VUW decides to close Crime Centre

Media Release
Tertiary Education Union
25 August 2011

VUW decides to close Crime Centre

The decision announced yesterday to close Victoria University’s Crime and Justice Research Centre (CJRC) and make all three current fulltime staff redundant is extremely disappointing – not only for the academic staff affected but for all members of the academic community at the university - said TEU organiser Michael Gilchrist.

“Submissions from overseas as well as from throughout New Zealand from high profile individuals and organizations testified to the invaluable role this centre has played in legislation and policy making in New Zealand over the last ten years."

"There was no financial justification for closing the centre. The decision seems to reflect a lack of understanding of how business relationships work for a centre of this kind."

"In a particularly cynical move, the decision panel says that it recognised the regard in which the centre is held and would like 'to continue the reputational benefit to the university of the CJRC brand'."

"This leaves a particularly sour taste", Mr Gilchrist said. "The reputation of the centre, as with so many other parts of the university, rests on the reputation of its staff, built up over time. For Victoria University, that process is now at an end," Mr Gilchrist concluded.

ENDS

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