SPECIAL ARTICLE.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16263, 13 July 1918, Page 7

SPECIAL ARTICLE.

THE welsh and new < ZEALAND UNIVERSITIES ! HEPORT OF A HOY AX. ] , COMMISSION. ] ' J (SPECIALLY WRITTEN TOR "THE PRESS.") < (B? J. W. JpYNT, M.A.) ! The final report of the "Welsh TJni- • veraity Royal Commission opens up ; many problems of special interest to the University, of New Zealand, and, as -I have devoted some attention to the proceedings of this Commission, I should like to say a few words on these matters. At one stage of the proceedings ' I understand that it was proposed to summon me as a witness as to the system and methods of New Zealand, bat eventually the Commission satisfied itself with obtaining from me brief written reports in answei? to a specific lisi of questions. The Commission was set up exactly two years ago, with Lord Haldane as chairman, and with tho following order of reference: — ,; To enquire into the organisation and work of the University of Wales, and its tlirec Constituent Colleges, and into the relations of the University to tfiose Colleges and to other institutions in Wales providing education of a postsecondary nature, and to consider in what respects. the present organisation of University education in Wales can be improved, and what changes, if any, are desirable in tho constitution, functions, and powers of the University and its three Colleges." The resemblance between the Universities of Wales and New Zealand, in regard to historical evolution, constitution, troubles and problems, finance, etc., is very close. Both are of the type roughly known as '.'Federal," and, since the disruption of Manchester, Liverpool, and Lcods into three independent universities, they are, I believe, the only surviving representatives of that type. (The case of the Capo is a possible third, but it is at present in a transitional state.) Both consist of. a ccntral university organisation, whose functions consist mainly in examining prescribing schemes of study for degrees, co-ordinating higher educational work, while doing their teaching through constituent or affiliated Colleges. ■ In both it was previous establishment of separate and independent teaching institutions that forced m the creation of the examining and i-ordinating institutions It was the ! ready' existing teaching institutions at .V'jncdin and Christchurch' that led to uv reconstruction of the University of ,'cmt Zealand on its present lines, just n it was the existence of University JoUeges at Aberystwyth, Cardiff, and .'••ingor that led to the creation of the university of as fin examining . u d coordinating body. The actual .sites may be.of interest to some read-.j-s. The Otago University was founded r. 1869, Canterbury Cojlege in 1873, \nd the present University of New Zoa'and in 1874. New Zealand?afterwards .ounded off its Bystem by the addition of two Colleges: Auckland (1883), and Wellington (1898). The College at Aberystwyth was founded in 1872, Cardiff in 1883, Bangor in 1884, and the University of Wales in 1893. In Wales, however, long before these. States there had been founded, through . tho efforts of the Anglican Church, the Colloge of St. David's at Lampeter, which, by persistent application, actually acquired the power of conferring .the degrees of B.D. and B.A. And to this also New Zealand affords a curious parallel, in the very early foundation of St. John's College, Auckland, mainly, 1 believe, through the instrumentality of Bishop Selwyn. I do not know that that College has ever aspired to "the power of conferring degrees. In ■ both countries the initiative in higher education lay with ■ the Anglican Church, but in both, naturaljy, the iroad lines of development, which have since" been followed, have been strictly "iinsectarian. The early schemes for a i-ordinating Welsh University contem■plated only the Colleges at Lampeter ' and Aberystwyth, but the rapid educational movement of the 'eighties was too' much for the former, and it drop- - aed out of the running. " - In. the matter of history-this much - inust suffice; though the history of the ' university- movement in both countries s full of interest. We have, then, . hese two university organisations jtanding alone in the world, separated •.by'half-the circumference of. tho globe, neither knowing much about the other, : qnd certainly neither being in the least . " influenced by the experiences of the . other. And yet, after many years of .independent development and experiment, both find themselves confronted tb-day with unrest, discontent, dissatis- ; faction, and disappointment, which Save led to commissions of enquiry and demands for change, whether moderate or revolutionary. I merely submit this fact' objectively, as an element in the • range' of coincidence between the • two institutions. I do f not mean to iniply ; that university grievances, and univer,'sity v Royal or Parliamentary Commissions, have been confined-to Wales and Kew Zealand. But, ' reading this '.final report, one must be struck by the - remarkable resemblance between the . Complaints and grievances with which : tfc "deals.. and those which hwe become c.SQr.familiar"in' College^quarters in" New ■ Zealand. Let • us turn" our attention Vfor the present to Wales. * : The constitution of the University einbraces three bodies. At the head , • of them is" the Court, a' body of over -100 members, representative of County Councils, County Boroughs, the University Colleges, the graduates, headmasters of schools, the Central Welsh Education Board, and other general - educational interests, together with nominees of the Crown. The framers )f the constitution meant this miscel- • i«ieous body to be a mediating link between the University and general educated public opinion in Wales. Iheir anbition was to keep the University in ' iose touch with the national life; to sake of it an institution which the ■ ' Welsh people might regard with affectionate interest and pride, as their ■ own, and the> embodiment of ■ their .aspirations and ideals. But, after the experience of a quarter of a century, it has to be admitted that these _ expectations have not been realised. Several witnesses testified before the s : Commission - that tho University, -through its Court, was out _ of touch / i with the sentiment of the nation. From Jtlio evidence it seemed clear that the '• .pourt was a moribund and somewhat y,, off etc institution.; And, curiously kEnough, there were indications that the were at least one agency in it into this condition> and

keeping it there. They resented its j 1 initiating any broad or active academic c policy, and kept driving it 6ack on the \ barren routine of examinations, pre- t scriptions, and such like machinery, ji Often meetings of the Court adjourned f because there was nothing for them to | do; often, on the other hand, there £ was plenty to do, but not a quorum to £ do it. Inconveniences of travel, and ' lack of definite, specific interest, made ' the attendance spasmodic and irregu- i lar. The result of all this has been that the large, national side of the Court'B j functions has shrivelled up, and the discharge of routine work has been • generally left in the hands of a small executive. Such, as outlined before the Commission, has been the fate of the dream of Welsh educational idealists, to create a University which would appeal powerfully to national sentiment, and preserve close touch with national aspirations. Perhaps one may, without impropriety, observe that the record of our University Senate and University Colloge Councils presents rather a marked contrast to this. I may remark in passing, that the Welsh University has a Senate as well as a Court, the former consisting of the Principals of the Constituent Colleges, and the Professors who are heads of recognised teaching Faculties. And to this body the Court has been content of late years to relegate most of the questions which come before it. We now .turn from the relation in which the University stands to its Constituent Colleges. And here we finct ourselves in .the .thick of the spirit of revolt and- dissatisfaction, which was mainly instrumental in the Royal Commission. The Commission was assured that the present position was intolerable. Briefly summed up, the grounds' of complaint were mainly as follows The interference of tne University ■ with the-freedom of teaching of the Colleges; ■the time expended, by University teachers in attending meetings to-transact-business, much of which could- be. better done by each College for itself; the amount of detail in which schemes of study have to be submitted for approval, the time which is or may be required to oTTtain sanction for ■ any new scheme or any important departure from an old one, and the volume and complexity of the regulations which havo come into existence under the present system. With, regard to this last, one Colloge Principal stated that the regulations were of a complexity not only beyond the comprehension of the students, but such that there were only three people in the University who understood them. With regard to the time taken in getting changes ■ carried out, It appeared thai the question whether geography should be admitted as a subject for matriculation had been under discussion for four years. v The evidence, however, was not all on one side. So important a witness as Sir. Isambard Owen pointed out that,: in regard o the 1 matters . of regulations and interference with .the freedom of the teacher, the remedy was in the hands of_ the academic authorities. "The provisions of the Charter. were thought by the promoters to afford full security Tor academic freedom of teaching. . . The situation is one for which neither the Charter nor the Statutes of the University is responsible." "But," says the Report of,the Commission, "it still remains true that the experience t-f the last twenty• years shows how, undar a federal system, in which the Univ9r-i i sity. is mainly a Board for the control ; of examinations and schemes. of stu'.ly [ in widely-separated constituent colleges, people seek to. diminish the pres- [ sure of work, and to economise time ' and avoid strife by favouring comproi miso and uniformity. It shows, too, - how much care is required to find chej j best way of reconciling the reasonable: liberty of teacher and student with some central control over the broact 1 lines of academic policy." .This 'a-st' 1 sentence goes to the root of the problem. ■ Of the colleges the most vehement and uncompromising in its demand; was Cardiff. It insisted on the com- ' pleta disruption of the present federal t constitution, and the granting of tne * full status of a separate and independent University to Cardiff, at least.* 1 leaving liangor and Aberystwyth to V remain combined if they so wished, at ; the- same time Swansea was putting > forward claims to be included as a , constituent college under the . present : system. Cardiff and Swansea, of course, form tne centres of the great 1 industrial activities of South Wales, r while Bangor and Aberystwyth reprer sent the agricultural interests of the ( north and centre. The Report, however, while admitting that the prima 1 facie case for a university in . South Wales is stronger than that for one at i Bangor or Aberystwyth, u#ges that the s subject has to be viewed in the light of its probable effect on Wales as a whole; and it appeared that the quesf tion whether, if Cardiff went out of l the partnership, the other two colleges . coula stand alone or together, had not r bee i much considered. And, in fact, in reading some of the evidence, one " does not get a very vivid impression 3 of Welsh patriotism as a concentrated . force. Each College (naturally enouga, perhaps) seems chiefly concerned about the amount of support which it can get 1 from the important people, for whose 3 wants and interests it is supposed to s cater. But even Cardiff did not deny j the "compatibility of centralisation of administration with autonomy in de- . tails." -'What I want to see." said one of its professors, > "is common ground for inatricut latinn, | common ground ior post- £ graduate work, and entire freedom between these two as regards what you requiro for graduation, and as to teachf ing." Anyhow, the great mass of educated, and oven academic sentiment, a? j presented to the Commission, was strongly in favour of the maintenance of a single national University as a 1 corporate entity. i Another point on which agreement a was fairly general was that the Unis versity should have r substantial voice B in the appointment of Professors and Heads of-' Departments. As "this is at ® present entirely in the hands of the 7 Councils of the Colleges, it is rather - interesting and important that the suggestion for the co-operation of the Uni- , versity came from each of these bodies. On the question of the reoognition of 8 now departments by the University a there was a good deal of difference of a opinion. But, as New Zealanders can j. well appreciate a reai crux was reached ' with tne tackling of the question of external examiners. There was general 7 .agreement that ,the University, as repi resented by the external examiner, must take a part in the examination » "for the initial degree. Some witnesses i of weight, while wishing in the abstract 'to abolish the external examiner, did r not think that step practicable in the 1 present, state of public opinion. But - most of the witnesses advocated on its merits the maintenance of the system. The arguments on each side were of the ) kind with which discussions in New * Zealand have rendered people familiar, 1 and nothing verv new or startling was s advanced. Of course I need hardjy say that there was never any suggestion of leaving anv degree examination entirely i in the hands of external examiners. In 1 tho newer British Universities the r external examiner is generally asso--1 ciated with the teacher, or one of «ie > teachers, of a subject. And in this } Welsh enquiry, the need for his con- - tinued existence being once recognised, r discussions chiefly turned on points of f detail, as to the proportionate weight 3 to be allowed to the teacher and the , examiner respectively, or tie particular - kinds of examination in which the lat- . tcr should command most influence. 5 Here it was very, curious to observe tlie , differences of opinion between experts i of high distinction. Some would mainl tain the examiner for * abolishing him for honours, on the mSSSdtEat it was just at the honours : Ke that the freedom and individualj ity of teachers should have fullest play, i Others- arcued that. tho research work

t he University as represented by the sternal examiner. Another point rged was that the internal examiner hould be an independent and ot the teacher of that particular Toup of candidates. But we cannot here pursue this analyis further. I will now give a brief umiliary of the findings of the_ Comnission. The report is unanimous; hero was no dissentient voice. They .re of opinion that the existing uniersity organisation should be mainained, but that it requires to ie remodelled in such a way is to combine effective superision and co-ordination from a, national standpoint with an increased. legree of local autonomy m the Loi-1 eges. The disruption of the Unner- |. sitv into two or more is j * jntlesirablo, and there should continue ■ i to be a single national University .or |; Wales. The National University should confer degrees, and exercise a , general direction and control over nation of a university character, m the interests of the "Welsh people as a whole. The main part of its work Bhould be done through its constituent Colleges; but, in some matters should itself have the power to make 3uch supplementary provision as it considers necessary. The government or the University should rest upon a broad, popular basis, and should consist of a court for deliberative, legislative, and ceremonial functions, and a Council which should be the executive and administrative authority of the University, these two bodies being assisted and advised by an Academic Board, and certain other special bodies constituted for th© promotion of special departments of study and research. The court should act as a Parliament of higher education. The University should fix the standard of admission for students, ami the period of residence and study for initial degrees. The approval oi syllabuses for courses should be a mat- . ter entirely between the teacher and his College. All grades of teachers should take some part in, the examination of the students whom they have taught. The professors and heads of departments should be recognised by tlio University as teachers of the University. This appointment should con-< tinue to rest with the College; but it should be. made on the recommendation ot expers standing committees appointed jointly by the College and the University. The Eeport then goes on to deal with the incorporation or affiliation of additional institutions, such as the Swansea Technical College, and tbe National Medical * School. It also urges tbp formation of a University Extension Board, with a view to the expansion of extra-mural or extension lecture-work. I omit many including the wtole Question of finance. This weighty and balanced judgment undoubtedly marks an era in University policy. It is obviously influenced by the reconstruction movement in London of some years ago, but the Commission seems to have kept steadily in view the actual conditions with which it was instructed to deal. Of the bearing of the judgment on New Zealand problems it would hardly-b3' becoming in me to speak in detail, or with any argumentative emphasis. Especially the question of external examinations I must leave alone, as I am at present engaged in administering the system. No doubt, in the minds of many University reformers in New Zealand it is this question which lies at the root of the whole difficulty. That may or may not be so, but there are many other matters of importance for the healthy development of the New Zealand University. For example, the Commission urges_ repeatedly the necessity of combining a strong, centralised national control with the fullest possible measure of local autonomy. It is clear that they were somewhat alarmed at the aggressive spirit of revolt pervading some of the Colleges, and had to keen on insisting on the "interests of as a whole." At this distance from New Zealand I can, perhans, see things in a better perspective than before, and certainly to jpy present impression one of the dangers of the position is the tendency to alternate the- central, controlling organisation, which may be | taken as representing New Zealand as a whole. It would certainly not be good for New Zealand to havo the old provincialism restored in the form of her University education. Another important point is that all professors should be professors of the Pniversity, not of individual Colleges. The appointment, as the Commission suggests, should still rest with the College. _but the power of recommendation should lie with expert stand in rr committees, elected jointly by the University and the Colleges. A system approximating to this has been working well in London for some years past. t fear consideration of space must prevent my developing the subject further.