THE PRECEPTORIAL SYSTEM

Tutorial ideas have, for the past few years, been foreshadowing the adoption of the preceptorial system described in the report. Proctors and History i section men, in the B groups, and Faculty advisers have all contributed to the present conception of preceptors. It was merely a question of time before it expanded further.

If there is any one function of the preceptorial system which can be called truly new in the Freshman scheme, it is the outside reading on general subjects. This is a contribution peculiar to the tutorial idea. Heretofore it has been a principle that Freshman are not capable of really independent work. The proposal is, in effect, an admission of the exception to the rule. But the individual work will have to be limited.

The majority of the Freshmen will doubtlessly stay where they belong,--in the classroom, in the small conference groups, and in the lecture halls. They will do the outside work assigned to them, but little more. In most cases it will be wise to assign but little outside work. The men of greater ability and avidity however, will be less likely to loaf, for there will be something more to do after the easy B's and easier C's are collected.

Within these limits, the preceptorial system will have to find its place, in order that the slow man will not be crowded with work, or the bright man allowed to shirk. Even where little independent reading is done, it will help in choosing fields of concentration. It is to be hoped that the system will be allowed to grow slowly, and to be considered in the main as a privilege, and not either a right or a rule.