Railway Finance (Smalley), Railway Engineering Problems (Anderson, Cooley, Hamilton, Williams, Davis, Allen), Drawing and Projections (Hamilton), Industrial History of the United States (Jones), and Investment (Jones).
Some of these courses were continued for only a few years. Courses in accounting and finance began to assume greater importance. Business Organization and Management, and the law courses, however, were continued until formal establishment of the School of Business Administration. Courses in marketing, statistics, and personnel had also been introduced.
More than twenty years before the establishment of the School of Business Administration a certificate in commerce was granted for the completion of certain prescribed work. The first reference to this certificate appears in the Calendar for 1904-5:
The course in Commerce is organized as a special course in the Department of Literature, Science, and the Arts. Its aim is to give special training in the organization and processes of modern industry and to assist the student in the selection of such general courses, offered in the department [of Political Economy], as will best supplement this training in preparation for a business life.
The course is administered by a committee of the Faculty … enrollment takes place at the beginning of the third year of residence in the University, and may be continued either for two years, leading to the bachelor's degree, or for three years, leading to the master's degree. During the first and second years of University residence it is essential that the student accomplish certain preliminary work, including History, Courses 11 and 12, Political Economy, Courses 2, 3, 29, and 30, and two years of French or German…
The privileges of the Combined Literary and Law Course … are open to candidates for the bachelor's degree in the course in Commerce having 90 hours credit.
Graduates are entitled to receive, in addition to their diploma, a certificate signed by the President stating the special or professional courses completed in the course in Commerce.
For about twenty years, beginning in 1900, Professor Edward David Jones (Ohio Wesleyan '92, Ph.D. Wisconsin '95) taught many of the courses in commerce. Durand William Springer (Albion '86, A. M. Michigan '24) in 1901 began the first instruction in accounting. He became a leader in organizing societies of qualified public accountants and for many years was regarded as the dean of certified public accountants in Michigan. Professor David Friday ('08), to become famous in later years as a federal research and consulting economist, took over the accounting work in 1911 and succeeded in giving it widespread popularity. For many years the elections in the various accounting courses outnumbered all other courses in the department with the single exception of the introductory course, Principles of Economics. Among the instructors who served under Friday in the work and who became distinguished in the field were Martin J. Shugrue ('13) and Russell Alger Stevenson ('13, Ph.D. '19, LL.D. '41). Henry Rottschaefer (Hope '09, J.D. Michigan '15, S. J. D. Harvard '16) was an instructor for several years and assisted Professor Isaiah Leo Sharfman (Harvard '07, LL.B. ibid. '10) in the commercial law courses. Fred E. Clark (Albion '12, Ph.D. Illinois '16) later took over Professor Jones's courses, Business Organization and Management, and Marketing. After 1919 these courses were given by Professor Clare Elmer Griffin (Albion '14, Ph.D. Illinois '18).
It is common in universities for undergraduate work in economics to lead eventually to a demand for courses having a direct and practical application
