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79. We have not inquired as to the model or models upon which the constitu- tion of the University, as set out in the Ordinance quoted, was based; but we would suggest that the requirements of such an institution, separated by ten thousand miles from the academic traditions and atmosphere of the United Kingdom, may very well be wholly different from the requirements of a University in England. And we would say at once that in our opinion the existing constitution is too "democratic" and too cumbrous for local needs.
80. According to section 8 (1) of the Ordinance the Vice-Chancellor :-
shall be the chief administrative officer of the University, and shall have
such powers and duties as the Council shall assign to him".
So far as we are aware the Council has never defined those powers or those duties and the Statutes are silent on this point. It would indeed seem that his statutory powers are limited to a single vote, liable to be overruled by the majority, in Senate, Council and Court. We would suggest that he should be given definite authority to give orders to his staff and such statutory powers as would ensure, without further ado, that those orders are obeyed.
81. As regards the Senate, we are strongly of the opinion that its sphere should be rigidly confined to academic matters and that all else should be liable to be ruled, under Statute, to be out of order. This would seem to be implicit under the specific terms of seventeen of the eighteen paragraphs of Statute 10, but the whole of these are nullified by the very wide terms of paragrapht 8 of that Statute, which reads :—
“To discuss and declare an opinion on any matter whatsoever relating to
the University".
The simple deletion of that paragraph would in our opinion be of great advantage to the discipline of the University.
82. Even though the question may in practice only very rarely arise we consider that the present almost invulnerable status of the members of the staff ensured by Statute 17 of the Ordinance might easily be dangerous. The machinery for removing an incompetent lecturer, for example, whatever may be the terms of his original agree- ment, seems to us to be unnecessarily cumbrous under that Statute; and we consider that the publicity entailed by the existing necessity of taking such a case before a body such as the full Court is undesirable. The individual concerned must be fully entitled to appeal against any such decision; but the decision, we are satisfied, should original- ly lie with the Council, or even with the Vice-Chancellor subject to the Council's confirmation.
83. A further point under the same Statute presents itself. Apart from lunacy or something like criminal misconduct, the only "Good Cause" which can be shown seems to be the rather vague "actual incapacity". We do not fully under- stand the meaning of this term but it seems at least arguable that incompetence, indolence, indiscipline, and a number of other undersirable characteristics could never be quoted as a grounds for removal. We consider that this should be remedied and that no member of the staff should feel that he is invulnerable until retiring age.
84. The periodical election of Deans of the Faculties under Statute 3 (6) appears to us to be undesirable from the point of view of discipline, and it is not easy for us to see the objections to the senior professor being ex officio Dean of his Faculty, his place while on leave being naturally filled by the next senior. We observe that the annual election which obtains in the Engineering and Arts Faculties has become triennial in the Medical Faculty, presumably because the General Medical Council sees the same objections as we do to annual terms. We do not see why this principle should not be still further extended in the direction of permanent and non-elective appointments.
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Miscellaneous.
85. We have been conscious throughout our inquiry that the old tradition of China in the matter of the aim and object of education still to a great extent persists even in such a modern environment as that of the Hong Kong University. By this we mean the tradition that the passing of a difficult examination is the ultimate goal, and that on the strength of such an achievement the successful scholar may expect to face the rest of life with the equanimity which assured position and a steady in- come secure. We do not pretend that our graduates are like those aspirants to office in pre-Revolutionary China who continued, often until late in life, to strive for the material rewards of scholarship. But We are sensible of a feeling that graduation is an end in itself rather than a mere milestone on the road of
prepara- tion for life.
88. We are therefore of the opinion that the University Employment Com- mittee "
which we observe to exist in the pages of the University Calendar, should come to life and set itself to devise means by which students might be helped to secure suitable employment after graduation. We think, moreover, that this Com- mittee might be improved by a wider personnel, such for example as representative Chinese officials, leaders in China's educational service, distinguished Hong Kong graduates, and the like.
87. We are also conscious of what is perhaps another phase of the same tendency, namely that the University seems to lose touch too readily with its students after graduation. The University is still young and it is hardly to be expected that there will yet be much in the way of sentimental attraction. But we feel that any- thing which can be done to foster Alumni Associations cannot fail to bear fruit. It is chiefly so that fresh students can be attracted; and the time might even come when such graduates might be disposed to give practical effect to their loyalty by combining to provide scholarships or in many other ways. But the loyalty must
first be there.
88. As regards the recruitment of teaching staff we cannot but feel that the University has become too stereotyped in its methods; there are whole-time lecturers recruited from home for life; there are some whole-time lecturers recruited for a short term of years; there are local part-time lecturers; and there are a few Hong Kong graduates. We do not wish to say more than that certain other avenues are at least worthy of exploration :—(a) interchange of teachers with the leading Chinese Universities; (b) temporary employment of some of the lecturers sent out to China by the "Universities' China Committee"; (c) arrangements with certain local mis- sionary bodies (notably the Jesuits) who may have persons fully qualified for lectureships, etc.
89. In our opinion "Study Leave" has sometimes been accorded in the past with too little consideration. There should, for example, obviously be safeguards to prevent an officer of the University obtaining at its expense certain qualifications and, by his early resignation, reaping the benefits himself; we understand that Government servants are more strictly bound in this respect than the University staff. But apart from this we feel that for Hong Kong the initial qualifications required should generally suffice without the expense of further long courses of study in England.
90. We recommend that the Finance Committee should carefully scrutinize the existing rules regarding passages. The number of children to be carried at the University's expense may need definition; and we think that it is possible that there are cases where the grant of a Second Class passage instead of First Class might not be inconsistent with the dignity of the University.
91. We recommend that in future no benefaction in the form of a new building should be accepted unless it is accompanied by an adequate endowment for its main- tenance and upkeep.
122.