Mrs Tolley also announced this week that Christchurch is to have a new Trades Academy, and that student places are to more than treble at the existing National Trade Academy in Christchurch, which incorporates CPIT.

The number of fees-free places for 16 and 17 year olds will increase to 2000 in 21 Trades Academies from next year.

“Schools are partnering with tertiary providers, employers and industry training organisations to give 16 and 17 year olds a more flexible way of learning, and the vocational skills which will give them more career choices,” Mrs Tolley said.

The ten new Trades Academies which will open during 2012 will involve support from UCOL in in Palmerston North and Manawatu, Horowhenua, Whanganui and the Wairarapa , NMIT in Nelson, Unitec and AUT in West Auckland, MIT in Manurewa, Otago Polytechnic in Central Otago, EIT in the Hawkes Bay, WITT in Taranaki, Te Tai Poutini on the West Coast, Wintec in Taumaranui, and the Open Polytechnic across the country.

“Local economies will also benefit from these new Trades Academies, as businesses will now have more young people with better skills ready to enter the workplace,” said Mrs Tolley.

“By 2014, 12,500 places will be available for 16 and 17 year olds in Trades Academies, Service Academies and the wider Youth Guarantee.”

Mr Wilson told Tertiary Update’s transport reporter Paki Taunuhia that the government expected Te Tai Poutini, as a road of national significance, to prove it was contributing to national economic growth and that it was helping people in the region to get to where they wanted to be faster than they would otherwise be able to.

“Well, we’ve been doing that for years, even before we changed from being a polytechnic to a road,” said Mr Wilson.

Transport Minister Steven Joyce welcomed the decision, noting that the government believes that the productivity and growth that come from roads such as Te Tai Poutini make the spending an investment rather than a cost.

Meanwhile Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce also welcomed the decision saying that there was too much duplication in the tertiary education system, so turning the polytechnic into a road not only gave the country a much needed new road, but it also eliminated one unnecessary polytechnic.

“This is the type of innovative thinking we would like to see other tertiary institutions consider,” Mr Joyce told Mr Paunuhia.

[pullquote]Footnote – there has been some confusion about the authenticity of this story.  For the sake of clarity TEU wishes to confirm that, yes, it is one of Tertiary Update’s occasional attempts at satire and that neither the chief executive of Te Tai Poutini or, nor the council of Te Tai Poutini had anything to do with the writing of this story. In particular, the quotes are fictional.[/pullquote]

Lincoln University closed on Tuesday but reopened yesterday after engineers said they could not find any structural issues. Te Wānanga o Aotearoa’s Otautahi courses are closed all this week. Aoraki and Te Tai Poutini Polytechnics reopened their Christchurch buildings yesterday.

Meanwhile, TEU national president, Dr Sandra Grey said that, given the on-going earthquakes in Christchurch, it was time for the government to let the local tertiary institutions know what it was going to do to support them next year.

“Students and staff are doing an incredible job making do in very trying circumstances. But we need to assure those staff and students that there will be new funding and support for the next few years while that rebuilding continues.”

Thanks to Lee Hanner @ Flickr for the photo http://www.flickr.com/photos/shelby99/5695687512

Polytechnics and one wānanga were big losers in this year’s Government’s Student Achievement Component (SAC) funding for the tertiary education sector.

Figures released last year from the Tertiary Education Commission show that eight polytechnics will receive less SAC money this year than last. The figures reveal that Bay of Plenty Polytechnic, UCOL, NMIT, Northtec, SIT, WITT, Waiāriki and Te Tai Poutini all receive funding cuts this year. Te Wānanga o Raukawa also lost a million dollars of funding this year.

Universities on the whole did better, with a $56 million, or 5 percent increase in SAC funding – although $10 million of that relates to funding that last year went to Telford Rural Polytechnic and this year is moved into Lincoln University’s budget due to a merger of the two institutions.

Industry Training Organisations (ITOs) were the hardest hit by the commission’s funding announcement with 31 of 37 receiving funding cuts. Overall ITOs lost $28 million of funding.

The polytechnics and wānanga that are the worst hit by funding cuts are all outside the major urban cities.  Waiāriki Institute of Technology, for instance, faces a 6 percent reduction in its SAC grant this year.  That is $1.5 million, or over $400 for every equivalent full time student.

Overall, the total funding increase to the SAC grant (2 percent) does not quite match the 2.2 percent price increase that the commission says is included in its calculations – in other words there is an overall funding cut for the institutions, which is particularly given the significant roll growth that tertiary institutions are experiencing.

Also in Tertiary Update this week:

1. PM claims better results for less money
2. Will new trade agreement let foreign universities sue NZ?
3. Education International’s first global women’s conference
4. Early childhood cuts won’t heal

Other news

Professor Harlene Hayne has been appointed as the new vice-chancellor of the University of Otago and becomes the second woman vice-chancellor of a New Zealand university, following Judith Kinnear who left Massey in 2009. TEU’s Otago university branch welcomed Dr Hayne and looks forward to working constructively with her.

The number of Equivalent Full Time Students aged 18 – 25 years engaged in formal tertiary study increased by 15,648 (13.5%) between 2008 and 2010 – TVNZ

The Labour Party has announced a new Tertiary Education spokesperson, Darren Hughes, will replace Grant Robertson. Mr Hughes takes on the entire Education portfolio including tertiary and compulsory education – Labour Party

“I take issue with an underlying assumption in the report that academics and institutions aren’t very good at career planning. Academics work with their institutions to set out clear career plans – the problem is the rules of progression and attainment for academics are being set by managerial approaches to tertiary education, which have been in continual flux for more than two decades” – Sandra Grey

Dame Margaret Clark, who has worked at Victoria University for more than three decades, says it is not the lifestyle choice it used to be. “I think the future is a lot tougher than my past was. I think that universities were much more gentlemanly, much more relaxed, much less judgemental,” she said. The pressure has also increased in her department, where student teacher ratios are 1:47, when they should be 1:15 – TVNZ

The Government is cutting support for teaching in higher education by 80 per cent, and forcing universities to charge up to £9,000 per year. With the median wage in the UK at £22,000, the majority of the UK population will be unable to pay some of the highest fees in the world –Open letter from academics in the Time Educational Supplement

The Dutch coalition government has announced cuts of up to EUR500 million (US$681 million) a year for higher education, penalties for students and universities if they fail to complete their degree after four years, and the abolition of grants for masters students. University rectors and the mayors of university cities warned that the cuts would “push the Netherlands out of the world’s top 10 knowledge economies” – University World News

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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.

Collective Agreement Bargaining

2010

Hello TEU Members

Your negotiation team Simon Dixon, Maureen Simpson and Phil Oxenham and I met with the Polytechnic representatives Lisa Mills, Colin McDonnell and Alan Sargison on 28 and 29 May 2010.

The Employer claims consisted of:

TEU claims consisted of:

Next date for negotiations

We will be meeting again with the employer representatives on Friday 25 June 2010. This will be preceded by a TEU meeting on Thursday 24 June 12 – 100pm. Please diary now and be ready to hook up via video conference call for ex Greymouth members.

Thank you for your support to the TEU negotiating team. If you are unable to attend the meeting above please email any comments to the lead advocate – email below.

Tū Kotahi – Stand as One

Phil Dodds, Advocate – http://scr.im/phildodds

On behalf of your bargaining team – Maureen Simpson, Simon Dixon, and Phil Oxenham

Social welfare minister Paula Bennett’s proposed new welfare programme, Future Focus, will have implications for the tertiary education sector.

Minister Bennett proposes the removal of negotiation from Job Seeker Agreements and Youth Activity Plans for young people receiving the Independent Youth Benefit (IYB).

This change will give Work and Income greater flexibility to direct beneficiaries to undertake education, work-related activities, or training where this is appropriate, without requiring the beneficiaries’ agreement. For young people on the IYB, Ms Bennett says, case managers will use this power to focus strongly on education, in line with the government’s current Youth Guarantee policy.

Placing young beneficiaries in tertiary education without their agreement will especially place further pressure on polytechnics and wānanga, which have recently been directed by the minister of education to lift their completion rates and pass rates.

TEU national president Dr Tom Ryan criticised Ms Bennett’s plan.

“Due to the combined effect of ongoing enrolment caps and recent funding cutbacks, we already are seeing thousands of potential students being turned away from the tertiary sector. It doesn’t make sense for more young people to be channelled towards our institutions when it is likely they too will be turned away.”

“Some of them may even be on the benefit because there were no places available when they earlier tried to get into a tertiary programme. The minister’s plan will work only if the student cap is removed and necessary funding is restored to the sector.”

Ms Bennett is also proposing an exemption from part-time work-test obligations for domestic purposes benefit (DBP) sole parents whose youngest child is six or over, and who study full-time at level 4 or above. Additionally, she will introduce a new $500 loan to support DPB sole parents to study at level 4 or above. The basis for this additional loan is that sole parents in study face higher study costs compared to those without childcare responsibilities.

The loan will not be available for those who are still receiving grand-parented Training Incentive Allowance for their course. Nor will the loan be available for postgraduate diplomas, postgraduate certificates, or bachelors with honours, masters and doctorate degrees. The minister argues it is appropriate that people studying for these advanced qualifications fund their own study.

Also in” Tertiary Update this week:

1. Alternative Economic Strategy gathers union feedback
2. Joyce to announce 80 new councillors
3. Ministry and commission prepare to identify pass rates
4. Tai Poutini cuts jobs as government funding drops

Other news

The value of wages will decline 0.5 percent” in the 12 months through March 2011 as inflation exceeds salary growth, and unemployment remains elevated, according to the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research’s consensus forecast of ten financial and economic agencies.” Wages are expected to grow 1.9 percent” this year, down from 2.2 percent in the previous survey, and lagging behind the expected inflation 2.4 percent for the same period -” BusinessWire

As universities across Britain grapple with the challenge of making financial savings, a row has broken out in the school of arts and humanities at King’s College London, where academics claim the college is targeting staff whose work doesn’t fit a vision for the future that is based on economic, rather than academic, ideals -” The Guardian

British universities should compensate for a future dearth of government funding in the UK by bidding for the billions of dollars Barack Obama has pledged for research, David Lammy has said. The” higher education minister said on 12 March that “the huge financial stimulus for US research that President Obama has announced” could be either a “threat or an opportunity … British universities can lament the fact that we can’t afford a cash injection on that scale. Or they can, as I’ve repeatedly urged, try to get a piece of the action.” -” Financial Times via Times Higher Education Supplement

More than 150,000 scholarships will begin to flow to Australian tertiary students from next month after the government and opposition resolved a deadlock over the treatment of rural students. Education Minister Julia Gillard said that more than 100,000 students would be better off under the changes, by receiving either a larger Youth Allowance or the payment for the first time because of parental income test arrangements -” The Australian

The University and College Union says that the British prime minister has to make good his promise not to allow education to become a victim of the recession. This followed news that forty three colleges face adult learning budget cuts of 25 percent in the next academic year. Around 7,000 jobs are at risk in the further education sector, and 130,000 people risk missing out on a college place -” University and College Union

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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:” http://scr.im/stephenday

Thanks to Broken Piggy Bank at Flickr for the photo

The Greymouth Star reports that three senior managers at Tai Poutini Polytechnic have been made redundant. The jobs losses are the result of phase one of a reorganisation of the polytechnic, which will see the creation of five new positions and the disestablishment of six. Phase two, which focuses on heads of department positions, is likely to see the creation of ten new positions and the disestablishment of fifteen existing positions. Phase three, which has not been initiated yet, will look at programme co-ordinator and administration positions.

The polytechnic is attributing the job losses and restructuring to a drop in government funding. Chief executive Paul Wilson told” The Star that the job losses were a direct result of a $2.5 million cut in funding from next financial year.

“It is a reality we have to face if we want to survive, and it is a way of going forward.” Every other polytechnic was going through the same change, he said.

“We had to make sure we had the best people in the positions, and the same will happen shortly with the next tier of management. My role as chief executive is to get the best people in the right positions for good education delivery.”

TEU organiser Phil Dodds said hat he was hopeful that phase three of reorganisation, which was the one most likely to impact on TEU members, would see a reassignment of roles rather than job losses.

First PaEE review reports!

I have now received completed PaEE review reports and action plans from Otago Polytechnic and Tai Poutini Polytechnic. Well done to both! I also expect to receive reports from UCOL and NMIT this week, and Telford and Waiāriki next week. Once these reports are in we will begin the process of collating information and looking for any ITP sub-sector themes.

Te Wānanga o Aotearoa are also very near completion.

Contents

1. News!
2. TST steering group update
3. Wānanga update
4. Universities update
5. Update from ITPs
6. Project managers’ corner
7. Key dates

Closure of the Pay and Employment Equity Unit in the Department of Labour

On 13 May the Government announced plans to disestablish the PaEE Unit in the Department of Labour as at 30 June 2009. “The Pay and Employment Equity Unit (PEE) will be disestablished as part of the reprioritising of Government spending” Kate Wilkinson, the Minister of Labour said.

What does this mean for the tertiary sector?

We’re going to complete what we started. Each institution has put an enormous effort and commitment into its PaEE review, and the focus of the next couple of months will be ensuring that we can capture that and present a reasonable picture of the most common equity issues in the tertiary sector. There are currently 15 ITPs which are completing PaEE reviews, one wānanga, and one university. The first tranche of 9 ITPs and Te Wānanga o Aotearoa are working hard to complete their review reports and action plans by 30 June. The 6 ITPs in the second tranche are also being asked to identity their key issues and actions by this time. Here in Wellington we have begun work on developing the report and are working to collate information from individual PaEE reviews as it comes in. A draft tertiary sector PaEE review report will be completed by the end of July, and finalised by the end of August.

TST Steering Group update

The steering group met on 5 May. The focus of the meeting was the development of the Tertiary Sector PaEE Review Report.

Wānanga update

Te Wānanga o Aotearoa (TWOA) have had peer review on their PaEE review report, and are in the process of finalising it. 2 | P a g e

Universities update

The university sub-sector group for PaEE reviews has been established. The role of the sub-sector group is to identify a preferred approach to undertaking PaEE reviews in the tertiary sector, and to tailor the tools and templates required for this task. The sub-sector group is aiming to develop generic tools so that they will be available to any and all universities also wishing to undertake a review. The sub-sector group is seeking pan-agreement to this approach from all universities.

Members of the university sub-sector group are: Melinda Derbidge PSA Alan Davis Massey University Suzanne McNabb TEU Aaron Mills Victoria University Prue Toft Auckland University Rae Torrie provides support to the sub-sector group.

A draft PaEE survey for the university sub-sector has been developed by the group, and is being circulated to HR Directors for feedback. Massey University is working on preparation tasks associated with running PEEAT, such as job classification.

Update from ITPs

The expected PaEE review completion dates for ITPs are summarised below.

* These ITPs are asked to forward their key issues and actions to Rae by 30 June, even though the full report can be completed later.

Project managers’ corner

Role of the Project Manager, PaEE Reviews in the Tertiary Sector (Rae’s role). A number of you have asked what the closure of the Unit means for Rae’s project management role. This role will cease at 30 June, but Rae will continue to be around as she will be working on the tertiary sector review report through July, and shepherding it through its review process during August.

Project managers’ teleconference

The next teleconference will be Wednesday 3 June from 10-11am.

Some help in developing your action plans As you are developing action plans it can be helpful to see what others have done. Committee members can refer to information on the PaEE Unit website to see the actions taken by organisations which have previously completed reviews. DoL have full response plans from three government departments on their website – see link below:

http://www.dol.govt.nz/services/PayAndEmploymentEquity/resources/response-plans/default.asp

They also have copies of case studies from other organisations, which also contain some of the actions:

http://www.dol.govt.nz/services/PayAndEmploymentEquity/resources/case-studies.asp

The PaEE Unit also have a draft set of Actions for Managers that they have made available. This information is provided as an attachment to this UPEERTS. Also, as noted in the last UPEERTS, it is important to keep an eye out for factors that contribute to gender inequities that may not be within the power of the organisation to change but which may have some implications for the sector as a whole.

Examples of these factors may be the labour market, collective agreements, or funding. If these seem to be important issues contributing to your gender pay gap or other gender inequities, we are keen to know. Keep your eyes open for these and do report on them.

Developing the review report

Rae is available to provide peer review on your draft PaEE review report. If you would like that support, send Rae a copy at the same time as it goes to committee members. The purpose of Rae receiving it is to assist with quality assurance, and if sent to her, only she will see it.

Releasing the review report

It seems to be a common feature of organisations that they feel a bit nervous and exposed as they get to the point of drafting and then releasing their review report and action plan. I think it’s important to remember that there is a national gender pay gap, and a national under-representation of women in many occupations and in senior positions, so it is more likely than not that these patterns will be reflected in some way in your institution. The expectation is that you will find some gender equity issues, but how they manifest in your place and what you need to do about it, will be particular to you. The sorts of comments we hear from people are along these lines: “The review has reinforced (through an evidence-based process) that what we thought we needed to do we genuinely need to do”.

Practical stuff

When you send Rae the review report, your ITP is then eligible to receive the second instalment of $4,500. You should develop an invoice to this affect and make it out to: Kristine Kilkelly, Deputy Secretary People and Business Capability, Ministry of Education, PO Box 1666, Wellington.

Remember that the $4,500 is GST inclusive.

Communications

For those institutions still in the early stages of the review, remember that it is important to keep staff and management ‘warm’ about the PaEE review. Things you can do include using the ‘quiz’ Rae sent out to project managers recently, providing an update on PaEE across the tertiary sector, accessing information from the Department of Labour website:

www.dol.govt.nz/services/payandemploymentequity

General

Remember to send your completed gender profile to Rae (those who haven’t already done so!). She is willing to provide feedback to assist your gender analysis. Those institutions which have previously received some gender analysis feedback on their data have reported that they found it useful to feed into their committee discussions.

Key dates

• Wednesday 3 June Project managers’ teleconference
• Wednesday 17 June ITP sub-sector meeting
• Tuesday 21 July (TBC) TST Steering Group meeting.

The six categories that ITPNZ awards prizes for are ‘working successfully with other education providers, the community or industry’, ‘widening access to learning and supporting students’ success’, ‘improving the relevance of learning to community and industry needs’, ‘quality assurance processes that demonstrably improve student success’, ‘preparing New Zealanders to live and work in the wider world, or supporting the development of education in other countries’, and ‘recognising innovative non-teaching support services’.

Other finalists include: Tai Poutini Polytechnic, for its plan to recognise overseas miners’ skills without retraining for Pike River Coal’s new mine on the West Coast; UCOL for its collaborative venture with private education providers in the Whanganui region; Unitec for its Te Noho Kotahitanga marae providing a focal point for students and staff on campus and a place for celebratory and ceremonial gatherings; and Waiāriki for its iwi radio journalism training programme run in partnership with Te Whakaruruhau, the federation of iwi radio stations, and supported by Te Māngai Pāho.

Many of the awards focus on ITPs’ attempts to meet the needs of local businesses, such as Wintec’s nomination for its programme advisory committees that give industry partners opportunities to influence what is taught in the classroom, so that training is relevant and graduates are work ready.

TEU is hoping for the introduction next year of a new award category recognising collaborative and progressive relationships with workers and their union.

Eight other institutions that started reviews last year or early this year are due to complete their reviews by August at the latest. They are Aoraki, Bay of Plenty, CPIT, EIT, NorthTec, Te Tai Poutini, the Open Polytechnic, and WINTEC. Last month, Massey announced that it would be the first university to undertake a review.

This widespread progress in the sector stands in contrast to media reports of the government scaling back support for pay and employment equity reviews.  While the government has cancelled two PaEE investigations in the state–sector, reviews and plans in the tertiary-education sector are making solid progress and are likely to identify several systematic gender inequities both with institutions and across the sector as a whole.

In the latest PaEE Reviews in the Tertiary Sector newsletter, project managers for the various reviews were reminded that it was important to keep an eye out for factors that contribute to gender inequities that may not be within the power of the organisation to change but which may have some sector-wide implications. Examples of these factors may be the labour market, collective agreements, or funding.