A part time student at the University of Canterbury says the university’s plan to close its theatre program will cost her $4000 of fees for a degree she can no longer complete. Sarah has told the student campaign You are UC:

“If I was a single teen or in my early 20s, I could move to Wellington, Auckland, or Otago to complete my Theatre degree. But this is not my situation. I am married, I have 3 children, I own a home in Christchurch, moving to suit the degree I want to achieve is not in the realm of possibility for me. The only reason I started a degree at Canterbury was so I could become a High School Drama teacher. If this closure goes ahead, I will have spent $4000 towards a degree which I will be unable… to complete at Canterbury University.”

Meanwhile the Christchurch Press reports that corporate culture at the university may be choking creativity. Reporting on the change proposal to close theatre and film studies The Press notes:

“[T]he issue at the moment, the document goes on to say, is not that Arts courses are weak or unsustainable, but that the College of Arts offers more courses than it can support on current and projected income.”

“In short: there is nothing wrong with the affected courses but someone or something has to go. It also becomes clear that this thinking actually pre-dates the earthquakes, as the proposal says [Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the College of Arts, Prof] Adelson has been engaged in his strategic process for 18 months.”

The Press reports that that TEU has filed papers with the Employment Authority seeking a compliance order. Essentially, the filed papers charge the university with not following its own rules around academic process.

Also in Tertiary Update this week:

1. Will there be jobs for science graduates?
2. Joyce wants less representation on university councils
3. Massive student protests shake Quebec
4. Massachusetts replaces teacher educators with video highlights

Other news

Instead of rethinking whether performance measures work in the tertiary sector, the government has set up a performance exercise looking at student retention and completion. For tertiary institutions the quickest route to achieving in this exercise is making sure students pass their courses. The simplest way to ensure students pass is to put pressure on academics to elevate grades (and in a few isolated cases this is already beginning to happen in a range of institutions across New Zealand) – Dr Sandra Grey on Kiwiblog

What we’re saying, though, is that once you’ve used your 200 weeks [of student allowance], that’s the end of it. Currently, you can get exemptions for long programmes, as they call them, or for master’s or PhDs. But when somebody’s getting to the point when they’re doing a master’s or a PhD or a long programmes where they’ve perhaps done one degree and they’re going to do another degree, they are going to have a good income when they leave, and therefore they should be able to pay off a student loan - Steven Joyce on TVNZ Q&A

Universities NZ welcomes the Minister of Tertiary Education, Skills & Employment’s indication over the weekend that there will be a modest increase to the Performance-Based Research Fund (PBRF) in this year’s Budget as it is an effective system for supporting the wide-ranging contributions made by university research - Universities NZ

39 percent of fraud in both tertiary and local government sectors went un-investigated by police. Some 38 percent of respondents in councils and 37 percent in polytechnics and universities said they were aware of a case of fraud in their institution within the past two years – compared to a public sector average of less than a quarter - Radio NZ

Saudi Arabian students have been banned from studying in Christchurch because of earthquake fears. Students sponsored by the Saudi Ministry of Higher Education cannot get government-funded scholarships in Christchurch this year -Stuff

Confronted with the biggest crisis since the 30s, the trade body for British sociologists proudly displayed its engagement by enumerating articles in the Journal of Niche Studies. All this is a long way from that letter of 1981, let alone Keynes. Perhaps it shows how far academics have been forced to conform to their research assessment exercises and turn out measurable output - The Guardian

TV3′s new Sunday morning offering, Three60, is sponsored by Massey University in a deal some sources say could be worth around $50,000. Professor Malcolm Wright, Massey University’s head of journalism, appeared onThree60 to discuss the Rupert Murdoch saga. The sponsor became the commentator. In doing so, the tertiary institution got more buck for their endorsement dollar than if they had flashed a logo on screen at the commencement of the show – which they did. Is this part of the deal? - The New Zealand Herald

The prime minister, John Key, and the minister of tertiary education skills and employment, Steven Joyce, this week foreshadowed several tertiary education budget initiatives.

Mr Joyce told Radio New Zealand that he would be shifting funding away from humanities and commerce towards maths, science, engineering and technology.

“We pay a higher subsidy for humanities and commerce than the Australians do, we pay a lower subsidy for science and engineering.”

“That tends to mean that universities are a bit more biased towards those other subjects because we end up paying, probably, a little bit more than they need to encourage those subjects and not enough for the science, technology and engineering subjects,” Mr Joyce said.

His statements follow a Tertiary Education Commission edict to tertiary institutions to increase enrolments next year in science, technology, engineering and maths and, if necessary, to cut other courses to do that.

Meanwhile Mr Key told business leaders it would be another zero budget, and, to help achieve that, people with student loans, who currently pay back 10 cents for each dollar they earn, will have to pay them back faster.  Then Mr Joyce said that the government would cut allowance costs by ensuring allowances are targeted at those in the early years of study and to those that can least afford it.

NZUSA president Pete Hodkinson said that any cuts to allowances would reduce access, denying New Zealanders an opportunity to improve their lives, and would lead to greater debt.

The university told staff and students on 26 March that it proposed to close theatre and film studies, American studies and cultural studies departments. However the papers show that it had already been working behind the scenes to get rid of theatre and film studies since at least last August.

The released documents show deputy vice-chancellor Ian Town met polytechnic chief executive Kay Giles on August 18 last year, when they discussed a proposal from Prof Town to move theatre and film studies from the university to CPIT.

A university spokesman told the Christchurch Pressyesterday that talks with CPIT were not  publicised because they were commercially sensitive.

“No decision has been made to discontinue the programme and no commitments were made to CPIT,” he said.

Theatre and film studies department co-ordinator Associate Professor Sharon Mazer told The Press she was “shocked and appalled” the university had held “secret conversations” since August.

She questioned how staff could offer input to the proposal when the process was so far along.

In an email to Ms Giles and other CPIT managers on March 6, the polytechnic’s dean of creative industries Jane Gregg said it would be “highly risky” to get involved.

“I think clearly this is not a proposition that has very much in it for us, if it is enacted as they seem to envisage.”

In earlier emails, Dr Gregg told Ms Giles she was “worried about getting dragged into a long-standing historical issue”.

Quarterly Employment Survey data released by Statistics NZ today shows that that the number of full time equivalent jobs in education and training fell by 3.6 percent over the last year.

The data does not show in what sector of education and training these jobs disappeared, but within the tertiary sector, there have been on-going restructuring and redundancies as a response to government budget cuts.

“Government funding cuts do not prioritise resource, they simply remove resources. In this case, the resources are people and the effect is fewer people to teach students who want to learn”, said Dr Grey.

For more information:

Dr Sandra Grey, TEU national president, 021 844 176 or 04 801 5098
Stephen Day, TEU communications officer, 021 2900 734 or 04 801 4792
http://www.teu.ac.nz

You Are UC, the student campaign against cuts to the College of Arts at the University of Canterbury, is holding a barbeque complete with theatrical entertainment to protest against the cuts today. You Are UC will also becollecting signatures for a petition against the cuts. The protest starts at midday on the arts lawn outside A Block on the University’s Ilam campus.

The petition calls for an immediate halt to the College of Arts Change Proposal to cut three programmes saying the business case contains flaws and students have not had the time or information needed to take part in consultation.

You Are UC opposes the cuts recently announced to the College of Arts. Morgan Hodgson, a spokesperson for the group, said that You Are UC is concerned about the integrity of the process the University is following, and what it will mean for future potential cuts; including those in other departments.

“In dealing with a short-term funding crisis, there is long-term damage being done to the educational opportunities in Christchurch.”

“Theatre and Film Studies, for example, usually makes a profit for the university. Cutting it is bad for the balance sheet and bad for education. One of the American studies lecturers losing his job receives a Marsden Fund grant, which brings the university hundreds of thousands of dollars – money the change proposal does not account for.

“We want the university to revisit its case for change, and start a new consultation with robust figures,” said Hodgson.

Also in Tertiary Update this week

1. Student fees rise faster than inflation
2. Joyce entices Saudi students with ultrafast broadband
3. Teacher education scheme delivers too late
4. 1 in 6 students in financial distress

Other news

All five colleges at the University of Canterbury are said to be making hard choices and many more cuts are on their way. In the School of Commerce, the Management Science and Operations Management major has been under review since the beginning of March, and students and staff were given just over two weeks for input on this proposal. Only last year, students were informed suddenly that the Masters of Social Work degree was being cancelled indefinitely. Students that wanted to continue studying in this programme were notified that they would either have to return to undergraduate study or try to cross-credit their points. Other courses are being ‘taught out’ in the College of Education and rumour mill is running as to what could happen within the Colleges of Engineering and Science -Canta

Act leader John Banks has made an attack on “middle-class welfare”, urging National to bite the bullet and restore interest rates to student loans - New Zealand Herald

It is important for universities to engage with businesses if they are to produce relevant research, says Massey University’s newly appointed Professor in Innovation and Economics - Massey University

Charter schools supremo Catherine Isaac has signalled her education pilot could be run by for-profit organisations. The former Act Party president told the party’s annual conference yesterday that “for profit” organisations are not allowed to run schools in the UK. “That is being seen as a mistake and as something they want to change,” Ms Isaac said -Stuff

The University of Otago has denied “gaming” the system in order to appear higher on league tables which rank their quality of research performance and says it has “nothing to hide” over the way it takes part in the process - Otago Daily Times

Liam Burns, the president of the British National Union of Students, is calling for university lecturers to be forced to acquire teaching qualifications to ensure that students paying tuition fees are getting the most out of their degrees -The Guardian

The cost of a United States university degree has left people wide-eyed for decades but student debt has now mushroomed into a nightmare for Americans with potential to explode as the next major US financial crisis - The Australian

Exasperated by rising subscription costs charged by academic publishers, Harvard University has encouraged its faculty members to make their research freely available through open access journals and to resign from publications that keep articles behind paywalls -The Guardian

28 March 2012

Dear Mr Joyce,

We write to you to deplore the proposed closure of entire programmes and majors at the University of Canterbury.  We warned you last year that, without your intervention and support, many staff at the university would lose their jobs, and students would lose the opportunity to study the courses that inspire them.

That travesty, of course closures and job losses, is now imminent. However, we believe it is not too late to act to save these programmes and the opportunities for students in these majors. Canterbury needs, now more than ever, a broad and diverse tertiary education that provides opportunities for all its potential students.

You have refused to meet with us since we warned you of this. But the time has come now to listen. We, as representatives of tertiary education staff from across the country, call upon you to intervene and provide the financial security the University of Canterbury needs to get back on its feet.

We are ready to work with you to make sure that people throughout the Canterbury region have the opportunity to learn.

Yours sincerely,
Sandra Grey,
TEU national president

And the branch presidents and executive officers of the TEU nationally:

Employment negotiations for thousands of university staff at seven of New Zealand’s eight universities will begin in three months’ time, and union members are already working out what the main issues they need to see addressed to improve their working life.

One of the biggest issues facing many staff is increasing workloads because of staff numbers not keeping pace with student numbers. TEU members across all seven universities will be claiming employment protection for staff whose workload increases because of redundancies or restructuring.

The nationwide claim says if within six months of a review, restructuring or management of change process concluding, employees believe that their workloads are excessive, or that staffing levels are not sufficient, they may request a review of their workload. If the review finds that workloads are not safe, equitable, or reasonable the university must take appropriate steps to remedy the situation.

TEU university academic vice-president John Prince says the short-term effect of reviews is stress and job losses, but the long-term effect, if reviews are poorly conceived, is increasing workloads.

“We want an assurance that the many reviews currently taking place are not just about cutting staff numbers and shifting all the existing work onto those staff who remain.”

Employment negotiations will begin at the end of June for staff at the universities of AUT, Canterbury, Lincoln, Otago, Massey, Victoria and Waikato.

If you have a workload story to support TEU’s negotiations, leave a comment below.

Also in Tertiary Update this week:

1. Restructuring affecting 500 workers
2. New super ministry to manage commission
3. Farewell Ray Fargher
4. Auckland ports back down on contracting out
5. Aussie tutors join the ‘Precariat’ workforce
6. International trade agreement akin to asset sales

Other news

There is a nasty narrative creeping into the national conversation New Zealand is having about education these days, that of the superhero teacher. If you’re unfamiliar with the plot line, it goes something like this. There is a massive achievement gap in academic achievement and this gap is because of bad schools. Since teachers are the most important things in schools, if the schools aren’t delivering then it must be because teachers aren’t delivering. Enter the superhero teacher - Teaching the Teacher

A Cambridge student was suspended from the university for two-and-a-half years today for his part in a protest during a speech by the Universities Minister David Willetts. The “unprecedented” sentence handed down to Owen Holland, a PhD student in the Faculty of English, came on the same day as students marched in London and walked out of institutions across the country to demand Mr Willetts’ resignation - The Independent

A private computer training institute with hundreds of students has gone bust owing more than $8.3 million in tax, penalties and interest. Computer Power (NZ) Ltd, which runs Computer Power Institute campuses in Wellington, Christchurch and Auckland, was put into liquidation in the High Court at Wellington this week. The institute has about 750 students including about 150 international students. The 47 staff have been paid until the end of the month - Dominion Post

An Indian immigration consultancy claiming to operate in NZ (and actually operating in India) has used a murdered US student’s image in their marketing (seemingly lifted from the Internet). It works with, among others, Canterbury, AUT, BOPP and Unitec - ED Blog

TAFE has hit the wall in Victoria’s open training market, with unprecedented private college growth relegating the public provider into minority status and throwing its financial viability into question. Details from an unpublished quarterly report from Skills Victoria, which shows that TAFEs now have less than half of the government-supported enrolments, emerged the day after Prime Minister Julia Gillard said states needed to protect their TAFEs -The Australian

“500 members are about 5 percent of our membership. When one in twenty people are having their job changed or taken away from them we know we do not have a very stable environment for ensuring teaching and education.”

“But the worst part is that we seem to be in a state of never-ending reviews. TEU’s national council has been tracking reviews for a year now and they just keep coming,” said Ms Cormack.

New reviews have recently started at Manukau Institute of Technology, NorthTec, Wintec, University of Auckland, AUT, University of Canterbury, Massey University, University of Otago, University of Waikato and Te Wānanga o Aotearoa. Ms Cormack says TEU has recorded 49 confirmed redundancies because of those reviews via voluntary or compulsory severance so far.

“500 members is about five percent of our membership. When one in twenty people is having their job changed or taken away from them we know we do not have a very stable environment for good teaching and education.”

“In November last year we recorded 55 reviews at 12 institutions. In October 44 reviews at 17 institutions, in September 43 reviews at 18 institutions, in August 58 reviews at 20 institutions, in July 77 reviews at 24 institutions and so on,” said Ms Cormack.

The new universitech, which was the result of a ministerially-driven merger of Canterbury-based tertiary institutions, had until this week been provisionally trading under the name LinctaburyPIT. It has now completed its rebranding and market positioning exercise. The result is it will partner with, and adopt the branding of the United States’ largest education provider, Phoenix University. Phoenix University of Canterbury also announced this week that its streamlined post-merger flexible human resourcing structure would deliver significantly improved returns for bond investors.

“We believe that by removing duplication of library services, back office functions and administration we can save money. We will be able to offer our customers, students, a twenty-four hour a day service to complement their learning experience,” said newly appointed chiefancellor Sir Giles Carrfield.

“Looking forward, these savings have allowed us to invest in Phoenix University’s strategic direction, by appointing a new layer of management.”