1. Canterbury Loss Up Canterbury’s projected loss for 2012 is up from $10m to $15m, but it drops to $9m once insurance comes in (presumably the earlier $10m figure also dropped after insurance).
2. Skill Shortages The ITF’s new CE, Mark Oldershaw, has made the news in week 1 – talking about skill shortages.
3. Extras: prosecution due to a workplace accident at Victoria (by a contractor); big Council investment in carpark to help MIT; a letter to the editor about night classes.

Research & Innovation

1. Fire! Canterbury’s Prof Charles Fleischmann has received a US award for fire engineering research. He’s researched furniture flammability, which I would have thought more of an Otago Uni specialisation…
2. Ant Cycles Victoria’s Meghan Cooling and Phil Lester have found out about the life cycles of Argentine ant colonies.
3. Extras: Waikato legal research centre focusing on Maori governance; Victoria’s Melanie Johnston-Hollitt helping with Square Kilometre Array software; Waikato solar car at the beehive; KiwiNet workshop.

Public Issues

1. Lucky Christchurch Canterbury’s adjunct Prof John Cookson is writing a five-part series on Christchurch in The Press.
2. Turkey Tails Otago Uni’s Nick Wilson comments on the impact of turkey tails in Samoa (don’t you love the variety of tertiary education!).
3. HIV Otago Uni’s Nigel Dickson has reported on late diagnosis of HIV (gaynz.com).
4. Rents Massey’s Prof Bob Hargreaves on rent and wages.
5. Extras: Massey symposium on nutrition and brain development in babies plus fish oil research by Prof Welma Stonehouse; Waikato’s Natalie Jackson on population trends; AUT’s Vernon Rive on climate change discussions.

Students

1. Fashion Whitecliffe’s fashion show looked pretty good. CPIT’s fashion show is on Saturday.
2. NZ’s Top…gymnast is at AUT.
3. Extras: one of Unitec’s TV ad stars is part of the grad exhibition; a bit on Auckland student activism in this piece on Occupy; ambulance officer student; NorthTec students’ visual arts display; UCOL acting student off to Unitec.

Stakeholders

1. Oxford Donation A Canterbury scholarship to study at Christ Church, Oxford, has been boosted by a Trust’s donation.
2. Extras: Intergen’s Otago Poly/Uni links; Massey’s Terry Stewart being a hillbilly; winner of Massey Maori book awards;

Teaching & Learning

1. Sustainable Course This release is a bit of a promo but it’s an interesting one about an Otago Poly sustainable practice course and how its students have done.
2. Pasifika Trades Training…is being offered at CPIT to help rebuild Christchurch (release).

1. Money Laundering Tow foreign students had their identities used by a fraudster to launder money.
2. CPIT Pay A CPIT pay offer is going to staff for a vote. Looks like it might pass.
3. Aoraki Cuts The TEU says staff are gutted about course cuts at Aoraki. There’s also a story on the Ashburton situation and a brief story on Aoraki cuts
4. UCOL Whanganui UCOL CE Paul McElroy reassured Whanganui students that there was no need to fear the arts courses review.
5. Prison Training Christchurch prison trade training (The Press, RNZ).
6. Extras: profile of NorthTec’s new gallery; EIT’s Trades and Technology Training Centre won a local architecture award; hail caused a sun sail to collapse at Waiariki.

Research & Innovation

1. Snapper Spawning Auckland’s Carina Sim-Smith has found out where snapper spawn.
2. Extras: Auckland’s Janet Fanslow on intimate partner violence; history conference at Waikato; Massey’s Pasture Meter; Massey’s Sarb Johal on the impact on public trust in institutions of the Rena grounding.

Public Issues

1. Election Waikato’s Prof Mark Harcourt on the minimum wage;
2. MMP Otago Uni’s Bryce Edwards has an op-ed on MMP, as does Unitec’s Keith Rankin, while NZUSA supports MMP.
3. Speak Out Auckland’s Prof Glenn McGregor urges scientists to speak out on issues like climate change.
4. Science and Poetry Massey’s Brian Walpert on science and poetry.
5. Extras: Auckland’s Jane Kelsey has an op-ed on trade talks; David Farrar criticises Auckland’s Rhema Vaithianathan over non-disclosure; Massey’s Alan Palmer on Manawatu Gorge slips; Massey’s Eric Neumann on pork trade.

Students

1. Mississippi Film Win Media Design School students and staff won an award at the Mississippi International Film festival.
2. Top Chefs Ten trainee chefs have been named as finalists in a national competition – they come from NorthTec, AUT, BOPP, HSI, SkyCity, WelTec, CPIT and Otago Poly.
3. Extras: WITT student named top retailer; Wintec student’s art exhibition; TWOA weaving exhibition; SIT research project display; a quasi-advertorial on a Massey student; Otago Uni student selling cookies; student looking at aviation safety; BOPP’s business students’ SPCA fundraiser; Otago Uni student’s op-ed on keeping energy assets; challenge of getting people into the building industry.

Stakeholders

1. Entrepreneurship Massey is helping to celebrate Global Entrepreneurship Week with a business case competition and an Intrapreneurship Summit.
2. Extras: Massey lecturer gets US military honour; Victoria recognises Hunter Fellows; great review of Otago Uni’s ScienceTeller Festival; Massey hosting business networking.

Teaching & Learning

1. Taranaki…Adult Learners’ Awards winners.
2. Extras: trades teaching app by Otago Poly.

1. Loan Scheme Loses Money TV3 did a story at the weekend disclosing how the interest-free student loan scheme would fail if it was a business, although it must be said that giving away money at no cost has never been seen as a winning business strategy. I’m happy it’s being highlighted but the treatment is a bit odd. Keith Ng at Public Address got grumpy about the story.
2. ACE Numbers The Press ran a story on the decline in ACE student numbers, seemingly just citing numbers from a representative of ACE-providing schools. The numbers are probably about right but I’d love to see what has really happened in that market and what people have done instead.
3. Otago Poly to Akld Otago Poly is setting up an Auckland campus to serve international students. They’re working with PTE Future Skills and plan to offer the first year of their business degree there.
4. TEC to Go? The TEC would be abolished if Tamaki independent candidate Stephen Berry has his way – he won’t, of course.
5. Transport Training Bay of Plenty Poly has a new transport training centre.
6. NZ Studies The 2009 closure of the UK-based Centre for NZ Studies made the news at the weekend as there was some controversy in the air. I’m not sure I care either way but it seems the accusations could either spell out corruption or a negotiated settlement, depending on how you look at it.
7. People Should Google AUT’s Alan Robie has been promoted to professor and the media release claimed that he might be the first journalism professor in NZ or the Pacific (there are heaps in Australia though).
8. King’s Education Push for an inquiry into the death of a King’s Education student in the Feb quake.
9. Extras: Otago Uni disability conference could lead to centre at Uni; WITT’s Richard Handley on youth unemployment (he’s misnamed in the report); decisions on Massey’s teacher education courses in new year; NZUSA likes the Maori Party tertiary education policy; discussion on IRL reforms (and again); Otago Uni’s advanced school science programme; Shane Telfer’s Fulbright; new Otago Uni neurosurgery lecturer.

Research & Innovation

1. Vanuatu Waikato’s Julie Barbour has a Marsden Grant to “complete the world’s first large-scale comparative study of “mood systems” in the Vanuatu languages” …
2. Climate Change Otago Uni and Victoria academics have reviewed the government’s work on climate change and found it came up short – blogger No Right Turn complains that the report is not available online.
3. Extras: Auckland’s Crown Lynn exhibition.

Public Issues

1. Election A confused Unitec student is interviewed. Victoria’s Jon Johansson on the Epsom situation. Massey’s Jane Parker on employment policies and Claire Matthews on raising the retirement age.
2. MMP Academics comment on MMP referendum: Massey’s Grant Duncan, Victoria’s Prof Nigel Roberts. Unitec’s Keith Rankin on the MMP referendum (and Massey’s Claire Robinson too)
3. Steve Williams Unbelievably, two academics were found to comment on Steve William’s behaviour.
4. Name that Sea Creature Auckland’s Mark Costello and Victoria’s Lisa Bryant try to name a sea creature washed ashore.
5. Blogging Victoria’s Danyl McLauchlan is one of NZ’s top bloggers (The Dim Post) and was profiled at the weekend. He has about 10 times my readership and is generally funnier. LawFuel also mentioned Victoria’s Dean Knight and Otago Uni’s Andrew Geddis as top law bloggers.
6. Extras: Canterbury’s Annie Potts on chickens’ history and emotions; Massey’s Claire Matthews on money personality tests and Prof Subhas Mukhopadhyay on a dodgy power saving tool; Auckland’s Rhys Jones, a public health specialist, on climate change; Victoria’s Prof John Pratt on penal systems; Auckland’s Jeff Harrison on concerns about a prescription drug; Canterbury’s Greg Newbold says prison crowding leads to assaults; AUT’s Robin Hankin on picking Lotto numbers; Prof Bruce Glavovic on the emotional toll of the Christchurch quakes; Susan Krumdieck’s UK lecture online; Canterbury’s Jeremy Finn on an IP dispute; Otago Uni’s Barrie Peake reckons that we should be testing for oil in BOP seafood; Massey’s Chris Wilkins on P’s declining popularity (Fairfax); Auckland’s Clare Wall on detox diets and Prof Tim Hazeldine on asset sales; Oamaru lecture by Victoria’s Conal McCarthy; Doug Sellman on alcohol.

Students

1. Cauliflower Winners HSI has announced its cauliflower cooking winners.
2. Intern Scheme NMIT is celebrating 14 years of an intern scheme run with a group of German universities – sounds like interesting stuff.
3. Top Otago apprentice… was Rachae Lynch of the Retail Institute.
4. Food Bank OUSA has had a big year for its food bank (ODT, RNZ).
5. Extras: Massey student who focuses more on swimming; Waikato student and netball umpire; Ohope building apprentice; Otago Poly trying to get women into the trades; Lincoln students have Red Zone ideas; BCITO expo; Otago Uni design students showing work at Arthur’s Pass; Massey Wellington design grads exhibition.

Stakeholders

1. Universe Tweets Otago Uni’s ScienceTeller Festival has an “explain the origins of the universe” tweeting competition.
2. Rena No new oiled wildlife found by Massey team (Stuff), but the Palmie Wildlife Centre will stay closed until January due to diversion of resources to Tauranga;
3. Top Farmer Lincoln’s South Island farmer of the year named.
4. Extras: top user of Otago Poly’s biodiesel consortium; Telford hosted a Clutha District Council meeting; sports academy link for TWOA; Unitec community garden; Bay of Plenty Poly students setting up Xmas decorations; student-built house fails to sell at BOPP; wine competition at Auckland.

Teaching & Learning

1. Adult Learner Awards…in Bay of Plenty.

Policy & Management

1. Aoraki Changes The ODT has a story about how Aoraki should develop a replacement media course with a bit of everything to replace its specialist media courses in Dunedin – it’s a TEU suggestion. Dunno about you, but keeping one wide-ranging course when the individual specialist courses don’t make money doesn’t seem to make sense to me. The Timaru Herald has more detail on the TEU submission.
   
2. ACE Labour’s David Shearer reflects on Bill English’s nice words about ACE (from 2005).
3. Massey Promotions/Changes Massey has promoted lots of people and highlighted a dairy chair for Danny Donaghy. They have also reported back on feedback on teaching qualification changes.
4. Xmas Completions The Retail Institute has a cool 8 weeks of Christmas competition to encourage completions.

Research & Innovation

1. Waking Up…on the operating table doesn’t sound like much fun but Waikato’s Moira Steyn-Ross reckons it happens to 1 in 1,000 of us.
2. Extras: EIT-WITT East West exhibition; nice story from an Erskine fellow/visitor at Canterbury; Lincoln’s Future Farming Centre; Otago Uni’s Chris Jackson involved in bowel cancer study.

Public Issues

1. Quake Canterbury’s Ursula Cheer has criticised the publication of a photo of two teenagers grieving their mother’s death after the Christchurch quake. A poll by Canterbury’s Kris Vavasour commenting on a poll of Canterbury residents, who are unhappy about slow quake recovery work.
2. Extras: Victoria’s Gaynor Parkin on Graham Henry’s happiness; Otago Uni’s Bryce Edwards on Occupy Dunedin.

Students

1. Student Exhibition
   Massey Albany this time, with some cool looking items, like Jason Domancie’s Safe Surfing Board below.
2. Extras: FITEC’s successful Straight to Work course in Northland; Otago Uni student/staff member couple making Tongan raw fish; Otago Uni student in Southern Steel.

Stakeholders

1. 4000 Year Donation The 4,000 relates to the age of a likely baby feeding cup donated to Auckland – Canterbury missed out because of the quake (Manawatu Standard).
2. Melbourne Cup Otago Poly’s Margo Barton was judging a Melbourne Cup-related fashion in the field event yesterday.
3. Extras: Auckland Maori economic development symposium.

Teaching & Learning

1. Community Learning Awards Tariana Turia gave out Dynamic Community Learning Awards for Adult Learners’ Week.
2. Islamic Studies…are now on offer from Auckland via a B.Theology course.

1. Dodgy English Entry Scores The NZ Herald ran claims of students being accepted to a PTE cookery course with far too low English scores. The Herald is running a good series on these matters, especially since they’ve taken the time to meet legal requirements and publish strong allegations.
2. ACE as Election Issue? ACE educators want to make restoration of their funding an election issue, but I think they are doomed to fail – in the heat of the moment they failed to get any traction and with the sky not falling in the interim, they’re pushing it uphill.
3. Carved Trees Otago Uni’s Ian Barber and Justin Maxwell are arguing for more protection for Moriori carved trees on the Chatham Islands (RNZ, NewstalkZB, ODT). You should read about it, as it’s quite interesting.
4. CTV Building The Press has a long story about the CTV building, weaving in people’s stories with the engineering issues.
5. Hi-Vis Fashion A fashion show by first year CPIT students on high-visibility fashion attracted John Key as a guest (and he got a tie)
6. Oxford Trip Canterbury Uni students are off soon to Oxford University.
7. Small Courses Aoraki Poly’s local paper has made a big deal of the number of the Poly’s low enrolment courses, but the numbers don’t mean much without peer comparison, financial analysis, etc.
8. Postcolonial Quake Canterbury Uni’s Dr Katie Pickles offered a postcolonial analysis of the impact of the Christchurch quake (yes, really). This stirred a lot of comments on the Stuff site and by blog New Zealand Conservative.
9. SIT Art…is up, with high enrolment growth.
10. Lotto Odds …were calculated by Auckland Uni and Victoria Uni academics.
11. Short Bits Cross-dressing against violence against women. Massey’s David Tripe on AMI (and on ANZ dropping the National Bank brand), Massey’s Michael Naylor on AMI, while Waikato’s Dr Stuart Locke argued AMI was a one-off and Otago Uni’s Bryce Edwards links AMI to asset sales. Lincoln’s Prof Derrick Moot on lucerne management. Auckland Uni’s sentencing competition winners, Susan St John on Working for Families and Prof Alistair Woodward on cycle helmet benefits. Tech support for the Student Volunteer Army. NMIT chefs with monkfish. The NZ Universities team will not be travelling to Japan. A student oriented station at Waikato Uni hopes to get a more powerful frequency. An NMIT band missed out on opening for Good Charlotte. AUT’s Paul Moon on sitting on tables, Romie Littrell on email etiquette and a new sports centre unveiled (media release). Unitec’s Regan Potangaroa on whether Christchurch’s eastern suburbs are being neglected. The Young Nats don’t like OUSA’s voter turnout. A Victoria student died of meningitis. Otago Uni’s new accountancy professor. Canterbury’s Jarg Pettinga looking for Christchurch fault lines. Some Japanese quake victims may sue. A student is part of an SIS spying row. CPIT will be hosting CHARTFEST. A Kiwi student is up for an international award for his surfboard. Massey’s Paul Spoonley on Chinese influence in NZ.
12. Media Mentions The film about tuatara love by Otago Uni science comms students has won international prizes. A Wintec student was part of a Labour party case study about a struggling family. Waikato Times cited Canterbury’s Philip Joseph on Maori seats.