 taining the University of Illinois is, from this point of view, 
 considerably less than that of other institutions: 
 
 Cost of Buildings, June 30, 1920, per Head of Student Enroll- 
 
 ment November 1, 1920 
 
 University of Minnesota $832 
 
 ^University of Iowa 747 
 
 University of Wisconsin 719 
 
 ^University of Michigan 708 
 
 University of Illinois 642 
 
 tUniversity of Ohio 427 
 
 * Agricultural College not included. 
 
 t Agricultural Experiment Station not included. 
 
 Per Capita Burden on the People for the Support of 
 
 Universities 
 
 The following table shows the University income for 
 1920-21 per head of population for several states, the 1920 
 Census figures being taken for population : 
 
 8 
 
University Agric. Coll. Total 
 
 Wisconsin $1.14 $1.14 
 
 Minnesota 1.38 1.38 
 
 Iowa 77 $0.55 1.32 
 
 Michigan 80 .26 1.06 
 
 Ohio 30 .25 .55 
 
 Indiana 22 .26 .48 
 
 Illinois 39 .39 
 
 That is to say, Michigan contributes more than twice as 
 much, Wisconsin practically three times as much, and Min- 
 nesota and Iowa over three times as much per head as do the 
 people of Illinois for the maintenance of the various lines of 
 work done at our State University. In Michigan, Iowa, and 
 Indiana the agricultural courses are given at separate insti- 
 tutions. In Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Illinois they are given 
 at the same place as the rest of the university work. In Ohio 
 state appropriations to maintain the same work as is done 
 at the University of Illinois are made to three institutions 
 besides that at Columbus, namely, Ohio University at Athens, 
 Miami University at Oxford, and the Agricultural Experiment 
 Station at Wooster. In cases where the institutions are sepa- 
 rate, appropriations to them are combined in order to make a 
 fair comparison with Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois. 
 
 Income and Expenditures of the University 
 
 Largely as a result of the efforts of the Association of 
 Commerce, the legislature passed in 1911 an Act whereby 
 a tax of one mill on the assessed valuation of the taxable 
 property of the State was assessed for University appropria- 
 tions. This tax was reduced to two-thirds of a mill by amend- 
 ment of the law in 1919. It was naturally supposed that such 
 a tax would yield an increasing income from year to year as 
 the wealth and assessed value of the property of the State in- 
 creased. As a matter of fact, such has not been the case. 
 The receipts of the University mill tax fund increased very 
 much more slowly than either population or wealth. The an- 
 nual receipts for the University from the mill tax fund were 
 as follows: 
 
 9 
 
1909- 10 ] $1,151,7500 
 
 1910- 11 l 1,151,750 [Direct appropriations 
 
 | 1,692,150 f out of Revenue 
 
 J 1,692,150 J 
 
 ^ . } 2,250,000 
 
 1914- 15 } 2,250,000 
 
 1915- 16 2,424,870.95 
 
 1916- 17 2,575,129.05 
 
 1917- 18 2,338,263.58 
 
 1918- 19 2,341,933.77 
 
 1919- 20 } 2,500,000 
 
 1920- 21 2,500,000 
 
 Since 1911 the income from the mill tax for operation has 
 increased only about 11 per cent. In the meantime the num- 
 ber of students actually present and receiving instruction at 
 one time has increased more than 100 per cent. Meanwhile, 
 the prices of everything have practically doubled. In other 
 words, the operating income for the University from the mill 
 tax has increased only about one-tenth as much as the num- 
 ber of the student body, and the cost of equipment and sup- 
 plies has in the meantime increased 100 per cent. 
 
 The gross income of the University includes, however, 
 not only receipts from the mill tax fund or State taxes, but 
 also certain items from the United States, from student fees, 
 and from sales and gifts. The University received last year 
 (1919-20) from the Federal Government $313,527. This in- 
 cludes the University’s share of appropriations made by Con- 
 gress for the promotion of agriculture and vocational edu- 
 cation, $261,000 of the whole going to the former account. 
 This money, is therefore, not available for the ordinary work 
 of the University. 
 
 From student fees the University collected in the last 
 fiscal year $353,683. From sales and miscellaneous sources, 
 most of the proceeds going into the revolving funds mainly 
 for the commercial departments of the College of Agricul- 
 ture, $377,500 were collected. 
 
 10 
 
In addition to the mill tax appropriation the last legis- 
 lature appropriated to the University a certain snm outside 
 of the mill tax for building purposes. For a clinical labora- 
 tory at the College of Medicine $300,000 was given and for 
 cavalry stables at Urbana, $25,000. 
 
 The total income, therefore, of the University from all 
 sources for all purposes for the year ending June 30, 1920, 
 was $3,916,249. 
 
 The Business Organization of the University 
 
 Business men are inclined to raise questions about the 
 efficiency of the business organization and methods of educa- 
 tional institutions. We have examined into the business or- 
 -f ganization of the University of Illinois. At the head is the 
 Comptroller of the University. Under him is an Assistant 
 Comptroller, a Bursar, an Auditor, and a Purchasing Agent. 
 Each of the three latter has assistants, with the necessary 
 number of clerks, stenographers, and bookkeepers, the total 
 number in the staff being thirty-six. In addition, there is a 
 Treasurer appointed by the Board of Trustees, and recently 
 the office of Superintendent of Business Operations has been 
 created, the duty of the incumbent being to keep the Presi- 
 dent informed on the efficiency of the business operations of 
 all departments of the University. 
 
 All expenditures are made on requisitions duly approved 
 by several officers; all purchases are made through the Pur- 
 chasing Agent, standard articles largely in use being bought 
 in quantities, and purchases exceeding $100 are let by con- 
 l tract after competition. Such articles as require expert 
 judgment are bought by or on advice of the experts of the 
 University, acting as agents of the Purchasing Agent and the 
 f Comptroller, under regular procedure and due authority. 
 Monthly reports are made by the Comptroller and the Treas- 
 urer, and quarterly financial reports are published in the 
 minutes of the Board of Trustees. Quarterly audits are also 
 made by a Chicago firm of accountants. The Comptroller of 
 the University is himself a Certified Public Accountant. The 
 rules of the Board of Trustees regulating expenditures have 
 
 11 
 
been examined by ns and we think that these and the organi- 
 zation are adequate to insure careful expenditure and to pre- 
 vent waste and inefficient operation. All employees who han- 
 dle mony are under bond. 
 
 Present Conditions at the University 
 
 The difficulties under which the University is laboring 
 in carrying on its work have been set forth in circulars issued 
 by the President of the University during the past twelve 
 months. In these circulars attention is called particularly to 
 the following points: 
 
 * 
 
 Two years ago a building was erected for the College of 
 Education. Owing to the lack of funds it has not been . 
 equipped and a staff has not been employed. 
 
 Salaries have been and are in many cases too small, so 
 that it has been difficult and at times impossible to secure 
 properly qualified teachers. 
 
 In the meantime, the research work in agriculture, engi- 
 neering, and other lines has been seriously curtailed. It 
 should be remembered in this connection that the contribu- 
 tions made directly to the people through its research un- 
 doubtedly are many fold the total appropriations which the 
 University has received from its establishment. Only recent- 
 ly was the University able to announce that it had devel- 
 oped a new variety of wheat which has, on a five-year aver- 
 age, outyielded other varieties by six bushels to the acre. 
 
 When we remember that nearly two and a half million acres £ 
 were planted to wheat in Illinois last year, we can get some 
 idea of what this means to the farmers of this State. 
 
 * 
 
 The extension Avork of the University has also been di- 
 minished. 
 
 Classes are too large to teach properly. This fall there 
 Avere being conducted 838 classes, each larger than the stand- 
 ard number of 25. Of the total, 357 had in them 35 students 
 enrolled and 135 had in them 50 each. 
 
 12 
 
The Chicago Departments 
 
 Probably few members of the Association and undoubt- 
 edly a still smaller proportion of the citizens of Chicago know 
 that an important part of the work of the University is car- 
 ried on in the city of Chicago. As already stated, this is the 
 work in medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy. But it is con- 
 ducted under conditions which make it impossible for the 
 men in charge to do their best, and with a lack of buildings 
 and other equipment which have made it impossible for the 
 ^ University in its medical and dental departments to take a 
 place in the front rank of institutions doing such work. The 
 buildings used by the College of Medicine and the College of 
 'f Dentistry are old and out of date, expensive to maintain, 
 hard to keep clean, and in a large measure unsuited to the 
 work. The opportunity for the promotion of the welfare of 
 the people of the State in matters of health and sanitation 
 is practically unlimited. The means provided to take advan- 
 tage of that opportunity are pitiful. The equipment available 
 for the first two years of work of the medical courses are fair- 
 ly good, and the staff for this scientific work is of a high 
 order. The equipment for the clinical work in medicine is 
 wholly lacking, and the University has to depend upon facili- 
 ties put at its disposal by members of its clinical faculty who 
 have connections with hospitals in the city and who in return 
 for their connection with the College place these hospital 
 facilities at its disposal. The State, through its University, 
 l should own and control its own hospitals. Unless immediate 
 steps are taken to supply the proper clinical facilities to the 
 College of Medicine of the University of Illinois and to supply 
 1 better facilities for its College of Dentistry, the University 
 may as well close those departments. Fortunately, for the 
 good name of the State, and its educational interest in medi- 
 cine and dentistry, the Department of Public Welfare of the 
 State saw the opportunity to promote the health and wel- 
 fare of the people by establishing in co-operation with the 
 University a great group of State hospitals. An arrangement 
 
 13 
 
was made between the Department of Public Welfare and the 
 University whereby the Department is to erect a group of 
 hospitals in Chicago which offer clinical facilities to the Uni- 
 versity College of Medicine, while the University is to erect 
 adjacent thereto and on State land research laboratories, li- 
 braries, and classrooms to be used and operated in connec- 
 tion with the clinical hospitals. It is one of the greatest plans 
 ever conceived for medical education and research in the pro- 
 motion of public health. The attention of every citizen of 
 Chicago should be directed to this great project which is de- 
 scribed in some detail by the Dean of the College of Medi- 
 cine and the Director of Public Welfare in a recent number 
 of The Modern Hospital. Land has been purchased and the 
 foundations laid for several of these buildings. The advance 
 in the cost of construction has made it impossible to finish 
 those projected for this biennium. The project will require 
 for its completion appropriations aggregating $2,500,000, and 
 the budgets of the Department of Public Welfare and the 
 University will make provision for further work. The mem- 
 bers of this Association should acquaint themselves with this 
 project and lend it their support. 
 
 Legislative Budget 
 
 To meet the needs of the University, the Board of Trus- 
 tees has decided to lay before the legislature a budget calling 
 for $5,250,000 a year from the State for all purposes. The 
 Trustees propose that $4,000,000 per year be appropriated for 
 operation, maintenance, equipment, and certain extensions, 
 $2,500,000 of which will come from the existing two-thirds of 
 a mill tax and $1,500,000 per year from general revenue. 
 
 They further propose an appropriation of $250,000 a year 
 for each year of the biennium for the specific purpose of start- 
 ing a new group of agricultural buildings, and a further ap- 
 propriation of $1,000,000 per year during the next biennium 
 for other buildings that should be started within that period 
 to meet the University’s growing needs. 
 
 14 
 
Tn addition to the foregoing the Board of Trustees will 
 ask for legislation changing somewhat the present financial 
 policy with reference to the University. In the first place, 
 it will request that the tax rate he made one mill on the dollar 
 of assessed valuation as it used to he instead of two-thirds of 
 a mill as at present. If this is done, the annual income from 
 that source will he approximately $4,000,000, the amount the 
 Trustees are requesting for operation and maintenance for 
 each year of the next biennium. 
 
 In order to make it possible for the University to have a 
 continuous policy with reference to building, the Board will 
 ask the legislature to pass an additional tax levy of one- 
 fourth of a mill, which as above stated, is to be sought for 
 the next two years through specific appropriations for that 
 purpose, to provide the $1,000,000 per year for the building 
 needs of the University. 
 
 Your Committee’s Recommendations 
 
 The most careful study which we have been able to give 
 this whole matter convinces ns that conditions at the Uni- 
 versity are far short of what they should be because of in- 
 adequate financial support. We believe that the requests for 
 appropriations and changes in the mill tax law which the 
 Board has decided to lay before the legislature are reasonable 
 and should be granted. We are of the opinion that the amount 
 of money asked for is reasonable, and can be readily justified. 
 It is considerably below that which is being requested by the 
 universities of several other states, whose student enrollments 
 are less than that of Illinois. The sum in the aggregate is 
 not large for a state of the population and wealth of Illinois. 
 The proposed budget calls for an appropriation of $4,000,000 
 per year for operation, maintenance, etc., as against $2,500,000 
 now secured, an increase of only 60 per cent instead of the 
 large amount which the doubling of the student body and the 
 reduced purchasing power of the dollar would seem to call for. 
 
 
 15 
 
We are informed that this moderate increase has been asked 
 because of the anticipation of a gradual lowering of inflated 
 values and reduction of the cost of living. The larger part 
 of the money for operation will go into wages and salaries 
 of new and existing positions, and for supplies, and a 60 per 
 cent increase for these purposes seems not unreasonable. 
 
 Your committee, therefore, recommends that The Chicago 
 Association of Commerce again take active part before the 
 appropriations committees of the legislature in furthering the 
 interests of the University by urging that the financial plan 
 of the Trustees be adopted as submitted. 
 
 (Signed) WILLIAM P. SIDLEY, Chairman, 
 AUGUSTUS S. PEABODY, 
 
 C. M. MODERWELL, 
 FREDERICK H. SCOTT. 
 
 Approved March 4, 192.1 
 
 Executive Committee 
 
 The Chicago Association of Commerce