ED » Agriculture

News 30/11 – Labour Leadership. Aged Care. Microsoft-SPCA Links.

Dave Guerin — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 20:25:19 +0000

Policy & Management

Labour Leadership David Shearer’s speech to the NZ Tertiary Education Summit has been talked up as a Labour leadership speech – I was there and it was a good speech and I have a lot of time for him. Auckland’s Joe Atkinson comments briefly on the race.
Extras: recognition for CPIT TV ads; SIT’s good financial rating; Auckland’s Darren Levy becomes a chartered marketer.

Research & Innovation

NZARE The NZ Assn for Research in Education conference is this week, and a satellite event on Māori education has been run already.
Aged Care Auckland’s Prof Martin Connolly and Michal Boyd have checked out changes in uptake for residential aged care and changes in residents’ characteristics – interesting.
Extras: Massey’s Prof Sally Casswell (and others) may extend an alcohol study to Asia; Nigel Calder’s maths book (Waikato); disability research conference at Otago Uni; WelTec helps GNS scientist; academics talking about gastroenterology; new Waikato research centre; Waikato emeritus prof Jon McCraw’s Waikato River book.

Public Issues

Rock Climbing There’s a rock climbing congress at Canterbury this week.
Occupy Otago Uni’s Andrew Geddis on an Occupy trespass notice.
Gender Pay Gap Massey’s Deborah Russell on the gender pay gap.
Rena A journalist spent time with Massey’s Oiled Wildlife Response Unit and has written a great story – that unit won’t need a marketing budget for a couple of years after its Rena exposure!
Extras: Otago Uni’s Bryce Edwards on the impact of minor parties on tight electorate races; Auckland’s Scott Optican and Bill Hodge on an AB’s name suppression; Otago Uni’s emeritus prof Helen Leach with a Xmas cake book; Canterbury’s Prof Greg Newbold on a sexual connection case; AUT’s Geoff Dickson stirs up migrants who love rugby.

Students

Orchids Waikato PhD thesis on native orchids.
Extras: Waikato geochemistry and earth and ocean science student awards; Auckland student’s music; student tried to enter Tai Poutini’s MAINZ after tough time; Coroner looks at Otago Uni student’s car crash death; Otago Uni medical interns in Nelson; NMIT youth enterprise award winner;

Stakeholders

Microsoft Links Canterbury and Microsoft have renewed a partnership and internships with Microsoft will increase.
SPCA Links WelTec has signed a good work experience agreement with the SPCA – nice work!
Incubators There’s been 10 years of business incubators in NZ, with some now at Auckland, AUT and Wintec.
Freemasons a 30 year relationship with the Freemasons and Auckland has been marked with some extra financial support to the Uni.
Extras: Sealord sets up scholarship to celebrate 50 years; Ako Aotearoa’s Ngahiwi Apanui profiled for his music-making; Otago Poly’s Joy Gasson on a schools’ computer competition; Jacob Tapiata on Massey Māori book awards; Otago Uni Pasifika research protocol (release).

Teaching & Learning

Top Teachers AUT’s students have awarded their top teachers – congrats to Sue Raleigh, overall winner.
Extras: Dylan Horrocks’ summer comics course at Whitireia; Ag ITO quad bike training.

News 13/6 – Picking Winners. King’s Education Inquest. ITF Changes.

Dave Guerin — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 19:33:24 +0000

White Terraces Found I was pretty happy about scientists finding the Pink Terraces in January but it turns out they also found the White Terraces (TVNZ), but only found out after going through all the data (and then waited until the 125^th anniversary of their destruction to announce it). Waikato Uni was involved.
Picking Winners KPMG has proposed that agribusiness students should get financial incentives from the government due to a decline in such areas – hmm, how about the industry offering internships, jobs and better pay?
Wintec House Wins Wintec House won Property Council awards for reusing a heritage building and education/arts categories.
King’s Education Inquest An inquest starts today to look at the collapse of the CTV building, which housed King’s Education. Ah, well, that would be the case if you believed a wire story, but The Press has written that “The coroner will not be able to investigate why the building collapsed”. I’ll go with the latter version. Also, the focus will be on CTV and King’s Education staff tomorrow and the students on Wednesday.
ITF Changes Ian Elliott is the new ITF chair, replacing Kevin Bryant (who stepped down). There are also some new board members.
Education and Work Simon Collins has written a good article in the NZ Herald on young people’s experiences trying to get into work and education, with education just being a backstop for some – a good read. Meanwhile Waikato Uni has recognised firms participating in its science and engineering work placement programme.
Te Reo The proposal that school teachers learn about Maori culture and language has spurred quite a few stories (NewstalkZB, RNZ) including some with many comments at TVNZ and RadioLIVE). The NZEI liked the idea (if resources) while the PPTA was a bit antsy about compulsory measures – ACT’s Don Brash didn’t like it at all. However, from what I can see there’s a voluntary programme being rolled out to schools, while Pita Sharples’ media release specifically says that the measures are not compulsory, although pre-service teacher education standards will probably be sought in future. In any case, Sharples wasn’t making a full announcement, but simply responding to the report of an advisory group, the Maori Youth Council.
Beanies for Chch Whakatane locals have knitted and sent down four boxes of beanies to Christchurch students.
Knowledge Links Sir Ray Avery wants to do a Facebook (or LinkedIn) type project to share knowledge about firms’ expertise – the idea was sparked after he found out by chance that Massey was working on the same area as his firm.
Green Stuff Auckland Uni’s Denise Conroy and Rachel Wolfgram are making a specialty out of investigating green weddings. Speaking of green things, here’s a nice review of Vic’s solar bach project.
Marine Biodiversity Waikato’s Prof Chris Battershill links agrichemicals to marine biodiversity.
What Pilot Training Probs? CTC Aviation Group is hiring lots more instructors – they’re obviously not too worried about student loan changes.
Maori King Who knew that Keith Rankin, who complained about the Maori King, was a former Unitec plumbing tutor?
Quake Stuff A CPIT childcare centre seems to be in a difficult financial position (although one would imagine CPIT could spare a few dollars for them). Waikato’s Kevin Furlong visited Tauranga to give a lecture. Canterbury is helping the National Library document the quakes. A story on sea levels and Christchurch rebuilding quotes Canterbury and ex-Otago academics. New Canterbury course to give students credit for volunteer work during the quake is just about to be launched – they will also need to do some writing. NMIT’s latest timber building is of interest to people rebuilding Christchurch.
Arts Waiariki students delivered a performance showcase over the weekend. A Whitecliffe student is exhibiting in Tauranga. An SIT student making his first gig.
Short Bits A WITT grad who started on a young mums’ programme is now working at WITT to help others. AUT: Prof Simon Milne on customer service; Paul White on the age of models. Otago Uni: MBA student named Otago rugby captain; Jean Simpson on child car restraints; Prof Mark Henaghen on a difficult child custody case; Owen Marshall on some topic. Victoria: Liz Jones on punishments for last school kids; Hartmut Hoehle on electronic banking (and David Tripe of Massey on a related matter); a student won an environmental award; a student is on the Wellywood sign panel. An Auckland student is making a few dollars by importing and reselling goods with the high dollar. Waikato: Prof Michael O’Driscoll on a new book about coping with workplace stress (Sunday Star-Times). Auckland: Canterbury: memoir of a mother losing a daughter to cancer. Waiariki’s CE Pim Borren chaired an economic development group for Rotorua (NB the Peter Guerin quoted isn’t a relative). Open day at Bay of Plenty Poly and Waikato Uni Tauranga. Some people on a benefit won’t be able to access an Aoraki Poly course and stay on that benefit (why this made a paper, I do not know…). Massey: Imran Muhammad on public transport in Palmie; Clair Robinson on political judgment. Comments from Media Design School on gaming industry growth.

News 28/4 – Bye Bye Artechmobile. Silly Research. Joint Indian Office.

Dave Guerin — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 21:59:20 +0000

Media Eric Canterbury’s Eric Crampton has got in the media again, arguing that the RWC will not have great economic returns (he’s quite right, but economic returns are what we fool ourselves about when we really just want to have a party).
Bye Bye Artechmobile Possibly the worst named mobile classroom I have seen (not that I’ve seen many) has been retired from Wintec service. Putting aside the name, it’s had a proud 30 year history and was Tardis-like in its ability to expand.
Silly Research Some Canterbury Uni research has apparently found that young NZer’s greatest fear is living in a city apartment and not having access to an outdoor lifestyle. Really. Well, that’s what a survey of 132 young people came up with or more accurately, what 33% of the 74 people who responded to the fears question said. Even more accurately, 80% of the sample was drawn from Canterbury and Otago Uni networks and the margin of error for NZ is probably well over 50% for most of the questions once the small sample size and the poor sampling approach are considered. And even then, it seems that the researchers have aggregated replies to an open question, without any description of how they have done that. You can see the whole report here and it is a mildly interesting read, but I wouldn’t bet the farm on the results.
CPIT Nurses CPIT is celebrating its nursing students’ contribution after the February quake.
Boffin Case The TEU-Massey employment case over the conduct of restructuring panels may be appealed by Massey. It seems like it was a big judgment.
Murder Plea A man charged with the murder of Chinese student Jiayi Li (Kiko) has changed his plea to guilty.
Joint Indian Office EIT and UCOL have opened a joint office in Bangalore – the photo at the link shows ED Blog reader Melanie Chapman cutting the ribbon J
Media Man Here’s a profile of the new head of comms, journalism and marketing at Massey (Prof Malcolm Wright).
Doctoral Students …are up 30% at Waikato Uni.
Lego Robots That’s what WelTec engineering students have been building.
Dairy Changes Waikato’s Stuart Locke thinks that demand for ethanol might push cows into barns.
Malaysia Link Wintec has a new link with the Open University of Malaysia to develop security training.
NMIT Artists There are three stories on NMIT student artist graduates: two artists in residence; an exhibition by two recent grads; and another one by two more grads.
Otago Corner A museum exhibition part developed by Otago Poly will not be touring. A former Hocken librarian has been honoured for his later work in museums. Otago Uni has been given $2m for arthritis research. Neurosurgery appointments go on. An Otago Uni student is going to the world junior weightlifting champs. Skin infection rates for kids (media release). Otago Poly chefs are cooking pizza. Otago Uni’s Bryce Edwards on ACT. Profile of a Queenstown Resort College grad.
Short Bits Auckland Uni’s Prof Jane Kelsey wants the Urewera case to be stayed (RNZ). A Lincoln student has prepared a design for Kurow. Massey’s David Tripe on Westpac’s muck-up on government pay (hope our readers got paid!). An SIT staffer is too busy to compete in the NBL. An Agriculture ITO trainee is doing well. AUT’s Ella Henry on Hone Harawira’s new party. Profile of a Media Design School tutor. A story on the old Education NZ announcement. A Waikato student’s netball thesis. EIT’s tribute to its late kaumatua.
Media Mentions Labour’s Clayton Cosgrove cited approvingly some Massey research on business failure in Christchurch – of course the research was just a literature review. Canterbury Uni’s timber test building could be a model for Christchurch rebuilding.

News 25/3 – Oxford Exchange for UC. Export Ed Outlook. Kevin Rudd’s BBQ.

Dave Guerin — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 20:38:48 +0000

Oxford Exchange UC (I’m sick of typing their full name!) has announced a student exchange with the University of Oxford – 42 honours and postgrad students will spend an 8 week term there and UC is putting $2K towards airfares (fees are covered by Oxford). That’s pretty cool.
Export Ed Outlook Education NZ has done a survey of agents that show few departures of students from NZ, but a significant impact on forward bookings in the short term, and agents intend to continue promoting NZ – it’s pretty much what you would expect (RNZ, NZPA).
Ag ITO Literacy Success The Agriculture ITO seems to be having great success with their literacy and numeracy project.
King’s Education Deaths 4 people who died in the CTV building have been named, including 2 Japanese students and the managing director, Brian Taylor.
Fair Extension A UC student rescued from the rubble of the CTV building was due to submit her Masters thesis the next day but got an extension and has now handed it in (media release, NZ Herald).
Alumni Awards Massey has given out four alumni awards, including one to former VC Sir Neil Waters (NZPA).
Hmm Rotorua’s Daily Post has run a story about Waiariki and school students posting “rants” on Facebook about packed classrooms, course quality etc. The story provides no evidence of the rants but has people in authority from Waiariki, its students’ assn, a local school and an AUT social media expert all tut-tutting about it and saying they should only go through proper channels. Maybe the article could have had (a) some balance and (b) some respect for freedom of speech.
Bye Bye Stoats Lincoln’s Prof Charlie Eason has had a stoat poison approved by ERMA.
Rudd BBQ Kevin Rudd is going to be at the UC for a beer and a BBQ tonight. Incidentally, UC has reassured bondholders that it will meet its obligations, so should have some money left to pay for the snarlers too. Hopefully he doesn’t invite local Labour MPs around, given the narrative around BBQs and Phil Goff’s leadership.
Tipped Over An Otago poly student had her car, a Fiat Tipo, tipped over.
Too Much Salt…is eaten by NZers, according to Auckland Uni’s Emeritus Prof Robert Beaglehole.
Useful Research? Older people would like to have a bowel cancer screening blood test according to Otago Uni research – and who is surprised by that? The question is really the cost-benefit ratio, not whether it might be a nice thing.
Financial Exams Fewer financial advisers than expected have enrolled for ETITO exams.
Short Bits A debate on e-books at Waikato. Massey’s new farm mgmt professor, Nicola Shadbolt. Sir Peter Blake’s son, James, is studying at Otago Uni. A Victoria student is targeting the 1500m at the London Olympics. An AUT grad has won an RNZ International prize. TEU did a good Budget preview. Times are tough for NMIT students. An AUT arts student has exhibited in the Cook Islands. A Victoria student is taking a gap year, and heading to a farm in Ecuador. Auckland Uni’s Dr Steven Ratuva on Melanesian politics. Student volunteers are heading back to the books in Christchurch. Insider trading and Maori oral health research at Otago Uni.

News 28/1 – Dairy & Academic Freedom. Sailing Away. Inflation.

Dave Guerin — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 20:12:40 +0000

Dairy and Academic Freedom Massey’s Mike Joy has made some strong statements over the years about dairying’s impact on the environment, especially in relation to the Manawatu River in recent times. It seems he has got up the nose of the dairy industry again with some comments about a recent NZIER study about dairying’s economic benefits to NZ that was reported widely. I’m not an expert on the issues, but I do detect a rather missionary zeal on Joy’s part that is likely to annoy people even if he is right. But anyway, this article in Rural News seems to have some potential (and I stress potential) threats to academic freedom and I wonder if these will get wider coverage from interested parties. I have no concern about industry figures pressuring Joy (that’s just the cut and thrust of free speech) but Massey seems to be distancing themselves from him and that’s more interesting.
Great Sailors NMIT’s Sandra Williams is off to a UK yachting regatta, being part of one of six two-person crews selected to represent NZ.
Smoking Hysteria I was amazed at how upset the media got about the smoking research work being advertised through Student Job Search (and another story). It’s not surprising that the government-funded lobby groups got upset, but really, don’t the media have something better to do, like follow Hone Harawira around?
Inflation The TEU is worried about the impact of “increased costs of higher GST and inflation when buying goods” for tertiary institutions. I’m happy to argue that it will have no impact on institutions, as GST is simply a tax that institutions collect – that’s why budgets are all GST exclusive. In fact, higher GST is likely to have a beneficial effect as institutions collect more tax than they pay, so while they hold that money their interest income will be marginally higher. You could argue that higher fees would depress demand, but demand is, of course, high and the student loan scheme minimises price resistance. And while inflation matters, the inflation spike in the December quarter was due to GST, for which staff have been compensated through tax changes, reducing pay increase pressure for that cause.
Pike River An Otago Uni academic commented on the Pike River disaster for yesterday’s inquest here and here.
Flood Protection Otago Uni is a bit unpopular for the extra costs that its campus master plan may have on regional council flood protection work in Dunedin – see here and here – especially since the Uni’s land is non-rateable!
Bluetooth Bottle A Canterbury Uni researcher is in an international competition for his Bluetooth device to check whether an LPG bottle is getting empty.
Flats Invercargill flats are running low for students – if you believe the property managers. NZUSA research also suggests more students are living at home.
Circus Some CPIT grads have joined the circus.
Short Bits Massey vets are helping out another kiwi. UCOL had an open day in Masterton. An Auckland Uni staff comments on Chinese New Year. Live on a farm and have fewer allergies.
Media Mentions National’s new candidate for Botany has a comms diploma from MIT.

News 2/7 – Security Scandal, PTE $$ and Job Cuts

Dave Guerin — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 19:39:13 +0000

There are two posts coming up this morning. At 10.30, a story on new degrees by Harrods and Wal-Mart will be posted. At 11.45, a video with some food for thought on engaging young people will go up. If you want something now, the news below is full of good stories and there has been strong debate in the comments in the last two days (you can access comments via the sidebar at right).

Security Scandal The scandal of the security firm that gave its staff answers to ETITO assessments continues, with the whistleblower having been sacked. Her union, Unite, is on the case and asserts that she was fired for speaking to the media and releasing the assessor guide(s) to the union. There are two sides to every story, but this doesn’t look good for the employer. TV3 covered the issue last night and couldn’t get any comment from the employer, but did get comments from the (ex) employee, Unite and ETITO. Unite is still running the line that the cheating practice is rife in the security industry but hasn’t put up any more evidence yet. The Dominion Post, which investigated the original story, has more detail this morning, as does the ODT.
Extra PTE Money? The TEU has developed an item from one of our ED Insider reports into a bigger story – Steven Joyce said last week that he was keen to address the capital component denied to PTEs and the TEU has got comment from the Greens and Labour. In the sidebar of that link, you’ll see other good TEU stories on new funding rates and a deal for parents at the University of Auckland.
Undie 500 TV3 covered the Undie 500 site in Seddon, Marlborough.
New PBRF Guidelines The TEC has got good business support for the new PBRF guidelines, released yesterday.
Conferences The University of Canterbury is running a two-day symposium on Antarctic politics next week. The University of Auckland is running a conference on white collar crime and serious fraud.
Want to Link to STEO? STEO, an MOE site that caters to the data side of tertiary education, had has its copyright policy criticised by Russell Brown on top blog Public Address. He’s concerned that STEO and other sites require you to ask for permission before you link to their site - oops, now I’m in trouble! What a silly policy. I’m with Russell on this one.
Job Cuts at Massey and NMIT NZPA covered the TEU’s media release about 53 jobs being axed at Massey University (and The Manawatu Standard has a little more detail), but NMIT is looking to cut 20 FTES as part of a drive to save $2m pa. Programmes will also be cut from 90 to 80. The full consultation document will go to staff in late July.
SIT Hostel Criticised SIT’s Grand Hall of Residence is under fire for poor conditions again today, with a long article and an editorial in The Southland Times.
Maori Course At Risk WITT’s course in the Taranaki Maori dialect is at risk due to low enrolments but various options are being explored.
Maori Art Book A Massey PhD student has had a book on the visual language of Maori art published.
Farmers and Science Jon Morgan, a specialist agriculture writer, has written a great piece for the Dominion Post on a technology transfer workshop at Massey University (with AgResearch input) where 250 farmers attended and 80 were turned away. Have a read of it as it’s a great case study of how science, or research in general, can be linked to real world productivity improvements. Imagine if we could do this in more sectors across the economy.
Research University of Auckland researchers are taking part in a worldwide trial of a polypill - four pills in one – to treat cardiac disease, while others have found that a drug can help to repair noise-induced hearing loss. An Otago Uni associate professor has written on the impact of genetics on heart disease. I meant to cover this a few weeks ago, but Vic’s Wetox sludge processing product got some good coverage by US magazine Fast Company. Other Otago Uni researchers are trying to work out if dogs know when humans are sad or angry.
New Music University of Auckland staff are looking into new music technologies - I quite like John Coulter’s “‘Speaking Stick’, a hollowed manuka branch combined with wireless digital technologies, emits rich and deep bassoon-like tones, as well as the sounds of the New Zealand forest, as it is played and moved about the stage”.
Top Rowers/Boxers/Programmers Two Otago Uni rowers are off to the world university rowing champs in Hungary. Bay of Plenty Poly pool guard and gym instructor is also a top boxer and is trying to raise money to get to the world champs in Barbados. The Auckland Uni OneBeep technology team is confident ahead of their Microsoft Imagine Cup world competition in Poland.
Exhibitions A Canty Uni lecturer has an exhibition down that way, while AUT has worked with the Akld City Council on an exhibition with scale models of Akld through time - I’d been waiting for some images for that.

News 24/5 – Restructuring Booms, as Does Budget Reaction

Dave Guerin — Sun, 23 May 2010 20:15:21 +0000

Restructuring Around the Country
- Massey University is closing down its Hawkes Bay teacher education courses, based at EIT. It will maintain its MOE-funded teacher professional development team. The 59 students will be able to transfer to Palmerston North or continue studying by distance. Massey says that the operation is not financially viable. As budgets tighten, it will be interesting to see if more satellite activities are ceased.
- WITT has cut its faculties from 3 to 2, cut 12 positions and is looking at other ways to cut costs and increase revenue to deal with the ending of one-off funding next year.
- Social work students are arguing for not making cuts to their University of Otago department.
Budget Reaction
- The NZVCC came out with a strong reaction to the Budget on Friday afternoon, arguing that there is no more money and nothing to complement the welcomed science investments.
- Maryan Street has attacked the Budget over ACE cuts (not sure if those are old or just the impact of last year’s announcement – I tend toward the latter), small EFTS rises at ITPs and unis (she effectively divides them by the number of institutions) and confusingly attacks the government for both cutting the amount that some institutions can put up fees and for making students pay more.
- NMIT CE Tony Gray hopes just -completed restructuring will deal with the $2m drop in one-off funding in 2011. Student leader Rachel Boyack is concerned that student loan living cost limits haven’t gone up to account for GST.
- Tairawhiti Polytechnic expects a $1m cut to its budget next year, on top of $2m announce last year – I’m not sure where the extra $1m comes from.
- Stuart Middleton has a thougttfiul column on the Budget.
- The NZ Herald has a good editorial on ECE funding changes, pointing out that powerful union and training provider interests have been pushing 100% teacher registration for ECE and it is time for another look at that.
Weak Booze Report I mentioned a report a couple of weeks back done by an Otago University Students’ Assn employee, with funding from them, the University and the City Council. Turns out that it was only a four and a half page report and cost $40,000.
Dairy Trainee of the Year I mentioned the winner of the Dairy Trainee of the Year recently but now there’s a good background story on him in the ODT.
Wintec Events Grad …Bianca Angel is using her skills to co-organise a music festival at Mystery Creek. It’s great seeing someone give it a go and using their tertiary education skills. Good luck, and if, you’re in the area, why not check out Shiverdown, a Kiwi dub and reggae festival.
UniServices No. 1 The University of Auckland’s subsidiary UniServices won the “Large business over $10 million turnover” category of the Vero Excellence in Business Support Awards.
Welcome to New Council Whitireia Community Polytechnic welcomed its new Council members last week. The welcome includes Whitireia’s superb performing arts group.
Student Success The Sunday Star-Times had a story yesterday on some MOE research on student success. The headline was on students who take a gap year doing better, but there are other points in the story.
Naked Vets The Massey University vet students’ Naked Vets calendar is now out – it’s all for a good cause (a big party for them). One of the promo shots is below and here’s a Dom Post story.

News 17/5 – ECE Teacher Training Shortage, Gondolas to Massey & BOPP $$

Dave Guerin — Sun, 16 May 2010 20:22:41 +0000

ECE Teacher Shortage Exacerbated The NZ Tertiary College has had to close its enrolments in April after it went over its funding caps. It has 90% course completion rates but has 100 students ready to enrol, plus another 400 on a waiting list. NZTC is a specialist in training early childhood education teachers, which are in hot demand (and shortage) right now.
Vic Enrolments Closure Reaction Some reactions continued over the closure of Victoria University’s enrolment closure, including blog No Right Turn.
Gondola to Massey?A gondola system, dubbed Palmylink, has been proposed to run from Palmerston North to Massey University. The idea is that it will reduce congestion and improve sustainability. The Promoters are looking for $50m.
SIT’s New Building SIT will use new apartments in a proposed Queenstown building for students, although they could be converted to general rentals too. SIT has had interest in Queenstown from international students, but no accommodation to offer them.
Dairy Industry Awards Congrats to 2010 New Zealand Dairy Trainee of the Year, Blake Korteweg.
Otago’s Campus Master Plan The University of Otago has just released its long-term campus plan and the link will take you to a long opinion piece by VC Sir David Skegg. The ODT has a brief story but the document will be formally released this afternoon, so details will wait until after that.
Bar Manager The Professional Bar and Restaurant School, a PTE with large enrolments and low funded EFTS, has a new general manager, Hamish Small.
Tairawhiti Farm Cadets Turanga Ararau, a Gisborne Maori PTE, is running a farm cadet scheme that was visited by the PM and other Ministers last week - support is coming from the Ag ITO, Tairawhiti Poly, TPK and others.
Eco-Coffin A Unitec graduate has had his eco-coffin accepted into New York’s Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt Museum’s National Design Triennial Exhibition.
Bay of Plenty Poly $$ Bay of Plenty Polytechnic had an $8.5m surplus last year, but after accounting for capital injections from the government, it had a $2.5m surplus, still 5.7% of revenue.

Lessons from Farming

Dave Guerin — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 04:25:58 +0000

A few years back I was brainstorming with a group about what export education research needed to be done in NZ. Someone suggested that we should replicate the farming model and set up something similar to monitor farms where people could go and learn what works and why in the industry. A story about the Whatawhata Hill Country Research Station reminded me of that conversation, as the operators are seeking to turn it into a demonstration farm, focusing on one topic at a time, rather than the systemic focus of the monitor farms.

What made me sad about that story was that we have neither the systemic or the topical exemplars that operate in agriculture, and sector performance suffers as a result. One of the reasons for that is that everyone is “different”. We can all pick a statistic that we do well on and laud that to the exclusion of the others (and we all do that picking and choosing), but there isn’t enough focus on simple, meaningful outcome indicators. That’s why I’m supportive of the government’s focus on performance reporting. Of course the start date and/or the data quality will be downgraded by positioning over the next few months, but it points us in the right direction of focusing on what tertiary education students achieve with their time and money (and taxpayers’ money).