Bulletin Winter 1975

Fourth Commonwealth Conference of University Registrars The First Commonwealth Conference of Registrars of Universities of the Southeast Asia and Pacific Area was inspired by the very successful conference of administrators held in Makere, Uganda, in 1969. Encouraged by the Inter-University Council for Higher Education Overseas to hold a similar conference and with travel funds provided by the Trust for the Development of Higher Education Overseas, the first group of university administrators gathered in Port Moresby at the University of Papua and New Guinea in November 1971 to discuss a variety of university problems, to exchange ideas and to learn from one another. This was the first gathering of registrars from Commonwealth universities of Southeast Asia and the Pacific Area. Since then two more conferences have been held 一 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 1972 and in Hong Kong in 1973. Between 1971 and 1974 three training courses aimed at middle-management university administrators were organized, each a direct outcome of the Conferences that had been held. This Fourth Conference was jointly hosted by the two Universities in Singapore, Nanyang University and The University of Singapore, from 10th to 15th November, 1975. Mr. Nelson H. Young, University Secretary, and Mr. William H.G. Wan, Assistant University Secretary, attended the Conference as delegates of this University. The main theme of the Conference was the "Servicing of Student Affairs in the University of Today ", and the topics for discussion were: (1) The student as a member of university community (2) Student finance (3) Student unrest or student problems and their solutions (4) Health, recreation and counselling, (5) Accommodation and catering Sir Hugh W. Springer, Secretary-General, Association of Commonwealth Universities, set the discussion going with a keynote address which points out: "Administrators are the servants of this community, as the title of our theme recognises, whose task it is to ensure by all means in their power that the community fulfils its function of sustaining and encouraging intellectual growth and excellence. And an important element of this function lies in sustaining the young apprentices in order that they may go successfully through the difficulties of emotional and intellectual growth. Hence the importance in a modern university of careers guidance and of health and counselling services, through which young students can be helped to overcome the stresses of transition from adolescence to adulthood, from school to university, from a variety of backgrounds to the corporate life of the university ; and to recover from the anxiety caused by the anticipation of examinations, by the cultural shock of moving from the simplicity of the village to the sophistication of the university, or by the consciousness of old values being eroded and new values still to be acquired, by financial worries or family worries and sometimes by mental illness." 14