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22

During the past year several changes have taken place in the personnel of the Council. Dr. James Fitzgerald has been appointed by the Governor-General in Council to fill the seat which Mr. John Ross resigned ; while Dr. William Marshall Mr. John William Scurr, and Mr. John Charles Thomson were elected by the District Court of Convocation, the Otago Hospital Board, and the Southland Board of Education respectively. The year has seen important changes in and additions to the staff. On the first day of the Jubilee celebrations, at the religious service held in the First Church, Dr. Gilray, our beloved Professor of English Language and Literature, dropped dead while reading the " Hymn of Love " in I. Cor. xiii. Thus the University lost the services of one who through a whole generation had taught with a fidelity and patience which won for him the affection of all his students in a remarkable degree. At once Dr. Macmillan Brown, Vice-Chancellor of the University of New Zealand, offered his services for the session then so near at hand, at the same time stipulating that his services should be accepted as a free gift. Before the year closed Mr. Herbert Ramsay, M.A., was appointed Professor of English Language and Literature. By the generosity of .the Synod of the Presbyterian Church, which now contributes £2,500 per annum towards the salaries of four of the Arts professors, the Council was enabled to make History and Economics separate Chairs, to which the following appointments have been made : John Rawson Elder, M.A., D.Litt., Professor of History, and William Henderson Pringle, M.A., LL.B., Professor of Economics. The staff of the Dental School has been increased by the appointment of Haynor Colin Bell, 8.D.5., as Professor of Clinical Dentistry. Early in the year Professor Boys Smith, first Professor of Home Science, sent to the Council her resignation. On the retirement of Professor Boys Smith, Miss Helen Rawson, who had been Lecturer in the school since its opening, was promoted, and appointed Professor of Home Science. The rapid growth of the home-science department and the importance of its work made it necessary for the Council to appoint a Professor of Domestic Arts, to which Chair Ann Gilchrist Strong, B.Sc, ha 3 been elected. Other appointments made, during the year are as follows : Lecturers —H. L. Cook, LL.B. (Property II), J. W. Hinton, M.Sc. (Physics) ; Assistants —V. M. Barron, M.A. (Modern Languages), I. McD. Allen, M.8., Ch.B. (Pathology), A. C. Aitken, M.A. (Mathematics), S. D. Bagley (Home Science), 0. H. M. Gloy (Home Science); Tutors —J.- R. White, M.8., Ch.B., F.R.C.S. (Surgery), T. Fergus, M.8., Ch.B., F.R.C.S.E. (Surgery). During the year the Council received an increase of £5,000 per annum from the consolidated revenue. For this relief the Council thanks the Government. This additional income has enabled the Council to do something in the way of increasing salaries and providing assistants, but it leaves us far short of what is urgently required for present needs. Our professors are poorly paid as compared with those of equal standing in other universities, and the several departments are understaffed. The Council hopes that a further increase of income may soon be granted to it. The students in attendance during the year and their distribution in the various faculties is shown in the following table, from which it will be seen that 1920 gives a record attendance of 1,095 students :—

The large number of students in attendance at the various classes makes the question of accommodation a pressing one. For some time the Government has had under consideration plans for new buildings for the Medical and Dental Schools. For the Medical School extensions land has been bought, and the Council hopes that the Government may soon make the necessary grants for the new buildings required for these important works. The Jubilee has brought to the University some handsome gifts and bequests, as follows : Sir John Roberts, £1,000, for research in medicine ; Dr. Lindo Ferguson, £1,000, for research in medicine ; Dr. Barnett, £1,000, for the Medical Library ; Sir Robert Stout, £500, for scholarship in economics ;

I I I Mi m. Wol lei). Faculty. Graduates. Undergraduates. .Nonmatriculated. Total. Undergraduates. Nollnmtriculatcd. Total. Graduates. Arts 9 150 55 218 94 27 130 13 Science 8 20 , 10 38 4 16 8 28 Law ■• i 2 i 40 7 49 Commerce I 25 105 130 1 5 6 Medicine 8 260 1 269 1 52 13 66 Mining and engineering 1 27 1 29 Agriculture 2 2 Dentistry 49 3 52 6 6 Home science 62 10 72 Totals 28 517 154 699 18 287 91 396