CONSENT OF THE GOVERNED

The Scholarship Committee of New York University has circulated a questionnaire in the student body, the purpose of which is to discover the pedagogical methods which prove most satisfactory from the point of view of the undergraduate. It takes up the problem of the advisability of the final examinations, mode of presentation of courses, and the use of the library. The results of this questionary will be tabulated and presented to the faculty for their consideration. This general criticism of the methods of teaching, if it does nothing else, should at least have a stimulating effect on the existing system, of college education as it is practiced there.

Such an action on the part of the Scholarship Committee indicates the belief that student opinion on these matters is worth consideration. It may be that the results will bring no real benefits, but if the practice is continued it may set a precedent for future student participation in the government of the college. One certain outcome of this innovation will be that the faculty will for the first time be able to see in what way their efforts effect the members of their classes. This action of the Scholarship Committee tends to bring the governing body of the college into focus with the actual working of their systems, and smacks strongly of a revival of the hoary principal of government with the consent of the governed.