AUS Tertiary Update

Tertiary Update is also available on the AUS website
www.aus.ac.nz

University staff welcome extra funding
The Association of University Staff has welcomed the announcement today by the Minister for Tertiary Education, Dr Michael Cullen, that universities will receive $129 million in new funding over the next four years.

Of that new funding, $20 million has been specifically allocated to the University Tripartite Forum this year to explore and create opportunities to increase the competitiveness of New Zealand universities through recruitment and retention strategies.

Responding to today’s pre-Budget announcement, AUS General Secretary Helen Kelly said that the unions representing university staff had successfully engaged with vice-chancellors and the Government over the past two years through the tripartite process and had made significant gains towards addressing funding and salary problems in the university sector. “The new funding allocation will assist us to continue to address salary issues and allow us to develop a broader agenda that will provide additional benefits for the sector,” she said. “The union is pleased that the Government recognises that universities are under funded and is looking at long-term sustainable solutions.”

According to Ms Kelly, today’s funding announcement illustrates what can be achieved when unions, vice-chancellors and the Government work together. “We know that the tripartite process has been successful in achieving consensus and providing results for universities, including university staff,” she said.

Ms Kelly said that AUS will now work with the New Zealand Vice-Chancellors Committee to determine the implications of today’s announcement for the current bargaining process.

Dr Cullen also announced today that student component funding to universities would increase by 2.2 percent next year, in line with current consumer price index figures. He also announced $10 million dollars this year that would be available for supporting change in the sector.
Also in Tertiary Update this week
1. Mixed reaction to PBRF results
2. Massey Chancellor pre-empts Vice-Chancellor’s retirement announcement
3. Lockout ends in workers’ victory
4. Report into medical training released
5. Bill for tertiary-funding reform to give more power to TEC
6. National to drop opposition to interest-free loans policy?
7. Massive financial boost for Australian universities
8. Campus ”safety” measures follow Virginia Tech shootings
9. Cats take on web-hackers

Mixed reaction to PBRF results
There has been a mixed reaction to last Friday’s release of the Performance-Based Research Fund (PBRF) Quality Evaluation 2006 results by the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC).

The PBRF assesses the research performance of tertiary-education organisations and funds them on the basis of their performance. The Quality Evaluation assesses the research activity of staff in those organisations.

The results show that the University of Otago received the highest overall result out of all the institutions involved, with the University of Auckland a close second. There followed the University of Canterbury, Victoria University of Wellington, the University of Waikato, Massey University, Lincoln University and AUT University.

All of the universities have shown improvement in their results from the previous PBRF round, and most have touted the results as a success.

The Minister for Tertiary Education, Dr Michael Cullen, was also pleased with the results. He said: “Excellent research is key to the transformation of New Zealand into an innovative and dynamic economy as well as meeting our social and cultural aspirations.”

However, AUS President Professor Nigel Haworth called on the Government to consider seriously whether or not a further round of assessment for the Performance-Based Research Fund in 2012 would really be worth the cost and effort.

“Results released from the 2006 PBRF round should convince the Government that another round of PBRF in its current form would not be worth doing,” said Professor Haworth.

“The Government and the public can rest assured that universities are the leading research institutions in this country, and investment in them pays off and is money well spent,” he added.

Professor Haworth said AUS members spent thousands of hours preparing portfolios for PBRF assessment, universities have full time staff managing this exercise and the TEC reported today that over 200 people were involved in this year’s assessment all to show that universities are doing great research.

The New Zealand Union of Students’ Association also had a cautious response to the PBRF results.

Association Co-President Joseph Randall said, “It is important that excellence in research is encouraged, but a lack of investment is currently working against teaching excellence in our tertiary institutions.”

Mr Randall called for greater public investment in order to ensure excellence in tertiary teaching as well as research.

AUS will participate in the upcoming review of this year’s PBRF round and hopes to provide some new ideas for the improvement of the system.

The TEC, the Ministry of Education and the Institute of Policy Studies at Victoria University will hold a forum on 26 June 2007 in Wellington to analyse and discuss the PBRF results and consider their implications for policy-makers and the tertiary sector.
Massey Chancellor pre-empts Vice-Chancellor’s resignation announcement
Massey University Chancellor Nigel Gould has pre-empted Vice-Chancellor Professor Judith Kinnear’s announcement of her retirement in March 2008 with a public statement made against Professor Kinnear’s wishes.

Judith Kinnear, in a communication to all Massey University staff, described herself as “distressed” by the early announcement.

In her statement, Kinnear said that, while the probability of her retirement had been discussed informally, she made the request to the Chancellor that no statement be made until after she had informed Ministers Maharey and Cullen.

“I then intended to make my announcement to the University and other academic colleagues,” said Professor Kinnear. “At this stage, I have not yet formally signalled in writing to Council my intention to retire and was planning to do this via a letter after my meeting with the Ministers. I was therefore saddened and dismayed to see the release in the Manawatu Weekend Standard.”

“I wish to clarify that no announcement was made by me at the Council meeting on Friday 4 May or at any other time,” said Professor Kinnear.

Judith Kinnear, who came to Massey from the University of Sydney, was New Zealand’s first and only woman vice-chancellor. An international recruitment process is now under way to find Professor Kinnear’s replacement.

Lockout ends in workers’ victory
The lockout of Amcor Flexibles workers reported by Tertiary Update last week has ended with a victory for the fifty Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU) members involved.

Those members were locked out for two and a half days until they reached a deal that included appropriate staffing levels without redundancies, an extra week’s service and shift leave, a pay rise and a day’s pay to compensate for some of the time when they were locked out. The members voted unanimously to support the deal.

EPMU National Secretary Andrew Little says the workers can return to their site with their heads held high. ”These workers were prepared to stick this out as long as it took but they'll be relieved this dispute has come to a close so quickly,” he said.

Council of Trade Unions President Ross Wilson said, “All working New Zealanders know that this sort of bullying corporate behaviour is unfair and unacceptable.”

He warned other companies which might attempt to lock out their workers, “Last year when Progressive Enterprises tried it on with supply-chain workers, they provoked an unprecedented level of action from working New Zealanders and their families and communities, support which quickly became international.”

Report into medical training released
The Minister for Tertiary Education, Dr Michael Cullen, and the Minister for Health, Pete Hodgson, have released a report into educating and training a medical workforce.

The Workforce Taskforce Report, Reshaping medical education and training to meet the challenges of the 21st Century, made a number of recommendations to the Government, including the establishment of a Medical Training Board.

While the Ministers have welcomed elements of the report, the New Zealand Union of Students’ Associations has criticised the report for not looking into the impact of high student fees on medical students. Association Co-President Josh Clark said, “Medical students in New Zealand pay some of the highest tuition fees in the world for their education and consequently medical graduates leave with some of the largest debts.”

He concluded that, if the Government is serious about addressing the issue of doctor retention in New Zealand, they need to address high fees and lack of support for medical students.

Bill for tertiary-funding reform to give more power to TEC

The Education Review reports that the Tertiary Education Commission will have the power to revoke or suspend tertiary-education providers’ Investment Plans if a Bill tabled in Parliament his week becomes law.

The Education (Tertiary Reforms) Amendment Bill puts into force the Government’s tertiary-reforms plans, including doing away with Charters and Profiles and replacing them with three-yearly institutional plans.

If the Bill is passed the TEC will have the power to partially approve or refuse to approve the tertiary institutions’ plans, or to revoke or suspend plans.

The TEC will then be responsible for monitoring how the institutions align with the institutional plans.

National to drop opposition to interest free loans policy?
The Dominion Post reported yesterday that the National Party is expected to end its opposition to Labour’s interest-free student loan policy when interest-free student loans come up for debate in the National caucus.

National opposed interest-free student loans during the last election, calling the scheme an election bribe.
Worldwatch

Massive financial boost for Australian Universities
Universities in Australia will get a massive financial boost with a decision to set up a $A5 billion fund to pay for infrastructure improvements like research facilities or capital works. The fund will be paid for out of the 2006-07 Budget surplus.

Australians will be encouraged to donate to the fund, with individual donations to be made tax deductible. This is to encourage philanthropy towards universities, which is common practice in the United States.

Treasurer Peter Costello said, “The capital will not be spent. It will be invested.”

Three thousand five hundred Commonwealth scholarships to help students from poor and rural backgrounds attend university were also announced.
From the Herald Sun
Campus “safety” measures follow Virginia Tech shootings
After the shooting tragedy at Virginia Tech, many US States are reviewing their policies and practices related to guns, mental health, crisis planning and emergency communications.
In Maine, lawmakers are discussing how they could clarify their policies to allow colleges to have the authority to regulate firearms on campuses. In Texas, however, some Republican legislators may press for the repeal of a State law that prohibits people from possessing firearms on college campuses.
The Governor has argued that, if residents who have concealed-weapons permits were allowed to carry their guns anywhere in the State, including campuses, they could protect themselves from “deranged individuals.”
In Nevada, a member of the university system’s Board of Regents, Stavros S. Anthony, said he would introduce at the Regents’ June meeting a proposal to allow any college employee to sign up for training to become a reserve police officer and carry a gun.
From the Chronicle of Higher Education
Cats take on web hackers
Staff and students at California Polytechnic State University will have to pick the cats and avoid the dogs if they want to access their web accounts.

This new technique is used to avoid programmes created by spammers and hackers that fill emails with unwanted spam.

Twelve photographs of cats and dogs pop up on the screen and would-be users must identify the cats in order to progress through the system. This new method is said to be more effective than recognition of warped words, which is now commonly used.

As an added bonus, the photos come from a database of over 200 animals that are also available for adoption.
From the Chronicle of Higher Education
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AUS Tertiary Update is compiled weekly on Thursdays and distributed freely to members of the Association of University Staff and others. Back issues are available on the AUS website: www.aus.ac.nz . Between 5 April and 10 May 2007, all enquires should be made to either Camilla Belich or Rebecca Matthews, AUS Policy Analysts, Phone 04 803 3999 or Email rebecca.matthews@aus.ac.nz or camilla.belich@aus.ac.nz

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