Business School Starts Its New Retraining Program

With an enrollment of 110 business and professional men, the first of the new courses designed to retrain executives for positions in war industry opened yesterday at the Business School.

Fifteen weeks intensive training in production problems and management is in store for the men, many of whom are already employed by firms active in war production, but have been deferred to the School for additional training.

Government Sponsored

The new course is part of the government's Engineering, Science, and Management War Training program now being carried on in 200 universities throughout the country, but is considered to occupy a unique position because of its "comprehensive scope" and the fact that the training is to be conducted at the executive level.

Ranging in age from 35 to 60, the future executives are for the most part drawn from business positions, but included among them are six lawyers, three engineers, two teachers, three auditors, two bankers, and three former Government officials. During their stay here they will live in University dormitories, but their tuition is being paid by the United States Office of Education.

The men were selected on the basis of qualifications shown in their business experience or training with war work, with special attention paid to whether or not they can adjust themselves to some new job in a field useful to the war.

McNutt Approves

At the time, the program was announced in November, Paul V. McNutt, chairman of the War Manpower Commission, expressed his approval of the scheme in a letter to President Conant. "I wish to express the approval of the War Manpower Commission of this project. I am gratified that the University is prepared to render this valuable service to war industry. The need for training in business and industrial management to serve the expanding war effort is critical."

The primary emphasis of the course will be placed upon production problems, but accounting, purchasing and management controls will also be taken up in their relation to production.

Under the Business School's "case method" of instruction, the students will enlarge their experience by studying actual problems faced by a great variety of business enterprises.