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Salient. Victoria University Student Newspaper. Volume. 34, Number 9. 1971

Space requirements

Space requirements.

Lecture and Seminar Rooms: An analysis prepared for the Universities conference of 1969 showed that in 1968, 19 lecture rooms were in use for regular classes for a total of 701 hours in the week, an average of 36.9 hours per week per room. For 1971 18 lecture rooms are in use for 753 hours, an average use of 41.8 hours. Twelve seminar rooms were in use in 1968 for a weekly total of 388 hours, an average of 32.3. In 1971 16 seminar rooms are in use for a total of 576 hours, an average of 36.

Although these figures take account neither of work in departmental seminar or quasi-seminar rooms or individual staff studies, they show a 22% increase in teaching hours since 1968 without a corresponding increase in the number of student places available.

It is impossible to say when saturation of classroom space will be reached. Some juggling of the timetable is still possible and some use can be made of an extended teaching day, but clearly this process cannot be continued without reducing the combinations of subjects students may reasonably expect to take, or reducing the teaching offered in these subjects.

Laboratories: In 1968 all laboratory departments in the science faculty except biochemistry were able to accept some increase in the number of undergraduate students, but graduate places were very short. Since then some undergraduate relief has been provided for Zoology and Botany, and further laboratory space created for Biochemistry; Geology has reached the limit of its capacity at advanced levels. As with classrooms, there are various ways in which the utilisation of undergraduate laboratories may be increased, but beyond a certain point major complications arise in the servicing of the laboratories and the setting up and preparation of experimental work.

A more immediate problem exists with graduate work at honours, masters and Ph.D. level where in all faculties growth in total graduate numbers has been comparable with that at undergraduate level. Research space generally, in all departments, is fully taken up and expansion can be achieved in default of extra building only by further over-crowding.

Library Space: The library provides a total of 1100 seats for readers of which 970 are available at desks for study purposes. The accepted (and UGC) standard of 1 seat for 4 students should provide 1580 scats. (Thus there is a shortage of 300-400 seats and carrels; book capacity will reach a maximum level by 1973.)

Staff Accommodation: In 1968 the University had a total establishment of 473 departmental staff (344 academic staff graded from professor to junior lecturer; 21 demonstrators; 52 technical and 56 secretarial staff.) By 1971 this had increased to 525 (384 academic, 19 [unclear: demo] secretarial staff.) Of these, the [unclear: un] all grades of staff in permanent [unclear: I] 270 in houses.

Thus 575 places are or can be [unclear: m] buildings excluding Robert [unclear: Stout] of Hunter and Rankine Brown. [unclear: C] services, administration and [unclear: assoc] total of 526 available for [unclear: depart] are used by research students [unclear: in] of 514. Of the 36 vacancies, [unclear: 18] which will require virtual [unclear: rebuild] condition.

As things stand, then, there [unclear: are] and all staff are housed. There [unclear: was] in departmental staff as at [unclear: February] portion of these will be [unclear: sufficient.]

Anyone who has recently been [unclear: to] will agree with Dr. Culliford [unclear: about] What they may not be so [unclear: willing] assumption that the present [unclear: univer] intact, because this assumption [unclear: un] the staff-student ratio must not [unclear: be] present level, if research and [unclear: acad] least) maintained; and since [unclear: more] housed for the university to [unclear: cont] in the staff/student ratio must [unclear: be] numbers. It would be [unclear: interesting] departmental staff/student ratios, [unclear: a] pressure. (The tone of the [unclear: whole] encompass the "total" university, solution, i.e. it predisposes the [unclear: ac] it would be interesting to [unclear: determ] been a deliberate policy by [unclear: unver] hiring of staff - whether our [unclear: pre] result of agreed policy or [unclear: random] student numbers.