THE UNIVERSITY.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1607, 26 November 1912, Page 7

THE UNIVERSITY.

PROFESSORIAL CONFERENCE. PASS DEGREES. •ARTS AND SCIENCE. The following is the official report of the conference of professors of /tho four .University Colleges,' held in Wellington, last week:— . * . V , . • : At the last, meeting. of the University Senate it was resolved, on the motion of Mr. James Allen (now Minister for Education, etc.), : that a. conference of. representatives of the Professorial' Boards, be held;'annually,- The first of tlie-regular: conferenws thus instituted sat in Wellington from Tuesday to Friday of last week (November -19-22); The representation of the Professorial Boards was'as follows :-f Otago University—Professors Benham, Gilray, Inglis, Malcolm (medical school), Marshall; Park (mining school), Pickerill (dental school), Richards, and Messrs. T. D. Adama, G. E. Thompson. Canterbury College—Professors Blunt,!-■ Evans, Parr, Gdbbatt, Hight, Wall, and Mr. Sallmond.; Auckland University College—Professors'I 1 ; D.-Brown, Dettniann,. Egerton, Segar, A. P.; W. Thomas,. Walker. •' Victoria College—Professors J. K. Brown; Easterfield, Hunter, 'ICirk, Laby, Picken, von Zedlitz. ;-Professor.-Segar n'as unanimously elected to be chairman of. the conference. . . ' , : The' chi<jf matters dealt with by tho . conference, wore a new curriculum for a Pass Degree in Arts and Science, and the /method-. of-:conducting Degree. Examinations in. Arts and Science. On these questions it, was decided to recommcnd to tile Senate as follows:— • B.A. Degree. ■ I. That there, bo" one pass ■ degree in Arts and Science'and the subjects of ex- . amination for tho degree shall be: Group A: 1, English language and literature; • 2, French do.j 3, German do.; 4, Greek do.; 5, Hebrew do.; 6, Latin do. Group B: 7, ' Pure mathematics; 8, applied mathematics. Group C: 9, Botany; 10, chemistry; 11, geology; 12, physics;'l3, zoology. Group D: 14, Economics; 15, education; "16, history,-; 17, mental ■ and moral, philosophy." ■ , 11. The Examination shall be'passed in two- sections, or - by permission, of the Professorial Board in one section. Ill: fn' the case of a 'candidate who takes the examination .in two sections, the following provisions shall hold: : (a) No candidate snalL be admitted-.to,the degree of B.A. 'unless he 'shaLLhavo passed,in sis subjects, provided that any candidate may, in his second section,' 111 lieu of a sixth subject, repeat any-subject in which he has already .passed, or in lieu of fifth and sixth subjects' repeat any two subjects in which he has already, passed ;-(b) . either, three "or four subjects ot examination shall constitute the 'first; section,, which may be taken after one year's terms have been kept by ;the candidate; (c) the remaining subjects' shall constitute -the tacond section, which, may not he taken until two years' terms have been kept afr. ter the first section has been passed; provided that a : candidate who takes a course of six different subjects may'take the examination in a first section of four subjects after, keeping two jears' terms and a ;second, section' of ..two. subjects, after keeping oiip furthor year's terms. Iv. No'candidate who takes the ex- . amination in one-.section"' may _ present' himself .for .examination until three years' terms' have ten kept, and j no such candidate shall/be, admitted "to the deg'ree.of- B.A.'unless "he' 'shhll " have passed in:, six. different subjects. V. The Professorial Boards shall be empowered to : recommcnd a pass in cases ■where a.student has been prevented by, l illness, or; other''sufficient cause from talcing an ".examination, full- information ■/. being in such cases supplied by the board in question to the-Senate. ■ VI. (1) A candidate shall not be deemed to have kept ■ the tortus of his year unless his course of study has-been approved by the' Professorial-Board of'"his College. (2) A course of six different subjects shall not be approved unless it satisfy: the following conditions:; (a) " Not more thai -three; sußjects_may Ije^taken. ■ from any one of 'the groups A. C. D.; (b) ■ One subject at least must bo taken-from group A, and this subject must" be Latin or Greek, unless at least three subjects are taken from groups B and C, . in ' which case French or German may be taken as the subject of group 'A; (0) At least one subject must be taken either from - group - B or from group C." (3) A course in which'a subject is .repeated ' shall not.be approved unless it. satisfy the following conditions: (a) The second • section: shall bo taken in a or 'cognate/subjects;' (b) the subjects taken in the firet section shall be' determined 60 far as possible on the principle of prerequisites for the higher courses'or'study in the'second'section; (c) one subject at least must be taken from group A, and must bo Latin or Greek unless either (i) : at least ono subject of group B or of • group C be repeated, in which case French or German, or a. special course (to be defined) in both : French and German, maybe taken as the subject of group A, or (ii) the Professorial Board give special exemption from : Latin or Greek for-reasons de-. pending on tho particular course of study . taken by the candidate. : ' Vll.—Tho standard : and tho.rango of the work in-any repeated subject shall be suoh as may reasonably bo expected of a candj- . 'date who has passed in-tho subject in his first section and; has subsequently' spent two years, in the study of the .subject. ' Note:' The conference further", approved the principle that two h'alf-course9 might in eertain j cases bo allowed to count as a subject for t.ho B.A. degree. It was suggested that a ; proposal in this direction . might be brought before the professorial ' conforence by any.-one of the professorial boards and submitted to the Senate after \ approval by tho'conference. .. . External, Examination. I.—(i); That the external system of ex-"imin-ation for .degrees in arts be abolished tho next -five years; (ii) that any new system of examination should conform to the following principles:—(a) That it is essential that eacn responsible teacher should have the opportunity of seeing the complete examination, papers in his sub- . jeet before thoy are-printed; (b) that it is essential that in no case • should the answers Of any candidate in', any subject be examined solely by his teacher in that subjest. ll.—That in -tho event of tho abolition of the external examination tho written examination in. any subject of the B.A. degree be conducted by a board consisting of all the responsible university teachers of that'subject,- , . , . lll.—That the examinations for tho . M.A. degree and for honours he conduoted : by tho hoards of examiners defined in 111. • IV—That the examinations for senior scholarships be conducted by the same boards of examiners. V—That, in the case of an experimental science (i) the candidate be required to forward to the registrars, before the examination, a certificate from a responsible teacher of the subject in an'affiliated institution certifying that lie has completed , tho prescribed course of practicable work to tne satisfaction of that teacher;'(ii) for examinations in repeated subjects, for scholarships or foT. honours, the original laboratory notebooks, containing a record of each experiment or observation made by the student, signed.and dated by the responsible . teacher, serve as a basis for the estimation of the value of the practical work done by the candidate; (iii) the board of examiners in any subject be given power,' at their discretion, to hold a practical examination. Matriculation. On this question the following resolutions were carried:. , ' 1. That the senate be. recommended to 'devise some means of associating professors with tho matriculation examination and the entrance scholarship examination without neccssnrily requiring from them the labour of reading candidates' answers In large numbers. That this object ."would be attained by appointing in the case of each subject a professor or lecturer in chargo of' the subjcct who would be mainly responsible for, the character and standard of.; the examination, ; and who would act at least as consultant in the revision of tho papers. That such a change could be made without increase of expenditure sinco the fee to a consultant examiner need only be a small one. 11. (i.) That in the opinion of this conference the rearranged coursc for the roatriculatioft -.examination is unsatisfactory in respect to the inclusion of questions on history and geography in ths English paper." (ii.) That in the event of history

and geography questions being eliminated from the English paper in the matriculation examination separate questions be •added in these subjects, which, for the -purposes of the medical and. dental preliminary examinations, shall be answered in lieu of a similar number of questions, in the English paper. Special Questions, • Reports will be submitted to tho senate on the following special questions-.—(i.) The syllabus in mathematics {left in the hands of Professors Segar and Picken); (ii.)' the syllabus , for honours in economics and history; (ii.) tho syllabus for honours in chemistry; (iv.) research ticliularships. - And a report on a s-pecial degree in scicnce is referred to the teachers of the subjects involved and to tho heads of.' mining, engineering, and medical sohools, ''" Other Resolutions. It was further resolved— (i.) That the new curriculum for the B.A. degree, if adopted by the senate, be brought into force 111 19U. (ii.) That in every subject special papers be set for the repeat examination, and that tho senior scholarships bo. awarded on these papers. (iii.) That the whole question of elempted students be discussed at the next conference. (iv.) That it be « recommendation from the professorial conference to the Minister for Education that the Government research, scholarships be not restricted to subjects which are of immediate economic value, and that in cases when tho scholarship lapses for one year the value 'of the scholarship for the following two yeaTs shall be increased to .£l5O. Votes of thanks were accorded, for hospitality extended, to the-Hon. .H. D. Bell, to the ladies of Victoria . College who served tea daily, to the Kelburne Bowling Club, to the Government Astronomer, to the chairman ■ and the clerk of the conference. Constitution Defined.; The conference also discussed the question of a permanent constitution for the annual conference, which had been specially referred to it by the Senate. It was resolved:— ... , „ , I. .That the Senate lxr informed that, owing to the time necessarily spent in framing the B.A. courses, the conference has been unable to give to the; question of the future'constitution of-the conference that consideration which it requires, and reoommends that this question - be made the primary subject of discussion, at the conference-of 191?. ii. To recommend that the next conference be a conference of seven representatives of each of the professorial boards, together with . the heads of the medical, : engineering, dental, and'mining schools, and the' dean of the faculty- of law at Victoria College. 111. On the assumption that the conference 'of .1913'is'to be held at Christchurch, that the chairman of the four professorial boards, together with Professors Blunt, Evans,. Hight; and Wall, be a recess committee of the professorial conference; three to be a quorum. IV. That the date ,of meeting of the conference of 1913 be arranged _by the recess oommittee acting in conjunction with tlie Registrar of the University.