PUBLIC SERVICE AND UNIVERSITY
Reply io Commissioner
DR. HIGHT ON OPENINGS FOR HONOURS MEN The attitude of the University of New Zealand toward the methods of recruitment in the public service, defined at the recent meeting of the Senate and challenged by Mr. P. Verschaffelt, Public Service Commissioner, was made clear later by Dr. J. Hight, rector of Canterbury College and chairman of the Academic Board of the Senate. Dr. Hight explained that the university authorities had no intention of casting any reflections on the service itself, and also that he had no desire to enter into a controversy ou the subject with Mr. Verschaffelt. The point chiefly emphasised by the Academic Board, Dr. Hight said, was tlie. desirability of making provision for opportunities for university graduates who had attained high honours in their subjects. Such men as these should have the opportunity to compete for admission into the service when they had completed their courses. If such opportunities existed at the moment they were very restricted in their application. The service regulations provided that no person should be appointed from outside the service while any officer within the service was qualified and eligible for the office. University men of the type Dr. Hight had in mind would generally have reached the age of 21 to 24 before they were prepared to apply for positions, and it might be that salaries and conditions of promotion would require consideration before the State could attract the best brains in the country. No Reflections on Service. “The university authorities do not wish to east any reflections ou the service itself,” Dr. Hight explained. “We recognise tlie good work that is being done within its limits, but conditions are changing so rapidly that it is essential that there should be within the civil service men on whom the country may call for special knowledge based on university training.” Dr. Hight referred to a recent address given by President Coffman, of the University of Minnesota, one of the foremost educationists in the United States, in which Dr. Coffman spoke of the system of entrance to the higher posts in the British civil service. He said that the strength of the National Government in England inhered largely in the under-secretaries in the various departments of government. These men were chosen from the highest hon- . ours rolls of Oxford, Cambridge and the other, universities of the country. They then served as apprentices in important government offices, and those who showed aptitude aud had the judgment and personality needed for public administration were chosen for further tests. One such test was to be appointed secretary of some important committee, for example, a committee on marketing, electricity, or housing. Tlie secretary made a study and prepared a report. If he showed ability to gather materials, to organise them, to think constructively, and to write clearly, keeping the public interest in mind at all times, he was then appointed to one of the important under-secretaryships of some department of government. The appointment was permanent; the position was well paid; the man had a career. Nothing like this existed in America, and, Dr. Hight added, nothing like this existed iu New Zealand. This system accounted, in large measure, for the stability and steadiness of the British Government. Training Necessary. These illustrations were cited to emphasise that men must be trained for public service. The more complicated it became tlie more training was necessary. Herein lay a new opportunity as well as a new responsibility for the colleges and universities of the United States. If such training was to be successful it would require the co-op-eration of the Government, for men could not be trained satisfactorily apart from the work they were expected to do.
It had been argued in favbur of the present system in New Zealand that many members of the public service undertook university studies and took out university degrees, but, said Dr. Hight, this did not fill the bill in the sense believed necessary by the university authorities. Men who took degrees in such subjects as accountancy aud law could uot always be regarded as honours specialists in the art of government and administration. These courses aud degrees were, ot .course, necessary and wholly desirable, but any argument based on this system could not be advanced against the case presented recently at the Senate meeting.
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19350129.2.63
Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka
Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 106, 29 January 1935, Page 8
Word count
Tapeke kupu
727PUBLIC SERVICE AND UNIVERSITY Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 106, 29 January 1935, Page 8
Using this item
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Dominion. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.