TEU Tertiary Update, volume 12, number 40

POLYTECHNICS FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE NOT SO BAD AFTER ALL

Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics are not in the troubled financial straits that the Minister of Education has suggested, according to data released yesterday by her Ministry.

Data on the revenue and surpluses of tertiary education providers shows that surpluses generated by New Zealand’s twenty ITPs was 2.6 percent of revenue for 2008, compared with 2.7 percent for universities.

The Minister and others in her government have several times claimed that the poor financial performance of polytechnics is the reason for introducing their Education (Polytechnics) Amendment Bill, which legislation reduces community representation on polytechnic councils and increases the power of government appointed councillors.

TEU president Dr Tom Ryan says this shows that there is no valid justification for the bill.

“On average, polytechnics are no more likely to be in a poor financial position than other taxpayer-funded tertiary providers. Their current governance structures have allowed them to perform just as well as universities. Of those individual institutions that had performed poorly, most had improved their financial position in recent years – or at least were doing so until the government’s budget cuts were introduced earlier this year.”

The relatively solid financial performance of the ITP sector also begs major questions about the stance of employers in the currently-stalled ITP MECA bargaining round, Dr Ryan points out.

“What these figures show is that staff in polytechnics have delivered as well as staff anywhere in the tertiary sector in recent years. It seems very unfair, therefore, that the MECA ITPs should now be demanding no or minimal pay increases and the surrender of core conditions for their union employees”.

“No wonder the goodwill that characterised staff-management relations in these institutions is now flying out the window”, said Ryan. “No wonder our members at these sites are engaging in unprecedented levels of industrial action”.

ALSO IN TERTIARY UPDATE THIS WEEK

1. University of Waikato cuts Te Timatanga Hou
2. Massey looks to shed scientists
3. Spies admit they need help to do their job
4. UNESCO shows NZ Govt is buying education cheaply
5. Summer research scholarships allocated
6. Women’s six week freebie accepted by employers
7. Governance shake-up in NSW

UNIVERSITY OF WAIKATO CUTS TE TIMATANGA HOU

Staff at the University of Waikato’s Te Timatanga Hou programme have been given a letter proposing the complete disestablishment of their programme. Four full-time staff now face possible redundancy.

The letter to staff states that the university’s’ response to funding cuts and the cap on student numbers has been to reduce the ministry-funded EFTS within the Pathways College where Te Timatanga Hou is located, and to redistribute available resources.

The Certificate of University Preparation and the Certificate of Attainment in Foundation Studies programmes also are being reduced. It is proposed that staff there will be cut from 11.45 FTE to 8.87 FTE for the 2010 year.

The university had hoped that another provider, such as Wintec, might take over Te Timatanga Hou programme in 2010. But no such arrangement with any other provider has been reached. The university now is seeking the views of affected staff along with any alternative suggestions by 1 December 2009.

Union members at a meeting yesterday made clear their concerns for Māori students if the programme disappears completely and at the lack of options for staff being made redundant.

TEU branch president Paul Harris said the branch is very disappointed at the university’s proposal.

“It is the only Maori specific bridging programme on offer at Waikato, and appears to be at odds with the university’s supposed commitment to Titiri o Waitangi principles.”

MASSEY LOOKS TO SHED SCIENTISTS

The Manawatu Standard has reported that more than $5.5 million is set to be cut from the budget for Massey University's College of Sciences. Staff redundancies and course cuts are both looming.

In a financial management plan sent to College of Sciences staff last week, pro-vice chancellor Robert Anderson outlined a proposal for reducing costs.

The university says that changes are being made in response to government cuts to the tertiary sector, and that overallit now faces a $10m shortfall, along with a cap on funding for more students.

Prof Anderson also drew attention to an allegdly “high rate of salary inflation” since 2003.

Staff are being offered voluntary retirement or redundancy, and long-serving staff are being offered up to 16 weeks' extra pay. But if enough staff do not take up the offer, a series of "staffing reviews" would take place next year, Prof Anderson said.

Staff in the College of Business and College of Humanities and Social Sciences also are being invited to retire or quit.

Submissions from staff on proposed course changes are open until November 27, while the university is calling for decisions on redundancy packages by January 22.

In the proposal, engineering course offerings will be reduced by 25 per cent. Bachelor and Master of Applied Sciences programmes also will be cut, along with the majority of certificate level courses – including diplomas in agriculture, horticulture and exercise science.

Sciences pro-vice chancellor Robert Anderson said the current academic portfolio is "confusing, unnecessarily complex, unfocused, duplicative, and ... unaffordable".

TEU national secretary Sharn Riggs said she was concerned that while the voluntary retirement scheme was being offered all across Massey University, only the College of Science seems to be required to achieve a certain level of redundancies or retirements. “The TEU is trying to ascertain whether that is a number or a percentage”.

“We now are seeing the real effects of the 2009 budget. If student numbers were not being capped, and basic funding was being maintained, our institutions would be better provided to deal with the recession and current levels of unemployment,” said Ms Riggs

SPIES ADMIT THEY NEED HELP TO DO THEIR JOB

In one of those rare moments when tertiary education intersects with popular culture, TEU President Dr Tom Ryan created a media hullabaloo on Tuesday when he drew attention to the SIS’s efforts to get scientific staff at universities to help them out in their as-yet fruitless search for weapons of mass destruction here in New Zealand. Dr Ryan’s concerns were covered on TV One, TV3 News, The Press, The Herald, Radio New Zealand and a number of other news agencies.

“I’ve got a measure of sympathy for what the SIS is trying to do,” said Dr Ryan. “It not as though weapons of mass destruction are easy things to find here in New Zealand. They must be very well hidden indeed. I guess it is a back-handed compliment that they came looking for professional help from our science lecturers and researchers. It is a shame, however, that they didn’t see fit to first ask those staff – and also their union – whether this new task of spying on colleagues and students was acceptable.”

“The SIS pretends that it should be considered normal for staff to report back to a spy agency. But such a practice would undermine the legislated autonomy of our institutions, including the guarantee of academic freedom. It also may lead to some members of the academic community being targeted because of their religion, nationality, or ethnicity.”

UNESCO SHOWS NZ GOVT IS BUYING EDUCATION CHEAPLY

UNESCO’s just released 2009 Global Education Digest has a special report that analyses the rising demand for tertiary education. The report considers issues like sources of finance, student mobility, and fields of education studied. The report makes several mentions of New Zealand’s tertiary education system.

In particular, New Zealand is shown to have one of the lowest rates of public funding for its tertiary education spending of all OECD countries, with just 60 percent of its tertiary education being funded publicly.

This is higher than the USA (34 percent) and Korea (24 percent), but lower than all other OECD countries, including Australia (73 percent) Finland (98 percent) and Mexico (69 percent).

TEU president Dr Tom Ryan says that the report shows New Zealand should be spending more if it really wants our tertiary education system to remain competitive with the rest of the world.

“Countries seem to be dividing into two camps when it comes to investing in tertiary education – those that want to save money in the short term, and those that recognise investing money now will pay huge dividends in the future. New Zealand needs to be careful to make the right choice about which camp we belong to, because the amount we will need to pay in the future to catch up will be exponentially greater if we don’t invest now,” said Dr Ryan.

SUMMER RESEARCH SCHOLARSHIPS ALLOCATED

Education Minister Anne Tolley has announced the allocation of the government’s summer research scholarships in universities. The universities of Auckland and Otago have been allocated 400 places each, while 350 places are allocated to Victoria University, 200 to the University of Canterbury, and 100 to the University of Waikato. Lincoln University, Massey University and AUT received 50 each.

"The idea came out of the Prime Minister's Job Summit earlier in the year, following concerns from universities that there weren't enough job opportunities for students to boost their finances during the holiday period,” said Mrs Tolley

"We set aside $4 million in Budget 2009 to fund this initiative, which will see 1,600 university students undertake study in their chosen academic field, while earning money over the summer months.”

"Some of the students will begin their research this week and I'm advised that demand for places has been incredible,” said Mrs Tolley..”

"The universities which allocated the places have matched the Government's investment in the scheme dollar for dollar. This kind of partnership is exactly what New Zealand needs to grow our knowledge base for the future."

WOMEN’S SIX WEEK FREEBIE ACCEPTED BY EMPLOYERS

Yesterday was the day when New Zealand women effectively begin working for free until the end of the year, says the TEU Women’s Officer, Suzanne McNabb.

“Women are paid at least 12% less than men (in average hourly earnings), and from yesterday, 18 November, there was only 12 percent of the year left.”

“Luckily women working in tertiary education have agreed to continue working for the remainder of the year, and we understand that offer has been gratefully accepted by chief executives and vice- chancellors around the country.”

Pay equity campaigners yesterday in central Wellington unveiled a giant invoice for $4 billion, the amount that women in New Zealand are owed between now and December 31 if the gender pay gap is to be closed.

The invoice is made out to the Minister of Women’s Affairs, the Minister of Labour, and Business New Zealand. The Pay Equity Challenge Coalition said that payment could be made by making a public commitment to ending gender pay inequity – or in cash.

The Ministers, as well as Business New Zealand’s Phil O’Reilly and Prime Minister John Key, were invited to come and accept the invoice. They declined.

“Government and business both know what the problem is, they have all the evidence. Now they need to create a strategy to close the gender pay gap,” said Ms McNabb.

GOVERNANCE SHAKE-UP IN NSW

Universities across NSW may be compelled to change their governance structures next year. NSW Education Minister Verity Firth said the government planned to introduce significant legislative reform of university governance early next year.

"We've basically said to all the vice-chancellors that we're happy to work with them to make their university councils work as they would like them to," Ms Firth said.

The University of New England (UNE), where a conflict between vice-chancellor and chancellor in 2008 led to a parliamentary inquiry, has devised a mechanism for the removal of a chancellor and would like to see this included in next year's omnibus legislation.

At the University of NSW, vice-chancellor Fred Hilmer wants the freedom to appoint, rather than elect, members to alumni positions. He says as few as 1 per cent of alumni vote, making it too easy for sectional interests to sabotage a governing body.

Ms Firth said the idea of the omnibus bill for an update of university statutes arose from the parliamentary inquiry.

By Bernard Lane at the Australian

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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