UNIVERSITY SENATE.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1966, 24 January 1914, Page 6

UNIVERSITY SENATE.

ENGINEERING WORK, KAPID MARCH OP THE TIMES. OUR BEST COURSE. CONCENTRATE ON ONE SCHOOL. (By Telegraph.—Press Association,! Dunedin, January 23. Tlio University Senate resumed its sittings this morning. : Professor. J. R. Brown moved: that military science bo no longer a subject for the B.A. and B.Sc. Degrees." The motion was carried by 11 votes to 8, and the matter referred to tho Statutes Committee. In an interim report tho Law and Finance Committeo made tho following recommendations: (1) That the statutes honours in law be amended by adding* thereto the following ; clause—"(III) Every candidate for honours in law shall give notice, in writing to tho Registrar of his intention to present himself for examination, and of the. subjects in which he elects to be examined. Such notice, accompanied by the prescribed fee, must be given to the Registrar by tlje first'day of-May,'or on'such later date as is prescribed by the statute offees on payment of a special fee";' (2) "that the fee for admission ad eundem to tho diploma of public health bo £2 25." (3) '.'That no additional scholarships in law be provided at present." The recommendations were adopted., Engineering—Auckland Wants a School. Tho council of the Auckland University College again.made application for recognitio;i of their Engineering School. Mr. Gordon moved that the application be granted^ Professor Segar, in seconding the motion, said that, by Adopting the proposal,- great benefit would be conferred on tho-Auckland students without any injury to the Canterbury Engineering School. ; " If tho Senate refused recognition it was possible that Auckland College would set up a complete school for itself.' . . , Professor R. J. Scott oppos'ed the proposal on tho ground t!ni,t it would, if carried, increase tho cost of engineering instruction to a prohibitive amount-. Tho present cost was about £800 per graduate. This was a large sum, and about £20,000 had heeir-expended on liis recommendation at Canterbury College on buildings and apparatus. His recommendation was made on the understanding that the 'principle laid down by the Senate would bo adhered to, viz., that there would be only one school of higher education in tho Dominion. If lie had thought that a second school of engineering would be attempted lie would have paused before recommending'such a largo expenditure. The comparatively high cost of the education of engineers was duo to .the fact that only a fraction of the capacity of Canterbury College was at present utilised'. • With the same staff, buildings, and appliances, it- could dc-al with at least six times tho number of students. If it was considered that Auckland, or any other outlying centre, was not treated fairly in the way of educational facilities in engineering, it would be infinitely more economical for tho country to pay for the transit to and from Canterbury, and tho whole -cf tho living expenses of all the students desirous of coming from Auckland. If there were 20 additional students at Canterbury College, the country could afford to pay them .£6O a year for living expenses, with a net reduction in the ccst *of somothing like £258. The cost would .then be' £558 per student instead of £800, and the country could absorb easily that-number of engineers. One of the great difficulties in Canterbury College .was that the demand for engineers liad been so great, and tho number coming- forward so small that mill had been taken away before completing tho course. An Age of Rapid Movement In ~ Engineering. At present, continued the speaker, engineering was advancing by leaps and bounds. He had. found at Home that plant and machinery, used ten years ago, had now becomo absolutely obsolete, and the engineering colleges in England were faced with the difficulty that, in order to keep up their instruction in engineering, the whole of tho old laboratories had had to bo remodelled.- Enormous expenditure was being incurred in London, and the smaller colleges were going to tho wall because they could not expend thousands of pounds on now plant. Speaking 011 the conditions in New Zealand,'the professor said that-, in order to justify tho expense of a single college, the whole of-tho teaching in engineering and allied professions would have to bo concentrated therein. He 1 could not see any other possible way of 'justifying tho expenditure. If theSen'ato were to recognise a second engineering collego in 'New Zealand, and thus depart from tho principle previously laid' doivn as to specialisation in-tho different centres, the result, in his opinion, would bo that both colleges would become,...inefficient, and.. finally dwindle out; of existence. They would ■ then have to bo satisfied 'with sending Diir most promising men Home to learn engineering in its highest branches, or import mon. Tho country could not afford to run two Engineering Colleges, it was onljr by the greatest care, and with concentration, that the expenditure 011 a single Engineering College would bo justified. Otherwise they would have to be,"content with..the very, excellent system of instruction in the technical schools. . _ After further discussion the motion was negatived by 15 to 6. Board of Studies Proposed. The Constitution Committee submitted a recommendation to tho effect that a Board of Studies bo created with power to make recommendations to the Senate as to degrees, scholarships, prizes, courses of study,' and examinations. The committeo also presented a draft of tho Bill, and suggested that it should bo submitted to the councils of affiliated institutions, professorial boards, and tho district courts of coiv ' vocation, and that their replies (if any) mid tho Bill should be dealt with by tho Senate at the April meeting. After the discussion it was resolved -to forward tho proposal Bill to tho bodies interested, the replies: to bo considered at a meeting of tho Senate in 'April. Science Side of University. The Science Committee recommended: —(1) That the question of including agriculture as a subject for examination ' for degrees for B.A. and B.Sc. and for j ■senior scholarships: bo postponed till ivxt annual meeting. (2) That agriculture be included in the subjects'for tho entrance scholarship, and that a syllabus,.; be drawn up and submitted to_ the heads" of secondaiy schools for opinions. (3) That a prize, to be called tho Sir Julius Von Haast prize of value of £10, be established and competed for annually by graduates who aro taking honours in geology. (4) That, with regard to tho teaching of agriculture, tho committeo has 110 recommendation to make. (5) That "education" be added to the list of subjects for tho degreo of B.Sc. (6) That consideration of Professor Hun--1 tor's motion regarding French and Gorman for tho B.Sc. degreo bo postponed. The report was adopted, and clauso 2 was referred to tho beads of secondary schools for opinions, the matter to be considered at ncxt mooting in December. December Examiners Appointed. The Examiners' Committee rejoin,-

mended that the following bo the December examiners for 1914: —

Entrance Scholarship, Etc. —Latin, T. D. Adams, Dunedin; Greek, Professor Dettmann, Auckland; English, Professor Wall, Christ-church; Fronch, Professor Walker, Auckland; German, Professor .Blunt, Christclmrch; mathematics, Mr. Dar.vin, Christcliurcli; mechanics, Professor Picken, Woilington; physics, Professor Parr, Christchurch;. chemistry, Professor Worley, Auckland; botany, Professor Benliam, Dunedin ; history, If D. Bedford, Dunedin; geography, C. A. Cotton, Wellington. Matriculation, Etc.—Latin, T. W. Cavo and W. D. Andrews, Christchurch; Greek, Professor Dettmann, Auckland; English, Professor Mackenzie, Mr. W. A. Evans, and Miss Watson, Wellington; French, G. E. Thompson, Dunedin; German, Mrs. Macphail. Wellington; mathematics, Professor Segar, S. E. Lamb', and W. Wilson, Auckland; history, P. P. Wilson,. Wellington; geography, A. W. Shrimpton. Christchurch; physical science. Professor Evans and R. Speight, Christchurch-; natural science, Professo/ TV. BoysSmith and Miss H. Rawson,'Dunedui; music, Dr. Bradshaw, Christchurch, agricultural scionco, P. W. Hilgendorf, Christchurch; drawing, R. Hawcndge, Dunedin; chemistry, Professor Inglis, Dunedin. , / The recommendation was agreed to.