ED Blog will close up shop for the year on Friday and restart on 4 or 10 January (depends on how my break is going). Any coverage in between will be done for major stories on ED’s Facebook or Twitter. If you get emails, I can pause your subscription for you – just let me know the dates.

Policy & Management

1. PEI Job Losses Job losses are on the cards at New Plymouth’s Practical Education Institute, after the TEC has threatened it with lower funding due to poor completions (and has probably pretty much finalised its decisions). It is sad to see job losses but I’m happy to see TEC taking a hard line over performance across the country. More jobs will be created at other organisations with money reallocated for poor performing organisations.
2. No Raukawa Pay Cut Well, it seems that the Te Wananga O Raukawa CE has not had a pay cut – RNZ has corrected an earlier report. Meanwhile, Tariana Turia wished them well.
3. Flight Training Problems A flight safety consultancy has given advice to the Civil Aviation Authority about safety for trainee pilots. It turns out that there are quite a few deaths and near misses – many more than in the 90s even after correcting for extra training being done.
4. WelTec Precinct WelTec will have some planning certainty under a proposed education precinct by their Petone campus – the proposal will be out for consultation next year.
5. Extras: NMIT Chair Ross Butler is chairing a new AMI-related Crown company (release); Dame Malvina Major joins Waikato staff.

Research & Innovation

1. PM’s Science Prizes The PM’s Science Prizes were announced on Friday (Stuff, idealog, RNZ), with the $500K top award going to a NIWA-Otago Uni team working on climate change (ODT, NZN, Hot Topic, Otago release). Victoria’s Rob McKay won $200K for his work as an emerging scientist on glacial deposits (release, NBR). The $100K science media communication prize went to Canterbury’s Mark Quigley, for his quake work (release). Nina Huang won the secondary student’s $50K prize and will go on to study at Auckland, where she found supervision for a science project this year.
2. Signage Research I love this story about UCOL photographers going on a road trip to check out signage in 43 towns around NZ. I’d love to read the full analysis, if there is one.
3. Robots Auckland Uni’s big robotics study is going to get underway with 31 robots being part of six separate projects at a retirement village. They are doing some seriously interesting stuff.
4. Performance Stunt Auckland’s Chris Harvey is planning a performance work involving people laid off by government or otherwise feeling vulnerable. This will make news next year when it runs.
5. Bar Smoke Otago Uni’s Nick Wilson and Richard Edwards have found that second-hand smoke still gets you at bars even if you stay inside.
6. TV=Dole? AUT’s Erik Landhuis has found that TV watching as a child is correlated with later unemployment.
7. Extras: Victoria’s Devon Polaschek busting psychopath myths (RNZ, NZ Herald); Lincoln-CBRE survey on Christchurch office space; Massey’s Phil Broadhurst has a new jazz album; Otago Uni research cited on male grooming and on alcohol; Massey’s involvement in WW1 history project; Otago Uni’s Peter Saxton has done an HIV survey; Otago Uni’s Bruce Robertson on sealions; Otago Uni’s Prof Brian Cox wants Fonterra research money.

Public Issues

1. Politics Otago Uni’s Bryce Edwards does some interesting analysis of Dunedin South’s voting pattern at the election; AUT’s Prof Rawiri Taonui on Maori party leadership;
2. Extras: Otago Poly’s Jean Ross on community nursing; Auckland’s Charles Clifton on buildings’ earthquake resilience; Otago Uni’s Miles Lamar on Wellington jellyfish; Otago Uni emeritus Prof Air Alan Mark on opencast mining; AUT’s Grant Schofield on living a healthy life; Auckland’s Prof Bill Hodge on a league player’s name suppression; AUT’s Prof Max Abbott on stingy men; Lincoln’s Caroline Saunders mentioned for her role in a climate change roadshow.

Students

1. Otago Fees Homepaddock complains about the Otago Uni-OUSA fees deal (RNZ), which sparked off many comments, while Steven Joyce offered a toothless warning, as he knew this would happen when he set his regulations. Meanwhile, Orientation will have big events at the new covered stadium (release), but will also feature some more academic elements as the Uni exercises its new financial power over the students’ assn.
2. Floods NMIT managed to put together a small graduation for its international students, after floods caused the cancellation of the main event. Meanwhile two Otago Uni students got married regardless of flood complications – here’s a pic of the happy couple.
3. Piper A Japanese student piped herself to her own graduation.
4. Extras: editorial about EIT art graduate exhibition; Auckland hockey player; profile of Victoria scriptwriter; Waikato busker, with kilt; Miss Hawkes Bay off to Massey; Media Design School has four films in a Bondi competition; Auckland student with cochlear implants.

Stakeholders

1. Sculpture Win Auckland’s Michael Parekowhai has won a Queensland sculpture competition. Here’s the Queensland release and the proposal image is below.
2. DHB Support Taranaki DHB offers 24 scholarships worth $85K to health students;
3. Extras: grads of AUT course run by The Heart Foundation; Lincoln award to Margaret Evans; Auckland and AUT jointly hosted the launch of a Pacific book; AUT involvement in Pacific media research website.

Teaching & Learning

1. Extras: UCOL sport students working with primary schools.