. , i : FOREWORD To be the bearer of good tidings is always a privilege and a pleasure. In transmitting the Annual Report of the California State Polytechnic College for 1953-54. I feel strongly that I am bringing to you such tidings. Unusual progress was achieved during the year on the long delayed building program of the College. The new Dairy and Poultry units were completed and the new Power Plant and Mechanical Engineering Laboratory will be ready for occupancy during the summer of 1954. Plans are ready and site preparation begun for the Science and Classroom building on the San Luis Obispo Campus. The Kellogg-Voorbis staff has worked with the State Division of Architecture and the State Department of Finance to complete plans for the first building in the development of the Kellogg Campus. Enrollment which began a decline from its all-time high with the opening of the Korean campaign began to climb back up again during the year. Winter quarter registration was larger than that of the year preceding. while in the spring quarter the increase over the 1953 figure was greater than 8 per cent. Surveys made during the year by government and educational agencies revealed that the undergraduate enrollment in the Agriculture Division was the largest in the 11 western states. that the Engineering Division has the third largest undergraduate student body in the West, and that the Agricultural Engineering Department has become the largest in the nation. Increasing evidence of the quality of the graduates of the College has accumulated during the year. The most convincing evidence on this point is found in the continuing demand for the services of the graduates and in the character of the employment Opportunities offered them. Especially heartening was the collection of testimonials received this year from employers of agriculture graduates of the College. To prepare material for the State College Agricultural Education Survey Committee which visited both campuses this spring. letters of inquiry were sent to employers of all graduates during the last twelve years. The evaluations received in reply were gratifying beyond all expectations. The increase in enrollment. the demand for graduates of the College and the excellent performance of alumni on the job are all fruits of the consistent application by the College of its philosophy of occupationally centered education. These favorable results are further indication of the soundness of bringing the freshman student into immediate contact with practical aspects of his major field, of learning by doing, and of the project method of instruction. Nor could these results have been attained without the contributions to the work of the College made by the State Board of Education. State Department of Education and the legislature. To these good friends of the College I express my sincerest appreciation for their cooperation and support. Respectfully submitted. "President