OUR UNIVERSITIES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 60, 29 July 1907, Page 2

OUR UNIVERSITIES.

AN AMERICAN PROCESSOR'S SUGGESTIONS. Per Press Association. Wellington July 27. Dr. Starr Jordan, President of the Iceland Stanford University, in a memorandum to Sir Robert Stout, Chancellor of the New Zealand University, makes I'interesting suggestions on. general University matters. Examination, he states, should be the function of the professor, and not of the University. The requirements of degrees should be stated in terms of the work accomplished, not in terms of the examinations required. The chairman of the professional board should havo as many as possible of the\ functions of an American University.' As far as possible the certificates of masters of approved secondary schools should be received in place of matriculation examinations in receiving students. A generous range of subjects should be allowed, and book cramming, especially in science,'should be discouraged. In America, the experience of the best method ■of adjusting the course is through the "Major professor" system, by which the professor in charge of a department becomes the student's adviser. Colleges in New Zealand shoulj devote themselves primarily to the actual needs of New Zealand for extra mural study, and in general, not for attendance at night lectures or exien- -. sion lectures. Taxation of university # students is the most oppressive form of State taxation. In general, the professor as a teacher has far too little initiative in Australian Universities.