BIG UNIVERSITY FAVOURED

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29907, 22 August 1962, Page 20

BIG UNIVERSITY FAVOURED

Small Ones Held Uneconomic

Dr. J. P. Baxter, ViceChancellor of the University of New South Wales, governs a far-flung institution with campuses at Sydney, Newcastle. Wollongong. and Broken Hill. It was founded only in 1949, and has a roll of 9000

Yet Dr. Baxter personally favours large universities. He says his own has developed in this way simply because of demands on outlying places. The Sydney campus is planned ultimately to take 25.000, but now at Newcastle there are 1300 students. 300 at Wollongong, and “only a handful” at Broken Hill. The last development was made because of the special opportunities in engineering, geophysics, geology, mining, and related studies. How big should a university grow? “Well when I was last in the United States the University of California had about 65.000 students on about six camnuses and was planning for 120.000.” he said “And that is a pretty good university.” Dr. Baxter said it was uneconomic to “develop a rash of small universities.” New Zealand, committed to four, should go no further. Universities should take a verycareful look at what their communities required of them and develop individuality.

There was no standard on what was right and what was wrong. But there were two distinct but related needs. Universities must offer professional training for lawyers. doctors, engineers, architects, teachers and others and at the same time accept the “tremendous responsibility” of making these men. and other faculty students, ‘ruly educated citizens.