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Tertiary ‘student performance’ league table feared

The Tertiary Education Commission will publish data on individual tertiary education institutions at the end of the month, ranking them according to how many of their students complete courses, complete qualifications, progress to higher study, and are retained in study. While the TEC may not release this data in league table format, media or members of the public could convert into a league table if they wish.

National Radio revealed the plan for the pending publication this week, and noted widespread concern in the sector that the data will be unfair:

"It is well-known in tertiary education circles that institutions with many part-time, extra-mural or second-chance students have lower pass rates than those that do not."

Tertiary Education Commission Chief Executive Dr Roy Sharp says the TEC will be providing information in a comparable format.

"This will allow learners and their families to quickly and easily access comparable information about each organisation."

"In the end, the format in which we provide this information is not the key issue. We accept that it can, and will be, represented in different ways by media, tertiary providers and the public. Our main concern is to ensure that information is clear and consistent."

However, TEU national president Dr Tom Ryan responded that any form of league tables is damaging and demoralising because institutions that rank poorly are likely to be unfairly branded as ‘failing’. It can take institutions many years to throw off the tag of a ‘failed institution’.

“All students, irrespective of their income, culture, race, ability levels, or geographical location, deserve the chance of tertiary education so that they can contribute to their own wellbeing, the country’s economy, and our communities,” said Dr Ryan.

“League tables such as those that invariably will emerge from what the government is proposing mainly will benefit institutions that have the most wealthy students in full-time study. But they will tell us relatively little that is meaningful about academic achievement or student performance.”

Also in Tertiary Update this week:

1. Vic Uni staff negotiate for Fairness at Work


2. Massey to cut jobs


3. Tairāwhiti-EIT merger a bid to survive


4. Work begins on global student assessment


5. Nine Trades Academies in 2011


6. Steven Joyce: "No… well, maybe."


7. Other news

Vic Uni staff negotiate for Fairness at Work

The worst features of the government's proposed new employment laws are expected to be nullified at Victoria University following a provisional agreement reached this week between a TEU negotiating team and university representatives.

The two sides reached an understanding that should future-proof TEU members by forbidding fire-at-will 90 day trial periods, and enabling union officials easy access to the workplace as allowed for under current law. They also agreed to set up a working party to 'minimize the impact' should there be changes to payment of annual leave. The agreement also determines that when the union next initiates bargaining for collective agreements, only the union will communicate directly with union members.

The proposed agreements are for a two-year term to 30 June 2012, and include two salary increases of 1.8 percent each. Only those staff who are union members when the agreements are ratified will receive the first eight weeks of the increase. Members will hold a ratification vote on the proposed agreements early next month.

TEU organiser Michael Gilchrist says that the settlement is a forward-looking one that should serve both the employer and union members well over the next two years. TEU national secretary Sharn Riggs says that the union is keen to protect its members from the government's unfair, unnecessary, and unworkable employment laws.

"We can try, site by site, to protect members each time we negotiate. But the best way to make sure everybody has fairness at work is to stop the laws before they pass. I strongly urge TEU members to join the many union members around the country at the Fairness at Work rallies this weekend."

Massey to cut jobs

Massey University has made a 'preliminary decision' to cut over 30 jobs, the majority being on its Palmerston North campus. Under its 'Shared Services' review, it will cut 65 current positions, mostly of general staff, including administrators, teaching consultants and student advisors,  and it will create 37 new positions. Most current staff whose positions are cut will be able to apply and compete for the new positions.

From now to 30 August the university will undertake a period of consultation on these proposals. It expects to announce its final decision in the week starting 6 September.

The Tertiary Education Union's branch president, Harvey Jones, says that the underlying reality is that the university is responding to government funding cuts:

"Continuing government underfunding appears to be driving the need for this restructuring."

"Although the university has listened to staff and the union and reduced the number of jobs cuts from what it proposed earlier, this will provide little comfort to friends and colleagues who have received letters from the university proposing to end their jobs. By the time they have worked out their notice these staff face the prospect of unemployment before Christmas."

"In order to achieve New Zealand’s economic recovery we need to keep people in work and help more young New Zealanders get an education. Government cuts to tertiary funding are undermining these worthy objectives," said Mr Jones.

Mr Jones is fearful that there will be more redundancies, given that a list of areas within the university has already been identified for further restructuring and potential job losses.

"Staff in these areas and others are experiencing a prolonged period of stress and job uncertainty," he says.

Over the coming weeks TEU will be working with members affected under these proposals and supporting those members who want to move into new positions.

Tairāwhiti-EIT merger a bid to survive

Tairāwhiti Polytechnic chief executive Judy Campbell says her institution will not survive financially if a merger with Eastern Institute of Technology does not go ahead. The Gisborne Herald reports that she told the Tairāwhiti Development Trust the present financial position for Tairāwhiti was unsustainable.

Ms Campbell says a link with EIT would benefit students and increase the courses open to them. The global financial crisis and the economic condition of the country had affected the Government’s attitude towards polytechnics and in 2009 it signalled that it will reduce funding over the next two years.

Tairāwhiti is projecting it soon will be losing $50,000 a week, or $3 million per annum. Ms Campbell said that the institution had gone on an extensive search to find a partner to enable it to continue operating, and that it had chosen EIT because of its size and cash reserves. “It is an extremely robust organisation,” she said.

It is her hope that a business case for a merger will be completed by October. Then the institutions will consult staff and the public. Finally the minister of tertiary education must run a formal consultation process before giving overall approval. The target date for the merger is 1 January 2012.

“We believe that this marriage might well benefit everybody,” Ms Campbell said.

Work begins on global student assessment

The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) is leading an OECD feasibility study into the first global assessment of students' knowledge and skills.

More than 200 tertiary education institutions from 15 countries will take part in the feasibility study (New Zealand is not included).

The study will try to develop reliable measures to compare learning outcomes across different countries, cultures and languages.

ACER is touting Assessment of Higher Education Learning Outcomes (AHELO) as tertiary education's version of PISA, the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment that tests the achievements of 15-year-old school students in reading, maths and science. Some countries use PISA to compare their school systems' performance with other OECD nations.

ACER says the research is not about ranking or standardisation, but about improving policy and practice in higher education independent of differences in language and culture.

"If feasible, it would allow us to build a global picture of what students have learned and are capable of doing, independent of institution, country, culture or language. With more insight on student capability we can look more closely at the factors affecting those skills, particularly teaching and learning," said Hamish Coates, ACER's principal research fellow and director of the study.

ACER said AHELO would probably be the most comprehensive global research project to measure the knowledge, skills and other learning outcomes of tertiary education students. There are some 135 million students enrolled in 17,000 tertiary education institutions worldwide, ACER pointed out.

It will assess students' generic learning skills, and specific subject knowledge in the fields of engineering and economics, towards the end of a bachelor degree.

A conference at the end of 2012 will review the findings of the AHELO feasibility study and based on its conclusions, decide whether to launch a full-scale AHELO.

From Dr Ian Dobson at University World News

Nine Trades Academies in 2011

Education minister Anne Tolley has confirmed that nine Trades Academies will open around the country in 2011, providing trades and technology programmes for over 800 secondary school students. Polytechnics will lead three of those academies  -  Wintec, WelTec and CPIT.

Mrs Tolley has said that Trades Academies are a vital part of the Youth Guarantee Scheme and offer an innovative approach to keeping 16 and 17 year olds engaged in education.

"Our young people need a flexible education system and Trades Academies will offer a great advantage for those following an industry-related career."

The Academies are based on partnerships between schools, tertiary institutions, industry training organisations and employers. They enable students to earn both NCEA credits and a tertiary qualification, while gaining practical skills in the workplace. Schools will continue to enrol Trades Academy students but the students may study at another site, such as, at a workplace or polytechnic on some or all days through the term.

Waikato Trades Academy, provided by Wintec, will offer National Certificate Level 2 Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Motor Industry. The Wellington Trades Academy, led by Weltec, will offer National Certificate Level 2 qualifications in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Construction, Plumbing, Hairdressing, and Creative Technology and Hospitality. Some students at the Canterbury Trades College will attend CPIT for National Certificate Level 3 Carpentry or Level 2 Hospitality.

Further Trades Academies are scheduled to open in Taranaki, Hawkes Bay, and the West Coast in 2012.

Steven Joyce: "No… well, maybe."

Tertiary Update said last week that we would let you know what the minister of education's answer was to this parliamentary question:

"Has the Crown Core Expenses for Tertiary Education dropped by $99 million compared to 2009; if so, does this drop represent a decrease in total spending on Tertiary Education appropriations?"

The minister Steven Joyce replied: "No, the estimated actual expenditure on tertiary education appropriations in 2009/10 is higher than actual expenditure in 2008/09."

However, he then continues on to say "The Core Crown Expenses for tertiary education expenditure are forecast to be $99m less in 2009/10 than in 2008/09. This is mainly due to a forecast $356m reduction in student loan expenses between 2008/09 and 2009/10, which are funded through Vote Social Development and Vote Revenue. The most significant change in student loan expenses between 2008/09 and 2009/10 is the cost of the loan impairment – the annual revaluation of the loan scheme assets. This was $779m in 2008/09 but is forecast to be $201m - $578m less - for the 2009/10 year."

Given that the minister in other contexts lumps student loans as an overall 'tertiary education' cost, TEU reads his reply as admitting that, yes, overall spending on tertiary education has decreased over the past year.

Other news

The weekend after the Education and Science Select Committee finished hearing submissions on Roger Douglas' voluntary student membership bill, an overwhelming majority of which opposed the bill, including many chief executives and vice-chancellors of tertiary institutions, a fraud scandal has engulfed the students’ association at Whitireia Polytechnic. TEU national president Dr Tom Ryan says that “While what has happened at the students’ association is indefensible, we do have to question the timing of the release of this information in such close proximity to a decision being made on the Douglas bill”. Whitireia journalism students' newspaper Newswire has extensive coverage of the alleged misuse of funds.

Luckily the government's funding cuts and freezes are not universal for the tertiary education system. Cranfield School of Management in the United Kingdom has just welcomed the recent announcement from Prime Minister John Key that the New Zealand government is launching a $1 million scholarship scheme for New Zealanders to apply to study at an internationally recognised business school.

The Sunday Star Times recently revealed that Unitec CEO Dr Rick Ede ranked third in a list of state sector bosses' expense claims. The $79,611 on his tab included: a $295 tea-for-two at the Jervois Steak House, $2,322.60 for a ‘Leadership Team and Partners’ Dinner’ at Remuera’s Banque Gastro Bar, and $5842.97 on a ‘Council Strategy Day’ at the Westin Hotel - including $295 for a chocolate table centrepiece. TEU members at Unitec are finding it all a bit hard to swallow. After awarding staff on individual contracts an average salary increase of 4 percent in 2008, and despite Unitec generating around $8.4m in profits last year, Dr Ede insisted through the protracted MECA negotiations that the new government's expectations of state sector austerity meant that unionised staff at Unitec are each worth a one-off payment of $700. Enough for a nosh-up at one of his preferred restaurants, perhaps?

The just released 2008 New Zealand General Social Survey on how  different levels of education relate to a range of social and  economic indicators finds that for New Zealanders aged 25 to 64 tertiary education has a positive impact on income, employment, health, tolerance, volunteering, voting, recycling and life satisfaction. Many of the wider benefits  associated with having a tertiary qualification remained after adjusting for the effects of income, age, gender, and whether people were born in New Zealand or not.

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