Comments on: ITP Council Musical Chairs 1 – UCOL

By: Paul Williams

Paul Williams — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 07:59:12 +0000

I’ll not quibble on the law since presumably they had Crown Law’s advice but the insensibility of that must surely be apparent? I’ll simply reiterate my view that the performance of council/governing bodies seemed oddly inconsistent and I’d've thought that an important issue for governments (note the plural).

By: David Choat

David Choat — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 04:06:13 +0000

Actually, TAMU’s advice at that stage (and I assume still TEC’s today) is that these people are Ministerial appointees rather than representatives, and it would be inappropriate (and a breach of Section 160?) for the Minister or his/her representatives to do any such thing.

But they did draft for the Minister a set of Ministerial Expectations that applied to all Council members in terms of their duties under the Act.

By: Paul Williams

Paul Williams — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 03:00:23 +0000

I’d have to say that my observations of various councils leaves me with mixed views as to their effectiveness. I thought rorting of public funding at CPIT was as much a CEO and a governance failure, similarly I wondered where the council was with Otago Poly discovered major flaws in their financial reporting. Then again I’ve been a member of a university council that seemed clear about it’s role and keen to provide strategic leadership (Waikato in the mid ’90s). I’d be a hypocrite if I didn’t worry about how student voices are affected by these reforms.

Leaving aside the issue of the number of members, what seems most important to me is that the boad knows its role, is capable and resourced to do it and is accountable both to Ministers and to the regional community. I wonder if any Ministerial appointees recall being contacted by the Minister or the Ministry and asked to account for their contibutions? Perhaps this is what Alan Sarginson did way back when?

By: Darel Hall

Darel Hall — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:38:38 +0000

I do think that having student representatives on Councils is good. I don’t believe a committee reporting to Council cuts it.

Some people point to problems with the legitimacy of student representatives, eg how can they represent all students’ views? The same, of course, applies to business, union, staff and all reps. It is a facet, not a problem of representation.

I thought the TEC decision to have a non-voting Learner Rep at their board meetings was a halfway measure that looks messy but seemed to work because in many of these situations it’s the voice that matters not the voting (so why not give them the vote . . ).

There was an opinion piece in the Ed Review that argued that student representation on councils was bad, but I actually think he (can’t remember his name) was really on about VSM/ CSM. Are there other views about the value of student representation on councils?