External department

London University has an external department, which gives people not studying at the university the opportunity of taking the degree examinations. Such people are called external students (as opposed to internal students) and take an external degree. The university does not provide any tui­tion for such students; they study for the examinations on their own, or take correspondence courses, or have private lessons.

Extra-mural department

An extra-mural department is one which runs non-degree courses in a wide range of subjects for the general public.

As stated in the handbook for 1973/74 issued by the University of London Department of Extra-Mural Studies, the courses are for "adults who wish to pursue knowledge for its own sake or develop their talents more fully..." It continues "There are no entrance requirements apart from a willingness to take an active part in a serious course of study".

The lectures take place on the university premises, and extra-mural is used here in a figurative sense, that is outside the main university framework (of degree courses and research), rather than outside its walls. The department has its own staff, and in addition arranges lectures by guest lecturers. Many universities have such departments.

Non-University Institutions

As already mentioned, the government and administration of non-university institutions differs from that of universities. The following terms are used:

Governing body

Instead of the court and the council, as in universities, colleges of education, colleges of higher education, polytech­nics and other institutions of further education have a govern­ing body,which consists of representatives of the local edu­cation authority, the local university, the college staff and the student body.

Academic board

This is responsible for the academic work of the college and its government, subject to the approval of the governing body. It thus fulfils approximately the same function as a university senate (see unit 74).

Principal

The head of a college or similar institution is usually called the principal.The principal is the effective head, not a public figure like the chancellor of a university. The princi-pal's deputy is called the vice-principal or the deputy prin­cipal.

Director

A comparatively new development is the use of directorinstead of principal in some institutions, especially polytech­nics. This use is not very widespread at present but it is in­creasing.

102. Other administrative officers include the secretary,
the registrar, the treasurerand the bursar(see units 78-79).
However, there is considerable variation from one institution
to another.

103. The structure of colleges and polytechnics is on the whole simpler than that of universities. As a rule they have no facul­ties, but are divided only into departments. There is usually no need for departments to be grouped in faculties, because the range of subjects in a particular college is much narrower than in a university, and the subjects studied are usually related to each other. For example, in a college of technology mainly technical subjects are taught, and therefore in one respect the whole college corresponds to a single faculty of a university. If arts subjects are also taught, there may be an arts faculty and a science/technology faculty. In some large institutions there are schools, as in some universities (see unit 80) and some polytechnics have divisions.

Many further educational institutions take not only full-time students but also part-time students. However, there are not usually separate full-time and part-time departments. Both full-time and part-time students study in the same de­partments, but take different courses, full-time courses or part-time courses. Most technical institutions also have so-called sandwich courses (see unit 396).

Date: 2016-04-22; view: 874