BAN AS EXAMINER

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22192, 20 August 1935, Page 10

BAN AS EXAMINER

UNIVERSITY ENTRANCE PROFESSOR M. WALKER DISPUTE WITH SENATE REHEARING TO BE SOUGHT The disclosure was marie at the meeting of the Auckland University College Council yesterday thai; the Senate of the New Zealand University had struck Profeissor Maxwell Walker, professor of modern languages at the college, off its list of examiners in French for 1936 and, until further notice, for the university entrance examination without notifying him, either beforehand or subsequently, or giving him an opportunity to bo heard. The council decided to inform the senate that in its opinion the professor had a right to be heard, and if necessary a special meeting should be called to deal with the matter. It was stated that factors in the | matter were Professor Walker's condemnation of the examination standard as too low, and his method of marking candidates' scripts. The professorial board submitted a full memorandum by Professor "Walker, giving a history of the dispute. This showed that the resolutions passed by the senate last January had been taken in committee. They had not been communicated to Professor Walker, and only after the Auckland professorial hoard had asked about the truth of certain reports was the existence of the resolutions admitted by the university authorities. The latter ignored a request foi; the informatior. on which the senate had acted. ' Higher Appointment:! Ketained The board then asked the professor to prepare a full memorandum, and sent copies to the executive committee of the senate, which replied that it had referred the whole matter to the senate at its meeting next January. It refused to reconsider this decision. Professor Walker, in a final note, stated that since his removal from the list of examiners fcr 1936 he had been appointed by the senate to examine for entrance scholarship and three higher examinations. He was apparently considered unfit, nevertheless, to act in the elementary entrance examination. Professor Walker stated that he had been chief examiner in entrance French for 1931 and assistant examiner under Professor E. J. Boyd-Wilson, of Victoria College, in 1933. He recounted his efforts to convince the authorities that the pass standard was too low for university purposes, and. the complaints made against his level, of marking, which conflicted with tie policy of Professor Boyd-Wilson. The latter had stated in his hearing that he " had not looked upon the examination as an entrance examination for the university at all, but rather as a leaving certificate for the schools." Later the academic board made a report upholding his contentions, but the senate rejected tt is and resolved to take him off the list. The papers of the candidates whom he had failed in 1933 were ordered to be re-examined by the chief examiner. He had heard rumours that his procedure in marking scripts had been the deciding factor, but he had never been asked to explain it. Discussion by Council When the matter was brought before the council yesterday, the president, Mr. T. U. Wells, said he was prepared to move that the council express its confidence in Professor Walker as professor of modern languages at the college, but not to criticise the senate, which would have the whole matter before it, and of which he, Mr. H. J. D. Mahon and Mr. Kenneth Mackenzie were members.

Mr. A. H. Johnstone, K.C., suggested that the matter was suib judice. Professor Walker: They refuse to give me any information to which I can reply, and the executive committee is sheltering behind the senate. It places me in an unfair position. Meanwhile, they have kept me in my higher appointments. The thing is farcical. Mr. Mahon said that on the information before it the senate could not have done otherwise than it did. It was now for Proessor Walker to prove to the senate that it was wrong. A Member: Did the senate verify the information. Mr. Mahon: No. Mr. 6. Grey Campbell said that the council must be seriously concerned when one of its professors was struck off a list of examiners without having been given an opportunity to answer the allegations agains-t him. Rehearing Sought Sir Henry Horton remarked that the council could only ask for a complete rehearing, at which Professor Walker should be heard in bis own defence. Mr. Wells then moved that the council (1) express its c rogret at Professor Walker's removal from the list of examiners and its confidence in him, and (2) ask that the matter be reopened and the professor allowed to make his defence in person. Mr. Johnstone expressed doubts of the propriety of the first part of the motion, and moved the following amendment: "That the council call the attention of the sera to to the report that Professor Walker's name has been removed from the list of examiners in entrance French without his being heard on his own behalf. That the senate bo informed that, in the opinion ,of the council, he has a right to be heard, and if necessary a special meeting should be called to deal with the matter." Mr. Wells withdrew his motion, and Mr. Johnstone's motion was carried unanimously. Mr. Wells (to Professor Walker): You can take it for granted, professor, that the council has full confidence in you. Your record speaks for itself.