220 
The N.Z. Journal of Science and Technology. 
[May 
UNIVERSITY AND SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 
University of New Zealand. 
Annual Meeting of the Senate. 
At its annual session in February the Senate discussed and came to a 
number of important decisions regarding matters affecting scientific 
education and professional training. 
Financial Needs of the University and Colleges. 
A committee was set up to report on the funds necessary to carry on 
effectively the work of the University and the affiliated institutions. The 
report of this committee was referred back for amplification, and the matter 
will come up again at a later meeting of the Senate ; but the interim report 
calls attention to a number of urgent needs. Somewhat abridged, it is as 
follows :— 
(1.) The Committee finds that the Government annual statutory grant to the 
University of New Zealand (£3,000) has not been raised for very many years, notwith¬ 
standing the fact that the population of New Zealand has increased and the work of the 
University has been extended in many directions. 
The Committee recommends that the Government be requested to raise the grant 
to £5,000 per annum, and to arrange that the grant to the University shall in future 
increase with the population of the Dominion and with the activities of the University. 
The increase in the grant is required for general expenses, advanced scholarships, and 
special assistance to the colleges for libraries, extension work, &c. 
(2.) At the present time the affiliated institutions, if they are to carry out their 
functions effectively and economically, need (a) additional buildings, (6) more equip¬ 
ment. . . . 
(3.) The Committee finds that the efficiency of the staffs of the affiliated institutions 
ought to be improved (a) by raising the salaries of University teachers, (6) by providing 
adequate and competent assistants. . . . 
The Committee thinks that in this distant Dominion inducements must be offered 
if the colleges are to obtain the services of the best men, and therefore recommends 
that the Government should be asked so to augment the funds of the colleges that the 
governing bodies of these institutions may be able to pay full-time professors a salary 
of £1,000 per annum. 
The best results of University work can be looked for only where there is such 
assistance as will enable (a) attention to be given to the individual needs of students, 
(6) the professor to give a fair measure of time to research work, ( c ) the University 
teacher to visit the Old World at regular intervals. The Committee therefore recom¬ 
mends that in the staffing of the colleges provision should be made for assistants who, 
if competent and successful, would advance to the position of assistant professorships. 
This arrangement would ensure a future in academic teaching for competent assistants. 
Salaries of these teachers should be raised by annual increments to a maximum that 
must vary somewhat in the different departments. 
(4.) Special Work: — [a.) Medical and Engineering Schools .—The Committee recom¬ 
mends that the Government should be urged to make adequate financial provision for 
these national schools. 
(b .) Agriculture . — That the University teaching in agriculture should be strengthened 
and extended (i) by giving assistance to Lincoln College, (ii) by instituting University 
teaching in agriculture in the North Island by co-operation of the science faculty of 
Victoria University College and the Government Experimental Farm. The Committee 
recommends the Government to provide funds adequate for these purposes. 
(c.) Forestry .—The importance of forestry in New Zealand has been recognized, 
and the Committee recommends that the Government be asked to provide funds for 
University teaching in forestry at the Auckland University College. 
(i d.) Extension Work .—The Committee feels that it is very desirable that the 
influence of the University should be felt by a greater proportion of our citizens, and 
recommends that funds ought to be provided for extension work on the lines of the 
W.E.A. movement, &c. 
