Universities Support Investment Direction

Media Release 10 May 2007

Universities Support Investment Direction

Universities welcome the Government’s new investment approach to their funding which recognises both quality and relevance in university education, the chair of the NZ Vice-Chancellors’ Committee, Professor Roy Sharp, says.

“We support the move away from an entirely volume-driven system for tertiary education to one that encourages each institution to identify its areas of distinctive contribution and to collaborate with others to ensure an effective network of provision.”

Today’s funding announcements by the Minister for Tertiary Education were particularly welcome in light of the fact that New Zealand universities had been under intense financial pressures for many years.

The consistent approach being taken by Government had seen additional funding for university salaries for the second consecutive year. Academic salaries in New Zealand’s eight universities had been slipping behind those of other countries and the injection of $26 million last year and a further $89 million over the next four years would make a significant contribution to addressing that problem.

Universities had said for some time that if Government wanted a high quality system, it had to be willing to pay for it. It was pleasing to see a growing acceptance by Government of the importance of quality and that it carried a price.

Professor Sharp said universities were also heartened by the minister’s acknowledgement that they had not exploited the existing equivalent full-time student funding system. The elimination of the revenue uncertainty that system caused was to be applauded.

The challenge for all eight New Zealand universities now would be the need to manage enrolments to align them with the funding each university would receive over the three years of their investment plan.

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