TOWARDS AUTONOMY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26544, 20 August 1947, Page 8

TOWARDS AUTONOMY

UNIVERSITY COLLEGES EXAMINATION PROCEDURE Aspects of the proposal to establish four autonomous universities m New Zealand were before the Council of the University of Otago at its monthly meeting yesterday when a report was received from the Joint Committee of the New Zealand University Senate and Academic Board set up to go into the question. In its report the committee expressed the view that at this stage it was premature to lay down general principles regarding separate universities. It had appeared from representations made by the Academic Board that the colleges were under certain disabilities which limited them in their work. The committee recommended that further consideration of the proposals for four colleges be postponed till the effects of the succeeding recommendations had been observed. Examination Papers The Joint Committee recommended that the New Zealand University should give a greater measure of autonomy to the colleges by giving them control of the detailed prescriptions for the various papers in the subjects of the courses in arts, science and music. With a view to giving the colleges further control of examinations, the methods of examining, and the nomination of examiners, the committee recommended that separate papers should be provided in all subjects at all stages and in all faculties for each college or for any group of colleges if so desired by the group. It suggested, too, that purely internal examination in the subjects of B.A. and B.Sc., Stages I and 11, should be permitted. , _ _ In subjects other than B.A. and B.Sc., Stages I and 11, it recommended that such a scheme should include one of the following three , methods of examination:—(a) A board of examiners of the teachers of a subject in two or more colleges operating as at present; (b) an external examiner or examiners where teachers of any subject in any college or group of colleges so recommend; and (c) an external assessor or assessors acting with the teacher or teachers in any college. The assessor or assessors should be responsible for:—(1) Ensuring that papers set were of an adequate standard; (2) ensuring in pass degrees that adequate standards were maintained and for this purpose examining such scripts as were necessary; and (3) reading all scripts in Masters’ degrees and satisfying himself that adequate standards were maintained for pass and for classes of Honours. (If in any case the teacher and the assessor could not agree, the chairman of the Academic Board should appoint a referee whose decision should be final). A recommendation was also made that where internal examining was adopted by any college and there were not common papers throughout the University the full responsibilityshould be assumed for conduct of examinations, as in the case of Arts and Science, Stages I and 11, at the present time. If the extended scheme of internal examining were adopted, the vice-Chancellor and the , registrar should be empowered to prepare and circulate to all colleges an authoritative memorandum on the conduct and control of examinations. After a brief discussion it was decided on the motion of Dr F. G. Soper, seconded by Mr M. Joel, that the council should approve of the general principle of increased freedom of examination at the four colleges as recommended by the Joint ; Committtee.