AUS Tertiary Update
Budget provides little
comfort
Funding for universities, announced in last
Thursday’s Budget, shows that the Government continues to
place little value on university education says Association
of University Staff (AUS) National President, Dr Bill
Rosenberg. The Budget package for the tertiary sector has
drawn sharp criticism from staff and students, and a mixed
reaction from universities.
Dr Rosenberg said that while
welcoming the security provided by triennial funding, the
new funding levels announced are well below those needed to
adequately begin to restore the funding decline of the last
decade, or to improve salaries and cover additional
institutional compliance costs resulting from current
changes in the sector. It means that over the next three
years, the Government will provide a real increase of 1.2%
(or 0.4% per annum) into a sector it acknowledges is
woefully under-funded.
His criticism was echoed by New
Zealand Vice Chancellors’ Committee (NZVCC) Chair and
University of Auckland Vice-Chancellor, Dr John Hood, who
said that while the funding would help “hold the line”
against further erosion of the tertiary sector, it would
have only a limited impact on improving its capacity to
deliver world-class higher education. “There remains a need
to significantly boost university revenue” he said. “The
level of funding increase is not sufficient to meet staff
salary expectations and the need to purchase major equipment
items while maintaining existing
infrastructure.”
Students are threatening campus protests
and occupations after the government lifted a three year
fees-freeze and introduced a schedule of fee maxima which
would allow undergraduate student tuition fees to lift, on
average, by between $400 and $800. No limits are placed on
maximum fees for postgraduate study, although increases of
more than $1,000 will require approval from the Tertiary
Education Commission (TEC).
Dr Rosenberg said a
consequence of the low increase in new funding means that
any real growth in university income will come out of
students’ pockets. “The new fee-maxima allow for significant
increases in tuition fees and students, not surprisingly,
are predicting that maximum fee levels will quickly become
the norm. Increasing tuition fees sets the scene for tension
between students and staff and is a convenient way for
universities to increase income while blaming staff and
unions for it occurring.”
New Zealand University
Students’ Association (NZUSA) President, Fleur Fitzsimons
said that big fee rises were almost inevitable for students
and would be opposed. “We could well see a return to the
protests and occupations that we saw in the 1990’s,” she
said. Ms Fitzsimons’ comments were echoed by Otago
University Students’ Association spokesperson, Catherine
May, who threatened “registry occupations and students
marching again”. Waikato University student President,
Daniel Philpott, predicted that Labour would lose votes as a
result of the Budget, saying the Government had failed to
live up to its promise of making education more
affordable.
The NZVCC has claimed student predictions
that tuition fees could rise by more than $1,000 “would seem
to be exaggerated” in light of NZUSA’s calculations that the
new maxima are, on average, $833 higher than current fees.
In his statement on behalf of the NZVCC, Dr Hood has
indicated that tuition fees are unlikely to increase to the
new maximum levels saying that “fee setting is the preserve
of university councils acting in a collegial and
consultative fashion”. Nevertheless, Otago Vice-Chancellor
Dr Graeme Fogelberg has said the fees-freeze had cost his
University more than $4 million and it was likely he would
recommend increases.
Waikato Vice-Chancellor, Professor
Bryan Gould, welcomed the increased funding, saying that it
was a good day for universities. Massey Vice-Chancellor,
Professor Judith Kinnear, said the Budget represented a
much-needed further investment in New Zealand.
On the
positive side Dr Rosenberg said AUS welcomed the $150,000
delivered to fund the first stage of a workforce planning
review. “We welcome this review, which we have advocated for
some time, but the big question is how the likely results of
the review can be addressed at current funding levels. We
also welcome the research funding announced, particularly
for the important but usually forgotten social sciences,” he
said.
Full details of the Budget’s tertiary education
package can be found on the AUS website
at:
www.aus.ac.nz/budget.htm
Also in Tertiary Update
this week:
1. Otago struggling to attract medical
staff
2. PTEs unhappy with fees maxima
3. NZQA
investigating complaints against PTEs
4. Research output
under stress
5. London Allowance pay dispute over
Otago
struggling to attract medical staff
Otago University says
it is struggling to attract medical academic staff because
it cannot match salaries paid by district health boards. In
the year to 31 March the University advertised 63 positions
and filled only 26 of them. The University has calculated
that to pay joint clinical staff a salary similar to that
paid by a district health board, it would need an additional
$2.7 million per year, or $3186 for every student.
University sources said the difference in salaries had
increased to such an extent over the last 5 years that a
number of staff were leaving the university to work for the
local health boards. If the trend continued the viability of
some medical courses could be threatened in near
future.
The Budget announcement that the annual intake of
medical students will rise by 40, from 285 to 325, will do
little to alleviate the crisis.
PTEs unhappy at fees
maxima
Private Tertiary Education (PTE) providers are
unhappy at being required to comply with fee maxima
regulations announced in the Budget. Kevin Smith, President
of the New Zealand Association of Private Education
Providers, said that setting fee maxima too low will result
in mergers and some providers “simply shutting their doors”.
Dave Guerin, executive director of the Careers College’s
Association, has said his Association does not support the
government’s tertiary education price-freeze, “especially
when PTE income is 10% below that of public
institutions”.
AUS National President, Dr Bill Rosenberg,
said that the PTEs could expect little sympathy from the
public sector. Commenting on the fact that most PTEs will be
exempted from submitting profiles to the TEC this year, he
said those receiving public money should be subject to the
same accountability measures as the public sector.
PTEs
whose fees are above the maxima have a one year moratorium
on complying with the fees maxima, but in the interim cannot
increase fees.
NZQA investigating complaints against
PTEs
The Christchurch Press has reported that complaints
against three Christchurch private training providers are
under investigation by the New Zealand Qualifications
Authority. The complaints relate to alleged cheating,
misleading advertising and a refund not being given.
Complaints were made against 14 Christchurch providers last
year. Of the successful complaints four were against
providers that had not refunded students’ fees, and one was
about assessment procedures and the incomplete awarding of
credits. Five complaints were found in the providers’ favour
and the remainder were not followed through.
Research
output under stress
University research is suffering as a
result of endless paperwork and a lack of funding as New
Zealand falls behind Australia in research output says a
retiring a Massey University academic. Richard Heerdegen,
who recently left Massey after 40 years, said the number of
students per lecturer had more than doubled during this time
and that accountability seemed to be derived from having to
fill out countless bits of paper. “One of the things which
has been lost in this quest for efficiency is the ability to
spend time talking to other staff and students,” he said.
The quality of teaching hasn’t declined, but lecturers have
to spend a lot more time preparing”.
Worldwatch
London
Allowance pay dispute over
A consortium of employers'
representatives and staff unions is to be established to
seek a long-term solution to the London Weighting
cost-of-living allowance needs of university staff in the
capital. The plan was agreed during recent negotiations for
improved London Weighting allowances, after strike action by
unions in London universities and Higher Education colleges.
The unions have accepted a 6.5% pay offer on London
Weighting, but hope for significant longer-term
improvements. Lecturers and other staff in the new
universities recently accepted an offer of a 5% increase on
2002 allowances rising to 6.5% from August 2003.
The
recently agreed London Weighting increase will increase pay
for academics receiving an Inner London allowances by £170
to £2523 a year.
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AUS
Tertiary Update is compiled weekly on Thursdays and
distributed freely to members of the union and others. Back
issues are archived on the AUS website:
http://www.aus.ac.nz. Direct enquires to Marty Braithwaite,
AUS Communications Officer, email:
marty.braithwaite@aus.ac.nz