EXAMINATIONS FOR STATE SCHOLARSHIPS IN CORNELL UNIVERSITY. I. THE LAW-REGULATIONS — INSTRUCTIONS TO EXAMINERS. STATE OF NEW YORK: DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, To School Commissioners and City Superintendents: The competitive examination of candidates for the State scholarships in Cornell University, provided for by chapter 291 of the Laws of 1887, will be held in each county on Saturday, June 1, 1895, commencing at 9 A. M. The examinations will be in charge of the city superintendents and the school commissioners in each county, under such regulations as may be agreed upon to secure an examination which shall be fair in all respects. Village superintendents are not authorized to act. THE LAW. Following is the law as amended by chapter 291 of the Laws of 1887: $9. The several departments of study in the said university shall be open to applicants for admission thereto at the lowest rates of expense co sistent with its welfare and efficiency, and without distinction as to rank, class, previous occupation or locality. But, with a view to equalize its advantages to all parts of the State, the institution shall receive students to the number of one each year from each Assembly district in this State, to be selected as hereinafter provided, and shall give them instruction in any or all the prescribed branches of study in any department of said institution, free of any tuition fee or of any incidental charges to be paid to said university, unless such incidental charges shall have been made to compensate for material consumed by said s udents or for damages needlessly or purposely done by them to the property of said university. The said free instruction shall, moreover, be accorded to said students in consideration of their superior ability and as a reward for superior scholarship in the academies and public schools of this Stat-. Said students shall be selected as the Legislature may from time to time direct, and until otherwise ordered, as follows: 1. A competitive exam nation, under the direction of the Department of Public Instruction, shall be held at the county courthouse in each county of the State, upon the first Saturday of June in each year, by the city superintendents and the school commissioners of the county. 2. None but pupils of at least 16 years of age and of six months' standing in the common schools or academies of the State, during the year immediately preceding the examination, shall be eligible. 3. Such examination shall be upon such subjects as may be designated by the president of the university. Question Papers prepared by the Depa tment of Public Instruction shall be used, and the examination papers handed in by the different candidates shall be retained by the examiners and f rwarded to the Department of Public Instruction. 4. The examiners shall, within ten days after such examination, make and file in the Depart ment of Public Instruction a certificate in which they shall name all the candidates examined and specify the order of their excellence, and such candidates shall, in the order of their excellence, become entitled to the scholarships belonging to their respective counties. 5. In case any candidate who may become enti led to a scholarship shall fail to claim the same or shall fail to pass the entrance examination at such university, or shall die, resign or absent himself without leave, be expelled, or for any other reason shall abandon his right to or vacate such scholarship, either before or after entering thereupon, then the candidate certified to be next entitled in the same courty shall become entitled to the same. In case any scholarship belonging to any county shall not be claimed by any candidate resident in that county, the State Superintendent may fill the same by appointing there to some candidate first entitled to a vacancy in some other county, after no ice has been served on the superintendent or commissioners of schools of sa d county. In any such case the president of the university shall at once notify the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and that officer shall immediately notify the candidate next entitled to the vacant scholarship of his right to the same. 6. Any State student who shall make it appear to the satisfaction of the president of the university that he requires leave of absence for the purpose of earning funds with which to defray his living expenses while in attendance, may, in the discretion of the president, be granted such leave of absence, and may be allowed a period not exceeding six years from the commencement thereof for the completion of his course at said university. '7. In certifying the qualifications of the candidates preference shall be given (where other qualifications are equal) to the children of those who have died in the military or naval service of the United States. 8. Notices of the time and place of the examination shall be given in all the schools having pupils eligible thereto, prior to the first day of January in each year, and shall be published once a week for three weeks in at least two newspapers in each county immediately prior to the holding of such examinations. The cost of publishing such notices and the necessary expenses of such examinations shall be a charge upon each county respectively, and shall be audited and paid by the board of supervisors thereof. The State Superintendent of Public Instruction shall attend to the giving and publishing of the notices hereinbefore provided for. He may, in h s discretion, direct that the examination in any county may be held at some other time and place than that above specified, in which case it shall be held as directed by him. He shall keep full records in his department of the reports of the different examiners, showing the age, post-office address and standing of each candidate, and shall notify candidates of their rights under this act. He shall determine any controversies which may arise under the provisions of this act. He is hereby charged with the general supervision and direction of all mat ters in connection with the filling of sich scholarships. Students eaj ying the privileges of free scholarships shall, in common with the other students of said university, be subject to all of the examinations, rules an i requirements of the board of trustees or faculty of said university, except as herein provided. NOTICE OF EXAMINATION. Notice of this examination is to be published once a week for three weeks prior thereto in two newspapers in each county. At the proper time you will advise with the other officers, who with you are to have charge of the examination in your county, and will jointly prepare. sign and publish the required notice. A form of notice for publication which may be used, will be found on the last page of this communication. You will instruct publishers of newspapers to forward their pills for such publication to the board of supervisors of your county, as the law makes the cost of publication a county charge. In addition to the newspaper notice required by law, please endeavor to procure general newspaper comment upon the matter, and otherwise exert every reasonable effort to bring the examination to the attention of all schools having eligible candidates. It is the purpose of the law to cause the free scholarship privileges to be brought to the attention of the people of the State, and to hold them as prizes before all the pupils of the academies and common schools who are desirous of obtaining a collegiate education, to the end that the scholarships may be filled, and that the opportunities which they offer may be brought to as many as possible of the most deserving children of the commonwealth. WHERE EXAMINATIONS MAY BE HELD. Whlie the aw provides that the examination shall be held in the county courthouse in each county, it, at the same time, permits it to be held elsewhere by the direction of the Superin tendent of Public Instruction. It is the evident purpose of the law to provide at least one place where the examination may of right be held, hence the courthouse is designated. It would undoubtedly be better to hold the examination in a school building in all cases where the local school officers will conseat thereto, which they will undoubtedly do in most instances. Where such consent is obtained, you may insert such place in the notice without communicating with the Depart nent for direction in the premises. No expense must be incurred on this account, however. Unless school buildings are offered free of cost, the examination will be held at the county courthouse. HOW QUESTION PAPERS WILL be Sent, In all counties having but one school commissioner, printed question papers, answers, blank forms for reports, blank statements of candidates, etc., will be forwarded to him on the twenty-fifth day of May next. In count'es having two or more school commissioners, or one or more city superintendents, they will confer together and advise me promptly to whom the question papers, etc., should be sent. SPECIAL ATTENTION. Examiners will call the attention of all interested to the following: 1. Candidates must be actual residents of this State. 2. Candidates must be at least 16 years of age. 3. Candidates must show that they have attended a common school or academy of this State for at least six months during the year immediately preceding the date of the examination. Teaching can not be considered equivalent to attendance. Attendance at private schools or in normal departments of normal schools does not comply with the provisions of the law. 4. Candidates should in all cases attend the examinations in the counties in which they actually reside. 5. No person should enter an examination unless prepared to accept a scholarship, should one be awarded. 6. No person can receive a Cornell State scholarship who does not enter an examination. 7. Any person appointed to a scholarship and afterward declining the same, forfeits it absolutely, and the vacancy is filled from the list of other eligible candidates. The candidate is eligible, however, to enter a succeeding examination by meeting the conditions required. 8. It is advisable for candidates who fail to obtain scholarships to take the entrance examination at the university in September, as all vacancies will be filled by appointments from can didates on the eligible lists who have passed the entrance examination and registered in the university. No direct assurance can be given that a scholarship can be awarded, as there may be no vacancies. SUBJECTS FOR EXAMINATION. The president of Cornell University has designated the following subjects for the examination of 1895, viz.: English, algebra, arithmetic, and plane geometry, and either Latin, French or German, at the option of the candidate. SCOPE OF SUBJECT-MATTER. upon one of several In English. The candidate will be required to write a short English composition - correct in spelling, punctuation, grammar, division by paragraphs, and expression subjects announced at the time of the examination. For 1895: Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice and Twelfth Night, Milton's L'Allegro, Il Pen. serosa, Comus, and Lycidas, Longfellow's Evangeline, the Sir Roger de Coverley Papers, Macaulay's Essays on Milton and on Addison, Webster's First Bunker Hill Oration, Irving's Sketch Book, Scott's Abbot. In algebra, through quadratic equations, and including radicals and the theory of exponents; as much as is contained in the corresponding parts of the larger treatises of Newcomb, Olney, Ray, Robinson, Tochunter, Wells, Wentworth, or of Charles Smith's Elementary Algebra, or Hall & Knight's Elementary Algebra. In arithmetic, including the metric system of weights and measures; as much as is contained in the larger text-books. In plane geometry: as much as is contained in the first six books of elementary geometry. In Latin: four books of Cæsar's Commentaries or an equivalent with a good knowledge of the grammar. In French: the amount of French necessary would be represented by the whole of Whitney's Practical French Grammar, and by the first hundred pages of Super's French Reader, and the whole of Crane and Brua's Tableaux de la Révolution Française. In German: the amount of German necessary would be represented by the reading matter in Brandt's Reader, or by the larger portion of Whitney's Reader, and by the amount of grammar in Brandt's, Joynes - Messiner's or Whitney's Grammar. Preparation by the so-called natural" method should be supplemented by a thorough drill in Syntax. 64 METHOD OF CONDUCTING THE EXAMINATIONS. It is suggested that the manner of procedure be as follows: Upon calling the class to order, have each member fill out with ink, in his own handwriting, the blank statement of name, residence, post-office address, etc. Collect the same and dismiss any candidate whose statement does not indicate his eligibility to the scholarship un ler the provisions of the statute and return these certificates with your report. Next, submit the question papers on arithmetic and algebra. Continue the sitting upon the two subjects named without interruption from 9 to 12 o'clock, unless candidates finish prior to that time. Close the sitting at 12 o'clock in any event, having notified the class at the opening that this will be done. Direct that the candidates write their answers [in ink upon uniform paper supplied by this Department. You will supply to applicants ink and pens, forwarding your bill for the same, together with the bills for publishing the notices of examination, to the board of supervisors of your county, which is required by the law to audit and pay these necessary expenses. Keep the answers in each subject upon a sheet of paper by themselves. Let the afternoon sitting for the examination in English, plane geometry, and Latin, French or German begin at 1:30 and end at 5 o'clock, unless candidates finish their work earlier. Each answer should be marked upon a scale having a maximum of ten. Each absolutely correct answer would receive ten credits, and a correspondingly less number as it approximated correctness; an absolutely erroneous answer should be marked with a zero. There are 25 questions in all. If all were correctly answered the candidate wou'd receive 250 credits, and a correspondingly less number as he approached correctness. The aggregate number of credits received will determine the relative standing of the candidates. Examiners, immediately upon the close of the examination, will forward to the Stats Superintendent, at Albany, all papers submitted by candidates in English, Latin, French and German. The papers submitted in these subjects will be marked at the State Department. All papers submitted in other subjects will be marked by the examiners on the above basis. As soon as may be, and certainly within ten days after the examination, examiners will forward the report of all papers marked by them, signed by all city superintendents and school commissioners to the State Superintendent. All of the answer papers of all the candidates marked by examiners, together with applicants' statements, must be forwarded with the report of the examiners to the Superintendent. HOW VACANCIES WILL BE FILLED. The law now authorizes the State Superintendent to fill vacancies arising in any county, by appointing some candidate standing highest on the list in some other county after the quota of scholarships belonging to that other county has been filled. In exercising this power the following system will be followed, of which it may be well to advise the class. The examination papers of the candidates standing highest upon the list in each county (after the appointments have been made from that county) will be classified and arranged in the order of merit, and appointments will be made from this list in the order in which the names stand. If this list should be exhausted, the same course would be pursued as to candidates coming next upon the list in each county. In this way all candidates will secure such rights as their merits entitle them to, the State Superintendent will be relieved from the disagreeable duty of discriminatiɔn, and the scholarships will be equitably distributed over the territory of the State. EXAMINATIONS MUST NOT BE OMITTED. There may be cases in which the number of candidates who present themselves will be smaller than the number of scholarships belonging to the county, and in such cases it may be thought unnecessary to go through the examination. To take that course would be a mistake. Candidates will become entitled to their scholarships only after the steps indicated by the statute shall have been taken. The law must be fully complied with. Therefore, it is advised that all the proceedings be taken regularly, and that the examination papers be filed in the Department, even though the number should be so small in any county as to remove the necessity for competition between candidates. ENTRANCE EXAMINATIONS. The entrance examinations at the university will begin on June 14 and September 18, and will continue five days at each time. Successful candidates must appear at the opening of one or the other of these examinations, but as the time which will elapse between the date of the competitive examination and the June entrance examination at the university is only thirteen days, It will be impossible for this Department to notify candidates of the result of examinations sufficiently early for them to appear at the June entrance examination. All appointments will be awarded at the earliest date possible and certainly before July 1st. This Department will notify all candidates of the standing which they attained in the examinations and their rights in the premises. Very respectfully yours, J. F. CROOKER, NOTE. It will be well to read the essential portions of this circular to the class before the examination begins. |