UNIVERSITY MATTERS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2785, 31 July 1907, Page 58

UNIVERSITY MATTERS.

RECOMMENDATIONS BY DR STARR JORDAN. ' "WELLINGTON, July 27. Dr Starr Jordan, president of the Leland Stanford University, in a memorandum to Sir Robert Stout (Chancellor of the New Zealand- University), makes some Interesting, suggestions on university matters-. The examination, he 'states, should be the func* tion of the professor and not of, .the. university- The requirements of degree* should be stated in terms of the. -work. accomplished, not in terms of the examinations required. The chairman of' too Professorial Board should have ' ac many, as possible of the function* of an American university president. As far aa possible the certificates of the masters of approved r secondary .schools should bo received in place of -matriculation examinations. In receiving students a generous range of suhjects should be allowed, and book-cramming," especially in science, should be discouraged. In the American experience the best method of 'adjusting a course is through the " major professor * system, by which the professor in charge of a department becomes the students' adviser. The colleges in New Zealand should 'devote themselves primarily to the actual needs of New Zealand. Degrees should not be granted for extra mural study, and In, general not for attendance at night lectures or extension lectures. The taxation of university students is & most oppressive form of State taxation. In general, a professor, as the teacher, has far too little initiative in the Australasian universities.