Faulty review of University governance

Media Release – Thursday 3 October 2013
Faulty review of University governance

New Zealand’s national body for students, the NZ Union of Students’ Associations (NZUSA), has called out a range of flaws and inbuilt bias in the Ministry of Education review of university governance.

“The most glaring flaw is that the changes being sought are already possible within the existing status quo. If it’s their genuine desire councils can already gravitate more towards a minimum/maximum of 12 members, at which point the major impediment for some might even lie in not being able to have fewer members appointed by a Cabinet Minister,” says Pete Hodkinson, NZUSA President.

“The form of the survey the Ministry is conducting is another flaw because of the way that questions are expressed. As the Otago University Students’ Association has done we would have to score it a fail mark. The most obvious oxymoron is the way views are narrowly being sought n a proposal that it could be fairly argued is less flexible, not more flexible, than the status quo in terms of best practice, inclusiveness and democratic principles for decision making and direction setting.

“The status quo already allows for a balance to be achieved between members appointed by the Minister to reflect the Crown’s ownership interest and by the council in accordance with an institutional autonomy that is at the core of the tradition of universities and academia worldwide. As any good representative model of governance should, it already balances stakeholder representation with the skills and abilities of council members, including chief executives.

“Yesterday the Minister suggested some people might call him old-fashioned for believing that the most important stakeholder engagement, on a day-to-day relationship basis, for any tertiary education provider is with students, then staff, and then the wider community.

“On the other hand some people might suggest the Minister is intent on councils losing sight of those number one stakeholders by seeking to exclude them from a seat at the top table of their institutions. Minister Joyce said he wants institutions to keep students at top of mind in everything they do, but if they are out of sight around governance and prevented from acquiring trusted skills, it is simply human nature that they won’t be kept top of mind.

“One of the worst biases in this is that a corporatisation of councils will most likely favour people who are extremely far removed from the student experience and student voice and who are not in touch with the pressing challenges and ambitious needs of learners. It could also see councils with even fewer women, and that are less ethnically diverse. If the Minister wants people on councils to be agile and adaptive he needs to support there being younger members of council, namely students, rather than setting up a situation that denigrates them and devalues their strengths.

“This latest move towards yet more command-and-control and less connection with domestic students is definitely not progressive, nor outward facing, nor does it bode well for the long-term viability and success of our public institutions and future generations. If there is no place for the vision that students and staff share for tertiary education then events such as the protest rally held at Auckland University yesterday will gather more and more momentum”.

ENDS

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