THE APPOINTMENTS OFFICE

The surprising expansion of the various departments of the University during the last 20 years is well exemplified by the growth of the Appointments Bureau. The Bureau was founded in 1887 by the late Frank Bolles '82, then Secretary of Harvard College, in order to stimulate a demand for undergraduate helpers, and to make independent of financial worries ambitious men of small means. The success of the Bureau was instantaneous, and about 200 men were secured employment during the first year. A few years later the Bureau was extended so as to include Harvard graduates, and in 1897 the Appointments Committee was organized, the Bureau officially recognized, and H. S. Thompson '99 was made Secretary for Appointments. In this year there were over 1000 applications.

In 1904, the Committee was superseded by the Appointments Office, which receives the applications and recommendations. Since then tremendous strides have been made. In 1904-05, 240 permanent positions were filled and 873 temporary positions, and in 1905-06, 444 permanent and 1085 temporary positions; the figures for 1906-07 are not yet available. In 1906, E. H. Wells '97 was made secretary. A serious consideration of the Office is to discourage very poor, weak and undeserving students from flooding the University.

The true aim of the Office has always been to give free aid to students seeking work, and to spread the Harvard influence, through Harvard men, all over the world. That it has been successful in the past year is shown by the fact that its appointees are distributed over 31 states and 8 foreign countries.