UNIVERSITY DRONES

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 148, 26 June 1925, Page 3

UNIVERSITY DRONES

HOW THEY ARE WEEDEDOUT

:METHOD'AT MELBOURNE UNI- £ ■?■:■% V-'-'/v---'- ■:->.yEßSrr:2v:'"-;:H:i"iV"V"M-'

';< '■: Recently a small number of students -at :■;'•■ ■ Melbourne' -University . \vere'! dismissed -~::; as being considered unworthy of. a; place'-.:,.' owing -to repeated;failures.".'This "natur-." ;'-i ■ ally; caused--: muchi comment,"',;• and; v-;"th9.;*!," "Argiis," while-commending-.the-prin-:!; "ciple_pf weeding out the slacters'in orVler ■ ■ :to-''maSev-roomtfor-Va^Jentyvof':»i'bQtffir'::.;;. type, -. expressed /.the: fear' \ that' the! stipu- ;i V lated.minimum of two:consecutive :fail-,-> 3 ; ,ur'es might result; in,injustice tostudeiits.';:; who,/ through suffering 'from-::'" exaihin-;> ■ ation.fright" and impaired health, could;.'•'■; not' do}their;best.:within that" period. ;',;: ■ ' Commenting on' the .newspaper Vcritic-;;..' ism,,■the;,yice-Cha,nce]lor I.Qf,;thp,.JJniyers- \:-■ ity;■ (Sir Jphn 'Monash); said ■there..had ..;. never-been a case in which a student: was dismissed .after,only' two' failures/^ and;there never'.would.;be-^not for that;;':; reason alone. l In: that small /number; of „\ instances in which-students' bad been , V notified, that ..they 'could no'!lbngerVlhaye .-' a place;there was ;m6fe than-ample cvi-: '; dence. that the'"men:'concerned -^vere: hope-: V lessly ill-equipped.or iriclirribly lazy." Tlie • ' authority to take such dfastic;action was .'■. used very sparingly, and with ; the utmost :■ care...; Soi great were the. precautions■'•.-; taken)' and so pronounced the reluctance to issue the border .'of ' ■ dismissal/ ■ that; y there was -never-■ the faintest- suggestidtt r- :. of injustice.'-' ,'A' glance at ; the records ■■>'.- of .those .'who. had been;' dismissed- was- ; ;sufficieiit to prove this. , • ~-S::li:S^:"y-i ' 'All: must admit,''...the''"Vice-Chancellor!.. added,.-'"that authority tb'-weed'-biit'.thej/-:: non-triers is".necessary. ' University ■ odu- ■':■-' cation costs; tho; country .two and n' half . : times;the amount of fees paid. That'is;. to say,.: for every' £20 paid by the' student, .the University; spend.s £50. Thei Jaboratories are overcrowded and the lecture rooms full." '.The University can- ; not continue year; after year to. pay, -for"; the teaching >of a finaii who jlias mit am- - bition.tp get through. Nor. can;it deny." > admittance to youiig and earnest: students when ' places are ■ occupied.-, by '-ageing slackers.*--Tlie presence of;these'" 'old-"•'•" timers,'^- Avho_:know.all the tricks, is .- likely to have a pernicious influence oa : the esprit of'-;the institution; "their/ex-'." ample has a bad effect on. the' younger V students. :" But, very.-- definite - proofs,; covering a series of- years, must be : mitted beforo the Professorial Board re-- .: commends, and the council approves.: a. dismissal. Another point is that" dis- .: missals are- confined to those who fait •to get through ' their first and ; second, .-'■ years. Once those two examinations' ara passed, the- student may take as loiig aS ■ he likes to complete his course. (Busif, : after repeated attempts, or assumed;at-' . tempts,' the niau has not managed to pass the first two examinaljons, which are! the simplest, it is a:safe;conclusion that' he is wasting his own time' and that ofj • ' the staffs, causing expenditure for :.no-. thing, and occupying a place'that should bo filled by a legitimate trier. Therighfi to dismiss is not, and would -hot:bo, ex-* ercisci,a£leT two failures. -Five is nearer the average. 'As a further safeguard, :th» . regulations permit students nominated by . the Professorial Board for dismissal to j appeal to the council, and, if there aro any extenuating circumstances, or thers . appears any hope that they will make,.-..." goofi, they niay be given another chance. The counciL cannot dismiss without a; recommendation ; from the Professorial Board, but'it-.may ."overrule 1 such, a recommendation in favour of the student. I think the : safeguards arc sufficient, and that there is no danger whatever of a "deserving or unfbrtunato student meeting with injustice." • ;.V,.-... .- ;^ -,.*..