In 1962 James moved to the University of York, named as Vice-Chancellor. He was involved with every detail of the university's development. He described his work with the architects as one of the most exciting times of his life. The institution which he helped to shape exhibited many characteristics of Oxford; James stressed that at least half the students should live on the campus; he housed them in separate colleges which were conceived not simply as halls of residence, but as the centres of the university's social and academic life. To create the closest possible relationship between teacher and taught, tutors as well as students were given rooms in the colleges; and the tutorial became the basic form of instruction. Half of the undergraduates were women.