Given a backlog of stories, this is today’s second news post. There’s a story below on training DHB board members, which reminds me that ED consultant David Choat was elected to the Capital and Coast DHB ten days ago. I’ve congratulated him personally, but thought I’d let you all know too. Make sure to call him if you need to be bumped up the waiting list

1. TWOA Resurgence TVNZ has done a story on the resurgence of Te Wananga O Aotearoa after a pretty rough time five years ago. The text story is brief but the video has much more detail – it is, however, a once over lightly story and demonstrates the problem of the lack of specialisation in TV reporting.
2. Silly Research Earlier today I mentioned the silly research (well, really it is just advocacy) by Otago Uni academics saying that alcohol was more expensive than bottled water. Water New Zealand agreed, pointing out that water comes out of the tap at less than a cent for 10 litres.
3. Uni Entrance University entrance may get harder or easier depending on how you look at it, according to an NZQA announcement.
4. VSM Vote Tomorrow The VSM Bill goes up for second reading tomorrow and NZUSA has a media release. It won’t pass its third reading until at least the next member’s day, so at least two weeks.
5. Libyan Deal NZ could get $30m from an education deal with Libya, to take on up to 300 scholarship students.
6. Auckland Fees University of Auckland fees will go up by the maximum 4% next year – I’ll send a chocolate fish to anyone who can show that Auckland has ever NOT put up fee by the maximum allowed. Craccum did a preview story.
7. Exhibitions WelTec has a series of events in its School of Creative Technologies exhibition this October and November – first up is an exhibition in Thistle Hall in Wellington (since the ITF is across the road, they have no excuse not to go!). A University of Auckland exhibition on architecture is going to be at Vic’s Adam Art Gallery (I’m only 200m away, but it is up the hill…).
8. Science Writing The shortlist for The Manhire Prize for Creative Science Writing has been released – it’s a joint VUW-RSNZ award. 
9. Short Bits HSI wants 10,000 workers for the Rugby World Cup. SIT nursing students are holding a health expo. Aoraki Poly had a small shrub fire (I meant shrub, not scrub).
10. Media Mentions Timaru’s population (Lincoln and Waikato Unis), training DHB Boards (Otago), seismic engineering (UC).
11. Otago Corner Otago Uni has named a new quality head honcho, is hosting the saboteur priest Fr Peter Murnane, has a physics academic arguing to replace water pipes now before peak oil hits, has secured funding for a zebrafish facility (for more on zebrafish research, read this - it’s really quite interesting),and is tangentially involved in a dental therapist dispute (the DHB is trying to claw back some of the 48 [!] days of leave the staff get). Otago Poly is having a big plant sale this weekend if you’re near Cromwell, where it also just had a cooking competition (here and here).

I just don’t see how universities can reconcile current enrolment practices with traditional academic standards. If there is one thing the New Zealand economy needs at present it is much more competitive entry (based solely on proven academic ability) into university and a re-assertion of academic standards.

Towards the end of the post, he asks the following question – I imagine you can guess his answer!

Do we want universities where the sole imperative is traditional academic standards or universities that have to compromise these standards by meeting social engineering agendas of governments or interest groups?

The post isn’t a major piece of work but I think it’s one of the first times a National MP has said anything definitive on the record about this issue – Joyce has usually danced around the issue. With Tom Ryan of the TEU providing a guest post today on the same issue, I thought it was timely to highlight it.

This guest post is by Tom Ryan, TEU President.

Recently New Zealand school principals announced that they were worried that pupils leaving their school would end up on the dole rather than in tertiary education study.  “How do you tell someone who has worked really hard to give themselves the chance of going to university that they might not get in?” asked chair of the Secondary Principals Association, Patrick Walsh. “It’s very disappointing when students capable of making a very good contribution to the economy for years to come are turned down. Instead, it could lead to more students being unemployed, which is not a good situation.”

The cause of this extraordinary announcement is the recent rush by universities to restrict the enrolments they will be taking next semester and next year.

And the cause of all this is a cap placed on tertiary institutions two years ago that prevented them enrolling too many students.  The cap was initially a response to an excess of competition between tertiary institutions with many engaging in huge advertising and promotional efforts to lure each others students and potential students. The goal of the policy was that institutions stop trying to grow their rolls at the expense of others and put more effort into focusing on quality – particularly an output of postgraduates and research. The result, within universities at least, seems to have been that the promotional and advertising competition has shifted its focus from recruiting fresh new first year students to attracting post graduate students as well as research funding.

Sadly the new policy also could not have come at a worse time. Just as it was introduced a demographic baby boom started leaving school and passing into tertiary education. Moreover, that pressure on rolls was further exacerbated by the global recession, which also is encouraging more people into study.

Suddenly the problem was not institutions competing with each other for a fixed number of students, but institutions overwhelmed by a rapidly expanded number of students.

University of Canterbury vice-chancellor Rod Carr says his university carried 500 EFTS above its cap last year and was likely to carry a further 600 domestic students above its cap this year. By defying the government’s EFTS cap last year, the university cost itself more than $3 million.

Dr Carr noted that the lack of Government funding had stretched university resources, with the student-to-staff ratio increasing from 19.3 (to one) to 20.3 in 2009. For staff, that represents a five percent increase in much of the work they need to do, such as assessment, student support and administration.

The people who are carrying the burden of stretched resources and increased workload are staff. Simply put, if the university wants to have more students, it needs to hire more staff or better reward its current employees.

The University of Canterbury is not the only institution in this position.  All around New Zealand rolls are up, while staff numbers remain static due to funding cuts the government introduced last year. No wonder they are reluctant to take some of the many young people who want to begin study.

The move by universities across New Zealand to dramatically restrict entry to many of their courses is the result of government failure to anticipate the combined pressure of demographic growth in student numbers and an increase in people looking to study during the recession.

The government’s policy of capping the number of students it is willing to fund needs to be reviewed. It is hurting the productivity of our economy. That policy made some sense when tertiary institutions were competing among themselves for students and were more focused on growth than quality. But in an environment when there is real growth in student numbers across the sector, the policy now is denying a rapidly growing number of young people the opportunity to get the skills and knowledge they are entitled to.

Most of those who face missing out on the chance to study are ordinary struggling New Zealanders. These are the very people who most need that opportunity to study, to contribute to the betterment of their families, the wider community, and our struggling economy.

PAUL Are you intimidated by the idea of sparring with Steven Joyce on Tertiary Education?

GRANT ROBERTSON – Labour MP
Oh no not at all, I think there’s a lot of issues in Tertiary Education, very important part of our economy and our society. At the moment we’ve got universities shutting the door on new enrolments, Steven Joyce is standing there like a bystander at a car accident, and I think I need to take him on on that.

PAUL Well couldn’t we make the case there are far too many students, far too many silly courses, far too much expectation that a degree in something will get a job when it isn’t going to?

GRANT Oh tertiary education should be seen as the engine room of the economy, and we look across the Tasman, in Australia they’ve invested over a billion dollars extra into tertiary education in the last two budgets. I think it’s a real opportunity for us and shouldn’t be locking students out, we should be getting them in.