25' \' THE PEOPLE'S UNNMRSITY A study of the relationship between the South Australian School of Mines and Industry/South Australian Institute of Technology and the University of Adelaide (with reference to the relationship between the School/Institute and the South Australian Department of Education) 1897 -1977 . A thesis presented for the Degree of Master of Arts Department of History The University of Adelaide Annely Aeuckens July 1989 TABI,E OF CONITTT\ITS Page Summary v Statement vii Acknowledgements viii Introduction 1 Chapter- One Foundation of the south Australian school of Mines and Industries n Chapter Two ^ Early Years; The 1897 and 1903 Agreements with the UniversitY of Adelaide 4l Chapter Three Conflict and Resolution 1910-1915 6t Chapter Four Relationship with the Education Department 1889-1939 85 Chapter Five Between the'Wars - The Agreement with the University of Adelaide 106 Chapter Six Relationship \Mith the university of Adelaide 1940-1960 tn Chapter Seven Relationship with the State Government and the Education DePartment 1 940-1 960 156 Chapter Eight Adapting to Change L96I-197 7 185 Conclusion 2,2 Appendices ru Tables 2ß Bibliography m2 ll APPENDICES Page Appendix One ProfiIe of Students 1889-1967 2g Appendix Two Copy of First Agreement (1897) 2& Appendix Three The University of Adelaide Report on Applied Science Courses (1908) zffi Appendix Four Copy of Agreement Between the llniversit-y of , Adètaide and the School of Mines and Industries (1e03) n2 Appendix Five Copy of Agreement between the University of AdèIaide and the School of Mines and Industries (1e38) n4 Appendix Six Extract from 'Technological Education in South Australia' (1956) n6 Appendix Seven Extract from 'Memorøndum - proposed Føculty of Commerce' (7957) n7 Appendix Eight Brõadcast by the Premier (The Honourable Sir Thomas Playford) from Station 5AD on 16 September 1959 n9 Appendix Nine Sir Langdon Bonybhon President of the School Australian School of Mines and Industries 1 889-1 939 282 TABLES Table One - Enrolments and Graduates in Faculty of Applied Science 7957 -197 7 2æ Table Two - Number of Graduates south Australian school of Mines and Industries/South Australian Institute of Technolory 1889-1977 289 ilt Table Three - Financial support from the south Australian Government to the South Australian School of Mines and Industries and the University of Adelaide 1890-1960 290 Table Four - university of Adelaide - Numbers of students 1889-1967 WL DIAGR.AMS Diagram One - Manchester lJniversity - 1950s 138 Diagram Two - Summary of English Developments - 1950s 138 Diagram Three - First suggestion for reorganisqtion of the south Australian school of Mines and Industries 14ì Diagram Four - Agreed reorganisation of the South Australian School of Mines and Industries 7M IV SUMMARY This thesis has arisen out of research undertaken for the centenary history of the South Australian School of Mines and Industries/South Australian Institute of Technology (SASMVSAIT), published in July 1989. Of the many themes and issues that emerged during the course of the three-year project, one of the most important concerned the role of SASMI/SAIT in the freld of higher education. The relationship that developed with the University of Adelaide influenced the direction of the School's glowth, the extent of its freedom and independence of action from the state government, and the part it played as a provider of education to the general community. In addition, the unparalleled cooperation with the University in the teaching of engineering and the applied sciences distinguished SASMVSAIT from other technical colleges/schools of mines in Australia. The development of the School was also affected by events occurring within the state-controlled education sector and the relationship with the Education Department. Another factor which marked out SASMI's distinctiveness, in Australian terms' was its maintenance of an extraordinary degree of autonomy and freedom from state interference' This freedom was partly assisted by, and also contributed to, the ongoing relationship with the University of Adelaide which aided SASMI's status as a tertiary institution. Ilowever, while emphasising its higher-level work in technical and technological education, SASMI successfully fulfrlled its self-appointed function as a 'People's University'. The Schoot did this, not by catering predominantly for the working classes, but by enabling a broad spectrum V of the Adelaide metropolitan population to have access to a variety of educational programmes, from certifrcates at the Adelaide Technical High School through single-subject technical and industrial classes to associate diplomas and degrees of the University of Adelaide. Before the large-scale expansion and diversification of higher education, SASMI played a key role as an educational provider in areas not covered by either the University of Adelaide or the Education Department. Although other such multi-purpose institutions existed, SASMI/SAIT's independent status and particularly its joint agreement with the University was not repeated elsewhere in Australia. VI STAIEME\ïT This thesis contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other d,egree or diploma in any university and that, to the best of my knowledge and. belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference is made in the text of the thesis. Also I consent to the thesis being made available for photocopy and loan if applicable if accepted for the award of the degree. vil ACKNO\ryI,EDGEMN\TTS Numerous people have, both directly and indirectly, assisted in the completion of this thesis. I would like to begin by thanking my supervisor, Dr Wilfred Prest, who made the suggestion of developing a thesis from my research project in early 1986. His comments have been of particular help in the final stages of constructing and editing the manuscript. During the time in which I was involved in the research and production of the South Australian Institute of Technology's centenary history, 'The People's lJniversity', Mrs Helen Pearce, Mr Gordon Young and my husband, Dallas Simpson, provided considerable assistance and support. They also, along with Mr Paul McDonald, read and commented on the thesis. In this connection, I would also like to thank Mr Tony Denholm and Dr Roger Hainsworth of the University of Adelaide's History Department. In locating necessary material for the thesis, I would like to acknowledge the help of Ms Susan \Moodburn, the University of Adelaide's archivist and the staff of the David Murray Library at the South Australian Institute of Technology. In addition, I would particularly like to thank Ms Lin Martin, Manager, Information Systems at the Institute, who provided all the diagrams and charts from my raw dat/ for Appendix One. Her help was much appreciated. Finally the production of this thesis would not have been possible without the capable endeavours of Mrs Judi Hurley, who was responsible for the typing and word processing. Her patience and efñciency \ryere noteworthy. To conlude, I would like to issue a general vote of thanks to the South Australian Institute of Technology for its support of the 'The People's University'project from 1986 to 1989. viii INITRODUCTION The main purpose of this thesis is to chart the origins and development of an unusually long and successful relationship between two distinctly different ed.ucational bodies, the South Australian School of Mines and Industries/South Australian Institute of Technology (SASMI/SAIT) and the University of Adelaide. Based on the need to share scarce resources' the two institutions managed to maintain an effective joint agreement for eighty years. Such an arïangement \À¡as unparalleled in the history of Australian higher education; indeed, it was modelled more upon British experience than any domestic examples of cooperation. The j oint agreements between SASMI/SAIT and the University of Adelaide in engineering and the applied sciences showed that institutions could work together if they were compelled by external pressures and for the sake of mutual self-interest. Although regarded as separate, if not sometilnes antagonistic, educational institutions, they both served the needs of capitalist industry which exercised 'a major influence on the character and structure of the education system'.1 In addition, despite their apparently different educational missions, the University did not cater exclusively for the social elite and the school for the working classes. There was a significant middle-class component to the student body at both places. That is, their clientele was not mutually exclusive. This'overlap also applied to the respective curricula of the two bodies. At the bottom of the University's and at the apex of SASMI's professional work were the engineering and applied science courses which attracted sons of the bourgeoisie and the skilled working classes. Lacking adequate funds, however, both institutions could not separately offer facilities in these aïeas and they ryvere therefore forced to combine their resources. This sharing of resources also suited a state government unable and unwilling to support the development of two fully competitive institutions. While some competition between SASMI and the University could not be prevented, the joint agreement muted it and allowed them to avoid engaging in a destructive rivalry. When pressure to expand technological education in South Australia increased after