# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1950_S1008
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

810 SEMINARIES AND COLLEGES

to males, others include women students or even studet
preparing for church service apart from theology or teachin
Everyone concerned in the program would be benefited.
an ‘explicit statement of objectives.

2. Lack of uniformity in general policy. Certain advantages
to be derived from varied policies of the Districts governir
student aid, such as local adaptability, opportunity for ex=3
perimentation, and the stimulation of new ideas. The Dis
trict aid system, however, suffers from an excessive lack
uniformity in fundamental principles. Student applicants,
many of whom have shifted with their families from one
part of the country to another in accordance with the:
increasing mobility of our population, need to have. an;
understanding of uniform fund requirements. More impor’
tant, the synodical colleges, which are drawing from ever.

- wider areas of the Church, will be in a better position to
help students make use of available funds if the policies
generally standardized. It is also apparent from the Districts:
themselves that a set of workable policies would make their;
role in the student aid program more effective if certai
basic agreements were reached. Instead of having 32 dif-g
ferent systems of student aid, the Church would then have
one system, with some modifications for local purposes.

3. Lack of adequate integration with the colleges attended
subsidized students. Since scholarship is apparently to
one of the bases upon which the awards are to be made, th
colleges should be tied into the system more closely. Th
present rather general failure to consult with the schoo
in establishing scholastic criteria must be a handicap fo:
the awards committees. The colleges probably need to agre
upon the basic minimum scholastic requirements.

Practice now is widely varied, and in a comparison of Dis
trict with District, injustices might seem to result. Samples
of forms received from every District surveyed indicate th
need for standardization in establishing the criteria. Over- :
dependence upon the local pastor and insufficient use o

the personal interview technique suggest areas requirin:
improvement.

5. The absence of a central clearinghouse of information. Th
Church and the church colleges have a vital interest in th
- District student aid programs. At present they have no way.
of ascertaining the effectiveness of the system. No central
agency receives data on the number of students assisted, on
the criteria of the disbursements, or on other importan’
aspects of the undertaking in the Districts, In addition, the
Districts have no way of exchanging ideas except by informal. 4
correspondence. And the colleges are bewildered by the
variety of practices in District aid. Until a central agency
receives reports and sends. out information, the system will
continue to lack uniformity of policies and standardization -:
of practices. .-