FORMER STUDENT’S RETURN FROM U.S.A.

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 168, 6 October 1927, Page 18

FORMER STUDENT’S RETURN FROM U.S.A.

PROFESSOR M. A. HUNTER WELCOMED AT UNIVERSITY Some idea of the manner in which an American university is conducted was given by Professor M. A. Hunter, of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at Troy, New York, at a luncheon given in his honour at the Auckland University College yesterday. Prof. Hunter, who is a past student of the college, has travelled widely since he left New Zealand in 1902, and has had experience in English, German and French universities. The American universities, said Professor Hunter, are all administered sepai'ately, by a president and a board of trustees, on which the faculty are not represented. The president is elected for his business ability and expertly handles the funds of the college alone. This explains the success of the American universities. At his own college, in Troy, there is an endowment of over £2,000,000. invested chiefly in U.S. Steel Corporation stock, which yields about 30 per cent, interest. The successful past students are always willing to make donations to the college funds if necessary. There are few State universities which have State grants, but most institutions are selfreliant. In America, continued Professor Hunter, there is a teacher of some rank to every 10 or 12 students. The lecture system has largely been abolished and a more tutorial system, as originally practised at Oxford, is in use. Students are taught to think rather than remember disconnected facts, said the professor. Nearly all students in America pay fees for training amounting to over £7O a year. About ten per cent, are free through scholarships. The college pays a similar amount from the interest on its endowments. Students nearly all work during their summer vacation to raise money for their winter studies.

Professor Hunter will return to America next month.