UNIVERSITY COUNCIL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2059, 10 August 1893, Page 17

UNIVERSITY COUNCIL.

The monthly meeting of the University Council was held on Monday afternoon, and attended by the Chancellor (the Rev. Dr Stuart), the Vice-chancellor (Mr Justice Williams), Dr Hocken, Messrs R. L. Stanford, G. G. Rueßell, and D. R. White. FINANCE COMMITTEE'S BEFOBT. The Finance Committee reported that the bank book showed a credit balance of £736 11s 3d. Accounts had been passed 'for payment amounting to £814 11s sd. Requisitions to the amount of £18 were recommended for sanction. The report was adopted. THB UNIVERSITY TERMS. The next business waß the consideration of Mr White's motion for an extension of the university terms. Upon this subject a report was read from the Professorial Board, supplementary of one previously submitted by that body. Mr White said that, while he had every respect for the opinions of the members of the Professorial Board, he felt that^ they had not given to his proposals that consideration that the proposals themselves deserved. He did not think that either report of the board threw much light on the subject. ■ The first report seemed to him to, be a little extreme. Some of his proposals it eaid wei c impossible, others were impracticable, and others were insurmountable; and the tone of the report was that the proposals would be disastrous to the medical and. mining schools, uDJust to other students, and of doubtful advantage to anybody. The reports did not show that the matter had been discussed by the board in the conciliatory and liberal way in which it was to be expected it would be discussed. With reference to the arts course, the report said that it would be impossible to satisfy the students in' the matter of the arrangement of terms. He (Mr White) was quite sure the proposals he made would satisfy the students. The report also said that the only practical effect of extending the terms would be to add to the present heavy burdens of the students. He took ib that the object of extending the terms in Canterbury and Auckland was to give students more time for the thorough comprehension of their subjects, and surely that could not in any sense be making their burdens more grievous. TheD, at the last meeting of the Council Sir Robert Stout and the Chancellor held very stroDgly that they should have a six months' continuous session. A great deal of sentiment was expressed, but the speaker did not think that .there were any facts behind it to show that there was any distinctive class of poor students. He had gone through the lists of graduates for the .past 21 years. There were 100 graduates, and he thought he knew every man and woman of them— ymost of them personally. He might classify them in this way : Fifty of the hundred were teachers— and even for that class he thought the concession would come with great grace and acceptablenese,—there were 16 lawyers, 14 doctors, and 10 clergymen, and the remaining 10 were surveyors and miniDg engineers, and one or two he was not able to classify. Those students who came from the country were really the eons . and daughters of well to- do settlers. If there were poor students at all they were those who were er>gaged in town all day, and he thought that if they wished to give everyone a chance at the university they could only do that by making tho education free and abolishing tho fees altogether. So far as the first reporb was concerned, he did nob think that the reasons given were anything but inconclusive. It was based on the proposal that the session should consist of 206 days, but he had altered that at the suggestion of Mr Allen, that the period should be reduced by one week. In the Otago University, from the opening days of the session to the closing — from the 6ch April to the 29th October— tho term consisted of 165 days, including the intermediate, preliminary, and closing examinations. The Canterbury terms were not the same as those. He quoted from the annual report of Canterbury College for 1892-3 :— " The question as to the duration of terms and vacations has occupied much time and attention. The board has lengthened the period allowed for lectures by 22 days. Formerly the session occupied 180 days for lectures, whereas under the new arrangement the time allotted is 202 days, in both cases Sunday being reckoned in. For the future the first term and lectures will commence on the 10th March and extend to the 30th June, four days recess being allowed at Easter. The second term and lectures will begin on the 28th July, lectures will continue to the 24th October inclusive, and the term w ill end on the 7th November, the interval between these two dates being taken up with the college examination." The Canterbury terms at present, from the opening to the closing of the college work, comprised 216 days, or 31 days more than in Otago. The time that was exclusively given to lectures was 202 days, againtt what we took in Otago — 174 days, or28 days more. Clearly io was incorrect for the professorial board to say that there were only three days difference, as they said in their report, between the terms in Otago and Canterbury. Neither report of the Professorial Board mentioned anything about the division of terms, which he regarded as being as important as the exteneion, and respecting which his proposal was modelled, also on the arrangement adopted in Canterbury. So far as the artif course was concerned he did not think there' was any valid reason against the extension of the terms.' The point on which members might have~some doubt was as to whether the alteration would affect the medical and mining schools. Dr Scott's only objection to the proposals was that 'if they added a fortnight to the winter session they wtuld cuitail the holidays between the summer and winter sessions. Hof{Mr White) conceived that would be an in justice; .but hs proposed to shorten the, summer session by a fortnight, and consequently he did not see very much in the objection. As to the mining school, the students had to do a three years' university course and one year's pcactical work. ' That one year's practical work had nob yet been completed within the same time as the university work. Under the present arrangement, after the third professional examination, students had only been able to put in the time of two sessions, and had not been able to get more than eight, months' practical work, so that the difficulty which was said, to be insurmountable existed now. He did not' See that the objections were so formidable as the reports set forth. He moved — " That with regard to the duration and division of unjversity terni3 the council is of opinion that the session' should extend over 200 days; that the first tern) should commence in the first week in March and /terminate in the third week in June, 97 days ; 'midwinter recess, 21 days ; second term to finish in the third week of October, 103 days ; summer recess, 145 days." The Chancellor aßked whether Mr White thought it desirable after bo recent a change in the terms to make a further alteration. The longer the session was the more expensive it was for the students, and, with all deference to Mr White, he knew that students from the country found it very difficult to stop for seven months in Dunedin, and they could not go home during the recess because travelling expenses were so heavy, 1 ' The progress of the students

did not depend upon the number of lectures, for they studied as hard during the vacation as at other times. In Scotland, where for 400 years they had had a six months' vacation, the university had proved very beneficial to the community, and the children of shepherds, of farmers, and of small storekeepers in immense numbers had been able to obtain a university education. Apart from that he thought it undesirable that, after a two years' trial of the present terms, they should make a change. Mr Stanfobd : In 1889 the last change was made. . The Chancellor: It did not come into operation till 1890. Besides, they must try to carry the Professorial Board along with them, and if they passed a resolution to which the board was opposed the work would not be carried on harmoniously. # . ... Mr Stanfobd said that all parties but the Professorial Board had expressed themselves in favour of the proposed chaDge. He must confess that Mr White had proved his pointconclusively. He thought the increase in the number of lectures, so far from making the burden of the students heavier, would make it distinctly lighter. The task being a given one, the more lectures they got the easier it ought to be for the studentß. They knew that in the newer English universities, which were expressly intended for poor men, the lectures extended on an average over 213 days, while here 174 were given. The Vice-chancellor fancied that it was the case that in some courses there were more lectures given here than in Canterbury, while in other courses it was the other way. The Chancellor : Seeing that we have on the whole satisfactory results here, why insist on this coiif ormity ? Mr White replied that they must always be guided by the experience in other places. Mr Russell asked if the resolution provided for 15 days' more worft than at present ? •Mr White: That 'the terms should extend over a period of 15 more days. The Chancellor said they had to give and take when they had a Prof essional Board with a certain constitution and a council with a certain constitution, and he would strongly say they fchould let the matter of the terms alone at present. Mr Stanford remarked that there was nothiDg very rash proposed. The Chancellor : But it may ba irritating after the change two and a-half years ago. The Vice-chancellor understood the proposal was not to give the professors more work, but to give them more time to deliver their lectures in. Mr Russei l pointed out that the effect would be to curtail the holidays of the professors. The Chancellor said one of the advantages of the professors' lectures here was that they were tutorial. Mr Russell said that if the professors had not so strongly opposed it he saw no reason why he should not support Mr White's motion, but the fact that the opposition of the professors was so strong, and that a change had been made so recently, raised a difficulty in his mind. The Vice-chanc llor certainly thought that before accepting Mr White's motion they should have a conference with the professors, as there waß a coiiilict as to fact. Mr White regretted that the professors had not approached the question in a more conciliatory way. They had argued rather as if they considered the matter beyond discussion. Dr Hocken and Me Rttssbi.l. both supported the suggestion that a conference should be held with the professors, but Mr White pressed his motion. On the question being put, Messrs White and Stanford voted for the motion and the other members against it, and it was consequently lost. MISCELLANEOUS. The Registrar reported that it had been found necessary to draft a bill for introduction to Parliament providing for the vesting in the University Council of the Benmore run.— The draft was approved, and it was agreed to place the measure in Sir Robert Stout's hands. Dr Shand wrote asking that, in consequence of the increased number oE students in the junior physics class, the room formerly used as a ladies' cloak room be added to the physics laboratory. He also forwarded a requisition for appliances.— Referred to the House Committee. Dr de Zouche wrote asking to be relieved during the coming session of his duties as lecturer on diseases of children, and stating that he was making arrangements for the entirely satisfactory discharge of the duties.— The resignation was accepted with an expression of thanks to Dr de Zouche for his faithful services, and the question of the necessity of making any further appointment was referred to the Medical Faculty.