1. What’s the biggest challenge for Universities New Zealand right now?

Continuing to build on our ability to engage with the government on the policy issues affecting universities, including university resourcing. The challenge is to achieve this through demonstrating the multiple ways the work of universities – research and innovation, internationalisation, encouraging greater participation and achievement for Maori and Pasifika peoples, etc – can help the Government achieve its goals for New Zealand.

2. How is Universities New Zealand’s new graduate survey going?

The first survey has been completed and the baseline report will be released soon. Over 65% of students invited to participate completed the survey – just under 9,000 final year students from the eight universities. This is a fantastic result that lays the foundation for the future of the longitudinal survey. Further information can be found on the GLSNZ website.

3. Steven Joyce has tertiary education, science and innovation, and economic development roles. What impact do you think that will have on universities?

There are genuine synergies between these three areas, and Minister Joyce has demonstrated he can manage multiple challenging portfolios. Universities are central to our science and innovation system, as well as the economic development of this country. Hopefully, the integration at a ministerial level will help us unlock the universities’ potential to make an even greater contribution toward helping the Government achieve its goals to the benefit of all New Zealanders.

4. What needs most attention in the research area right now?

The availability of contestable funding. While overall funding for science and innovation remained the same last year, the availability of contestable funds was significantly reduced. This is a real risk as a competitive funding model is a good way of identifying the best opportunities when you have limited resources.

5. What made you smile about the university sector this week?

The sector is preparing for the year ahead at this time and I can genuinely say I am looking forward to meeting some of 2012′s first year students. Encountering their enthusiasm for tertiary study is something that I never tire of and one of the most rewarding aspects of this job.

1. King’s Education About 100 Japanese people will fly to NZ next month to mark the year since the death of 12 Japanese King’s Education students in the CTV building.
2. Tauranga Campus The local paper thinks a new Tauranga campus will energise the city.
3. User Innovation Lincoln’s Prof John Fairweather writes about support for user innovation.
4. Neurosurgery Otago Uni neurosurgery fundraising is a third of the way to target, with bikers to help next month, but the search is already on for the right person.
5. Pasifika Success Canterbury has just opened a new centre in its college of education to help raise the achievement of Pasifika school students.
6. Extras: the Crafar farm purchasers must establish a training facility; Otago Uni’s Prof Jean Fleming recognised by Science Festival; TEU cited some OECD research (NewstalkZB); Christopher Theunissen is new MIT associate dean; Prof Sir Paul Callaghan’s childhood teacher; BOPP tutor paddler; Otago Uni mountain biker.

Research & Innovation

1. Social Alcohol Victoria and Massey researchers are looking into social networking and alcohol. As one of them says “There’s quite a furore around the dangers of young people binge drinking and doom and gloom about the impact of social networking but very few people have asked those at the centre of it what they think”, which is funny, because the researchers don’t let the young people talk in the media release either (after two years of study).
2. Extras: Otago Uni flesh-eating disease research cited, as was Lincoln food miles work and AUT work on tourism for the deaf; Massey’s kicking robot off on tour; Otago Uni literacy research; Waikato student looking at population declines in some areas (focus on Gore); Auckland helping with gout (release); Auckland’s Sue Crengle looking at ethnic discrimination; Otago Uni’s Janet Hoek on ethical consumption.

Public Issues

1. Back to School Victoria’s Roseanna Bourke is interviewed about kids’ learning.
2. Babies’ Reading Auckland’s Nola Harvey comments on a US baby reading programme – the infomercials sure do the hard sell.
3. New Bible Laidlaw College’s Bob Robinson comments on a new edition of the Bible – interesting story.
4. Occupy Otago Uni’s Andrew Geddis on Occupy Dunedin’s possible eviction.
5. Obesity Deborah Coddington has a go at Otago Uni researchers over obesity causes (Kiwiblog, Keeping Stock).
6. Extras: Otago Uni’s Winsome Purnell on the size of sweet treats and other academics at a bioethics conference and Prof Richard Barker on cricket scoring; Massey’s Steve Stannard on cyclists’ nutrition; penguins at Massey but a dotterel died; Victoria’s Marc Wilson on a Timaru cat-killer and doomsday prophecies; AUT’s Andy Gibson on the future of the Internet; Otago Uni’s Hank Wolfe on cyberwarfare; Otago Uni lake expert on the best place to race a jet; academics on food prices; Auckland’s Ian Lambie on youth violence; Lincoln’s Prof Derrick Moot on lucerne; Auckland’s Rochelle Constantine on port expansion and marine mammals; Otago Uni’s Jim Faed on stem cell treatment.

Students

1. Sonny Bill…is dating an Auckland student.
2. Student Jobs Here’s some analysis of the student employment situation.
3. Quake Experience A Canterbury student reflects on his quake-riddled year.
4. Extras: Otago Uni student off to Britain to sing in a choir; Media Design School student wins Beck’s design comp; Massey student exhibiting in Kerikeri; Waiariki kayakers; Massey student’s gaming console; SIT cricketer and motor racer; Wintec student filming some home-wreckers; Massey student and family off to Parachute.

Stakeholders

1. MOU Hawkes Bay and Massey MOU.
2. Extras: support for Lincoln’s 1080 alternative research; Wintec sponsoring a Service Jam; exhibition at Auckland gallery; Lincoln young farmer competitor.

Teaching & Learning

1. Teach First The Business Roundtable says we should give Teach First a go, but the NZ Herald reckons grads might struggle for acceptance. Funnily enough, the NZ Herald storey talks about how they “revealed” Teach First’s approach last week – since it first hit the news last April, it wasn’t really a scoop.
2. Extras: Otago Uni music summer school; UCOL trades academy.

1. New TV Ads I was going to write a post about new TV ads put out by ITPs, but StopPress wrote much the same thing on Friday, so I’ll pass. It’s worth a read on cool new ads by Open Poly and MIT.
2. Innovation City Prof Sir Peter Gluckman has followed up last year’s speech on Auckland by putting a condensed version in a NZ Herald op-ed. He’s proposing an innovation city and wants some thinking about what should be in it. I smell a wider government agenda.
3. Fund a Prof The ODT is getting in behind a $3m fundraising campaign for a new neurosurgery chair at Otago Uni. So is the Southland Times, which gives more details on other organisations in the campaign. There’s also a media release on the campaign and associated stories here, here, here and here.
4. Whitireia Buildings Whitireia is planning to wipe out a lot more prefabs once its new building is up and running – they blessed the site on Friday and construction should end in a year.
5. Extras: Massey’s Steve Stannard out cycling; Aoraki’s Nicola Pearce off to Outward Bound; Christchurch enrolments; local providers’ reaction to PEI’s demise; Victoria notes the success of its Centre for Strategic Studies.

Research & Innovation

1. Alzheimer’s There’s some interesting work being done on detecting Alzheimer’s disease by Prof Cliff Abrahams at Otago Uni.
2. Extras: Auckland’s Bridget Kool on the impact of multiple medicines on falls; AUT’s Lindsey White on seaweed harvesting; exhibition co-curated by Otago Uni’s Prof Hilary Radner goes to Whangarei; Otago Uni’s Lisa Stamp recognised for early career work.

Public Issues

1. Kids’ Treadmill Who really buys their kid a treadmill? Anyway, Otago Uni’s Kim Meredith-Jones comments on the trend. Meanwhile, Auckland’s Yvonne Anderson is helping with a programme to combat child obesity in Taranaki.
2. Massey Birds Rena-affected birds will now go straight to Massey as numbers reduce, to join one last dotterel.
3. Saving Frogs Otago Uni’s Phil Bishop wants sponsorship to help save frogs.
4. Extras: Auckland’s Ian Lambie on charitable giving; Otago Uni’s Bryce Edwards gets an editorial reference; Massey’s Claire McLachlan on criticism of NZ ECE; Otago Uni staff helped move a seal pup and its mum; blogger Grant Jacobs on Prof Sir Paul Callaghan’s cancer treatment; Auckland’s Basil Sharp on energy prices; Waiariki’s Narissa Bayler on uploading fight videos; AUT’s Kelly Sheerin on barefoot running; Otago Uni’s Mark Henaghen on healthcare and trust and Doug Sellman on alcohol; Victoria’s Peter Barrett and Lincoln’s Shannon Page went to protest lignite mining in Southland (release); AUT’s Vernon Rive on climate change agreements.

Students

1. Music Making Auckland’s Alex Taylor makes a list of musicians to watch in 2012.
2. Extras: early school leaver’s experience – worth a read; Nanocamp for school students at Victoria while others studied science at Otago Uni; OUSA is fixing some squash courts; the student who drowned in Wellington turned out to be a current Otago Poly, and former Otago Uni, student; Dunedin student rentals; Waikato nursing student selling a tattoo on her butt.

Stakeholders

1. A Cute Uni Museum Artist Christine Hellyar is doing an exhibition based on Auckland’s McGregor Museum, which I have just discovered and looks quite interesting (if specialised). Well worth checking out for the science geek.
2. Extras: Auckland monitoring ecohouse; Wanganui’s Council is supporting accommodation for glass students (Wanganui Chronicle); photography exhibition at Victoria.

Teaching & Learning

1. Apple’s Textbooks Apple launched their new textbook software last week and I suspect it won’t shine given its proprietary bounds, but more importantly it’s just another signal of the changing textbook market. The Chronicle of Higher Education has a good review.
2. Teach First…is getting ready to recruit its first students into its condensed teacher education programme (NewstalkZB, AAP). There was a follow-up story today.
3. Extras: UCOL Rangitikei trades academy story.

1. Youth Unemployment The Reject Youth Unemployment coalition wants to meet Paula Bennett to discuss youth unemployment issues – given it is a leftwing coalition that launched a few weeks out from the election, complained about “the last three years” and is now inviting Bennett to meet via media release, I suspect they may not be that successful in their meeting goal.
2. $500K Waikato has gained a $500,000 bequest from Zena Daysh – and her ashes will be interred in New Plymouth today. Read the releases – she was quite a woman.
3. Taratahi Profile The Taranaki Daily News has written a long profile on Taratahi’s presence in the region and you should read it (NB I work with them but it’s still a good article).
4. Extras: Young Nats dislike Otago Uni student services fees but the Uni and OUSA are getting on with Orientation; Education NZ’s future; ITF research on industry training benefits (Idealog); new IBM storage system at Canterbury; Stuart Middleton on (non-tertiary) education Ministers; the NBR Editor has some research funding suggestions for Steven Joyce.

Research & Innovation

1. Smart Crows Auckland researchers have found out how smart crows are, which we largely knew already, but this time they have video to share.
2. Extras: Canterbury PhD student looking at impact of snow on rural areas; Victoria PhD student on learning languages in a pleasurable way; Waikato Tauranga harbour study (SunLive); Auckland tobacco research; Otago Uni’s Maori research report.

Public Issues

1. Cyber Bullying Waiariki’s Narissa Bayler on cyber bullying.
2. SOE Sales Victoria’s Jason Young questions whether preference for NZers in SOE share sales might breach trade agreements.
3. Extras: Otago Uni’s Nick Wilson on turkey tails; AUT’s Grant Schofield on NZers’ health; Auckland’s Michael Littlewood on savings.

Students

1. Murderer Sentenced Honglin Yu will serve at least 17 years for the murder of fellow Chinese student Jiayi ‘Kiko’ Li (3 News, 3 News).
2. Cancelled Graduation NMIT decided to cancel today’s graduation, given all the bad weather around Nelson.
3. Disliked Graduation Canterbury’s Eric Crampton isn’t a fan of graduations so analyses why people do and don’t go.
4. Extras: Victoria rowers; Massey student’s road-inspired exhibition; Canterbury students win national accounting awards; school principal retires to attend Waiariki; Otago Uni equestrian.

Stakeholders

1. Maori Trade Training Hawkins Construction will join with Ngai Tahu, CPIT, BETA and others to support trade training for Canterbury Maori (The Press).
2. Dr Richie McCaw Lincoln will give Richie McCaw an honorary doctorate next year (and I know that doesn’t make him a Dr) along with some other lesser celebrities with decades of professional work behind them (NZN, Stuff).
3. Extras: Victoria creative writing prize and literary journal; WelTec students upgrading ferry air-conditioning; Massey’s Jan Dixon testifies in a fraud case; Game Jam at Waikato; Canterbury artist in residence Fata Feu’u.

Teaching & Learning

1. Extras: Open Poly’s new science qual for primary school teachers; Waikato’s Holly Thorpe off to teach on a Fulbright.

1. Unitec Trades Boost Unitec will add 34% (more than a thousand) places in 2012 over 2011 in construction, civil engineering, carpentry, electrical engineering, plumbing and gasfitting and quantity surveying. They’re doing it to meet Christchurch needs amongst other things.
2. RIP Phil Capper Phil Capper, educational thinking and long-time director of WEB Research dies last week. Stuart Middleton has a tribute to his ideas and there is also a tributes page set up by the funeral home.
3. Building Evacuated NMIT has evacuated a beautiful old building that only meets 10% of building codes and would probably collapse like a pack of cards in an earthquake – I’ve been in it and, as lovely as it is, it’d be a death trap. The building originally housed the Nelson Institute, which was initiated in 1841 as the first British colonists travelled by ship to Nelson – it started with a library, then moved into education and ended up as the basis for Nelson’s public library and museum. I am such an education history geek that I have the Institute’s 1948 history next to me.
4. Tairawhiti Investment EIT’s Tairawhiti trades complex is getting a $2.5m investment, which will be welcomed in the area.
5. Awkward Handshake Massey’s Steve Maharey seems to be trying to upstage John Key for awkward handshakes in Singapore, where he renewed some interesting relationships.
6. IRL Issues Auckland’s science dean Grant Guilford doesn’t think IRL will be able to support 350 new staff on the money proposed by National, but when you read to the end of the article, it turns out he really just wants the money to go to universities.
7. Vic Campus Hub There’s a good story on Victoria’s Campus Hub, which I’ve been involved in for 5 years via the students’ association trust up there.
8. Extras: Wayne Mapp visited Massey and got into an argument with a Labour MP over research funding (in the paper, not on campus); Porirua candidates on youth policy (and in Tauranga too).

Research & Innovation

1. CSI Otago Otago Uni’s Chemistry Isotrace unit has used blue paint found under the scale of 2 (out of 1,000) dumped snapper to nab a specific fishing vessel (NewstalkZB, One News)
2. Gates Funding Otago Uni’s Russell Poulter has scored a grant from a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funded initiative for an HIV project (NewstalkZB).
3. Medical Software Auckland’s Thor Besier is leading a team to develop medical software that can model a patient’s musculoskeletal system.
4. Silly Men Waikato’s Linda Nikora has found that Maori women are citing their partners’ symptoms to the doctor because the men won’t go in. Cost is raised as an issue but wouldn’t the women face the same cost?
5. Extras: Auckland-Waikato geography and cancer study; PM’s science prizes are on Dec 16; Victoria’s John Collen on geological work in the South Pacific; new book on leaky buildings by AUT’s Rod Thomas; Massey farming tool gets innovation award; Otago Uni’s Jacinta Ruru on a Fulbright; Glyn Harper’s war book gets fourth reprint (Massey).

Public Issues

1. Shakespeare Otago Uni’s Prof Evelyn Tribble makes the case for Shakespeare being the real deal, noting that the film Anonymous covers only 1 out of 78 nominated alternative writers over the years.
2. Retirement Age Auckland’s Alastair Woodward and Otago Uni’s Tony Blakely had an op-ed on the need to increase the retirement age.
3. Rena Waikato academics are talking about the oceans, the oil, the seafood and the salvage. Massey bird teams ready to leap into action.
4. Election Auckland’s Raymond Miller on a terrible poll for Labour. NZUSA’s David Do is voting early. Victoria’s Maria Bargh on the Te Tai Tonga race. Otago Uni’s Bryce Edwards on the Greens. Massey’s Claire Robinson on body language in politics. Students cited here and here by the NZ Herald on election views.
5. Extras: Otago Uni hosted a rather boring sounding seminar on rugby; Massey’s David Tripe has an op-ed on credit ratings; Canterbury’s Deirdre Hart warns coastal property owners about risks; Timaru Herald on Otago Uni/Victoria climate change research; Jan Wright, Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, at Otago Uni symposium on conservation land (speech); Waikato’s Prof Jonathan Scott on GPS tracking of cars.

Students

1. Great Photos UCOL’s Fleur Verhoeven has won the CANON Eyecon competition – two other UCOL and one CPIT students placed.
2. Dunedin Fires Otago Uni is very disappointed that students lit fires in Dunedin and has decided under its Code of Conduct to whip them (I made that last bit up).
3. Car Crash Death Canterbury student Benjamin Stantiall died in Marlborough in a car crash on his way home to Marton for the holidays (Manawatu Standard, NZN). Another student, Victoria’s Emma Davis, stars in a road safety video after her near escape from serious injury or death.
4. Extras: advice on surviving financially as a student; Victoria’s Helen Taylor on kiwi breeding; Waikato students get adult learner awards; CPIT students off to Cup Day; Massey design student expo; ETITO Bright Sparks awards winners; school student for Otago Uni science programme.

Stakeholders

1. Extras: Victoria’s Prof Tim Nash is up for a Wellingtonian award; WITT’s Robyn Trewern cooking cauliflower; Victoria’s John Randal makes mountain bike tracks in his lunch hour; Otago Poly helping to organise southern nursing strategy.