The Short Title of this Act is “The Middle District of New Zealand University College Act, 1894.”

There shall be established in the City of Wellington a College, to be connected with the University of New Zealand.

A governing body, constituted as hereinafter mentioned, shall be and is hereby constituted a body politic and corporate by the name of “The Middle District of New Zealand University College,” by which name such body corporate shall have perpetual succession and a common seal.

The governing body shall be called “the Council,” and it shall consist of thirteen members, one of whom shall be the Chairman of the Board of Education for the time being of the Educational District of Wellington; four shall be appointed by the Governor in Council; four shall be elected by the members of the House of Representatives representing in Parliament the electoral districts in the Provincial Districts of Hawke’s Bay, Taranaki, Wellington, Nelson, and Marlborough, and the members of the Legislative Council resident in any of the said provincial districts; and four shall be elected by the graduates of the University of New Zealand on the books of the College and the members of the Professorial Board hereinafter constituted.

The first election of the members of the Council by the members of the House of Representatives and Legislative Council shall be held in such manner as the Governor in Council shall direct; the next and all succeeding elections shall be held by the Council, and in such manner as it shall direct. Until there are thirty graduates on the books of the College, the Governor in Council shall appoint the members to be elected by the graduates and the members of the Professorial Board.

The ordinary term of office of all elected and appointed members shall be five years; but at the end of the first year one of each of the three groups elected or appointed shall retire, and so at the end of the second, third, and fourth years. The persons so to retire shall be decided by lot. Every retiring member shall be eligible for re-election or reappointment.

A casual vacancy shall be filled up by the Council, but the member so appointed shall only hold office so long as the vacating member would have retained office if no vacancy had occurred.

So soon as there are thirty graduates on the books of the College, the Council shall make regulations for the conduct of the election by the graduates and Professorial Board members.

The Governor of New Zealand for the time being shall be the Visitor of the College.

The Council shall elect one of its members to be President, and may make by-laws for its own government and procedure.

The quorum of the Council shall be five.

Any member who shall fail to attend the meetings of the Council for a period of three consecutive months, without leave of absence from the Council, shall cease to be a member of the said Council, and his seat shall be vacated.

The seat of any member shall be vacated if he is convicted of any crime, or if he become bankrupt or of unsound mind.

The Council shall have full power to appoint and remove all professors, lecturers, examiners, officers, and servants of the College, and to engage them on such terms and for such period as the Council shall deem meet.

There shall be a Professorial Board of the College, consisting of all the professors and lecturers of the College. The Council shall frame by-laws for the calling-together of the Professorial Board, and for regulating its procedure.

The Professorial Board shall have the following duties and powers:—

To fix the course of study, and the days and hours of lectures and examinations, and make all necessary regulations regarding the attendance of students.

To prescribe the subjects of examination for scholarships, exhibition prizes, and other college distinctions or awards.

But the regulations made by the Professorial Board shall not come into operation until the Council approve thereof. The Professorial Board shall also exercise the following powers:—

Deal with all questions of discipline of the students; and

Manage the library.

But there shall be an appeal to the Council by any one aggrieved by the exercise of any powers of the Professorial Board, and the Council shall have, on such appeal, power to confirm, overrule, or vary the decision of the Professorial Board.

The Council shall annually furnish to the Governor a report of its proceedings, and a copy of the same shall be submitted to both Houses of Parliament.