Page image

E.—7 A

and unless he has the power of training his students in the knowledge and in the method of it, nothing that Councils can do, and that examinations can do, will ever make of it a university subject. If this be granted, the supreme importance of choosing the right teachers is manifest. A man of the right type can be left to himself, and the more he is left to his own methods the better for his work; the man of inferior type cannot by any system of supervision produce work of the first order. During our stay in New Zealand we have read much of the past history of the University, and we regret to find evidence of failure on the part of those charged with University administration to appreciate the fundamental fact that a teaching staff of high standard, trusted to manage the academic concerns of the University, is the best possible guarantee of success. On the contrary, we have found that suspicion and distrust of the professors, and a tendency to treat them as " employees," has net been unknown. In our view, governing bodies should take every possible precaution to select a high-minded, able man as professor or lecturer, and thereafter allow him all reasonable liberty to do his work in his own way. We have, we trust, made abundantly clear our attitude 011 the question of the imposed fixed curriculum, and the external examination in which the professor has 110 part in the testing and certification, of his own students. Both of these are, in our judgment, the negation of that academic freedom which is the very breath of life of a true university. " The spring of educational vigour is freedom ; and without freedom the best university work is impossible." Further, we urge' that the professors, through the Professorial Board and the faculties, should be charged, with the responsibility for all purely academic matters. The governing bodies are well advised when they either delegate large powers over such matters to their teachers, or habitually act only after advice from them. The College Council is charged with, the duty of maintaining policy and transacting business ; but in an educational institution the dividing-line between what are details of policy and business, and what are academic matters, is oft-times a very shadowy one indeed. This is the justification for the inclusion of a small representation of the teaching staff upon the governing body. If it be argued, as it has been argued strongly in New Zealand, that professors should not sit on a body which deals with their own salaries and status, the answer should be that common-sense and ordinary good taste should prompt members of a council to take no part in a discussion which involves their own. pecuniary interests. Unless such a principle be accepted, we feel that professors cannot expect to maintain the freedom and responsibility which should be theirs. We have elsewhere outlined a proposed method, for the selection of professors and lecturers. We are strongly convinced, that the governing body should be advised by a selection committee, largely composed of experts in the subject under consideration, or in cognate subjects. In other words, men of high academic standing should assist in making the selection. Having regard, to what we have said about the fundamental importance of research in its effect on all university teaching, as well as of its place in fulfilling the purposes of a university, we consider that one test of fitness for any senior staff position should be evidence of a close acquaintance with the methods of teaching and research, and some approved work done therein. The conditions laid down for appointment as university professor or as reader in the University of London appear to us to meet the case of New Zealand. " The Advisory Board shall have regard to —(1) the applicant's contributions by research to the advancement of science or learning ; (2) his powers as a teacher ; (3) generally, his eminence in his subject or in his profession." It is worthy of note that in the London University the Advisory Board is composed of the ViceChancellor, the Principal, the Provost, and six persons, of whom three are " external experts " appointed by the Senate of the University, and three are appointed by the Senate on the nomination of the Professorial Board. The recommendation of the Advisory Board is sent simultaneously to tlie Academic Council and to the Professorial. Board, and the former body, after receiving any comments from the Professorial Board, forwards the nomination to the Senate with its own report. Thus the governing body appoints only after a report by experts.

Academic freedom essential to a university.

Professors on the governing body of college and university.

The selection of professors should be made on expert advice.

The qualifications which should be demanded.

62