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Salient: Victoria University Students' Paper. Vol. 29, No. 7. 1966.

An activity that we need

page 4

An activity that we need

Vuwsa'S Executive has now had an education officer for one year— but there is little to show that this position has increased student activity in this important field. Brian Boston reports on:

Vuwsa President Chris Robertson and executive members Dave Shand, Geoff Bertram, and Tom Broadmore

Vuwsa President Chris Robertson and executive members Dave Shand, Geoff Bertram, and Tom Broadmore confer before attempting to present the petition. Executive member Trevor Crawford was also part of the group, but is obscured here.—D. J. Fergusson Photo.

• Liaison with the Professorial Board

At present many important decisions are made by the Professorial Board, and automatically accepted by Council. Thus the first students hear of changes which directly affect us is when our Council representative tells us that the last Council meeting approved the change. This is two steps too late. Representations should be made to the Professorial Board that before such decisions are made students should be consulted. This is not to say that we demand to participate in the final deliberations; all we wish is that our views should be heard and anomalies which affect us corrected. Note that anomalies have passed Council, as happened with the introduction of the Maori Preliminary course last year.

• New Degree Structures

The present degree structures are hopelessly inadequate for the modern inter-disciplinary approach. The introduction of the half unit B.Sc. was an admission of the inflexibility of the unit approach, without solving the problem. A committee of staff and students should be set up to plan new degree structures.

• Reduction in Importance of Examinations

Why should examinations be the single measure of the value that a student has received from his study? For that matter, what relevance have the values which an examination measures, to the objects of a university? Finally, why should a year's work be evaluated on the basis of six or nine hours work? Some departments are slowly moving away from this narrow restriction but all need to be encouraged to place a greater emphasis on the results of the full year's Work.

• Work Loads

It is well known that the work loads for units, which are nominally the same standard, may vary widely. One arts stage III may have four lectures a week and four essays a year while another may involve eight lectures and an essay a week. Information on the work loads for each course should be collected and then some agreement should be made with the Professorial Board about what constitutes a reasonable work load and what should be a maximum. At least one professor has mentioned that there is a lack of knowledge of the work loads of other departments and such a study would be of considerable help to him.

• Supporting Courses

Not all students fail because they are not good enough or because they do not work hard enough. Many students do not have basic skills developed to the standards that the department expects of them—skills such as study methods, reading speed, essay writing techniques and mathematical background. Voluntary supporting courses to give students these skills should be instituted by the university.

• The Liberalisation of Science Degrees

The B.Sc. course regulations should be altered immediately so that a science student can take one or two arts units such as Philosophy I, English I, Economics I, Maori Studies I, French I, or History I.

• A Teaching Research Centre

The university should set up a centre to carry out research on teaching methods and to act as advisers to staff on these problems. TV is just one of the many new methods developed from modern technology which could result in increased effectiveness of teaching and which, therefore, the university should be considering introducing. The research centre could advise on developments outlined in points 2, 3, 4 and 5 above.

• Lunch hours free of Lectures

The university does not just consist of lecture and laboratory periods. Everyone pays lip service at least to the importance of extra curricular activities. By ensuring that as few lectures as possible are held in the period from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. each day, and that the lectures that are held are duplicated at other times of the day, many more students would be able to attend activities held in this period, such as winter lectures, forum, music concerts and church services.

• The Tax Free Research Grants

In the last budget the Government announced that donations by companies to universities for research purposes will be tax free (up to a limit of £500). Of course, £500 is hopelessly inadequate for any major project, and representations to the Government to abolish the limit should be made. Meanwhile the students' association in conjunction with the University Council should be approaching as many companies as possible, offering projects which they could help finance.

• Research Grants to Students

Could not the students' association make grants to students for research on such subjects as success and failure of students? Perhaps a £100 grant could be made to a Masterate student if the results of his research would be of direct benefit to university students.