AUS Tertiary Update
Rationality for tertiary education in Auckland?
The
minister for tertiary education, Pete Hodgson, has announced
that the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) will conduct a
review of tertiary-education provision across Greater
Auckland, the area covered by the Auckland Regional Council.
The goal of the review is to identify the contribution of
the tertiary-education sector “to the development of
Auckland as a globally competitive city”.
The review is
intended to produce information on the key requirements
necessary to meet the above goal in light of the country’s
Tertiary Education Strategy. It has also been asked to
specify what the tertiary-education sector needs to do to
support Auckland’s development and to recommend to the TEC
an appropriate investment strategy beyond
2010.
“Auckland is New Zealand’s major centre of
population growth and home to a range of diverse and vibrant
communities,” Pete Hodgson said. “Having access to
high-quality tertiary education is vital in order to support
Auckland to meet the significant challenges and
opportunities it faces, particularly in Counties Manukau and
Waitakere.”
To that end, the minister has asked TEC to
take into account the distinctive contributions that can be
made by universities, institutes of technology and
polytechnics, wānanga, industry training organisations,
private training enterprises, and other tertiary-education
providers. “Auckland already has a range of tertiary
providers offering high-quality, relevant provision and they
have an integral role both in the review and the
implementation of the outcomes,” the minister added.
In
its submission to the Royal Commission on Auckland
Governance earlier this year, the Association of University
Staff called for a coherent process that could be
“employed to bring together TEC, tertiary-education
providers, communities, business, and industry to develop a
long-term plan for tertiary-education provision in the
Auckland region”.
Welcoming the minister’s response
to the needs of the region, AUS academic vice-president, Dr
Grant Duncan, said, “It is high time some rationality was
brought into the overall provision of tertiary education in
Auckland, rather than just having every player jump into the
region to compete with everone else. It is hoped, though,
that the TEC review will be an inclusive process, and that
the needs of staff and students will be heard.”
The
minister has asked TEC to begin the review immediately and
work closely with the Government Urban and Economic
Development Office for Auckland. A report to cabinet is
expected by 31 July 2009.
Also in Tertiary Update this
week
1. University bargaining under way
2. South
Auckland campus positive but puzzling
3. Massey and Otago
raise international-student fees
4. Student leaders seek
universal allowance
5. “Self-plagiarism” catching
on
6. Blue card to intensify brain drain
7. Ditch
honours, boost reputation
8. East Timor police gas
student protestors
9. Diversity exaggerated in
brochures
University bargaining under way
Negotiations
between the combined university unions and management
representatives got under way in earnest this week, with
bargaining in Christchurch on Monday and Tuesday. Central to
the unions’ position are a claim for two national
collective employment agreements, one for academic staff and
one for general staff, to replace the more than sixteen
single-employer agreements in the sector, and an
across-the-board salary increase of $5,000.
The salary
claim is in addition to the $15 million provided by
government through the tripartite process to be allocated on
the basis of a 1.53 percent salary increase for academic and
0.51 percent for general staff.
Fundamental to the
unions’ proposals is a drive towards national terms and
conditions of employment, including improved leave and
overtime provisions, the establishment of a standard 37.5
hour working week for all general staff, and for there to be
a bargaining fee ballot which, if passed, would require
non-union members to pay to the unions a fee when they
benefit from union negotiations.
Also under discussion is
a proposal for the establishment of a national working group
to develop a new, national salary structure for general
staff, developed around an equity-based job-evaluation
process and pay and employment equity reviews.
Following
presentation of the unions’ claims on Monday, each of the
eight university employer representatives presented
proposals on an individual basis, with a number indicating a
clear preference to retain single-employer bargaining. Only
two universities, Auckland and Massey, have tabled a salary
offer at this point, of 3.5 and 3 percent
respectively.
The parties are due to meet again on 16
July, in Wellington, when it is expected the substantive
debate on all proposals will occur.
The full details of
the employer proposals can be found
at:
http://www.aus.ac.nz/Current/bargaining/bargaining.asp
South Auckland campus positive but puzzling
The
Association of Staff in Tertiary Education (ASTE) has
supported the proposed establishment of a major campus of
the Auckland University of Technology (AUT) in Manukau, but
has expressed some concern about the process leading up to
the proposal.
The government is providing $25 million for
the purchase of the South Auckland site to enable the
university to develop the first major university base in the
area. Initially catering for 190 full-time students early
next year, it is expected to offer courses for around 1000
students upon completion in 2014.
ASTE national
secretary, Sharn Riggs, responded to the government’s
announcement by saying that the move is a positive one for
students in South Auckland but she expressed puzzlement that
the move did not seem to involve the Manukau Institute of
Technology (MIT), the major provider of tertiary education
in the area. “Given the direction of the
tertiary-education reforms,” she said, “we would have
thought that any such move would have been done in
partnership with MIT.”
Observing that the last thing
South Auckland needs is a competitive environment in which
the two institutions vie for custom from a single community
of students, Ms Riggs emphasised the need for more
co-ordination in provision. “We are only now beginning to
see the benefits of co-operation among institutions and our
members need some confidence that this move doesn’t create
the potential for duplication in areas such as nursing and
foundation courses, for example,” she said.
Massey and
Otago raise international-student fees
From 2009, all new
international students studying at Massey University will
face an immediate 6 to 7 percent average increase in tuition
fees and ongoing annual increases as a result of the
university’s decision to remove fee-grandparenting.
Grandparenting, introduced by Massey in 2005 to give
international students financial stability while they
studied, meant that students did not face tuition-fee
increases during their courses.
“The decision by the
Massey University council to remove these protections will
severely harm international students,” said Albany
Students’ Association president, Brad Heap. “This
decision was made entirely behind closed doors; students had
no knowledge of this move and the university did not consult
with a single student on the changes.”
At the same
time, the University of Otago council has resolved to raise
international-student tuition fees by an average of 4.3
percent, with increases ranging from 2.9 percent for dental
students and 5 percent for education. International students
will now pay approximately $16,200 per annum for arts
courses, $16,800 for education, $20,000 to $23,000 for
science, and $28,000 for all postgraduate degrees. Students
commencing studies in medicine will pay $51,000 in total and
dental students $65,100.
While the increases are
considerably lower than those introduced last year, when
medical and dental fees went up by 12.8 percent and 33.1
percent respectively, they were opposed by Otago University
Students’ Association president and council member, Simon
Wilson. Mr Wilson said that the decision meant that
education students, for example would face paying an
additional $800 a year.
Student leaders seek universal
allowance
Student leaders at a national conference on
tertiary-education issues have renewed their call for
increased access to student support to promote independence
from debt. Speaking in advance of the conference, the
co-president of the New Zealand Union of Students’
Associations (NZUSA), Paul Falloon, said, “As the general
election draws nearer, we’re making it clear that our top
priority is to strike a blow to the failed experiment that
is the student-loan scheme with the introduction of a
universal student allowance.”
“While 90 percent of
students undertake paid work on top of a full study load,”
he said, “lack of government support sees many also forced
to take out loans and charge up credit cards to make ends
meet.” According to NZUSA’s Income and Expenditure
Survey 2007, average student-loan debt had increased 54
percent since 2004, to a level of $28,838.
“While the
causes are obvious, such high debt levels are deeply
concerning and totally unsustainable,” Mr Falloon said.
“In comparison, a universal student allowance is just
smart banking, an investment in the education of New
Zealanders is a smart investment in the future of our
nation.”
“New Zealand is losing skilled citizens to
the rest of the world,” he continued. “Our economy is
suffering and the knowledge economy is in jeopardy. With
industry groups now joining the chorus of calls for action
on making education more accessible, it’s time for real
solutions,” Mr Falloon concluded.
World
Watch
“Self-plagiarism” catching on
Pressure to
publish is pushing many academics to “plagiarise” large
volumes of their own work by “dressing up” their old
research to appear as if it were new, a study has found.
Researchers using text-matching software have highlighted
the phenomenon of “self-plagiarism”, in which academics
recycle sections of their previously published work without
proper citations.
Scholars who engage in the practice,
which undermines academia’s pursuit of original knowledge,
can gain an unfair career advantage over their more honest
colleagues, the researchers say.
The pilot study, by
Tracey Bretag and Saadia Carapiet from the University of
South Australia, found that 60 percent of authors in a
random sample of 269 papers from the Web of Science social
science and humanities database had self-plagiarised at
least once in the period 2003-06. Self-plagiarism was
defined “quite generously” as occurring when 10 percent
or more text from any single previous publication was reused
without a citation.
“The truth is that, if these
authors had self-cited in each case, it is unlikely that the
editors would have published their work because they would
have seen that it had all been published before,” Dr
Bretag said. And she believes academics need clearer rules.
“I think we ask more of our students than we do of
ourselves,” she said.
“This issue underpins
everything we do as academics. Are academics here to churn
out paper after paper saying the same thing over and over
again? Academic work is supposed to be original knowledge
creation. But as long as you reward this behaviour, it is
very hard to change it,” she concluded.
From Rebecca
Attwood in Times Higher Education
Blue card to intensify
brain drain
Serious concerns have been raised about a
European Union (EU) plan to attract highly qualified
immigrants because it is likely to fuel the African brain
drain. At a European Parliament hearing late last month on
“blue card” visa proposals, fears were expressed that
easing immigration procedures for academics, researchers,
and scientists from developing countries would cause
economic damage to their home states.
Under proposals
prepared by the European Commission, the EU’s executive
body, blue card visas would ease immigration procedures for
skilled migrants. With the cards, the migrants would be able
to move more easily between the EU’s twenty-seven member
states, something often hindered by red tape today.
There
was general agreement at the parliamentary hearing that
Europe fared poorly in attracting highly trained immigrants
compared with the United States, Canada, and Australia. But
Portuguese socialist MEP Armando França asked whether
“attracting highly skilled workers from non-EU states does
not undermine solidarity” with developing countries. Mr
França said pro-actively seeking to poach home-grown talent
from Africa and elsewhere “seems paradoxical when we see
that the [European] union has policies to support less
developed countries”.
“I have major doubts about this
proposal,” Mr França declared and he asked whether the EU
should concentrate instead on forging cooperation agreements
with non-EU countries with skilled migrants sought by
European universities and companies.
Africa is the major
concern. An analysis written by the secretariat for the
parliamentary committee on civil liberties, justice, and
home affairs, which staged the hearing, focused on
Europe’s neighbours to the south. The analysis paper
voiced concerns that a blue card scheme would exacerbate the
problem of brain drain from the African continent.
It
also noted that the United Nations Development Programme had
reported that outward migration cost African countries more
than EUR2.5 billion (NZ$5.2 billion) through the employment
of 150,000 expatriate professionals annually.
From Keith
Nuthall in University World News
Ditch honours, boost
reputation
Abandoning the honours-degree classification
system would boost the reputation of British higher
education, it has been claimed at the annual conference of
the United Kingdom’s Higher Education Academy. A fixation
on students obtaining at least a high second-class
classification is putting pressure on academics to inflate
grades and is eroding public confidence in the system,
according to Carl Gilleard, chief executive of the
Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR).
Speaking in
advance of the conference, he said, “There is too much
emphasis on degree classification, and we are at risk of
just valuing the higher education experience on the basis of
whether the student receives a 2:1 or not.” He continued,
“Research has shown that a significant proportion of
students ‘switch off’ from preparing for life after
university and simply concentrate on getting that
‘all-important’ 2:1 - which suggests they’ve come to
the conclusion a 2:2 is equivalent to failing the
course.”
He said employers had contributed to this by
failing many job applicants with a 2:2 at the first hurdle.
Last year, about 64 percent of AGR members said they used
the 2:1 as a screening tool. This year, this has dropped to
about 55 percent.
“It is a move in the right direction.
It does suggest that some employers are recognising that
they might be missing out on some very suitable
candidates,” said Mr Gilleard, who has welcomed plans to
introduce the more detailed higher-education achievement
report.
In support of his argument, he cited a recent
review assessment group’s assertion that the honours
classification system is “not fit for purpose” and
concerns expressed by the Quality Assurance Agency that it
is “arbitrary and unreliable”.
“The classification
is a very crude measure,” he concluded. “What insight
does it give, for example, as to the distance that a student
may have travelled during their higher-education
experience?”
From Rebecca Attwood in Times Higher
Education
East Timor police gas student protestors
East
Timorese police have fired tear gas and arrested twenty-one
students in a raid on a university campus to break up a
protest over imported cars for lawmakers. About 200 students
took part in the demonstration at the National University of
Timor Leste to protest, saying the money would be better
spent on the poor. One protester was hit by a gas canister
and rushed to hospital after police entered the campus,
across the street from the parliament building, and forcibly
broke up the demonstration.
UN Police spokesperson Carlos
Perreira said the students had ignored warnings to disperse,
had not obtained a permit to protest, and had violated an
agreement not to hold rallies within 100 metres of public
buildings. “The police had to shoot three times with tear
gas because the students disregarded police warnings to
break up the protest immediately,” he said. The students
carried banners reading “We need lower rice prices, we
don’t need cars” and “The students will fight for the
poor”.
About 500 students staged a similar
demonstration last month, claiming the government had
ordered 65 Toyota Landcruisers from Japan for more than US$2
million. The government says the order is for only 26 cars
at US$900,000. Police were not immediately available for
comment.
From Agence France Press
Diversity exaggerated
in brochures
In September 2000, the University of
Wisconsin at Madison and the University of Idaho were
embarrassed when they were forced to admit they had doctored
promotional photographs to make their campuses look diverse.
In both cases, non-white faces were added to real student
photographs of all-white groups. Now a study of the
viewbooks of hundreds of colleges and universities has found
that more than 75 percent appear to over-represent black
students.
At the universities of Wisconsin and Idaho,
officials insisted that they meant well, but just about
everyone agreed that Photoshop diversity isn’t the real
thing.
A sociologist at Augsburg College, together with
an undergraduate, recently studied the viewbooks of hundreds
of four-year colleges and universities, selected at random.
The research team counted the racially identifiable student
photographs and also gathered data on the actual make-up of
the student bodies.
The findings were that Black students
made up an average of 7.9 percent of students at the
colleges studied, but 12.4 percent of those in viewbooks.
Asian students are also more likely to be found in viewbooks
than on campus, making up 3.3 percent of real students on
average and 5.1 percent of portrayed students. More than 75
percent of colleges appeared to over-represent black
students in viewbooks.
So why are Black students more
prevalent in viewbooks than on campus? “Black equals
diversity for many people,” said Timothy D Pippert, an
assistant professor of sociology at Augsburg, who led the
study. “If you show African American students, people
think that means your institution is diverse. They are
defining diversity as that face.”
From Scott Jaschik in
Inside Higher Ed
More international news
More
international news can be found on University World
News:
http://www.universityworldnews.com
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 inquiries should be made to the
editor, email:
editor@aus.ac.nz.