Bulletin Report of The Commission on The Chinese University of Hong Kong March 1976

(e) The Pro-Vice-Chancellor 75. It seems to us likely that, in the light of the heavy commitments likely to fall on the Vice-Chancellor inside and outside the University as it continues to develop, there will be a need for a Pro-Vice-Chancellor who can devote a substantial part of his time to undertaking some of the Vice- Chancellor's duties. The Pro-Vice-Chancellor should, as at present, be appointed by the Council after consultation with the Vice-Chancellor. The appointment requires very careful consideration and we think it would be prudent to amend the constitution (Statute 6(i)) to allow a less restrictive choice than at present. We wish to make it clear, however, that it is not our intention to suggest that the Pro-Vice-Chancellor should be an additional appointment to the staff of the University. Further, we do not consider that his tenure of office should necessarily be limited to 2 years. (f) The Academic Staff 76. All academic staff should be appointed by the University after recommendation by suitably constituted Boards of Advisers. We think that the constitution of Boards of Advisers could now with advantage be simplified and we set out what we regard as an appropriate arrangement in Appendix IV. The present distinction between appointed teachers and others should be abolished. 77. Each member of the academic staff should be assigned to a College by the Senate after consultation with the Assembly of Fellows in the College concerned. His contract of service should state the type and maximum amount of teaching which he would normally be required to perform. (g) The Students 78. We recommend that students should be admitted to the University and allocated to Colleges on the combined criteria of order of merit in academic performance and of placement preferred. (h) Library Services 79. The administration of all library services should be centralised and responsibility should rest with the University Librarian. Provision should, however, be made for the continuance of an undergraduate working library in each College through an earmarked entry within the overall library budget. (i) Administrative Organisation 80. We have understood our terms of reference as instructing us to deal in broad outline with the problems of the University's future rather than to prepare a blue-print, including new statutes in draft. In considering the principles which should govern the administrative organisation of the University, including its constituent Colleges, we find ourselves in a dilemma. We are clear, on the one hand, that there should not be a self-sufficient administration with a comprehensive budget for each College, thereby diverting resources that would otherwise be available for academic purposes. On the other hand we attach great importance to the diversity which the Colleges have it in their power to contribute to the University ； and we would not wish to encourage arrangements that would frustrate that contribution. We would regret it, for example, if the Colleges, constrained by the power of the purse or an over-rigid central administration, were forced into an identical mould, thus jeopardizing the spontaneity which, in our view, is an essential characteristic of the College system. There is no ready formula which would hold the balance and provide a permanent solution to this problem of the University's future development.