Seventy Years Of The Worcester Polytechnic Institute: Page 345

and alumni cooperation, mounted steadily from the 522 of 1925 to a high point of 681 in 1931. An entering class of 205 in 1929, followed by two classes nearly as large, was responsible for this maximum number. The crowded condition of class rooms and laboratories, together with a marked inferiority in the lower brackets of the classes, was responsible for the development of a faculty plan for a selective process of admission. Effective in 1932, freshmen classes were to be restricted to 150 members. For various reasons the plan was never fully put into effect.

The increases in enrollment were not affected by the first increase in tuition, from $230 to $280 in 1928, but the second increase, to $330 in 1932, was a temporary deterrent. The added income, plus a high rate of interest on investments and the annual gifts from the Alumni Fund, materially increased the faculty salary budget, which was expanded 2-2 per cent between 1925 and 1930. The staff was also enlarged from seventy to seventy-seven during that period. Future prospects of older faculty members were improved by the establishment, in 1929, of a reserve fund to increase retirement pay to the amount originally anticipated by teachers under the Carnegie plan.

There were no major construction projects during the decade after 1927, although minor campus improvements were numerous, most of them financed by individual trustees. Curbs and sidewalks were built on West Street and Institute Road, adjacent to Sanford Riley Hall; driveways were paved or regraded, and various campus walks were constructed. Floodlights to aid football practice were installed-, a public address system was placed in the gymnasium; much equipment and attractive furniture were added to the dormitory, chiefly by Mrs. M. B. Kaven; and the Class of 1930 added to the attractiveness of Sinclair Hall by a contribution of stained glass windows, containing appropriate seals. The power equipment was modernized in 1930 by the installation of Riley stokers in each of the three vertical boilers.

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Last Modified: Fri Jul 30 11:15:25 EDT 1999