# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1947_S210
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

208 SEMINARIES AND COLLEGES

opportunities. A non-resident Counselor is often apt to be away
at the times when students are most in need of him. His work
is made easier by being one of the group.

7. Quick, mature judgment, tempered by humor, is often the
saving grace in an otherwise trying situation. Unexpected in-
cidents often happen in a dormitory, and the way in which they
are handled make or break the Counselor.

8. A genial, unruffled disposition will “carry a lot of weight”
with students. They are quick to appreciate the qualities of con-
geniality and calmness. ,

9. A Counselor must always be tolerant of the opinions of his
students. A scoffing attitude puts distance between them. Pa-
tience is a companion attribute. It is often sorely tried, but with-
out it a Counselor may as well retire.

10. The need for a good scholastic background is readily ap-
parent in terms of ability to advise or tutor students.

11. A Counselor must know when to listen and when to talk.
Probably more interviews and conversations have been ruined
by his inability to “listen well” than by any other one thing.

Practical Considerations

It would seem to be desirable to have the Housemaster come
into contact with actual teaching problems through an assignment
which would enable him to do a limited amount of teaching par-
ticularly in the field of religion. An arrangement whereby the
Housemaster is in continuous residence in the dormitory, or in a
residence attached to a dormitory, offers additional advantages.
The entire program will be impaired to a critical extent if the
school fails to provide adequate counseling facilities or fails to
give proper evidence of the value it places upon such a counseling
program and its effective direction. No cost should be spared to
make available adequate living quarters as well as effective coun-
seling facilities for the Housemaster in a dormitory.

It would be well, also, to consider the possibility of according
full recognition to the status of Housemasters by providing for
attendance at all faculty meetings and giving careful consideration
to the potential effects on the guidance program of any academic
proposals. Equality in salary would be another factor indicating
the importance attached to this position.

Faculty Status
It might be difficult to determine whether a candidate has suit-
able qualifications for the work if it were felt to be necessary to
first approach such a candidate by extending a formal call. There