The First Six Years 1963-69

in and to choose from a wide variety o f courses and programmes. The academic staff and scholars want the opportunity to engage in original research ， supported by adequate, up-to-date equipment and facilities. They want to associate w ith productive colleagues and students o f demonstrated interest, aptitude and originality. The large university ， by virtue o f its size and attendant relative economy, can obviously support a greater variety o f programmes and justify the need for more equipment and facilities than a small independent college. This ， in tu rn ， attracts the more able scholar and the better student. For these reasons, therefore, the founders o f The Chinese University rejected these two extremes and adopted the federated form o f organization which gives the University the more important advantages o f size w ithout sacrificing its ab ility to deal w ith the faculty and students as individuals. Each College w ill retain its own character. Each College w ill have its own teaching L ibrary, and enjoy university-wide research facilities and other resources well above the level that a small independent college can normally afford. Each w ill constitute a v ita l part o f and contribute to the overall objectives o f the University. The University ， in turn, w ill support the Colleges by providing common facilities and services. To the extent feasible and practical, resources w ill be pooled. There is no fixed pattern nor absolute solution for this pooling o f resources. I t must be accomplished in a spirit o f mutual trust and cooperation. Experience has shown that management o f things— money, books and buildings—can best be accomplished on a cen tralized basis. By the same token, the teaching and personnel ad ministration are best accomplished on a decentralized basis. Adjustments w ill be necessary on a continuing basis under pro cedures designed to allow maximum latitude and flexib ility. Changes should only be made gradually after careful study and experimentation. Un iform ity and standardization are desirable only when proven to be in the best interests o f the whole. The Chairman o f the University Grants Committee in an address to the Council o f The Chinese University in March 1969， summarized the basic concept under which the University was founded by quoting from the Fulton Report: “ The lesson o f successful federal universities is simple. There must be a strong ind ividua l life pulsing through each o f the Col leges; there must be powers o f regulation, coordination and control exercised by the university." The Chairman pointed out further that The Chinese Un iver sity was intended to be “ … a federal university. This is something more than three Colleges on one site. I t means— and the Com mittee has chosen these words w ith deliberation—not only that 88