Tertiary Update

Tertiary Update

Tertiary Update is our weekly bulletin about news in the tertiary education sector from the perspective of people working in the sector. Is this email not displaying correctly?
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Education targets empty without investment

Prime Minister John Key announced ten public sector targets this week - two of which he said would make tertiary education institutions more accountable. The two targets for boosting skills and employment are:

• In 2017, 85 percent of 18-year-olds will have NCEA Level 2 or an equivalent qualification (up from 67 percent in 2010).
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• In 2017, 55 percent of 25-34 year olds will have a qualification at Level 4 or above (up from 52 percent in 2011).
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University of Auckland must put 'public' at front of its strategy

The University of Auckland's goal to be a ‘world-leading public university’ entails that it act foremost as a 'public university', according to the local TEU branch, which has just released its submission on the university's draft strategic plan.

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Funding cuts to regional job opportunities

Data from the Tertiary Education Commission shows that government funding for metropolitan based polytechnics has fallen by 1 percent between 2010 and 2011, but it fell by a massive 11 percent, or $32 million, for regional polytechnics over the same period.

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Employment outcome measures two years away

In its annual financial review to parliament’s Education and Science Committee, the Tertiary Education Commission reports that it is moving towards measuring the relationship between tertiary education qualifications and subsequent income. The commission writes it is currently developing measurements with Statistics New Zealand, and will be implementing them over the next two years.

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Victoria claims to remove academic leave from collective

"Removing promotion criteria and academic leave from our collective agreement means the university will not need to negotiate with us in the future. If it wants to make changes to these important employment rights, it will no longer need to agree with us first," said Victoria University Academic Sarah Proctor-Thomson.

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Ministers need to protect academic freedom

The former minister of education, Anne Tolley’s attack on the academic credibility of Waikato University academic Martin Thrupp has tacitly given permission for a subsequent torrent of ill-informed blog-abuse against the researcher.

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According to ministerial briefing papers, there is a catch to the Government's promise of more jobs. The Labour Department predicts 100,000 new jobs in the coming years, but the documents reveal they will largely benefit professional men, leaving low-skilled workers and women out in the cold - Radio Live

The University of Southern Queensland’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Jan Thomas, has questioned the value of rankings locally, and outlined why her university steers clear of rankings altogether. "In the domestic context, rankings have a discriminatory effect for little gain, marginalising and devaluing the work of smaller universities." - The Conversation

The University of Virginia's governing board on Tuesday reinstated President Teresa Sullivan, moving to quell the campus uproar after the popular leader was ousted without a vote earlier this month. Faculty, students and others had organised a demonstration outside the meeting to show support for the popular Sullivan, who became UVA's eighth president and its first female leader in August 2010. She criticized the board's "corporate, top-down leadership" as not being in the university's best interests - The Guardian

Bendigo is the latest Victorian TAFE to cut jobs, with the small regional cash-strapped institute announcing plans to shed 100 staff. The revelation has prompted speculation that TAFEs, struggling with budget cuts estimated at $300 million, may need help to sack their own staff. Almost a quarter of Bendigo's courses will also be scrapped after the cuts reduced its income by a similar proportion - The Australian

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