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REPORT. The Victoria University College Council to the Minister op Education. Victoria University College, 15th May, 1918. In pursuance of section 44 of the Victoria College Act, 1905, the Council presents the following report for the year 1917-18 :— Number of Students. —The number of students attending lectures during the year was 320, made up as follows: Matriculated students —Men, 129; women, 140: total, 269. Nonmatriculated students —Men, 19; women, 32: total, 51. There were in addition 37 exempted students, composed of 20 men and 17 women. These figures needed scrutiny. Of the men students, some joined the Army before the end of the session, some after the examination; none of these will be at College for next session. This year, as in each of the past three years, many students as they come of age leave for war service during the session. The exact numbers are not available, but it is probably within the mark to say that of past and present students over five hundred have enlisted. This has had and continues to have a marked effect on all College activities. It is a significant fact that the drop in the number on the rolls is only three as compared with last year. This is accounted for by the steady and normal increase of women students during the past four years; while in the case of the men there was an abnormal drop, in 1915, and there has been a steady fall since. The following tabular statement is illuminating : — Numbers ~ ~, .-, „ Men. Women. on Roll. 1914 ... ... ... ... • ... 377 243 134 1915 ... ... ... ... ... 383 232 151 1916 ... ... ... ... ... 323 162 161 1917 ... ... ... ... ... 320 148 172 From these figures it is quite evident .that when the war ends and the men now on service come back to College to complete their interrupted courses, together with the normal annual flow from the secondary schools, the numbers will go up in a way that will altogether overtax our present accommodation. Degrees gained. —The following degrees were gained: Master of Arts, 8 (6 with honours); Master of Laws, 4(3 with honours); Bachelor of Arts, 15; Bachelor-of Arts (first section), 22; Bachelor of Science, 1; Bachelor of Science (first section), 1; Bachelor of Laws, 6; Bachelor of Laws (sections), 12; Bachelor of Commerce (sections), 2. Two Senior University Scholarships were gamed —namely, those in Latin and English. The Sir George Grey Scholarship was awarded to Miss E. W. J. Fenton and Mr. J. E. Brodie, bracketed equal. School of Economics. —The war still blocks the way to the establishment of a School of Economics. The Council is anxious, when it does open this school, to get a good man in the Chair of Economics and the school well equipped for a start. To this end the Council sets aside annually the amount, of the national endowment received for the purpose from the Senate. From this source the sum of £1,440 16s. 7d. has accrued, and further sums out of revenue, which would have been expended on the School of Economics had it been in operation, are set aside for future use. These sums, together with the grant from the Macarthy Trust, will, the Council feels sure, enable it to carry on a well-equipped school. In many other ways needless to particularize the general working of the College, as in the case of all other national works, is greatly hindered by present conditions. For example, there is no professor in the Chair of Modern Languages, and the arrangements for these are but temporary. So also the Professor of Physics is at the front, and that subject is in the hands of a locum tenens. Moreover, three of the assistants to the professors are with the Forces and their places filled temporarily. Clement Watson. Chairman, Victoria University College Council. Excerpts from the Annual Report op the Professorial Board for 1917. College Terms and Scholarships. —First year's terms were kept by eighty-two students, second year's terms by fifty-six students, third year's terms by eighteen students, and fourth year's terms by one student. Work of the College. —Notwithstanding the constant withdrawal of young men and various changes in the staff owing to the war, the number of students in attendance at the College has suffered little change, while the work of the various departments has been continued as usual. The only important change as regards students' work is the introduction of regulations enabling students who have failed for terms at the October examinations to sit at a special examination in the following March to enable them to qualify for terms without the loss of a year, permission to sit for such special examination being granted only upon the recommendation of the Professorial Board in suitable cases. The privilege is at present confined to students in actual attendance at the College. Dr. Cotton has, at the request of the Department of Agriculture, conducted College classes in geology and surveying at Weraroa. Library. —During the year there have been 675 accessions at a cost of £284 15s. lOd. 102 of these were donations. War Work. —The activities of the science departments have been largely modified as a result of the war. Although there has been an increase in the numbers of students entering for degrees in science and medicine, there are practically no advanced students, the senior men being of military age. The Professor of Biology has devoted much time during the year to questions of camp sanitation, more particularly in connection with flies and mosquitoes. The staff has from time to time been consulted by the Defence Department in connection with matters of a highly

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