The Missouri Valley Plan
URING the past three years Missouri Valley College has been gradually evolving a new system of higher education designed to integrate the whole college program. This change has centered around the curriculum. Formerly, as in most institutions, a chaotic array of courses was laid before the student for sampling, with the hope that in some inexplicable way a liberal-arts education might be acquired. The individual considered himself not a student of liberal-arts culture, but rather a student one semester of English literature, American history, zoology, and labor problems, and perhaps the next semester of three or four other courses. If there was any synthesis of knowledge acquired, it was only by accident. The Bachelor's degree for the most part represented only the passing of a hotchpotch of departmental offerings totaling I 20 hours and I 20 gradepoints. The task of the student was the completion of I 20 fragments of knowledge, for I20 FOK= i 4B. Under the new system the passing of courses and the accumulation of hours and grade-points have been subordinated to the more important tasks of acquiring an integrated view of the whole field of liberal-arts culture and a reasonable depth of knowledge in a limited field of learning. The readjustment of objectives in the student's mind has been accomplished largely by establishing two major standards for graduation: first, a satisfactory showing in a comprehensive examination in general culture covering English language, English and foreign literature, history and the social sciences, current topics, fine arts, the sciences, and public speaking; and second, a satisfactory attainment in a comprehensive examination in the student's field of concentration. To enable the student to meet these standards the curriculum has been completely reorganized. The first step was the co-ordination of departments within divisions, each under the supervision of a chairman who by virtue of his position becomes a member of the curriculum committee. These divisions are Language and Literature; Social Science; Science; Philosophy, Religion, and Education; Music and Art; and Physical Education. Following logically this reorganization came the introduction of divisional courses mostly of the syn-