Calendar: 1975-1976 Page 406

xxxiv Annual Report of the Delegacy requirement within the next year or two for radical reappraisal in the United Kingdom of the whole system of tenure in University academic appointments We may move this is not prediction but statement of one possibility towards system of term contracts of say five to seven years with tenure till retirement only in very senior posts and not in all of these We can in any case expect in the not far distant future hardening attitude in Universities on the prolongation of appointment beyond first retiring age and on the question of what are usually called though not here in King's probationary appointments Our practice here of course is to make all appointments for three years in the first instance It has been rare indeed for young member of staff not to be confirmed in tenure after three years but this principle has been upheld Every effort must be made and here in King's it will to protect the interests of staff but the danger of academic redundancy in British Universities will not go away because we want it to The best hope of solution to this very acute problem may lie in financial inducements Here the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals might be well advised to see whether the Services have experience that could be applied and have as matter of fact opened this up on the Com- mittee's behalf with the Ministry of Defence On happier note in connection with stafflet me say that the College has every reason to be pleased with the appointments we have been able to make in the past few years We play this appointments game very straight Our rules over public advertisements and open competition are scrupulously observed with only very rare departures from them in highly exceptional cases and should like here to acknowledge with satisfaction and gratitude the generous acceptance of this approach among our academic staff even where uncertainty and disappointment have resulted to individual members We are deeply indebted and myself above all to certain members of staff whose preparedness to put the good of the whole above personal advantage has been very great may not name any but they and their colleagues too are likely to know whom mean The high quality of applicants for academic appointments here and the numbers in which they usually come forward when places are to be filled is cause for very lively satisfaction We have particular cause to be pleased over appointments to our chairs of which fourteen have been filled since this quinquennium began We have some brilliant young professors among us