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ITP councils asked to consider the role of staff

TEU national president Dr Tom Ryan has written to the chair of each of the twenty institute of technology and polytechnic councils asking them to consider how they might preserve a voice for staff on their councils.

The government's Education (Polytechnics) Amendment Act 2009, which will come into force on 01 May, will significantly alter the membership of ITP councils, with each council to be reduced to just eight members, half of whom will be ministerial appointees, including the chair and deputy-chair.

Most councils are now considering or have already considered how the other four council members should be chosen.

In his letter, Dr Ryan says that TEU is concerned especially that each council should include members with a well developed understanding of the New Zealand tertiary education system.

"Since the passage of the Education Amendment Act two decades ago, polytechnic and other tertiary sector councils have always included one or more members elected by and from the staff of the institution concerned. The TEU submits that their contribution to the governance process overall has been very positive, typically being informed by their deep knowledge of and commitment to their own institution and the local community."

Dr Ryan is urging polytechnic councils to reserve one of their four non-ministerial positions for an ordinary staff member, to be elected by all the current employees of the institution.

Also in Tertiary Update this week

1. Staff caught in EFTS cap battle


2. Equity funding won't be cut


3. Doctorate fraud not that important


4. Canadian First Nations University could close down


5. Other news

Staff caught in EFTS cap battle

University of Canterbury vice-chancellor Rod Carr says his university carried 500 EFTS above its cap last year and was likely to carry a further 600 domestic students above its cap this year. By defying the government's EFTS cap last year, the university cost itself more than $3 million..

Dr Carr noted that the lack of Government funding had stretched university resources, with the student-to-staff ratio increasing from 19.3 (to one) to 20.3 in 2009. For staff, that represents a five percent increase in much of the work they need to do, such as assessment, student support and administration.

TEU national secretary Sharn Riggs says there are two issues tangled up in this news. 

"First, the government's EFTS cap is clearly bad policy given that a demographic baby boom is now leaving school and passing into tertiary education," said Ms Riggs. "Moreover, that pressure on rolls is being exacerbated by the recession, which also is encouraging more people into study. The government needs to fundmore places, rather than capping the number of students who are allowed a chance to study."

"Second, while it is commendable that the University of Canterbury is trying to give as many students as possible the chance to study, it needs to recognise that the people who are carrying the burden of stretched resources and increased workload are its staff. Simply put, if the university wants to have more students, it needs to hire more staff or better reward its current employees."

Equity funding won't be cut.

The Otago Daily Times reports that the government finally has confirmed that it has no plans to cut equity funding which supports Māori and Pasifika tertiary students and students with disabilities.  

The Daily Times was told by a spokeswoman for the minister of tertiary education Steven Joyce that the government "has no plans to change equity funding, which includes funding for students with disabilities".

Equity funding helps tertiary education institutions to improve equity of access and achievement for Māori students, Pasifika students, and students with disabilities. Its purpose is to provide additional support for institutions to improve participation, retention, completion, and progression.

TEU national president Dr Tom Ryan started publically raising concerns about the future of the fund in February, after repeated rumours that the government might be considering cutting or reducing the fund in this year's May budget.

"It's good news to finally hear confirmation that equity funding will survive," Said Dr Ryan. "Equity funding is one of the proven successful tools that institutions have at their disposal to meet the very goals that the minister has set in his tertiary education strategy. That is, getting more Māori and Pasifika students into tertiary education, and helping them once there to attain qualifications."

State Services boss at fault in doctorate fraud

In the wake of the conviction and sentencing of former immigration department head Mary Anne Thompson for fraudulently claiming that she had a doctorate from London School of Economics, TEU national president Dr Tom Ryan has criticised the role of the then-state services commissioner Michael Wintringham in the affair.

According to the Dominion Post, back in 2004 Wintringham instructed a private sector recruiter, who had told him that LSE had no record of Thompson having gained a doctorate, to “desist from further inquiries”. At the time, Thompson was a leading contender for the role of head of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

"It suggests a very cavalier approach by the State Services Commission, and perhaps by the Security Intelligence Service which also might have been expected to check Thomson's claims as she rose to the top level of government service", said Ryan.

"This is all the more surprising given the furore just two years earlier when John Davy, a Canadian appointed to head the new Maori TV network, was sentenced to eight months in prison and then deported for fraudulently claiming in his job application – amongst other fabrications – that he had a BCom and an MBA from Denver State University".

In fact, Davy's 'degrees' had been purchased from an imaginary institution over the internet. As with Thompson, no one had bothered to check his qualifications.

Also in 2002, a United Future member of parliament, Bernie Ogilvie, was forced to stop using the ‘Dr’ title in the political domain after the media exposed it as an honorary award from a private US theological college of no academic standing.

"What these cases show is that degree rorts take many forms, and is more common in New Zealand than we usually admit", said Dr Ryan. "Employers and authorities have to ensure that such abuses are not allowed to devalue the achievements and hard work of genuine students and their teachers, and that the reputations of accredited tertiary institutions in this country and internationally are not undermined."

Canadian First Nations University could close down

First Nations University in Saskatchewan faces the prospectof becoming the first university in Canada ever to be closed down. The university is well known for  delivering post-secondary education, especially undergraduate and graduate degrees, to Native American students in a culturally supportive environment. However, the federal and provincial governments recently both announced that they would pull millions of dollars in core funding, following allegations of financial mismanagement and governance problems

Federal Indian affairs and northern development minister Chuck Strahl  decided that his department will discontinue C$7.2 million in annual funding to the university, starting in the new fiscal year beginning 1 April 2010.

The Saskatchewan provincial government had also intended to cut C$5.2 million,   but moved last week to restore that funding after assurances from the Federation.of Saskatchewan Indian Nations that the financial and governance issues were being properly addressed.

TEU, encouraged by some its members who are familiar with FNU through having taught or researched there, has joined a growing international campaign calling on the Canadian federal government to reconsider its decision.

"Please accept that here we speak from the perspective of knowing the hard realities of establishing, developing, and funding indigenous institutions of higher learning in our own country," the union wrote to minister Strahl. "But, most importantly, we also cannot imagine a more practically significant and symbolically potent investment in the wellbeing and future of Canada’s aboriginal peoples – especially in their youth, who daily battle against the negative statistics that also are confronted by the indigenous populations of New Zealand and other ex-settler societies."

Other news

Worried about who the minister of tertiary education is going to announce as ministerial appointed councillors on polytechnic and institute of technology councils in the next few days?  Well, as the minister says, "I wouldn't be too worried." It seems that if you 'go way back' with Mr Joyce, then your position should be safe - Waikato Times

Longtime tertiary education administrator and advisor Norman Kingsbury argues that students' associations have proved invaluable in the past and should not be lost. In a learning institution, he says, it is difficult to maintain the idea of community when student and staff numbers are large. But the traditional idea of a student being part of a learning community is an important idea and needs to be fostered - Otago Daily Times

Massey University has launched a registered charity to raise $100 million in private and corporate donations. Vice-chancellor Steve Maharey said New Zealand universities worldwide need to look beyond core government funding to meet the real costs of supplying first-class teaching and research - NZPA

A report assessing damage done to Haitian universities by the January earthquake paints a grim picture. The quake killed an estimated 121 to 200 university professors and administrators, and between 2,599 and 6,000 students. In all, the report estimates, 87 percent of the country's universities—those concentrated in the capital and surrounding areas—were levelled or seriously damaged - The Chronicle of Higher Education

British Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling has used his budget to promise 20,000 extra university places – at the same time as cuts of £900m which threaten 14,000 academic posts - The Guardian

The Massey University Collective Employment Agreement has been ratified by all union parties to the agreement. The TEU ratification vote was 654 in favour and 12 against with no invalid returns. Massey University has confirmed that it intends to make payment of the 1.5 percent increase and back pay to January this year, and payment of a $350 lump sum, to staff covered by the on the collective agreement soon after Easter.

TEU Tertiary Update is published weekly on Thursdays and distributed freely to members of the Tertiary Education Union and others. You can subscribe to Tertiary Update by email or feed reader. Back issues are available on the TEU website. Direct inquiries should be made to Stephen Day, email: stephen.day@teu.ac.nz

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