NA TURE 



329 



THURSDAY, MARCH 16, 1922. 



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The Melbourne University Bill. 



ELBOURNE University early took high rank 

 among the universities of the British Dominions 

 by the special distinction of many of its staff, the 

 high standard of its degrees, and the harmonious 

 co-operation between it and its affiliated colleges. 

 There has, however, been a feeling in recent years 

 among educationists in Victoria that the university 

 is not still of the same standing, as it had not kept 

 pace with progress elsewhere. To remove the causes 

 of any such decline the Government of Victoria has 

 introduced a Bill raising the statutory grant to the 

 university from 2i,oooL per annum to 30,000/., the 

 amount stated as necessary by the university council. 

 This Bill also proposes reforms in the constitution of 

 the university. 



The ultimate authority at present is the senate, 

 which consists of all the graduates of the university 

 holding the degree of doctor or master. This body 

 has some legislative powers and elects practically the 

 whole of the university council, which is the executive 

 and administrative organ of the university. To give 

 such authority to the senate was probably the soundest 

 policy available at the foundation of the university, 

 but it is no longer necessary. The new Bill therefore 

 proposes to replace the senate by a convocation which 

 would consist of all the graduates, would act through 

 a committee, and would elect twelve out of the thirty 

 members of the council. The Bill reconstitutes the 

 council to make it more widely representative. The 

 new council would consist of thirty members, seven 

 appointed by the Government, two by the university 

 staff, and one by the students, and would include 

 the director of education and the president of the 

 Professorial Board ex officio. These members and the 

 NO. 2733, VOL. 109] 



twelve elected by convocation would co-opt the six 

 remaining members. 



The new Bill assigns to the university three additional 

 branches of work, a school of commerce, research at 

 the university in applied science, and a university 

 extension department ; and it allots for these purposes 

 an extra grant of 7000/. per annum. The allocation 

 to the university of the proposed educational extension 

 work would seem to be to its advantage as well as 

 to that of the State. There is a widespread reaction 

 towards various forms of affiliation as a means of 

 widening the influence of universities on national 

 education ; but this system often imposes a severe 

 burden on a university, and is better not employed 

 if some other way of organising higher provincial 

 education be available. In the case of Victoria, 

 failing the scheme proposed in the Bill, the alter- 

 natives are the organisation of super-secondary 

 classes by the Education Department, or the award 

 of university degrees to external students by ex- 

 amination, the course recently adopted in Western 

 Australia and Queensland. The proposal in the Bill 

 for the admission of fifty free students a year to the 

 university would therefore seem to be to its ultimate 

 benefit, by lessening any claim for affiliation that 

 might be put forward in future by provincial in- 

 stitutions. 



The lines of the new Bill follow the present general 

 trend of university reform. The University Associa- 

 tion of Teachers, of which Prof. W. A. Osborne, the 

 president of the Professorial Board, is chairman, has, 

 however, issued a statement expressing great anxiety 

 and disappointment at some of its features. The 

 criticisms complain especially of the inadequate repre- 

 sentation of the university staff on the new council, 

 and of the disregard of the principle that a university 

 should not be called upon to undertake new duties 

 until the old duties are properly provided for. The 

 statement points out that the 9000/. added to the 

 annual grant for general university purposes would 

 be so reduced by new expenses and loss of revenue 

 from fees and public examinations that the university 

 would gain at the utmost only an extra 1200Z. If 

 these estimates be correct, this additional income is 

 obviously quite insufficient to enable the university 

 to cope with the inrush of new students, who in- 

 creased in numbers from 1296 in 1914 to 2607 in 

 1921. 



This criticism is less against the Government than 

 against the university council, which, according to 

 the Association of University Teachers, has failed to 

 protect the interests of the university by not raising 

 fees and by asking for an inadequate increase of the 

 State grant. The Government has given the amount 



