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in the fall of 1964. This recommendation shall also apply to Asheville-Biltmore College when an enrollment of 7 00 full-time equivalent students is reached in the college parallel work.

"Here again the commuter plan was being observed. Although a clear case was made for the expanded academic program leading to the baccalaureate degree, graduate work is not contemplated nor is duplication of professional training foreseen. These institutions will become four-year co-educational, non-resident, liberal arts and sciences colleges with specialized programs to meet unique community needs.

"Mr. Pearsall has presented a report on the work of his Committee insofar as Charlotte, Asheville, and Wilmington and University status are concerned, and I shall not dwell on this aspect of his report.

"(3) This leads me then to the third major recommendation of the Commission: the proposed statutory definition of University function.

"It is as follows:

"'The University shall provide instruction in the liberal arts, fine arts, and sciences, and in the learned professions, including teaching, these being defined as those professions which rest upon advanced knowledge in the liberal arts and sciences; and shall be the primary state-supported agency for research in the liberal arts and sciences, pure and applied. The University shall provide instruction in the branches of learning relating to agriculture and the mechanic arts, and to other scientific and classical studies. The University shall be the only institution in the State system of higher education authorized to award the doctor's degree.'

"Note the choice of words here. The University shall be the 'primary' agency for research and the 'only institution' awarding the doctor's degree. If there is an identifiable need for such programs of graduate and professional work, for research, etc., in other areas of the state under this statute, the University will have the duty of providing it there.

"These discussions and many conferences have brought clearly into focus what, in my judgment, are matters of great significance for the University. These are matters to which the University administration and faculties have given much thought. If I may attempt to put it in a question, it would be this: In the fulfillment of its role of leadership in higher education in the state, what steps should the University now take to execute more effectively its mission and to lead the way in the pattern of change that is surely to come in higher education in North Carolina?