ASTP AT OSC


Major Players

Edwin Bertran Lemon, B.S., Dean of Administration; Coordinator of Army Specialized Training Program.
Lieutenant Colonel Glen Merrill Webster, B.S., Professor of Military Science and Tactics; Commandant.
Francois Archibald Gilfillan, Ph.D., Dean of the School of Science.
George Walter Gleeson, Ch.E., Assistant Dean of the School of Engineering and Industrial Arts.
Clair Van Norman Langton, Dr. P.H., Ed.D. Director of the Division of Physical Education.
Mahlon Ellwood Smith, Ph.D., Dean of Lower Division and Service Departments.

Unit 3900

Unit 3900 of the Army Specialized Training Program at Oregon State College was the first to be established in the Ninth Service Command. The training program began in March 1943 with a group of 381 soldier students, and the group of 11 men who received certificates at special field exercises September 29, 1943, were among the first in the United States to complete the AST work. In the summer period the number of soldier students at Oregon State College was increased to 1,354; in the fall it was 1,279 and in the winter it was 1,260.

Program

The ASTP term is a twelve-week period. An interval of one week is provided between terms. The number of terms varies according to curricula. The program is divided into two phases: Basic and Advanced. The Basic phase is roughly equivalent to the first one and one-half years of a college course; it comprises three twelve-week terms and is in general prerequisite to the work of the Advanced phase except for students whose prior education has included the Basic phase requirements. The Advanced phase, opening with courses ordinarily taken in the second half of the sophomore year, carries the student to a point of development commensurate with the Army's needs; in general this point is reached in four terms or less.

Credit

The curricula for the Army Specialized Training Program were prepared under the supervision of the Army by a group of outstanding teachers suggested by the American Council on Education and with the cooperation of an advisory committee composed of ten leading college and university presidents. In the opinion of this advisory committee the ASTP curricula are at the under- graduate and graduate level and are worthy of appropriate credit toward academic degrees. Suggestions have been made of the amount of credit that might properly be granted for the various phases of the work, but in all cases the de- termination of the credit to be allowed falls within the province of the institution that accepts the credit.

The regular faculty of Oregon State College, augmented by additional instructors to care for the increased numbers in certain fields and for new subjects, has provided all the instruction for the AST program. From the beginning, it has been the aim of the instructional staff to conduct the courses in the manner that the Army desired, but at the same time effort has been made to maintain as nearly as possible standard academic levels of achievement. The AST courses have been evaluated in terms of regular courses in order that students in AST Unit 3900 may receive for their studies academic credit applicable at Oregon State College and at other universities and colleges. Students who began their AST-work at Oregon State College in March or June 1943 and who had had sufficient previous college work (some of them already held baccalaureate degrees) were able in some cases to complete requirements for an Oregon State College degree at the graduation exercises in December 1943 and Match 1944.

Curricula

The following curricula have been offered at Oregon State College under Army contracts in the Army Specialized Training Program: Basic-Phase Curriculum, "R Term;" Basic-Phase Curriculum BE-1; Basic-Phase Curriculum B-1; Advanced-Phase Tentative Curriculum 4E; Advanced- Phase Curriculum AEt-S4, Communications; Advanced-Phase Curriculum 0-1, Term 9a, Chemical -Engineering, Chemistry, Chemistry (Sanitary Engineering Option), Civil Engineering, Civil Engineering (Sanitary Engineering Option), Electrical Engineering, Engineering, Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering (Industrial Engineering Option), Science; Advanced-Phase Curriculum 4A-1, Term 4a, Civil, Electrical, and Mechanical Engineering; Advanced-Phase Curriculum 4A-2, Chemical Engineering; Advanced-Phase Curriculum AE, Advanced Engineering Special I ; Advanced-Phase Curriculum CE-1, Civil Engineering; Advanced-Phase Curriculum EE-1, Electrical Engineering, (Communication and Power Specialists, Communication Specialists, Power Specialists) ; Advanced-Phase Curriculum ME-1, Mechanical Engineering; Advanced-Phase Curriculum 71, Foreign Area and Language Studies; Advanced-Phase Curriculum 704, 705, Foreign Area and Language Studies, "B Plan." Under the various curricular headings below, the courses offered are listed according to the departments offering the instruction. As listed the courses are designated by the numbers assigned in the Army Specialized Training Division syllabi and, in addition, by a series of numbers assigned by Oregon State College for more precise identification. Detailed course descriptions and syllabi of all the courses are contained in the official bulletins of the Army Specialized Training Division.

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