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Ministry lauds the way tertiary education was

The secretary of education, Karen Sewell, in her official report Profile & Trends 2009: New Zealand's Tertiary Education Sector, says that the tertiary education sector was performing well last year. The report covers the state of the tertiary education sector before the bulk of the government's changes to the sector began to take effect.

The New Zealand Herald précis of Ms Sewell's went as follows:

"We are smarter than ever, according to a report that shows at least half of all New Zealanders now hold a tertiary qualification. And not only are more people holding a tertiary qualification but the level at which they are studying has also increased."

The story went on to notes that fifty percent of New Zealanders now hold a tertiary qualification, compared with 44 per cent a decade ago, and that 17 per cent have a bachelors or a higher qualification, compared with just 9.9 per cent in 1999.

TEU national president Dr Tom Ryan says that what the report shows is that tertiary institutions and their employees have been doing a great job.

"So of course it is hard to understand why the government now seems determined to make changes to a system that obviously was working well. Most of the policy changes it has signalled or implemented had not taken affect in 2009 when the data for this report was compiled. And some of the changes we are most concerned about, such as budget cuts and new funding models, and the cutting of democratic representation on polytechnic councils, will show their full effect from next year."

Interestingly, given the ongoing debate about the government's policy of refusing to fund many eligible potential students to study, and the subsequent tough enrolment policies being introduced at many universities, Ms Sewell argued that the economy benefits from having more students in courses of study:

"Increasing the number of New Zealanders with higher-level qualifications, and having more first-year international enrolments, are positive for our economy and our productivity," Ms Sewell said.

Also in Tertiary Update this week:

1. Minister to answer curly question


2. Ministry proves TEIs making profit at expense of staff


3. TEU debates academic freedom and more


4. UC tells students it will be voting them off the island


5. "Unworkable' sick leave proposal hides much worse employment law changes


6. Other news

Minister to answer curly question

The Labour Party's tertiary education spokesperson, Grant Robertson, submitted a written parliamentary question to the minister for tertiary education, Steven Joyce, last week. It asked "Has the Crown Core Expenses for Tertiary Education dropped by $99 million compared to 2009; if so, does this drop represent a decrease in total spending on Tertiary Education appropriations?" The minster's response was due yesterday but is not yet publicly available. Tertiary Update will keen you informed.

Ministry proves TEIs making profit at expense of staff

The Profile & Trends 2009: New Zealand's Tertiary Education Sector report released this week by the Ministry of Education shows that the tertiary institutions have improved their financial position, but that they are doing it by raising their student-to-staff ratios.

The report notes that the financial performance of New Zealand’s public tertiary education institutions improved in 2009, with institutions collectively  meeting all four of the benchmarks the ministry set for prudent operation of a tertiary education institution. In 2008  institutions collectively met only three of the four.

The aggregate operating surplus from all the institutions increased to 4.4 percent, compared with the benchmark of 3 percent. The working capital ratio increased to 121 percent, compared with the benchmark of 100 percent. Measurements of net cash flow and liquid assets also improved, compared to 2008.

However, all of this financial success appears to have been at the expense of staff workloads. The report notes a significant increase in student-to-staff ratios across the sector:

"In wānanga, the number of teaching staff increased substantially for the first time since 2004. The number of students at wānanga increased even more strongly, raising the 2009 student to academic staff ratio to 45 to 1, compared to 42 to 1 in 2008. A decrease in the number of teaching staff at polytechnics, together with an increase in the number of students, increased the student to academic staff ratio in 2009 to 19 to 1, compared to 18 to 1 in 2008. In universities, the increase in student numbers outweighed the increase in academic staff, raising the student to academic staff ratio from 16 to 1 in 2008 to 17 to 1 in 2009."

TEU debates academic freedom and more

TEU's national council has released draft polices for their final round of consultation with members before they are voted on by delegates at its national conference in November. For the first time ever, TEU has instituted an online discussion forum to allow members to share their views directly and for members around the country to read what other members are saying about each of the policies.

TEU national president Dr Tom Ryan says several of the policies relate to core values that underpin the work of the union.

" We need to speak authoratively on the importance of issues like academic freedom, the value of public education, and intellectual property rights for tertiary education staff."

"Two draft policies on job evaluation likewise reflects the need for TEU to provide leadership in the tertiary education sector to counter some of the poorer practices that have arisen when institutions have made up employment policies on their own."

Dr Ryan says that because TEU is relatively new, there is much work to be done updating policies it inherited from its two predecessor unions, ASTE and AUS.

"The on-line forum is one way that our much larger, more diverse, and geographically spread-out membership can engage directly each other on important policy issues."

Discussion on the drafts will be open until 17 September. After this feedback period, policies will be re-drafted as necessary and then be included in conference business for discussion and voting.

UC tells students it will be voting them off the island

The University of Canterbury has written to all secondary school principals and MPs to outline its progression standards that are designed to make it harder for non-performing students to continue studying.

In the letter, vice-chancellor Dr Rod Carr says the university does not intend to adopt the approach of some other universities by setting their own admission standards for domestic students and limiting entry not only to specified courses and programmes but to their institutions as a whole.

"Domestic enrolments respond to fluctuations in external factors over which we have no control - economic pressures, changes in the job-market, demands for graduates, the changing demographics of school leavers etc. To a large extent we are at the mercy of 'the market'. The straightforward approach is to restrict entry, but we have resisted this for the time being "

"Our message to students is this: 'If you have the opportunity to study at university - give it your best shot; but be under no illusion, you must perform to retain a place - outcomes matter'."

Since mid-2009 the university has applied an academic progression policy that makes it harder for non-performing students to continue studying at UC.

"While we continue to apply open entry criteria UC may enrol slightly more domestic students on the basis that we would like to give them a go. We are nevertheless strongly committed to enforcing standards, and therefore as an institution may see a greater number of students fail to complete their qualification. The key is to ensure that this assessment occurs within the first six months, rather than potentially wasting staff and students' time and taxpayer funds over a longer period.”

Dr Carr says that excess domestic student enrolments at UC in 2010 are already approaching the Tertiary Education Commission's tolerance level.

"Unworkable" sick leave proposal hides much worse employment law changes

The CTU President Helen Kelly today told staff and students at Otago University not to be surprised if the Government’s proposal to allow employers to request a doctor’s note for any day of sickness is withdrawn or amended.

"This proposal is so unworkable that it is probable the Government has thrown it into a package of very real and serious reductions in work rights so that it can withdraw it and look moderate later," Helen Kelly proposed.

She said that the government has successfully used such tactics before. While the sick leave proposal, if implemented, will cause real hardship for workers when they or their children are unwell, it could be a distraction intended to hide the harsh reality of the other changes proposed.

"The proposal to remove the right to appeal unfair dismissal in the first 90 days, and others such as removing the primary remedy of reinstatement for unfair dismissal, will have extreme effects on employment security and fairness at work," said Ms Kelly. "The proposal to reduce the right of workers to access their union at work is intended to reduce pay and conditions, just as it did in the 1990s."

"John Key has developed a political tactic of announcing policy changes which often include a real clanger, such as this sick leave requirement, to give him room to move later and look like the reasonable politician. These back-downs are then used to disguise the seriousness of what is actually implemented."

The current law on sick leave states that the employer can already require a doctor’s certificate for absence of even one or two days provided they have reasonable grounds for believing any sickness is not genuine. The Government's current proposal is to remove the requirement for the employer to be reasonable in such circumstances.

Kelly cited examples such as the ACC motor bike levy, which initially was hiked to a punitive level before a smaller increase was implemented after protests. The proposal to mine Schedule 4 conservation land was similarly ditched after public outcry, while increased prospecting was still allowed in other parts of the conservation estate.

Other news

NMIT's handful of degree courses help underscore its educational credibility, and opting to dumb down the institute and dismantle programmes that have been carefully built up over time would be a huge loss. The community should be putting the acid on Tertiary Education Minister Stephen Joyce – for it is government funding that is the real villain, not NMIT leaders. Courses like these are a far cry from twilight golf and hip-hop tours, and are worth fighting for –Nelson Mail editorial

This week Tuia Te Ako 2010 brought together around three hundred people, who work for and with Māori tertiary learners, to discuss Māori advancement in tertiary education. Kaihautū Māori at Ako Aotearoa, Ngahiwi Apanui says, "no matter how much resource accrues from Treaty settlements, mātauranga or knowledge and skills has a vital part to play in the management and sustainability of the resource. The important thing is that there is now a Māori tertiary infrastructure in place that can act upon the ideas and discussions from the hui." – Ako Aotearoa

British universities will start the new academic year with thousands of unfilled places, despite turning record numbers of youngsters away because fear of swingeing fines for over-recruitment will prompt universities to cut back on offers to students – The Independent

Otago Polytechnic head Phil Ker says his institution will continue to enrol young students in low-level qualifications, despite that category of student having the greatest potential to negatively affect tertiary education providers' government funding –Otago Daily Times

US Prsident Barack Obama has committed his country to producing a further 8 million graduates by the end of the decade, and said that "America has to have the highest share of graduates compared with every other nation". President Obama admitted that it was difficult to sell the importance of higher education at a time when the US was emerging from a debilitating depression. However, he said his argument was that "education is the economic issue of our time” and maintained that “countries that out-educate us today will out-compete us tomorrow" – Times Higher Education Supplement
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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