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35 librarians to be disestablished at UC

Members of TEU at the University of Canterbury have reacted with anger and dismay to the latest change proposal in which fifty-eight staff positions are targeted for disestablishment.  Thirty-five of these positions are in the university's libraries.   

TEU Branch president Megan Clayton says the new roles proposed in place of those marked for redundancy do little to consolidate the expertise and institutional knowledge that are a hallmark of the work done at the university. 

"The proposed replacement of the professional librarians who lead the university's libraries with Centre Manager roles is of particular concern, as is the Vice-Chancellor's as-yet-untested claim that the ongoing employment of senior librarians would occur at the cost of academic jobs elsewhere in the university."

TEU has represented its members throughout the submissions process associated with the multiple change proposals initiated under the university's Project STAR. 

Dr Clayton says the union is concerned both for members' employment and for members' own vision for the university. 

"The labour force of a large public institution such as the University of Canterbury is an asset, not a liability. Positive outcomes for the future are best achieved by treating it as such."

"The university's position is significantly conditioned by the increasingly constrained levels of tertiary funding under the present government. Just as New Zealand is paying a price for its previous levels of under investment in trades training and apprenticeships, so this government seems to be setting up the tertiary education sector for a similar fall," said Dr Clayton.

Also in Tertiary Update this week:

1. University of Otago begins third of four restructures


2. Interest free but not fee free loans


3. NZQA develops mātauranga Māori framework


4. Early childhood cuts could affect study options


5. Government's budget could hurt recovery


6. Other news

University of Otago begins third of four restructures

The Otago Daily Times reports that the University of Otago is undertaking a third major restructuring, this time in the school of business, and is preparing for the possibility of a fourth. The university is trying to streamline operations and cut costs before government funding cuts impact fully next year.

The university is proposing a merger of the department of accountancy and business law and the department of finance and quantitative analysis. This follows reviews which recommended the disestablishment of the design studies department, and the need to cut $1.3 million from the college of education annual budget.

None of the reviews has been completed yet, although the design studies recommendation is likely to be confirmed at a university council meeting next week.

An estimated 115 academic staff are affected by the reviews - about 55 at the college of education, 40 in the school of business, and 20 in design studies. The university has said it is too soon to say how many jobs might go as a result of the reviews.

Tertiary Education Union branch co-president Dr Brent Lovelock told the Otago Daily Times that the TEU was working with staff from affected departments, but that those staff were "naturally very concerned" about their futures.

"Our view is that these processes are also impacting staff morale across many areas of the campus."

The Otago Daily Times has been told one more major review is about to be announced - the merger of two departments in the humanities division which collectively employ about 50 staff.

The university had no comment to make about whether any more reviews were pending, head of communications Megan McPherson said.

Interest-free but not fee-free loans

The Dominion Post reported that the government is proposing an annual fee be charged to the 500,000 students and former students with student debt.

The fee, expected to be charged at about $50 a year on every person with student debt, is being floated as part of a package to try to claw back on the spiralling cost of the student loans scheme.

Tertiary education minister Steven Joyce said that the growth in borrowing could not go on without policy changes. Mr Joyce has repeatedly said that the current interest-free student loan policy is not financially sustainable, but that his government will not be scrapping it. 

Instead, he is building a package of changes to the administration of student loans that currently includes this new annual fee for former students, as well as cutting loans for students who fail half their courses over two years, limiting the number of years a student can borrow, and limiting access to loans for non-New Zealand residents.

Mr Joyce said each of the measures was "at the margin", but all added up to "a reasonable sum of money"

"The view I have taken of it is that I actually don't think that is fair when you consider it compared with any other form of loan you have," Mr Joyce said.

"We're looking at an ongoing account fee which will be a flat amount and just helps to recover the costs of administering the loan system."

The existing $50 fee on borrowing while studying, which has been the same since 1992, is likely to rise to $60.

The Dominion Post also reported that the government is putting pressure on Inland Revenue and Studylink, which administer the loans scheme, to find further savings.

NZQA develops mātauranga Māori framework

NZQA is preparing to establish a specific quality assurance framework for mātauranga Māori. New Zealand is the first country in the world to establish an entire education field that formally recognises indigenous knowledge, but currently there are no formal measures in place, specific to mātauranga Māori, to support the quality assurance of mātauranga Māori courses and qualifications.  Some providers have expressed concern that the generic quality assurance framework used by NZQA does not adequately take account of the specific nature of mātauranga Māori.

Daryn Bean from NZQA met with TEU's Te Toi Ahurangi last week to explain the proposed new framework, and to encourage stakeholders to contribute their views on the framework before submissions close next week.

One of the major differences between the NZQA's existing quality assurance framework and its proposed new mātauranga Māori quality assurance framework is that the mātauranga Māori model will be opt-in for providers rather than compulsory. 

The other significant difference will be that it introduces an early engagement process that aims to ensure NZQA gains an understanding of māramatanga reo, āhuatanga, and tikanga before it gazettes the criteria to apply for a Māori qual mark. Under the existing model, the criteria are gazetted right at the start of the process before NZQA engages with the applicants.

Courses or qualifications that obtain a Māori Qual Mark will be recognised as having systems and processes in place that will contribute to the achievement of quality outcomes.

Following public consultation, which ends on 14 May, the NZQA board expects to grant final approval to a mātauranga Māori quality assurance framework in June.

NZQA is currently seeking feedback on the proposal.

Early childhood cuts could affect study options

TEU President Dr Tom Ryan says that government plans to limit access to free early childhood education could affect access to tertiary education as well.

The government indicated last week it will move to contain the cost of early childhood education, but has not yet released details. It has also been revealed that it is slashing childcare funding for thousands of families by cutting eligibility to the childcare subsidy.

Reportedly, 11,000 families with household incomes between $77,000 and $99,000 will have their subsidy cut.

The early childhood education union NZEI says that will put enormous pressure on middle income families, and have a flow down effect on participation rates in early childhood services.

Dr Tom Ryan says that as well as the obvious long-term impacts of reducing access to early childhood education, the move could impact on the ability of parents who want to undertake tertiary study.

"One of the many side-effects of free accessible early childhood education is that it gives mothers, in particular, the chance to improve their skills, knowledge and qualifications, while also helping their families and the wider community. With decisions like this, the government is effectively saying it does not want those women to have an equal chance at tertiary education," said Dr Ryan.

CTU President Helen Kelly agrees, saying the cuts in eligibility to the Childcare Subsidy also reduce people’s ability to take up job opportunities.

"This policy is very short-sighted. It is a further illustration of the Government’s abject failure to address employment equity for women."

Government's budget could hurt recovery

CTU economist Bill Rosenberg says the there needs to be continued government stimulus spending to ensure that the economy does not return to recession in an environment acknowledged by both Bill English and the Reserve Bank to still be fragile.

"Those out of work also need strong support in acquiring new skills if they need them, and finding jobs. Obviously, too, further significant public service staff cuts would not be at all helpful."

Dr Rosenberg says the government is likely to focus on rising debt to justify cuts – its frequent claim that "the government is borrowing about $240 million a week" – although  it is now quietly conceding that this is literally only a half truth.

"Only just over half of that $240 million, $130 million, is new. The rest is to "roll over existing debt". Plus, the New Zealand government’s gross debt levels are much lower than the rest of the OECD – about one third of the average as a proportion of GDP. The growing debt is a matter for concern, but should not get in the way of maintaining government programmes in this uncertain international and domestic environment."

"Instead we’ve been promised an Operating Allowance – new spending for the year – of only $1.1 billion, compared to $1.45 billion in this year and $1.75 billion in years before that. The sum needed to keep Health just at its current state, including DHB deficits, waiting lists and all, is likely to be half of that, leaving little for real increases in other programmes. That indeed is what the government is telling us to get used to. Instead it says it will find savings of $1.8 billion elsewhere, through line-by-line reviews which are likely to continue the current rate of job loss in the public service – around 1,500 jobs in the last year."

Read the rest of Dr Rosenberg's forecast for the budget in his CTU Economic Bulletin.

Other news

Questions are being asked about an Exclusive Brethren high school at Kerikeri getting Government funding when its teachers are forbidden to encourage students to go to university. The tertiary education bar has been disclosed by teacher Suzette Martin, who was sacked from the private Westmount School last year for providing a year-13 class with a contemporary translation of the Shakespearian play King Lear – The Northern Advocate

Unite Union has requested the New Zealand Qualifications Authority investigate the provision of training for security guards at Allied Security, where staff undergoing training have been supplied with the answers to fill in “in their own words” – Unite

Dr Tom Ryan's budget preview: "We would like to see the government end its political vendetta against polytechnics. Its excessive attacks on polytechnic funding, governance arrangements and staff working conditions do the government no credit and are hurting the education of students, especially in our provincial regions." – Education Direction blog

Fears of a possible merger between Whitireia Community Polytechnic and Weltec have been quashed, despite the two institutions now sharing four of their board members – Kapi Mana News

In what seems to become a detestable tradition, leaders and members of the Iranian Teachers’ Trade Associations have been arrested and detained in the days preceding Labour Day and the National Teachers Day, celebrated on 2 May in Iran – Education International

American TV channel PBS's show Frontline's College, Inc., has aired a documentary looking at for-profit higher education, its investors, and the U.S. Department of Education's efforts to regulate it. It tells stories of students plunging deep into debt and unable to get jobs, and traditional academe's criticisms of its competitors – PBS

First Nations University in Canada is closing its major Saskatoon campus, and is  planning cuts to other locations after failing to retain crucial government funding – Vancouver Sun

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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