# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1950_S1018
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

320 SEMINARIES AND COLLEGES

yet

duction, the teacher demand, and the teacher shortage over a lon
period of time in our Church. The shortage of men teachers ang
the gradual feminization of our teaching force received speci :

concluded that our teacher shortage has existed for many yearsig
that it is acute at the present time; and that it will continue, 0:
grow worse, in the future. ,

The problem of increasing the number of synodically trained.
teachers, particularly men teachers, in the most economical. and.
flexible manner, received considerable attention. Alternative plans,#
one involving a $2,000,000 building program at our two teacher-
training institutions, were under consideration. The fears of ana
overproduction were analyzed. The plans which are recommend e
below are believed by the committee to be economical, flexible, an
adequate to meet the present urgent need for more synodically,
trained teachers. Specifically this committee therefore recomme nd

1. That River Forest be continued as a senior college. How

_ @ver, that it be reserved for men students. With a potential enrolls
‘ment of 500 men students, this source would probably provide :
annual graduating class of 100 men teachers.

2. That Seward be continued as a coeducational teacher-train-
ing institution. With a potential enrollment of 350 students, this
source should provide an additional 25 graduate men teachers. 4

3. That a larger supply of synodically trained teachers (women):
should be provided by Seward and other synodical institutions, as
Winfield, and possibly Oakland, Bronxville, Fort Wayne, and
St. Paul. These institutions may be expected to provide an annual
supply of 250 synodically trained women teachers, particularly if
the plans recommended by the Board for Higher Education are. ;
adopted at this Synod. Valparaiso University has consented to 4
serve as a supplementary source of Christian day school teachers, .34
if, after exploring all synodical sources, the needs are still not
fully met.

4, The recruitment of young men for our teacher-training in- 4
stitutions will require persistent co-operative effort if the current: r
trend toward feminization, of our teaching force is to be halted. a
And this committee believes that it should be halted before we lose
what we had, a system of elementary schools in which men teachers e
predominated. Past efforts to recruit young men have been sys- .4
tematic but still disappointing. The committee believes that the
recommended steps in the recruitment of more men students will
make a substantial contribution toward supplying an adequate
supply of synodically trained teachers.