# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1911_S258
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

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Changed Procedure for the Election of Professors.

To an Honorable Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States, assembled at St. Louis, Mo., from May 10 to 20, 1911, the undersigned conference takes the liberty of submitting the following:

The previous procedure for filling professorships at the Synod's educational institutions, however well suited it may have been earlier when the Synod was smaller in scope and the number of institutions fewer, is, in our view, now in need of change, since the Synod has become so extensive and the number of institutions has increased considerably.

First, we hold that henceforth a single electoral college should not elect the professors for all the institutions; rather, there should be as many electing bodies as there are institutions — namely, that the board of control of each institution should at the same time form the electing body for it, but in conjunction with the General President, or one of the General Vice-Presidents, as representative of the whole Synod and all its institutions, as well as a pastor from one of the districts of the Synod neighboring the institution.

We base this opinion of ours on the fact that the men who occupy themselves, year in and year out, with the welfare and troubles of the institution also know its needs best and are therefore probably also best able to find the most suitable man for a vacant professorship. We also believe that under this arrangement more suitable candidates will come onto the list, and that therefore, when a call has gone out in vain, it will seldom be necessary to call for the drawing up of a new list of candidates.

Second, we hold that vacancies arising in the teaching bodies should be filled as quickly as possible, and that therefore the time for drawing up candidate lists, as well as the time for raising any objections, should each be shortened by a week. Since under such an arrangement the candidate list could be published two weeks earlier, and the electing body could also convene a week earlier after the list's publication, three weeks would thereby be gained.

Third, we hold that the election should be carried out at the place where the institution is located. This would save travel costs, since five of the electors would then already be on the spot. But above all, it would make it possible for the electing body to hold a consultation with the institution's faculty before the election, which would be of no small importance, since the faculty is familiar with the institution's circumstances and needs as no one else is.