TEU Tertiary Update Vol 12 No 21

POLYTECHNICS FACE CATCH 22

TEU president Tom Ryan says last week’s parliamentary debate on workforce up-skilling shows that the minister of education Anne Tolley is waiting too long to take productive action on this crucial matter.

Mrs Tolley was challenged by Labour’s tertiary education spokesperson, Maryan Street, over the minister’s claim that difficult economic times had compelled her to choose getting young people into vocational polytechnic courses over funding adult and community education.

Why then, Ms Street asked, did Mrs Tolley refuse to extend the caps on tertiary student numbers? “Where does she expect the 6,000 to 8,000 students who are likely to be turned away from polytechs over the next year to go to for their upskilling opportunities?”

The minister defended the government’s lack of funding for new students by saying that people should not rely on polytechnic EFTS projections that are based on the official April enrolment figures.

“They have proved to be unreliable in the past, sometimes quite spectacularly so. As I said to the member yesterday, this Government is watching the enrolments in tertiary institutions very carefully.”

Dr Ryan says Mrs Tolley is putting polytechnic staff in a difficult catch-22:

“She tells state sector employers they can deliver cost-of-living pay rises only if they can show that they are getting increased productivity from their employees. So how are polytechnics supposed to show an increase in productivity? The easiest way would be to take on more of the many students who desperately want new skills to help them face the recession. But the minister has refused to fund polytechnics to take on any more students beyond the 103 percent EFTS cap that many are already pushing up against. So it’s impossible for them to demonstrate the increase in productivity that would allow them to have a salary increase that keeps pace with inflation.”

“Or maybe”, suggested Ryan, “rather than take on additional students, polytechnic staff should just ‘add value’ to current students’ learning experiences. So, for example, as well as getting the skills in horticulture or hairdressing they want and pay for, students also could get a free course in Moroccan cooking!”

ALSO IN TERTIARY UPDATE THIS WEEK:

1. ITPs stopwork to consider bargaining
2. Many more students
3. President slams ‘so-called NZ Higher Education Summit’
4. Otago University doubles paid parental leave
5. Education International stresses rights of academics
6. Thirteen out of 20 top universities misspell ‘university’ on website

ITPS STOPWORK TO CONSIDER BARGAINING

There will be stopwork meetings this month for TEU members at the six institutes of technology and polytechnics (ITPs) covered by the ITP multi employer collective agreement – Wintec, WITT, Unitec, Whitireia, NorthTec and BoPP. The meetings will take place between 23-30 July, and will discuss cuts that the employers have proposed to working conditions. These include changes to hours of work and a reduction on discretionary leave. The changes breach TEU’s core working conditions on which its negotiating team does not bargain. There has also been no offer yet on salary for the workers at the six polytechnics.

TEU advocate Irena Brorens is disappointed with progress in the negotiations to date.

“Earlier this year Bay of Plenty Polytechnic was for example offering staff on individual contracts 6 or 8 percent pay increases and now union members are not being offered anything,” said Ms Brorens.

“Times are tough but at Bay of Plenty for instance student numbers were at a record high last year and are up again this year. To me, that would indicate the increased productivity and efficiency that the employers are looking for.”

MANY MORE STUDENTS

The tertiary enrolment figures for April from the Ministry of Education, which the minister of education Anne Tolley dismissed as ‘spectacularly unreliable’, show that equivalent full-time student numbers increased from April 2008 to April 2009 by 6.2 percent overall.

This large increase – more than 10,000 equivalent full-time student units – was strongest among the ‘baby blip’ generation of 18-19 year-olds who are continuing to move from school into tertiary education. By contrast, enrolments by people aged 40 years or over fell by 4.7 percent. Other domestic student groups to significantly increase their numbers included Pasifika men, up 14 percent, Pasifika women, 12 percent, Māori and Asian men, 10 percent, and Māori and Asian women, 6 percent.

International enrolments also increased by almost 10 percent in April 2009 compared to a year earlier. The most significant international student increases are for doctorate level, graduate certificates and diplomas, and level 5 to 7 diplomas – all being up 20 percent or more. One in every three doctoral students in New Zealand in 2009 is an international student.

The overall study load of students likewise increased, with equivalent full-timers at wānanga rising by 13 percent (though part of this increase apparently was due to some enrolments missing from data returns in April 2008), at institutes of technology and polytechnics by 10 percent, and at universities by over 5 percent.

A separate recent Ministry of Education report, Ebbs and flows: Participation in post-compulsory education over the economic cycle, advises that tertiary institutions are likely to come under further enrolment pressure as the current recession continues.

PRESIDENT SLAMS SO-CALLED ‘NZ HIGHER EDUCATION SUMMIT’

TEU president, Tom Ryan, has sent a strongly worded message to the Australia-based private company behind what is being billed as the ‘NZ Higher Education Summit’. This event is to be held at the Duxton Hotel, Wellington, in mid-August, at a cost of $3,000 per person for the two day conference and the following one day forum.

Its advertised purpose is to “discuss and debate the future of New Zealand's tertiary system”, especially in the light of the global economic recession and the new National-led government. The latter’s forthcoming Tertiary Education Strategy, and a predicted rise in demand for tertiary education, “particularly for diploma and certificate level studies”, also are highlighted by the organisers.

Keynote speakers for the event include the minister of education and, probably, the minister of research, science and technology. Also listed as speakers are what are described as “30 leading universities [sic] and tertiary education stakeholders.”

Dr Ryan’s message to Informa specifically targets the lack of balance in the range of topics and the line-up of speakers. “Your agenda is totally skewed to represent the views of the sector's governance and management elites – with minor nods to students, indigenees, and (ahem!) climate change,” he said.

“Please be advised that as long as I lead the TEU – it being by far the largest union and a key stakeholder across the New Zealand tertiary sector – I will refuse to deal with organisations such as your own that deny us and our members a genuine voice in debates and discussions on our sector's future,” concluded Ryan.

EDUCATION INTERNATIONAL STRESSES RIGHTS OF ACADEMICS

In her address on the opening day of UNESCO's second World Conference on Higher Education in Paris, Education International’s vice-president Irene Duncan Adanusa stressed the need to protect the industrial and professional rights of academic staff.

The conference brought together over 1300 participants from education ministries, higher education institutions, and education-related non-governmental organisations worldwide.

Ms Duncan Adanusa strongly advocated the rights of higher education staff and the need to fully implement the terms of the 1997 UNESCO Recommendation Concerning the Status of Higher Education Teaching Personnel.

Despite the key role of academic staff play "at the heart of the public mission of higher education", their rights often are denied through the poor application of this recommendation and the worldwide trend towards the casualisation of the profession.

"The crisis we now face must not, however, be used as a pretext for reducing investments in higher education. It must not be an excuse for delaying the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, including Education For All. It must not be used to implement failed neo-liberal policies," she urged. "Public funding of education is not a cost. It is a sound and proven investment that will stimulate a recovery and build long-term sustainable growth."

"But we can only do so if our basic employment and academic rights are respected. Only then we will be able to ensure that higher education and research can fulfill their mandate of building sustainable economic growth, social cohesion, and a culture of peace," concluded Ms Duncan Adanusa.

OTAGO UNIVERSITY DOUBLES PAID PARENTAL LEAVE

Otago University has increased its paid parental leave provision from 6 weeks to 12 weeks for all mothers or primary caregivers of children born or adopted after 27 April this year. It is also providing 2 weeks parental leave for staff who are partners of the child’s primary caregiver.

The University’s human resources department says that the new policy is based on the principle of manaakitanga, and aims to normalise a positive approach to child birth and parenting. It reflects an acceptance that parents are an integral part of our society and working environment: a whānau approach. It also aims to support all staff in achieving a satisfying and productive life/work balance.

Parental leave of up to 52 weeks may be granted, including any paid period agreed to by the University. The maximum period of parental leave may be taken by either the mother/primary caregiver exclusively, or shared between the mother/primary caregiver and their partner.

The two week paid leave entitlement for partners employed by the University is in addition to the 52 week total entitlement, but no individual may take more than 52 weeks in total. Access to the University’s parental leave provisions does not affect the individual’s entitlements under the government’s paid parental leave provisions.

THIRTEEN OUT OF 20 TOP UNIVERSITIES MISSPELL ‘UNIVERSITY’ ON WEBSITE

Cambridge, Harvard and Yale are among the top universities found to have embarrassing spelling mistakes on their websites.

Thirteen out of 20 world class university websites analysed by Australian spelling software Spellr.us were found to have misspelled the word ‘university’. The survey also found that 14 per cent of university web pages contain at least one genuine spelling error, with some of the most prestigious American universities among the worst offenders:

Harvard spelled ‘professor’ wrong on one of its menus, while Yale’s website describes the “Universtiy’s ever-expanding international strength.”

Cambridge’s website was found to have miss-spelled the word ‘service’ in one of its navigational bars.

The ten most commonly miss-spelled words were: Accommodation, technology, university, harassment, research, administration, financial, information, association and millennium.

By Matilda Battersby at the Independent

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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