# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1950_S1004
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

306 SEMINARIES AND. COLLEGES

upon the expressed intent of Synod, the Board of Directors has:
formally assigned the funds which became available for this pur-,
pose to the jurisdiction of the Board for Higher Education. .
Your Board has made a detailed study of the speech instruc"
tion arrangements and the equipment available at all of our col-.4
leges and seminaries. This survey indicates that Synod’s objective :
in allocating such money cannot be fully achieved if the available.
funds are spent only for laboratory equipment. This situation is 4
created by the fact that the means for effective use of such equip-
ment in the training of our Church’s professional workers are
lacking at many of our institutions. We refer to two basic de-.
ficiencies: __ ;
1, The curriculum does not include required courses in publi
speaking.
2. There is a need for trained men to teach such courses. es
Your board proposes to undertake a program which will stim-.:
ulate institutions to introduce required courses into the curriculum.
and to assist instructors in acquiring the necessary qualifications .
for effective teaching of the subject. To devote some of the avail-
able funds to this broader purpose requires the permissive legisla-
tion by Synod. Accordingly, we recommend
That the Board for Higher Education be authorized to dis-
burse the speech funds already made available to it through.
the Centennial Thankoffering for all purposes which in the
Board’s. opinion will contribute toward improvement in the

program of training professional and pre-professional students
for greater proficiency in public speaking.
We recommend further :

That the Board for Higher Education be authorized to.
approve the introduction of a course in public speaking into
the curriculum or the substitution of such a course for cur-
rently required courses at institutions where present curricular
requirements make it impossible for ministerial students to
take such training as part of their regular program of in-
struction.

ACTION
Upon recommendation of Committee 1, Synod resolved:

Resolution 29 ;

Wuereas, Synod at its Centennial Convention established
a fund to purchase “speech-laboratory equipment” for the improve-
ment of public speaking instruction at the colleges and semi-
naries; and i.

Wuereas, Synod’s Board for Higher Education points to two
basic deficiencies which have prevented our educational institutions
from fully achieving the intended goal (1. The curriculum does not