Relevance: High relevance to all – we recommend you download the analysis from the link and circulate it widely within your organisation.

Key Facts

• For the full facts, read our 2012 Budget Update #3.
• You will need to login to the site to access the file. Most usernames are “Firstname Lastname” and if you have forgotten your password, there is a link to click by the login area to get a new one. If you have any trouble, email dave@ed.co.nz or call on 021 404 334.

Our Take

• For us, the key issues are:
  • all the new spending is pretty much funded from loans and allowances cuts;
  • no general SAC increase and 4% fee limits will lower real tuition income;
  • 10% of SAC funding at and above open to reallocation between subsectors (but it probably won’t shift much);
  • PBRF rises and there are the new National Science Challenges, but COREs, HRC, Marsden, post-docs are flat;
  • the Advanced Technology Institute gets funding confirmed;
  • extra funding for engineering, science and aviation (which got the biggest but didn’t make a media release!);
  • the grand Skills for Canterbury package from the last Budget remains 5/6 unspent;
  • industry training recovers temporarily reallocated funding and can grow;
  • PTEs halve funding gap with TEIs and can access L1-2 funding;
  • universities and wananga have to use the Tribal benchmarking tool;
  • universities lose ACE funding but get much more back for 900 EFTS in 2013;
  • more Youth Guarantee and services academies places;
  • Foundation Focussed Training Opportunities loses 36% of funding in two years; and
  • 1,000 more Māori cadetships.
• Dean Carroll helped Dave Guerin with today’s Budget analysis. Thanks also to TEC, MOE and Treasury staff for helpful advice and to subscribers for questions. If you want anything clarified, let us know.

Policy, Management & People

1. Budget Announcements There were Ministerial announcements on tertiary education spending and savings, science and engineering courses, PTE funding, Youth Guarantee places, science and innovation spending, and Māori cadetships . RNZ gave a good overview so we didn’t bother with other coverage.
2. Budget Reaction The TEU said there were more cuts in overall spending. Universities NZ generally welcomed the Budget. This Rural News story has good science reaction based on deeper SMC info. Commentators noted at interest.co.nz pointed out how much student support contributed to Budget savings. EXMSS said it was an attack on part-time students. AUSA said students’ fears were confirmed. A grad wasn’t worried about repayment rate rise. Fairfax chatted to three students – 2 against, 1 for the Budget. The PPTA said Youth Guarantee places would rip funding from secondary schools. Waikato DVC Alister Jones also wrote a great Budget preview.
3. Budget Protests 60-100 students in Wellington and 400 students in Auckland protested Budget cuts to student support. The latter group closed a busy intersection for some hours, causing traffic disruption. Here’s their rationale (AUSA, WATU Wellington) and here’s some coverage – NZN, Stuff, Stuff, RNZ, NZ Herald and TVNZ.
4. Nursing Waiariki comments on the nursing situation.
5. Extras: Whitireia part of Wellington China delegation.

Research & Innovation

1. Extras: WelTec collaborating with commercialisation firm; Waikato lecturer gets record deal; Victoria’s Val Lindsay has written a report on doing business in India; more on AUT rocket tracking; NBR on poet’s residency; Otago Uni work in Cambodia.

Public Issues

1. Urewera 4 Auckland’s David Williams on Urewera 4 sentences.
2. Budget Comment Otago Uni academics offer thoughts on tobacco tax increases. Auckland’s Raymond Miller on dealing with super (as did Canterbury’s Eric Crampton).
3. Budget History Victoria’s Sydney Shep has found a Budget relic.
4. Extras: Canterbury’s Chris Gallavin on plea bargaining; Otago Uni’s Bryce Edwards on Shane Jones issues; Victoria’s Jon Fraenkel on PNG politics; Auckland’s Rochelle Constantine on whales.

Students

1. Extras: more on Massey nude calendar; UCOL artist. NorthTec carpentry apprentice in comp.

Stakeholders

1. Extras: Canterbury’s Jim Tully judges newspaper awards; poetry workshops at Victoria.

Teaching & Learning

1. Extras: Otago Foreign Policy School focusing on Middle East; school students doing NMIT foundation course.

Relevance: High relevance to all.

Key Facts

• We have attached a detailed analysis of the Budget decisions released today. We will update that again tomorrow. You will need to login to the site to access the file. Most usernames are “Firstname Lastname” and if you have forgotten your password, there is a link to click by the login area to get a new one. If you have any trouble, email dave@ed.co.nz.
• We will update our analysis tomorrow after more analysis and reflection.

Our Take

• The key issue for tertiary education providers is that half of SAC funding is going to be allocated by NZQF level for 2013, and 10% of funding at L3+ and above could be transferred between sectors. That could have a huge impact.
• The next most important issue is that most of the tertiary education funding increases have been funded from cuts to student loans and allowances.
• Other important issues are
  • funding rates go up for professional engineering quals (8.8%), science (2%) and pilot training (19.9%) EFTS;
  • ITO funding is steady but a contingency fund could go to them or other TEOs;
  • PTEs halve the funding differential with TEIs and can compete for L1-2 SAC funding;
  • Universities get 900 EFTS of extra funding in 2013 (from ITOs);
  • Wananga will have a separate fund for L1-2 SAC funding;
  • 3,000 extra Youth Guarantee places;
  • $60m for the National Science Challenge; and
  • Advanced Technology Institute gets $166.1m.
• Dean Carroll helped Dave Guerin with today’s Budget analysis.

Relevance: High relevance to all.

Key Facts

• This update summarises the key items relevant to the tertiary education sector from Bill English’s Budget speech and Ministerial media releases.
• Bill English:
  • Budget 2012 contains $385 million of new investment over four years in research, science, and innovation (including the first four items below);
  • $166 million to redevelop an Advanced Technology Institute, which will help New Zealand’s high-tech firms grow, increase exports, and ramp up productivity.
  • $60 million to support a series of National Science Challenges, which will seek innovative solutions to specific questions of national significance;
  • $100 million additional funding for the Performance-Based Research Fund to support world-class research in New Zealand’s universities;
  • $59 million to boost funding for science and engineering courses. Funding rates for engineering degrees will be increased by 8.8 per cent and for science degrees by 2 per cent;
  • $76 million for the capital costs of the new Advanced Technology Institute; and
  • $270m extra for the Primary Growth Partnership from government and industry is awaiting approval of business plans or contract (no time period set).
• Steven Joyce:
  • $42m over four years for engineering enrolments (8.8% per EFTS);
  • $17m over four years for science enrolments (2% per EFTS); and
  • $100m over four years for the PBRF, boosting the fund from $250m now to $300m by 2016.
• Steven Joyce:
  • $37.7m for 3,000 extra Youth Guarantee places over four years.
• Steven Joyce:
  • $29.5m extra for PTEs over four years to halve the 9.5% lower funding they receive compared to TEIs from January 2013; and
  • allowing PTEs to offer L1-2 courses (presumably SAC funded).
• Tariana Turia:
  • $6m for a Pacific Innovation Fund (no time period set), including some evaluation of health outcomes.
• Pita Sharples:
  • $10m over four years for 1,000 more Māori cadetships, in partnership with employers.

Our Take

• This update largely takes Ministerial media releases at face value. Later posts will explore the detailed documentation behind the Budget and we will then represent an opinion.

Relevance: Medium relevance, since you’ve probably already heard of them

Key Facts

• We have put together a summary of pre-Budget announcements. It was mainly done as a foundation for our analysis later today but it may have some use for you too.
• The key changes signalled so far are:
  • extra funding signalled for STEM, teacher training and PBRF;
  • higher repayment rate for student loan borrowers;
  • tighter allowances access by parental income and length of study;
  • new teacher and principal qualification requirements;
  • extra prisoner training; and
  • more money for youth within welfare reforms.
• The full details are in Budget Update 1 – you will need to login to the site to access the file. Most usernames are “Firstname Lastname” and if you have forgotten your password, there is a link to click by the login area to get a new one. If you have any trouble, email dave@ed.co.nz.

Our Take

• We’ll add analysis once the full details are available.

Policy, Management & People

1. Indian Nursing Students I was quoted yesterday in a TVNZ story on Indian nursing students. While only a few of my comments made it to air, my overall views are that the ITPs involved could still improve their marketing materials a bit but this problem is almost entirely due to the Nursing Council changing the rules for registration. We are going to rely on offshore health workers for decades and if the Nursing Council and other bodies need to align their work with that of education providers. A grandparenting arrangement could easily have been put in place. To be fair, here’s the Nursing Council’s view.
2. Uni Finances Steven Joyce and TEC released data on universities’ 2011 financial results yesterday, but managed to avoid any comment on Canterbury’s $115m asset write-down (NZN). There were good surpluses, which the TEU thinks bodes well for wage negotiations.
3. Budget NZUSA predicts a bleak Budget. TEU covers planned student protests.
4. Pasifika Trades BETA and CPIT running an event for Pasifika tradespeople in training.
5. Extras: ESITO on 50 new Maori cadetships; sewerage leak closes Victoria field; Otago Poly had a good year; funky SIT tutors; full house for Waikato’s Prof Douglas Pratt’s inaugural lecture; blog post on enrolment trends.

Research & Innovation

1. Rocket Tracking AUT’s space rocket tracking got more coverage (3 News, release, Fairfax, TVNZ, NZ Herald, SMC).
2. Virtual Spider…has been developed at Canterbury.
3. Cool Photos Otago Uni staff and students set up explosions and so on for filming purposes.
4. Marlborough Capital Massey’s Kerry Griffiths reckons Picton is still the capital of Marlborough.
5. Extras: more on sealion by-catch work at Otago Uni (ODT); Waikato’s Prof Peter Molan wins award for honey research; Massey’s Jean Margerison doing calf study; Swiss academic, based at Otago Uni, on dairy conversions; long slow quakes on Alpine Fault (NZ Herald, RNZ); Canterbury pianist; Canterbury’s Chris Gallavin on a rare legal charge; award for Otago Uni ocean team; Massey research on fitness and obesity and empathy in multimedia conferencing; Canterbury’s Jeffrey Paparoa Holman gets US residency.

Public Issues

1. AFFCO Victoria’s Stephen Blumenfeld on Tainui involvement in AFFCO dispute – personally I think the threat of setting up a new facility was a joke, as the industry is still plagued by overcapacity.
2. Volcanoes Victoria academics giving lectures in Taupo on volcanoes.
3. Extras: Otago Uni/Poly support local liquor ban; varroa mite at Otago Uni hives.

Students

1. $75K Win A student at Wellington’s Elite School of Beauty and Spa Therapy won $75K in a scratchie and the whole class went to the Lotteries Commission to get the payment.
2. Alternative Budget An alternative budget comp was won by Otago Uni students (ODT).
3. Nude Calendars The Massey nude calendars are out.
4. Zoo Dunedin Stadium’s Zoo is popular with students.
5. Extras: Canterbury students testing railway sleepers; MIT butchery student; Victoria singer; Otago Uni ice hockey player; WITT student has a lucky escape; student finding it hard to survive on minimum wage; Auckland hockey coach; Otago Uni students win award for doco; David Farrar on Otago Uni ghosts;.

Stakeholders

1. Unison EIT’s Unison training centre going well.
2. Extras: TEIs hosting school STEM teachers; fair-trade coffee at Canterbury; Otago Uni neurosurgery fundraising (for which there is a preferred candidate); fruitgrowers’ award for EIT’s Brian Calcinai; Lincoln’s Glen Creasy on Canterbury region wines; NMIT gallery exhibition; Massey Christchurch design comp.

Teaching & Learning

1. LLN More on workplace literacy in Northland – they’re doing some good stories.

Relevance: medium relevance to tertiary education organisations, but final Plan should have higher relevance.

Key Facts

• The MOE has consulted on a Pasifika Education Plan 2013-17 (the Plan) from 30 April to May 23. There were 18 consultation meetings, plus survey options. Draft goals have been put forward, progress to date has been summarised and there is a FAQ page.
• The draft goals fit on a page – the goals most relevant to tertiary education are:
  • emphasis on the importance of Pasifika identities, languages and cultures;
  • full implementation of Youth Guarantee for Pasifika learners;
  • Pasifika learners acquiring skills essential to the future New Zealand workforce;
  • school leavers entering tertiary education at level 4 or above;
  • more knowledgeable families and communities supporting decisions about pathways and career options; and
  • high quality, highly effective and culturally responsive teaching, supporting empowered Pasifika learners to participate and attain higher levels.
• The MOE also released its Pasifika Education Plan: Monitoring Report 2010 (109 pages) this month. It follows an August 2011 mid-term review that we considered here.
• The table below gives a good sense of how well targets were achieved in 2010 – indicators with an asterisk included 2011 information.
• 30.5% of Pasifika school students gained UE, beating the target, but down on the 48.3% non-Pasifika rate. That gap is broadly repeated at higher levels.
• At tertiary education level Pasifika participation, retention and completion rates improved at variable levels – completion rates show the least growth. Postgraduate study participation had the lowest achievement against target in tertiary education.
• The report provides different types of data for each sector in the text but the tables on pp.92-4 are most useful.

• TEC and NZQA also recently consulted on Pasifika strategies (as did Careers NZ apparently). They were developed in line with the MOE Plan.

Our Take

• As one might expect in this area, the Plan is heavy on buzzwords, non-comprehensive and somewhat disappointing. Apparently the full plan will have increased accountability for results in the education sector, but the TEC draft strategy was weak in that regard. The consultation survey, however, had open-ended and useful questions that should gather useful ideas. We will be optimistic that the final Plan will alleviate weak targets and monitoring in this area.
• We missed the Pasifika Education Plan consultation until this week, as there was no media release/coverage upon release that we could find. Our apologies for missing it.
• The draft goals are not much different in spirit from those in the 2009-12 Plan, other than being less specific, but that is designed to allow a broad consultation process.
• The FAQ page notes that the tertiary education goals in the previous Plan around five-year completion rates and postgraduate study participation were not met.
• The 2010 monitoring report suffers from the design of the document that it reports upon, but it has some useful information.

The Budget will be ED Insider’s key priority for Thursday and Friday this week and we will be updating our review several times. We will post:

• a preview of material released to date on Thursday morning (like last week’s teacher education announcement);
• a quick summary of announcements by 3pm (relying on media releases, so it won’t be that reliable or complete);
• a more detailed update by late afternoon focused on education issues; and
• a wrap-up on Friday after checking relevant issues with officials and trawling through non-education Budget documents.

Going to other issues, Steven Joyce made a bizarre riposte to Auckland’s ongoing claims for university supremacy, suggesting that their real problem was not government funding but insufficient international student numbers and income. He did have an underlying point, as our table below shows, in that the biggest difference between the income of the University of NSW and Auckland was in the tuition income area (UNSW’s overall income was about 50% greater). The main problem with Joyce’s piece, however, was that (a) he was telling NZ’s largest education exporter how to suck eggs, (b) he cherry picked two universities for comparative purposes without providing any data and (c) he ignored all the government-funded research funded over decades that show that NZ is seen as a system internationally, and so our brand perceptions and pricing levels are limited by our overall system. The NZ system is, of course, rated at a lower level than the Australian system, which explains a large part of the differential in fee prices and enrolments. The only time NZ surged towards Australia was during the short-term China boom. Putting all that aside, it does seem that Joyce is a little grumpy about the University of Auckland’s promotion activity – during the same week Auckland’s Prof Tim Hazeldine called for the university to downsize its student numbers while keeping staff and funding and a student journalist said that Auckland was too easy to get into compared to Australian universities.

(NB Our figures are illustrative and about $175m of the Government Grants figure for UNSW could be research money)

Parliament Report

Since there was so little Parliamentary business last week, this is the Parliament Report for the week ending 20 May 2012.

• The State Sector (Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment) Order 2012 was made to cover the transitional arrangements to the new agency. It’s not worth reading.
• The Optometrists and Dispensing Opticians Board have updated their prescribed qualifications. The only changes are where: Optometrists (TPA Endorsement) applicants must now have an OCANZ accredited programme endorsed by the board; and Optical Dispensing applicants may have post-qualification training within a period approved by the board (not just two years).

Short Bits

• Pasifika Working Group TEC has established a Pasifika Working Group with a mix of university, ITP, ACE and the head of the C-Me Mentoring Foundation Trust (which looks interesting). There are no PTE or ITO people.
• MAC Change TEC is consulting over the purchase of Modern Apprenticeship Coordinator (MAC) Smart Careers by fellow MAC Southern Group Training Trust. Feedback is due by 1 June.
• APEC Education Associate Minister Craig Foss is off to an APEC Education conference. The fact that you probably didn’t know he was an Associate Education Minister is a pointer to the value of the event.
• Maori Science Pita Sharples spoke to a Maori Science and Innovation Symposium organised by the Federation of Maori Authorities last week, which also sparked comment about weak Maori-CRI (and university) relations.
• SMS RFP The Open Polytechnic has put up an RFI on GETS for a new student management system (Ref 36258)
• Shaky Buildings Lincoln and NMIT had buildings confirmed as earthquake-prone over the last week, while Lincoln had two cleared by the local council.
• Nursing RFP The Capital and Coast DHB has put up an RFP on GETS for a postgraduate paper in nursing (Ref 36274). The RFP is on behalf of 5 Central region DHBs and the paper must cover “clinical assessment skills to inform critical thinking and clinical judgement for graduate nurses on the Nurse Entry to Practice (NETP) Programme”.
• Nursing Complaint Some Indian nursing students complained about marketing efforts by NMIT, Waiariki and UCOL, sparking an NZQA investigation. NZQA is reviewing materials and meeting students. The underlying issue seems to be Nursing Council registration changes, even though promotional material could probably have been improved.
• Vet Growth Massey plans to spend $75m to upgrade its veterinary studies facilities and will be seeking to grow intakes by 40 EFTS, 20 of which will be domestic students, for which government funding will be sought.
• Canterbury Music Canterbury’s music school made the news last week as a review of the school was released and the PVC (Arts) had an op-ed about the situation. Essentially, the school didn’t cover costs even before the quakes and now is in a worse position, but the University plans to retain it. The comments on the stories linked to are interesting.

In recent years, Independent Tertiary Institutions (ITI) – a recognised peak industry body in the Private Training Establishment (PTE) sector – has published annual predictions about what we expect to see in each year’s Budget, particularly in relation to the PTE sector. Here are our predictions for 2012:

• The National Party’s 2011 election manifesto contained a welcome promise to “continue to remove differences in funding treatment between public and private providers.” In Budget 2012, we will hopefully see some reduction in the current funding differential which exists between public and private providers, though any moves are likely to be quite limited. Our analysis shows that PTEs collectively provide excellent value for the taxpayer’s money.
• Unlike Budget 2011, ITI does not expect to see any additional places in PTEs. There will be an increase in student numbers for universities, largely funded from the changes to loans and allowances. These increases will be tightly targeted at Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) courses at Levels 6-10, particularly civil and heavy engineering. While the main beneficiary will be universities, some ITPs may also benefit. We confidently predict the universities will welcome the funding boost but will say it is not enough.
• Level 1 and Level 2 provision will (finally) be opened up to PTEs. However, the details of precisely how PTEs will engage at the foundation level are yet to be worked through and implementation will unfortunately continue to be some way off. This will essentially be an “in-principle” announcement. However, it does signal the Government’s willingness to consider moving existing funding between tertiary sectors in order to get the best value – another election policy for National. ITI has long welcomed flexible funding which follows performance.
• There will undoubtedly be further efforts to provide the skills needed for the rebuild of Christchurch. This may well be an extension of existing support for targeted subjects rather than a new policy. It is not expected that the Government will announce a long-term plan to support PTEs in the affected region. The focus of the recent “Directions for education renewal in greater Christchurch” was exclusively on public providers. It was simply noted in passing that private providers had been hard hit which undervalues the contribution private providers make in Canterbury.
• Last year, Immigration New Zealand managed to obtain substantial funding for a new technology system to replace their rapidly fading IT infrastructure. Budget 2012 may see a similar but smaller capital investment in the Tertiary Future Information State (TFIS) project. Both the Ministry of Education and Tertiary Education Commission are not going to be able to absorb the expected costs of that project within baseline but officials consider it critical to future progress.
• We expect the Budget to focus on the economic contribution which tertiary education makes to New Zealand. This is the clear focus of the National-led Government and it is reflected in recent official statements from the various state education agencies. For example, the Ministry of Education’s Briefing to the Incoming Minister (BIM) listed the first priority of education as to “enhance New Zealand’s economic growth performance and raise labour productivity.” That is a significant shift from previous years. The Minister for Tertiary Education, Hon Steven Joyce, has argued that Australia has already changed the focus of their tertiary education system to economic development.
  

The main pre-Budget announcement for tertiary education related to further restrictions on students loans and allowances. As expected, a number of the usual groups took exception to the proposals though ITI is broadly supportive. New Zealand has a generous (and expensive) student support system and, even with the changes, the overall repayment of loans will only reach 60 cents in the dollar which is up from just 50 cents in 2008. Certainly, some graduates will pay more but that also means they will pay their loan back quicker.

The changes, though generally welcome, still only tinker with loans at the margins. The real issue is interest-free student loans. This is particularly important because one of the main reasons (if not the main reason) the Government gives for imposing a cap on student numbers in tertiary education is the cost pressure of loans and allowances. Even bringing back an element of interest – perhaps under the market rate and kicking in only after completion of study – would significantly change the tertiary landscape.

Sooner or later, the Government will have to address this issue. They can only ignore an elephant of that size in such a small room for so long.

Tim Cullinane, Chair of Independent Tertiary Institutions (ITI)

This is a guest post from ITI, a recognised peak body representing a diverse range of high-quality private providers around New Zealand.

Policy, Management & People

1. Cadets Pita Sharples launched 50 cadetships at ESITO.
2. Film Club Auckland has been admitted to a grouping of top film schools – there’s a good show reel at the link.
3. Extras: Wintec’s Mark Flowers likes new building next door (I could almost start a website called “TEI CEOs look at building sites” like that Kim Jong Il one); Lincoln Uni students welcomed the new VC; a student on the Budget; Taratahi improving dairy herd fertility.

Research & Innovation

1. AUT & SpaceX The story about AUT’s tracking work for SpaceX has resurfaced now that the rocket has taken off (RNZ, NZ Herald). That’s pretty cool and I’m sure it will feature in AUT marketing!
2. Slow Quakes Victoria’s Prof Geoff Stern et al have found slow creeping quakes in the Alpine Fault (The Press).
3. Misreporting? Otago Uni’s Prof Richard Edwards has put out a media release saying that smokers want “much greater regulation of the tobacco industry”, whereas 70% of smokers actually said they agreed that companies “should be more tightly regulated” (NBR, APNZ). There’s quite a big difference.
4. Kiwi Mating Victoria’s Kristina Ramstad is using genomics technology to explore kiwi mating issues.
5. Sealion By-catch…is consistently underreported according to Otago Uni’s Bruce Robertson and he seems to have a good argument (3 News).
6. War Hero or Braggart? If you have 10 minutes, read this story about a real German character – a history was written of him a few years back by Auckland’s Prof James Bade.
7. Extras: exhibition by Aoraki’s Michael Armstrong; Otago Uni honours oceans research group.

Public Issues

1. Housing Otago Uni’s Philippa Howden-Chapman was in Nelson to talk about affordable housing.
2. Residential Care AUT’s Katherine Ravenswood on residential care issues.
3. Extras: Otago Uni cleanup research editorial and RNZ story; Victoria’s Peter Thompson on TVNZ7; Massey’s Tom Phillips on dairying intensity; Otago Poly’s Daniel Pfyl makes yummy pears; AUT’s Prof Tim Maloney on a living wage; Auckland’s Nikki Turner on vaccination and ear infections; Canterbury’s Eric Crampton on privatisation in Christchurch; AUT’s Henry Yamo on PNG politics.

Students

1. Branding Game Three Taratahi students branded each other with red hot shearing combs (they were sharpening them). One student ended up in hospital for a few days. Ouch.
2. Grad Art Auckland has published a book cataloguing work from graduate shows.
3. Sex Cartoons A Canterbury student has been discharged without conviction over sexual abuse images (Fairfax).
4. Haunted Hostel TV3 checked out the haunted hostel at Otago Uni.
5. Extras: rugby and shaving at Lincoln (The Star); OUSA reorientation; Anne Boleyn at CPIT; Waikato students win Chinese speech competition; Massey students at Semi-Permanent; BOPP training restaurant popular.

Stakeholders

1. Pink AUT’s restaurant is going pink.
2. Fieldays Waikato is showcasing its agricultural side with Fieldays coming up – they’re put out releases about carbon in dairy soils, sorting cows and nurturing peat lakes. There’s also a fertiliser education launch and Prof Jacqueline Rowarth on bad farm employers.
3. Extras: Awanuiarangi’s Donna Grant on Warriors board; Freemasons supporting tertiary education; UCOL grads do well in photo awards.

Teaching & Learning

1. The Tropics Waikato’s Adara Withers scored a good internship studying birds in French Polynesia.
2. Workplace Literacy There was a good story on workplace literacy in Northland and the finalists in the Skills Highway awards were announced.

Key Facts

• The Victoria 2011 annual report is available. Our review of their 2010 report is here. We also received comments from Acting VC Prof Penny Boumelha.
• Prof Sir Paul Callaghan, who died in 2012, was remembered in the report, with a Chair to be established in his memory.
  
• Teaching & Learning
  
  • Victoria achieved 96.8% of its SAC cap. Reasons offered in the report were lower ECE qual enrolments after a shift from a 3-year degree to a 1-year diploma, along with a tightening of entry criteria.
  • A Strengthening Pathways project, to improve Māori/Pasifika achievement, ended after two years of TEC funding – increases in course completions were noted. A new Pasifika Student Success Strategy was also signed off during the year. A Students at Risk of Failure programmes was created for 2012 implementation. The course completion rates for Māori and Pasifika were 77% and 67%, while qualification completion rates were 57% and 41%.
  • The process of a review of undergraduate education was described, but no detail was provided on outcomes – implementation will occur over 2012-13.
  • EQUIS accreditation was gained for the business school and LIANZA accreditation for the Master of Information Studies.
  • A new Master of Education Psychology was approved. Newly delivered quals include masters in nursing science and healthcare.
  • A long-term partnership with the Police came to an end – 13,500 courses were completed by Police staff.
  • More students enrolled with L2 NCEA endorsed with excellence, up from 270 to 418.
  • More scholarships were offered to students in various areas, but spending dropped by 4%.
• Research
  
  • External research income went from $32.6m to $34.5m. 11 Marsden grants were gained (out of 88 in NZ), worth $5.8m, as were 3 (out of 10) Rutherford Discovery Fellowships.
  • Rob McKay won the PM’s Emerging Scientist prize, worth $200K.
  • A Pasifika Researchers’ Network was established and will complement the Māori Research Network.
  • PhD completions reached 151, up from 130 in 2010 and 70 in 2009.
  • Viclink licensed a patent in medical imaging, and work on the Psa kiwifruit virus was supported via a MSI Technology Transfer Voucher.
• Stakeholders
  
  • The MSI launch was held at Victoria.
  • Students won third place in a solar house contest in Washington DC.
  • MOUs were signed with Te Papa and Zealandia. MOU with Capital and Coast DHB was implemented.
  • Websites launched for NZ Sign Language dictionary and post-Treaty settlements.
  • Victoria proposed and underwrote two new Royal Society of NZ medals.
  • Victoria won an Education NZ award for international student support.
  • Support for Christchurch after the quakes was noted.
• Resources
  
  • The Campus Hub project was progressed, with new student, cafe and health facilities. Other lecture theatres, offices and student accommodation were upgraded, while facilities were set up for the 2012 Bachelor of Engineering programme.
  • The Alan MacDiarmid building and Te Puni Village won external awards.
  • Borrowings rose from $42m to $45m.

Quirky Fact: The School of Geography has a new rock crushing facility.

Key Stats

• EFTS -402 (-2%). International +9% and postgraduate flat (3 extra EFTS).
• Income $337m income, up 1%.
  • Government Grants (3%) and International Tuition Fees (11%) were up.
  • Domestic Tuition Fees (-3%) and Research Support (-1%) were down.
• Expenses $322m expenditure, up 3%.
  • People (4%) and Depreciation (8%) were up.
  • Occupancy (-1%) and Operating (-2%) were down.
• Surplus $14.5m surplus (4.3% of revenue)
• Cashflow There was net positive cashflow of $3.5m, with $56m of non-financial asset purchases.
• Balance Sheet Current assets/current liabilities to 93% from 98% in 2010. Capital commitments dropped from $43m to $36m.
• Audit Unqualified.
• EFTS/Academic FTE Ratio This went from 17.2:1 in 2010 to 17.1:1 in 2011.
• EPIs 2011 data to be updated when available from TEC. Provisional course completion was 85% (83% in 2010) and qualification completion was 66% (70% in 2010).

Our Take

• Victoria is in a good position, notwithstanding a drop in domestic EFTS and tuition revenue.
• The 2% EFTS drop (-402 EFTS) was not budgeted, with domestic tuition income $6m under budget and even the 97% funding threshold was undershot. Some of the drop was due to an ECE programme length change. Other reasons suggested by the Acting VC were reduced student loans and allowances eligibility, a tighter academic progress framework and a slight softening in demand. MOE and Victoria EFTS figures differ considerably for 2009-10, which affect comparisons with our 2010 annual report review – we will check on the issues.
• The 402 drop in student EFTS occurred at undergraduate level, with 45 fewer taught postgrad EFTS and 48 more research postgrad EFTS. Looking at students (not EFTS), the drop was focused on domestic (-546) – rather than international (+144) – and European/Pakeha students (-389). Looking at age, most of the drop was amongst students aged 25+ (477).
• Considerable work is underway to improve Māori/Pasifika achievement, but qualification achievement still lag the average for Māori (9%) and Pasifika (25%) students. Victoria appointed a new AVC (Pasifika) in late 2010, who has overseen the development of a new strategy. Improved results are expected from Pasifika students who commenced study in 2012 and those who follow.
• It is a pity that a review of undergraduate education, the core business of the university, was described in such non-specific terms, but it is not unusual for a university report. It would have been an interesting project to explore, but you can read the terms of reference here and VUWSA had some more detail.
• Costs were well controlled, but a $2m higher insurance premium looms in 2012. While People costs were up 4%, salaries were only up 2% – the balance was due to a rise in entitlements. Victoria is in a good financial position now, but can boost its domestic enrolments and related tuition income.
• A 6% increase in external research income is a good result. Continued growth in PhD and Master’s research degree completions comes from an increased focus on that area.
• There were two discrepancies in the report.
  • Victoria claimed to have enrolled 1,747 full-fee international EFTS (p.59) but it only claimed 1,698 full-fee EFTS elsewhere in the report (p.17).
  • In the 2011 report, Victoria claimed to have 1,974 staff FTEs in 2011 and 1,956 in 2010. In their 2010 annual report (p.18), they claimed 1,871 FTEs in 2010 (p.13). That explains why the EFTS/Academic FTE ratio differs for our 2010 and 2011 reviews.