AUS Tertiary Update

New NZCTU President emerges from AUS ranks
In a further departure of key players from the tertiary-education sector, Helen Kelly, General Secretary of the Association of University Staff, is poised to become the first-ever woman elected as President of the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions. She will take over from Ross Wilson, who is stepping down after two terms.
Although the election does not formally take place until the NZCTU’s Biennial Conference in October, Ms Kelly was the sole contender when nominations for the position of President closed last Friday. Incumbents Carol Beaumont and Sharon Clair were re-nominated in their roles of NZCTU Secretary and Vice-President Maori respectively, and a National Secretary of the Public Service Association, Richard Wagstaff, was nominated as Vice-President. All were unopposed.
Congratulating Ms Kelly on her forthcoming election to the NZCTU presidency, AUS National President, Professor Nigel Haworth, said that she is admirably equipped to fill the role played so well by Ross Wilson for the last eight years. He said that Ms Kelly had brought remarkable energy, commitment and intelligence to the AUS and that those qualities would be invaluable in her new and wider contribution to New Zealand workers and trades unions. “Helen has provided dynamic and visionary leadership to AUS over the last five years, and she has been instrumental in the union's national bargaining process and tripartite discussions with the Government, the latter resulting in significant levels of new funding for universities,” he said.
Helen Kelly will remain in her position as the AUS General Secretary until after the Association’s Conference in November. AUS Deputy Secretary, Nanette Cormack, will then act as General Secretary until a new appointment is confirmed.
Ross Wilson is to become the Chair of the Accident Compensation Corporation.

Also in Tertiary Update this week
1. PBRF still unfair for women
2. Speculation Maharey interested in VC job
3. AUS says unions stakeholders in tertiary-education sector
4. Science numbers slump
5. Little new funding for polytechnics
6. Youth MPs might like to pay for tertiary education
7. Unions OK for some graduate students
8. French reform plans on hold
9. Union slams Melbourne University over consultation sham
10. UK bombast is world class, and so too is New Zealand’s

Speculation Maharey interested in VC job
Speculation that the Minister of Education, Steve Maharey, may apply for the position as the next Vice-Chancellor of Massey University remains unconfirmed today, with Massey University and a spokesperson from Mr Maharey’s office failing to respond to questions on the issue posed by Tertiary Update yesterday.
On Saturday, the New Zealand Herald confirmed persistent rumours from within Parliament, that Mr Maharey has expressed an interest in the vice-chancellor position at Massey and might not stand at the next general election. Mr Maharey was formerly a lecturer in Sociology at the University and still lives in Palmerston North.
In May, Massey University Chancellor, Nigel Gould, announced that the current Vice-Chancellor, Judith Kinnear, would retire at the completion of her current term in March 2008. Professor Kinnear said, at the time, that she was distressed by Mr Gould’s announcement as she wanted to advise Mr Maharey and her Council before making the announcement public.
The Herald says that Mr Maharey has tried to scotch rumours he could be one of Labour's retirements and said he did not have any applications in for any job anywhere but he had discussed the Massey post. “People have approached me to talk about it, to talk about the Vice-Chancellor here, but I haven't got an application in. I am not actively seeking anything.”
Mr Maharey’s office has not responded to questions asking whether the Minister has been approached or sounded out about the position, or whether he has expressed interest either to Massey Council members or to consultants engaged in the search for a new vice-chancellor.
Massey University has not responded to a request for information about the processes currently under way to find a replacement for Professor Kinnear.

PBRF still unfair for women
Women are significantly disadvantaged by the Performance-Based Research Fund, according to new data released to the Association of University Staff by the Tertiary Education Commission. The data, which were provided under the Official Information Act, show that nearly three times as many men as women received A quality ratings, and that women were over-represented in the lowest categories.
Associate Professor Maureen Montgomery, AUS Women’s Vice-President, said she was disappointed that the gap between the average PBRF scores for men and women academics in 2006 remained nearly identical to that in 2003, “In 2003, women had an average score of 1.85 out of 10, while men scored 3.24 out of the possible 10,” she said. “In 2006, the relative positions remained largely unchanged, with women receiving an average score of 2.23 and men 3.62.”
Associate Professor Montgomery said that, in 2006, more than 40 percent of men were rated A or B while only 23 percent of women were rated at that level. “Women academics, on the other hand, were concentrated at the low end of the spectrum, with over 40 percent receiving the lowest, or R, ranking. Men comprised only 23 percent of those receiving the R ranking, which receives no PBRF funding.”
Associate Professor Montgomery said that the figures showed that women would continue to pay the price for an unfair, individually based research-funding system, and that change is necessary if more women are to be promoted to senior levels. “AUS is concerned that the PBRF will continue to exacerbate existing inequities given that women currently make up only 16.9 percent of professors and associate professors at New Zealand universities. We will be discussing fairer research-funding models over the next year and hope to see genuine change come from the PBRF review,” she said. “While we appreciate that there is a multiplicity of factors leading to the poor rankings for women, universities also have to address this issue and look at the ways in which they can better facilitate women’s research capacity.”

AUS says unions stakeholders in tertiary-education sector
The Association of University Staff has called for a definition of the term stakeholder to be included in legislation after being advised by the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) that staff representatives, including unions, were not considered stakeholders in the tertiary-education sector.
In a submission to the Education and Science Select Committee, AUS has called for greater detail and requirements of consultation processes to be included in the Education (Tertiary Reforms) Amendment Bill, currently before Parliament.
The submission says that it is important that the Minister work with tertiary-education institutions, students and staff as well as other stakeholders when determining future tertiary-education policy in New Zealand.
It adds that provisions relating to stakeholders should be strengthened to ensure that meaningful consultation occurs with staff representatives, the community and wider social partners. Other legislation, such as the New Zealand Trade and Enterprise Act, requires New Zealand Trade and Enterprise to foster collaborative networks and partnerships with trade unions and there is no reason that the Bill should not require the same from the TEC
AUS National President, Professor Nigel Haworth, said that the Tertiary Reform Bill should require consultation with staff representatives as individual institutions or government bodies had shown they could not be relied upon to do it. “Currently there is too much discretion about whether or not to consult with staff and students as had been shown on the development of charters and profiles where consultation with staff was, at best, patchy,” he said. “There was a requirement to consult with stakeholders in the development of those two documents. However, this was not adequately monitored by the TEC and, often, stakeholder consultation did not occur. When it did occur, sometimes the process was flawed or so late that the reported consultation became meaningless.”
The AUS submission also discusses the need for the Tertiary Education Strategy and institution plans to address obligations under Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and states that academic freedom must underpin all funding decisions.

Science numbers slump
Tertiary-education students are turning off Science, prompting Science leaders to warn of an impending crisis for the “knowledge economy”, according to a report in The Press this week. The report says that Ministry of Education figures reveal the number of students enrolled in natural and physical sciences fell to 18,997 last year. That accounted for just over 4 percent of the tertiary-student population, the lowest proportion since 1999, and less than a fifth of commerce and business enrolments.
The Press says that, at the University of Canterbury, full-time-equivalent student numbers dropped in all but one Science subject, communication disorders. Enrolments in Chemistry, Biological Sciences, Physics and Astronomy fell between 5.6 and 7.1 percent.
Dr Jim Watson, former President of the Royal Society of New Zealand, is reported as saying that the slump in Science enrolments seriously hampers New Zealand’s ability to grapple with climate change and sustainability issues, and to maintain a competitive agricultural economy. Similarly, Professor Carolyn Saunders from Lincoln University said the trend threatened the “knowledge economy”, for which science and innovation were key factors. “If we’re going to get into the top half of the OECD, we’ve got to do things better and you need Science to do that,” she said.
The Minister for Tertiary Education, Dr Michael Cullen, was not available for comment.
Concerns in New Zealand reflect similar problems faced by universities internationally, with Science departments in the United Kingdom particularly hard hit by a number of high-profile departmental closures in recent years. This week, it has been reported from the United Kingdom that Science will be at the heart of a new Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills intended to make sure that the subject is regarded as of the “utmost importance”.

Little new funding for polytechnics
The polytechnic sector looks set to receive little funding for growth next year according to the lead story in the current edition of Education Review. It says that, while there were funding increases in 2008 and beyond for degree courses and industry training, there had been no base-line increase for certificate and diploma courses at universities and polytechnics. Education Review says the stalling of growth across the sector follows the Tertiary Education Commission’s block on growth at two polytechnics this year and on courses at a third.
Mark Flowers, Chair of the Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics of New Zealand, said that the Government had decided there would not be more funding for more growth in student numbers until it was satisfied there had been change in the sector.
Education Review says that this year’s negotiation of investment plans is the first step in the Government’s revised tertiary-education reforms, replacing a system of negotiated profiles which apparently failed to bring about sufficient change in the sector. The starting point for each institution’s negotiations will be their “initial allocation”, the level of government funding for next year which is generally based on 2006 figures.
The report says that, with less than six months of the year remaining, sector leaders spoken to were not sure how much change could realistically be negotiated for 2008, let alone for the three-year period to be covered by the investment plans.
Education Review can be viewed free of charge during July at:
www.educationreview.co.nz

Youth MPs might like to pay for tertiary education
High-school students participating in the Youth Parliament in Wellington this week may be a more conservative bunch than their tertiary education counterparts, with reports saying that they are not convinced that free tertiary education is affordable or even desirable. Fairfax Media says that members of a Youth Parliament select committee considering whether the student-loan system may have created an unfair burden for a new generation of New Zealanders gave the impression that they had little faith in the prospect of a universally free education.
One of those questioning New Zealand Union of Students’ Associations Co-President, Joey Randall, at the select committee said she supported the loan scheme, adding that pupils needed to be educated from a young age to save for their tertiary education. Mr Randall told Tertiary Update, however, that he did not believe all Youth MPs shared those sentiments, and that there had been an acknowledgement that a consequence of the user-pays tertiary-education system was that thousands of young people had gone into debt in order to get their education. Total student debt in New Zealand now stands at $9.2 billion.
Meanwhile, the Otago University Students’ Association (OUSA) is undergoing a major rebranding and strategic-planning exercise in order to safeguard itself against the possibility of a private member’s bill from Act MP, Heather Roy, making all students’ associations compulsorily voluntary, seeing the light of day.
OUSA President, Renee Heal, said her organisation was a dynamic one that is student-led and works for students. “We provide relevant services and essential representation to students at Otago. It is important that we communicate this effectively to our members so that they understand exactly what it is that OUSA does for them,” she said. “The OUSA Re-Orientation Launch is the first step in undertaking this.”

Worldwatch
Unions OK for some graduate students
Graduate students who work at private, non-profit research foundations attached to public universities in the United States have the right to unionise, according to two recent decisions from the National Labor Relations Board. The decisions represent a rare expansion of bargaining rights for graduate students, but are limited as they don’t apply to graduate teaching assistants at private universities.
The Labor Board has ruled that research assistants who work for the Research Foundation of the State University of New York (SUNY) and the Research Foundation of City University of New York qualify for bargaining rights because they “have a primarily economic and not a primarily educational relationship with their employer”.
The ruling acknowledged that, while research assistants who work for the SUNY research foundation are enrolled at the University, their paid work often relates closely to their dissertations, and the principal investigators on their work assignments are often their dissertation advisers, they are employed by an entity that purposely operates outside of those academic bounds.
The decision reversed a 2005 ruling by a regional labor board which had found that 2,000 research assistants at the Research Foundation of SUNY did not have bargaining rights on the basis that they were students and not employees.
From The Chronicle of Higher Education

French reform plans on hold
France’s new President, Nicolas Sarkozy, has had to compromise on plans for university autonomy after discussions with higher-education representatives on the University Autonomy Bill put forward by Valerie Pecresse, the Minister for Higher Education and Research.
Opposition to the Bill focused on three issues. First, there were fears that the choice proposed for universities over whether or not to adopt autonomy would create a two-tier system and lead to inequalities between institutions and students.
The second problem was a plan to reduce the governing board, the conseil d’administration, from between thirty and sixty members to twenty, in the process reducing staff and student representation. Outside bodies on the board, such as regional authorities and companies, were to have been given more clout, reflecting Mr Sarkozy’s wish for closer links between universities and the economy and business.
Thirdly, students were vociferous in rejecting a clause that would have introduced selection for entry to master’s level courses after four years of higher-education studies.
Unions have protested that the Bill was being steamrollered through without adequate consultation, with many opponents of the reform still believing that it breaches the democratic public-service ethos embodied in French university statutes.
From The Times Higher Education Supplement

Union slams Melbourne University over consultation sham
The Australian National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) has condemned the University of Melbourne for treating its staff with contempt following the release of the University’s “renewal” strategy for its Arts Faculty on Tuesday.
The Strategy seeks to address a projected operating deficit of nearly $A5 million in 2007 with a range of measures, including an unspecified number of redundancies. The Arts Faculty Dean is understood to have told the media that between 10 and 12 percent of staff will lose their jobs, which translates into about 130 positions.
NTEU University of Melbourne Branch President, Ted Clark, said that it is disappointing that the University chose to brief the media about the Arts renewal strategy before speaking to its staff or their union. “The first we knew of this was when journalists rang us for comment. We didn’t receive the email from the Arts Faculty Dean until 2pm [Tuesday] afternoon, after the media had been briefed,” he said.
Mr Clark said that the NTEU had been receiving rumours for weeks via Arts Faculty staff but, when questioned, University management said that nothing definite was in the pipeline.

UK bombast is world class, and so too is New Zealand’s
The Times Higher Education Supplement reports that few would dispute that the standard of higher education in the United Kingdom is “world class”, or that the vast majority of its academics do “excellent” work.
The newspaper says that David Watson, Professor of Higher Education Management at the Institute of Education, is due to lead a debate at the Annual Conference of the Higher Education Academy in Harrogate this week, arguing that claims to greatness are so often overused by institutions that they have become meaningless in higher education.
An internet search for the phrase “world-class university” produced 1.1 million mentions on UK websites, and 10,900 hits when the search was restricted to the “ac.uk” academic network.
A similar search produced only 395,000 mentions on New Zealand websites, and a mere 124,000 hits when restricted to New Zealand academic sites.

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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 . Direct enquires should be made to Marty Braithwaite, AUS Communications Officer, email: marty.braithwaite@aus.ac.nz

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