University of Virginia Library

MARY WASHINGTON COLLEGE MATTERS

REPORT OF THE MARY WASHINGTON COMMITTEE

Mrs. Wailes, speaking for the Committee, made the following report.

Home Economics

The present program of courses leading to the degree of Bachelor of Science in Home Economics
does not qualify a student to teach home economics. The Virginia State Department of Education has
notified the College to this effect and has also informed prospective students who have inquired about
the home economics courses at the College. It is suggested that students majoring in home economics be
permitted to take, as electives, the courses that would qualify them to teach home economics if they so
desire. In order to make this possible the following courses would have to be made available:

Home Management Residence. Coordination of the various phases of home economics education
through training and experience in the many activities involved in home management. Residence in the
Home Management House required. Six credits.

Principles of Teaching Home Economics. Procedures and problems in the teaching of home economics
are given extensive consideration. Various types of home economics courses are evaluated. Three
credits.

Supervised Teaching in Home Economics. In the senior year students will teach under the supervision
of an approved specialist in home economics. Six credits.

These courses will be available only to students who are working for the degree of B. S. in
Home Economics. Thus students who receive this specialized degree will be able to qualify to teach the
subject if they wish. The inclusion of these courses as electives does not change essentially the program
for the B. S. in Home Economics degree approved by the Rector and Visitors.

The College already has a home management house. It is merely a question of making this course
available to the students. The course in the Teaching of Home Economics would give the students in this
field similar opportunities that students in Secondary Education now have who wish to teach in high school
in academic fields.

A college offering the specialized degree of Bachelor of Science in Home Economics should make
it possible for students to teach this subject if they wish to do so, especially in view of the urgent
need for teachers with a thorough academic background such as that now a part of the required curriculum
of every student at Mary Washington. The Committee from the Board on Mary Washington unanimously approved
this recommendation at its meeting on February 27, 1951.

Whereupon the following resolution was adopted:

RESOLVED by the Board of Visitors of The Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia
that Mary Washington College be and is hereby authorized to make available Home Management
Residence, Principles of Teaching Home Economics, and Supervised Teaching in Home Economics, on
an elective basis for students working for the special B. S. degree in Home Economics.

Elementary Education

Students at Mary Washington who wish to teach in high school may take as electives the
courses necessary to qualify for the Collegiate Professional Certificate. Their major, of course,
is in some academic subject, such as English, history, French, etc. They take a course in Secondary
Education and one in Supervised Teaching if they wish to qualify for the teaching certificate.

Students majoring in psychology have requested that we make available a six-hour elective
course in Elementary Education similar to the one in Secondary Education now offered. In
this way, students interested in working with children of elementary school age would be able
to take an elective course in this field similar to the one now offered prospective teachers in
high school.

The offering of such a course would not affect the cooperative program in education
now in operation by which the student takes her first two years at Mary Washington and the junior
and senior years in the Department of Education at the University of Virginia. This program is a
major in Education and leads to the degree of B. S. in Education. The six-hour course in Elementary
Education that is proposed for Mary Washington will be offered as on elective for students
majoring in psychology. Many of these students are now going into positions in which some acquaintance
with the principles and procedures of elementary education is highly desirable.

The offering of the courses mentioned above will not in any way affect the college as a
liberal arts institution, and as stated above, the Committee of the Board of Mary Washington
College unanimously approved both of these recommendations on February 27, 1951.

The following resolution was adopted.

RESOLVED by the Board of Visitors of The Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia
that Mary Washington College be and is hereby authorized to make available to students
majoring in psychology a six-hour elective course in Elementary Education similar to the one in
Secondary Education now being offered.

STUDENT NEWSPAPER

Dr. Combs stated that both he and the staff of the student newspaper at Mary Washington
College were very much disturbed by an article appearing in "The Cavalier Daily" stating that the
administration at Mary Washington College exercised censorship over the student newspaper. President
Combs stated that the editorial staff of the paper had been to see him concerning the matter.
He stated that for many years there had been a faculty sponsor to assist the girls in
establishing standards of literature, etc. He stated that there had never been the slightest
censorship of the paper by the administration.

Dr. Combs added that he had told the young ladies to forget about the matter. Mr. Black
suggested that if "The Cavalier Daily" had made an error in its editorial about censorship at
Mary Washington College, that the error should be corrected, and that the young ladies should
write the editor of "The Cavalier Daily" and call his attention to the error.

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On motion the meeting was then adjourned.