HIGHER EDUCATION.

Bush Advocate, Volume XIX, Issue 778, 27 July 1907, Page 5

HIGHER EDUCATION.

I PROPKSSOR JORDAN'S OPINION I [Press Association.] WELLINGTON, July 27. Dr Starr Jordan, President 'of the Leland Stafford University, in a memorandum to Sir Robert Stout, Chan- \ cellor of the New Zealand University, ! makes interesting suggestions on general university matters. Examination, he states, should be the function of the professor and not of the university and the requirements of degrees should he stated in terms of the work accomplished, not in terms of examinations required. The chairman of the professorial board should have as many as possible of the functions of an American university president, and as far as possible tlie certificates of masters of approved secondary schools should be received in place of matriculation examinations. In receiving students a generous range of subjects should be allowed, and hook cramming, especially in science, should be discouraged/ In American experience the best method of adjusting the course is through the "major professor" system, by which the professor in charge of a department becomes the students' adviser. I'he colleges in New Zealand should devote themselves primarily to the actual needs of New Zealand, and tlie degrees should not be granted for extra mural study, and in general not for attendance at night lectures or extension lectures. Taxation of university students is a most oppressive form of State taxation. In general, the professor as a teacher has far too little initiative in the Australasian universities.