The 1907-08 catalog shows Leroy Burns Smith, A.B., as the new director. A faculty of fifteen was listed with one on full-year leave and one on a half-year leave. The staff numbered five. The vice-director was faculty member Herman Bierce Waters, M.E., who taught physics and electricity as well The physics laboratory added photometry and x-ray apparatus. The library of 1,400 volumes was being steadily increased. In addition to a good collection of standard English works, there were included standard current works in agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry, the household arts, electricity and various mechanical lines.
In 1909 a boys' dormitory was completed. It provided rooms for fifty boys with "commodiuous baths, a large sitting room with fireplace, steam heat and electric lights and offering every needed convenience and comfort." The charge for board and room was $22.50 per month. Since dormitory accommodations were insufficient to handle all the boys in attendance, housing with "suitable families" in the city was found by the faculty. These boys could only board in places having faculty approval.
During the summer of 1909, a dining hall seating one-hundred and fifty was completed.
The electric power required by the machines in the various shops was generated and distributed from a central plant (power house) operated by student "engineers".
The legislature in 1909 appropriated funds for a new power and lighting plant together with a mechanical and electrical laboratory to meet the growing needs of the campus as well as of the students. The library now boasted of having 1800 volumes.
The third year Steam and Electrical Machinery course was described as follows: "This course of classroom and laboratory work deals with the wiring, installing, testing and care general electrical apparatus, operation of steam engines, valve setting, measurement of horse power, the care of steam boilers, and the more common mechanical problems. The laboratory equipment includes a variety of generators, motors, transformers, testing instruments, steam and gas engines, etc. The laboratory work is of the most practical nature, dealing with the most important points brought out in the classroom. The school power plant is in the same building and is operated by all the men in this course."
By 1913 a fourth year had now been added to the curriculum. The electric machinery course was described: "The theory, construction, operation and repair of AC and DC motors, generators, arc lights, voltage regulators, AC rectifiers, converters, power transmission lines, and telephone and telegraph systems is covered . . . . Practical instruction in electric house wiring and power distribution and transmission line work is included in the laboratory."
Leroy Burns Smith resigned as director and was replaced on July 30, 1914 by Robert W. Ryder, B.S., head of Mechanics Department where he had been an instructor in mechanics, surveying, physics and electricity. The faculty had now grown to twenty-one and the library had 3000 volumes. In 1915 the Academic Department was established. Margaret Chase came to the school to serve as the head of this department. She was to become the principal motivating force in establishing and maintaining high academic standards and insuring that the curricula included a strong general education component. With the establishment of the Academic Department, students would have an available curriculum, the graduation from which would permit admission to college. Six of the thirty-five graduates in 1917 were academic majors