NZVCC Electronic News Bulletin

NZVCC Electronic News Bulletin Vol. 7 No. 1 30 January 2007

Lead item …

Kia Ora Foundation celebrates 10th anniversary

Emerging musicians joined established international performers in Wellington at the weekend for a gala event to mark the 10th anniversary of the Kia Ora Foundation which funds the prestigious Patricia Pratt Scholarship in Musical Performance, administered by the NZVCC. The event was sponsored by Annette Campbell-White who founded the Kia Ora Foundation for educational purposes. New Zealand born, Annette Campbell-White was this week named as number one woman venture capitalist by Forbes magazine, and has a long history of philanthropy in the arts, notably as a supporter of emerging operatic talent in the San Francisco area. She established the Patricia Pratt Scholarship in 1998 in memory of her mother.

The gala programme included a concert which former Victoria University Vice-Chancellor Emeritus Professor Les Holborow describes as follows:

“Annette Campbell-White established the Kia Ora Foundation with the intention of supporting young New Zealanders in need of overseas educational experience in the arts and sciences. The anniversary of Annette’s initiative was celebrated in front of more than 180 invited guests and members of her family by performances given by a selection of past Patricia Pratt scholars, who were joined by several of the other beneficiaries of the enlightened sponsorship.

“The scholarship has clearly been a stunning success. Its generous terms enable scholars to work on a genuinely full-time basis for the period of their overseas study. The benefits of this were clearly demonstrated in the diverse range of high quality contributions from the singers and instrumentalists who appeared. Several of the past holders now making their names in London contributed video-taped tributes during the dinner which followed. Merely to list Ana James and Anna Leese, both recent performers at Covent Garden, gives sufficient indication of the quality of the scheme’s alumni.

“The concert itself began with two trademark arias from scholarship trustee Dame Malvina Major, who made it clear that she sees her own emerging artists scheme as a complementary initiative. Several singers have moved from the scheme to take up scholarships. We were then treated to a series of performances from members of the Mariinsky Academy of St Petersburg, earlier beneficiaries of support from these benefactors. The mezzo Ekatarina Semenchuk appeared in the acclaimed production of War and Peace given by the Mariinsky company under the name Kirov in London in 2000, with Gergiev conducting. This part of the concert concluded with a stunning pair of arias from the South African-born Elza Van Den Heever, currently a member of the San Francisco Opera’s Adler Fellowship Programme. Her voice was of such power that it almost overwhelmed the slightly dry acoustic of the Te Papa auditorium.

“The second part of the concert was provided by the young New Zealanders, whose performances lost nothing by comparison with what had preceded them. The sheer artistry of Madeleine Pierard, whose Rossini aria was nicely complemented by Andrew Conley’s Largo al Factotum, was preceded by a diverse range of instrumental performances from David Bremner (trombone - now of the NZSO), Jane Kircher on bassoon, Malavika Gopal on violin, the saxophonist Michael Jamieson and percussionist Joel Batson. Joel’s haunting composition for vibraphone was a highlight. It included a brief section featuring his voice in the style of a gamelan master. The sterling work of Sarah Watkins, who accompanied nearly all of the items with unfailing sensitivity, should also be mentioned. One was left with a wonderful sense of the diverse talents that we as a country continue to produce, and of gratitude to those who nurture and support this potential in a world in which the costs of overseas study in the arts are a formidable hurdle.”

Other items …

Draft increases expense of relocating university staff

An exposure draft released recently by the Inland Revenue Department details a policy that, if implemented generally, would make it much more expensive for universities and all other employers to relocate staff from overseas or within New Zealand. The draft says the department has been asked about the income tax treatment for a new employee of amounts paid by an employer, in connection with the employee relocating to be near the new work site. Three types of payment are involved, being reimbursement from the employer of actual or estimated relocation costs incurred by the new employee; direct payment by the employer of relocation costs to a third party service provider on account of the new employee, and a lump sum relocation payment paid by the employer to the new employee as a contribution towards relocation costs.

In its “answer” in the exposure draft, the department details the income tax treatment for the new employee for the three types of payment, indicating which section of the Income Tax Act 2004 applies. It further notes that none of the payments are exempt under a further section. The deadline for comment on the exposure draft is February 23. On the face of it, this new interpretation of the Act runs counter to government policy to encourage talented New Zealanders living overseas to return home. About half of New Zealand university academic appointments are made from applicants living offshore.

Māori academic network project approved

A proposal by the NZVCC Standing Committee on Māori, Te Kāhui Amokura, to establish “MANU-AO”, a Māori academic network across universities in Aotearoa, has been approved for funding in the fourth round of applications to the Tertiary Education Commission’s Innovation and Development Fund. Te Kāhui Amokura chair Professor Mason Durie says the application carries with it potential benefits for Māori academic advancement.

In all, the fourth round of applications to the fund will see 11 projects receive funding totalling $9.7 million. Other successful applications involve the University of Otago (interactive medicine project and National Energy Research Institute), Massey University (implementing e-learning guidelines across the tertiary sector and New Zealand synchrotron support programme), the University of Auckland (BeSTGRID – building true digital science capability within NZ; Centre for Process, Stimulation, Management and Control, and developing a hub for e-social science in NZ) and the University of Canterbury (Biomolecular Interaction Centre and imaging with ionizing radiation in medical and high energy physics/Virtual Interactive Practice Environment Resource- VIPER). The last mentioned project is in conjunction with the Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology.

University staff recognised in New Year Honours list

Former Massey University staff Emeritus Professor Graeme Fraser and Distinguished Professor David Parry were made Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the New Year Honours List. As well as serving as Acting Vice-Chancellor and Assistant Vice-Chancellor (Academic) at Massey, Professor Fraser is a TEC board member, chair of the Health Research Council and a former chair of the NZ Qualifications Authority board. He also served as chair of the NZVCC Standing Committee on University Academic Programmes. Professor Fraser received his award for services to education and the community. Professor Parry, long serving chair of the NZVCC Scholarships Committee, was honoured for services to biophysics. Awarded the 2000 Hercus Medal from the Royal Society of NZ for his extended series of related studies of the chemistry, physics, biochemistry, ultrastructure and biological function of fibrous proteins, Professor Parry is a former Vice President of the International Council for Science. In 2006 he received the Shortland Medal from the NZ Association of Scientists for a life-time contribution to basic or applied research in this country.

Other past or present members of the New Zealand university community recognised in the New Year Honours List are Emeritus Professor Lloyd Geering (Victoria – Member of the Order of New Zealand), Professor Margaret Clark (Victoria – Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit), Professor Anne Smith (Otago – Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit), Professor Robert Anderson (Massey – Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit), Professor Ivan Reilly (Auckland – Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit), Emeritus Professor Roger Green (Auckland – Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit) and Associate Professor Peter Schwartz (Otago – Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit).

OECD review supports reform – minister

An OECD review report on the New Zealand tertiary education system released today supports the current reform programme, according to Tertiary Education Minister Dr Michael Cullen. In a media release, Dr Cullen says the report finds many positive aspects of the tertiary education system and makes no recommendations for radical change. “The report is a positive endorsement of our policy direction.” In February 2006, an international expert panel visited this country and met with stakeholders in the tertiary education system - providers, sector representative groups, government agencies, research organisations and students. This visit was part of the OECD’s thematic review of tertiary education over the period 2004-2007. New Zealand is one of 24 countries participating. The NZVCC representations on the current tertiary education reform programme centre on recognition of the distinctive contribution of universities to the country’s economic and social aspirations.

Australia follows NZVCC line on universities’ economic importance

The Australian Vice-Chancellors’ Committee has welcomed the release of a report by the Australian Opposition that “places firmly on the national agenda the benefits to Australia of a robust university sector, and the level of funding required to maintain quality higher education and university graduates”. AVCC president Professor Gerard Sutton says the paper supports the AVCC position that one of the fundamental elements to Australia’s strong economic position is the quality of Australian university graduates. In order to maintain the international competitiveness of Australian universities, investment in university graduates needed to be increased. “The sector is looking to a 15% increase in the Government’s contribution per student over three years, built up at 5% a year.”

This call for increased university investment is remarkably similar to that made by the NZVCC in its An Investment Approach to Public Support of New Zealand’s Universities paper released last year. That paper, and the earlier Deloitte Report, pointed out that New Zealand universities receive approximately 20% less government funding per student than all Australian higher education institutions, and more than 40% less than the Australian Group of Eight universities.

ENDS

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