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L—l3a

It is the function of faculties to organize details of teaching-work, to originate if necessary new branches of study, and after discussion to communicate the views of the teachers to the Senate. The Senate in most modern universities is a body dealing exclusively with academic affairs, statutes, and regulations; it controls teaching and examinations; it acts chiefly on the advice of the faculties, and if necessary originates, alters, or repeals statutes, but only after .such measures have been submitted to the faculties concerned. Of necessity, therefore, the Senate elsewhere consists of those senior and responsible teachers who are actively engaged in university work and daily in touch with the academic needs, possibilities, and ideals of the university, of the community, and of univeisities elsewhere. It is one of the fundamental principles of the genius of the British race for government and organization that the supreme control of any body or institution, however technical or professional in its details, should be vested to a preponderating degree in laymen, and that such laymen should be directly responsible to the community which finds the money to finance that institution. And this principle is recognized in nearly all modern British universities. The members of this body are partly elected and partly nominated; they are sufficiently numerous to represent the Crown, the professional and commercial sections of the community, and such other bodies as are more directly interested in university development. This governing body exercises full control over all matters involving finance; it is responsible for the general supervision and direction of all university matters, and all academic statutes and regulations require its sanction. Nevertheless, such sanction is given or withheld cm general principles alone; it does not fall within the province of such a body to modify, veto, or originate details of academic measures, because from its very constitution there is no guarantee that such would be either practicable or desirable. Such an organization furnishes an automatic machinery for university control and development. As regards designation, the supreme governing body is variously termed the " Council of the University," or the "Board of Governors of the University," or the "Court of Governors of the University." The term "Senate" is more frequently reserved for the body dealing exclusively with academic matters. Methods of Examination. The fundamental difference between an internal and an external system of examination is that in the former case the training is recognized to be quite as important as the passing of an examination. Our present system results in papers being set which often do not give the student sufficient scope to show how thorough his training may have teen. A New Zealand student in arts ami science has to sit (a) a purely internal examination —his annual college examination for keeping terms —and (6) a purely external examination. These two examinations are absolutely distinct from each other, and, provided the student has kept terms, his training is not taken into account at all when the results of the external examination are considered. In other universities the degree is granted on examinations conducted jointly by the teacher and an assessor. The New Zealand system is therefore totally different in character from that followed elsewhere, except that in the examinations for degrees in medicine the teacher as examiner is associated with an assessor who is resident in New Zealand. Although for examinations in arts and science it may not be possible in all the subjects to obtain New Zealand assessors who are not teachers, the teacher in one college is obviously capable of acting as assessor in another college. If a candidate's answers are "in no case examined solely by his teacher " (recommendation of the professorial conference), but are examined in addition by a teacher from another college, the method of examination is similar to that of other modern British universities. In conclusion, we are of opinion that, owing to the great amount of controversy that has already taken place in regard to university reform, it would be difficult, if not impossible, for any one living in New Zealand to give an unbiased judgment on the conflicting opinions that have already been expressed and to draw up an efficient scheme of reorganization. We have therefore asked for a Roral Commission to investigate and report upon the questions involved, with a request that the Chairman lie a man of wide university experience chosen from outside New Zealand.

Professor Labt made a statement. (No. 12.) Witness: There is a matter which should have been raised at the opening of the evidence on the Inspector-General of Schools' report. I wish to ask on behalf of Victoria College Professorial Board that the Committee should allow the evidence to be reported in the Press. There appears to be no uniform rule in regard to the admission of the Press to proceedings of a Committee such as this. The Committee can admit the Press, and I wish to submit that the Committee will be assisted in arriving at the truth if the evidence taken from day to day becomes known to the responsible authorities at the four University centres, to members of Parliament not on the Committee, and to the public. You are conducting an inquiry which is going to have a most farreaching effect upon our University, and consequently upon our national education system. I am aware that your function is to report to the House, and that the theory is that the full' evidence is then made public, and your report is then fully and adequately discussed. Our experience, however, shows that the actuality is very different from the theory. On the last occasion there was no discussion of your report to Parliament, or, rather, I should say there was a discussion while your report was before the House on the question as to which side of the House was wasting time.