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Category: Tertiary Education Union

  • Massey University science staff, students fight for jobs and studies

    By Jimmy Ellingham, RNZ Checkpoint reporter

    Science staff and students at Massey University in Aotearoa New Zealand are fighting to save their jobs, and their studies.

    The cash-strapped university is proposing to slash science courses from its Albany campus, which would hollow out a new high-tech building full of specialised labs.

    It is part of Massey’s scenic grounds on Auckland’s North Shore, which are shrouded with an air of uncertainty as proposed job cuts hang over this campus.

    More than 100 jobs are on the line at Massey, the Tertiary Education Union (TEU) says, including from the schools of natural sciences, and food and advanced technology — programmes that would cease to exist in Auckland.

    Only a year ago, a new Innovation Complex opened its doors in Albany, reportedly costing $120 million. The university would not confirm the price.

    It was to be called the Innovation and Science Complex, but the science part of the name was quietly dropped, although it remains on some signs in the building.

    Professor of behavioural ecology Dianne Brunton.
    Professor of behavioural ecology Dianne Brunton . . . Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi

    Professor Dianne Brunton — a specialist in conservation biology whose job is on the line — showed RNZ what the complex had to offer this week.

    Building for the future
    “This space — all of these labs, the whole building, really, is a building for the future, a building for the next 20 to 40 years,” she said. “And [for the] students and the staff and the growth we’ll see in the sciences here on the North Shore, where the population is just ballooning.

    “It’s not going to stop. It’s just going to keep going.”

    Staff and students have until Friday to have their say on Massey’s science proposals as the university deals with an expected shortfall of about $50 million for the year.

    “We were in little huts. They were temporary buildings and they were fitted out,” Professor Brunton said of the previous office and lab space.

    “They were like Lockwood houses, if you remember that far back. They’re little prefabs, but they worked.

    “In fact, some of the best covid work was done on that campus by researchers that were here with us then, and they’ve since gone.”

    Professor Brunton said Albany staff were determined to offer solutions to the university, and work with it so they could remain, including on how they pay to use their space.

    Floor space rented out
    Massey effectively charges rent for floor space to its colleges, and science takes up room.

    “There are some solutions to that and one of them is to have biotech companies in. We’ve had a number of biotech companies working in the molecular lab, basically leasing it out,” Professor Brunton said.

    “We’ve got lots of ideas about other things, but the instability that we’re seeing at the moment makes that a bit tricky.”

    The Innovation Complex is an award-winning building, and a leader in its field.

    “It’s not just a science building — make that clear. There’s lots of student space, work space, flexible teaching space, but really state-of-the-art, really efficient labs,” Professor Brunton said.

    Among its jewels are a chamber for detecting spider vibrations and a marine wet lab which allows for experiments using live animals thanks to a reticulated salt water system.

    In the previous buildings, buckets of salt water sourced from the sea had to suffice.

    Massey University's Innovation Complex
    Massey University’s Innovation Complex opened its doors in Albany in 2022 . . . It houses several disciplines and contains specialised spaces and equipment. Image: RNZ/Marika Khabazi

    Specialised spaces
    Professor Brunton said she did not know what would happen to specialised spaces or equipment if the Massey proposal went through.

    “Some of these pieces of equipment are not the kind a local company could come in and use.”

    Staff had to have hope the proposal would not go through, she said.

    She also raised concerns about the quality of the financial information made available on which staff and students could make submissions.

    Many students are in limbo due to the threat to cut courses from the Albany campus.

    Third-year food technology student Cynthia Fan, 21, said those affected were trying to prepare for exams, while worrying about where they would be next year and organising submissions.

    Under the proposal, food technology students were among those who might have to continue their studies at Palmerston North, unless Massey decided to stagger the cessation of the courses in Albany.

    “The thing that really sucks is I have no idea and we have no idea. The uni has said that they will not speak to students,” Fan said.

    Fan would like to see the university focused on helping its students.

    “I think in the first week [after the proposal was announced] everyone was hard panicking. I think a lot of people missed lectures because they didn’t have energy.”

    ‘Financial sustainability is urgent,’ university says
    In a statement, Professor Ray Geor, pro vice-chancellor for Massey’s College of Sciences, said the university’s financial statements were inspected and approved by Audit NZ.

    “During a financial year, it is expected there could be adjustments. Additionally, during the close-inspection focus of the proposal for change processes, we expect there will be refinements of information,” Professor Geor said.

    “Organisational finances are never static. However, we are confident that adjustments will be minor and not substantive to the financial drivers for the need for a proposal for change,” he said.

    “As we are funded by taxpayers, part of being a financially responsible organisation is exploring revenue streams, as many tertiary education providers are doing within New Zealand.

    “Staff can provide avenues for exploration and the College of Sciences will consider all feedback. However, the need to reduce costs and generate income to ensure financial sustainability is urgent for this year and for the near term — 2024-2027.”

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Award-winning leadership professor calls on AUT to rethink redundancies

    Pacific Media Watch

    An award-winning professor of sport, leadership and governance has criticised her university’s handling of recent redundancies of 170 academic staff, saying a “rethink” is needed.

    Professor Lesley Ferkins, director of Auckland University of Technology’s Sports Performance Research Institute and professor of sport, leadership and governance, told RNZ Nine to Noon that AUT’s senior management had lost the trust of staff.

    Interviewed by Kathryn Ryan, Professor Ferkins said that if AUT continued on its current path it would “end in absolute disaster’.

    Professor Lesley Ferkins . . . current path will “end in absolute disaster”.

    She said the university needed to draw on the “collective wisdom” of the academic staff.

    Professor Ferkins has kept her job in the restructure, but has written an impassioned letter to vice chancellor professor Damon Salesa and the leadership team denouncing the redundancy process as lacking in transparency sound leadership values.

    Last month, Professor Ferkins was named the Sport Management Association of Australia and New Zealand (SMAANZ) Distinguished Service Award winner.

    Returning to ERA
    AUT returned to the Employment Relations Authority today as part of its plans to make 170 academic staff redundant.

    Yesterday, after a legal bid by the union representing teaching staff, the authority found the university’s process for issuing redundancy notices was flawed and breached the collective agreement.

    It found that volunteers for redundancy should have been called for once specific positions were identified as surplus, but this did not happen.

    In a letter to staff yesterday, AUT’s group director of people and culture Beth Bundy said AUT’s view of the findings differed from that of the Tertiary Education Union (TEU).

    She said the university would return to the ERA today to seek clarification and hoped to have that by tomorrow.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ. 

  • ERA knocks back ‘flawed’ attempt by AUT to axe 100 plus academic staff

    RNZ News

    The Employment Relations Authority (ERA) has knocked-back an attempt by one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s largest universities to axe more than 100 staff.

    The Auckland University of Technology planned to make 170 academic staff redundant, but the ERA has now ruled that its process was flawed and breached the collective agreement.

    Now the school may need to walk back its dismissals, and start all over again.

    ERA said AUT had called for voluntary redundancies too early, before the institution had even decided which positions to cull.

    The Tertiary Education Union (TEU) is celebrating the ruling as a win. However, AUT says the union and the university have interpreted the decision differently and it would be seeking clarification.

    Lawyer Peter Cranney, in an email to members of the TEU yesterday, said the ERA was considering a compliance order that would require AUT to withdraw all the notices it had already issued.

    “Although a compliance order is discretionary, the [ERA] authority has indicated it will not decline the granting of the order it needed,” he wrote.

    “The parties will now have three days to consider the matter; and if a compliance order is necessary, the AUT will need to comply within five days.”

    Cranney said any compliance order would be issued by Friday.

    Trust difficult to rebuild, says union organiser
    TEU organiser Jill Jones said the decision meant people at risk of losing their jobs no longer were.

    “It’s great because what it does show is our collective agreement has been respected by the Employment Relations Authority,” Jones told RNZ Morning Report.

    But although staff members were “absolutely” thrilled with the decision of the ERA, there was a breakdown of trust with their employer and it would be difficult to rebuild it.

    “Its been a long, hard road for these staff members. They’ve paid a very large price.

    “These are members that really, really care about their students and the high price that they’ve paid for this bungled redundancy is that lots of things have happened.

    “It’s felt as if, to them, it’s been a very callous and uncaring process and it’s going to be difficult to come back from that.”

    With issues of trust and many staff feeling targeted and bullied, AUT had a “very big job” ahead to rebuild that trust, she said.

    Frances* was one of the unlucky 170 to receive a redundancy letter.

    “This level of disruption and instability in our lives is just crippling,” she said.

    The ERA decision had not brought much comfort.

    “It’s kind of a double-edged sword,” she said. “I’m really happy that we’ve seen some justice be recognised through the court system, but I don’t know what’s going to happen next.”

    Frances expected AUT to withdraw her notice of dismissal, but did not expect a happy ending.

    “I’m not deluded, they’re still going to come for me I’m sure, but they’ll have to start from scratch and do it properly,” she said.

    “That’s all we ask, that this is done properly.”

    Poor handling of the situation had destroyed staff morale, she said.

    “For three months, I’ve been feeling disengaged, demotivated, angry, upset, waiting, waiting, waiting for this letter,” she said.

    “This whole process has been about targeting, humiliating, and bullying people.”

    AUT seeks clarification of ‘complex findings’
    An AUT spokesperson said the findings were legally complex and it regretted that a “procedural issue” highlighted had made staff more uncertain.

    “Although the ERA has published its findings, it has not issued orders.

    “AUT’s view of these findings differs from that of the TEU. AUT is endeavouring to clarify and resolve the issue promptly.

    “Given the differing views between the parties it will therefore be necessary to return to the ERA tomorrow for clarification on some aspects.”

    AUT said ERA’s findings found no bad faith in how it had acted — and AUT had formed a differing view of the collective agreement.

    “The ERA has noted that AUT should have identified the specific positions potentially declared surplus and, at this point, written to offer voluntary redundancy to the people in these specified positions.

    “Following clarification of the procedural issue we will write to those impacted by the decision to confirm the way forward.”

    * Name changed to protect identity. This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ. 

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • AUT VC Damon Salesa responds over 170 academic staff cuts

    Pacific Media Watch

    Yesterday RNZ’s Nine to Noon programme looked at the impact of redundancies at Auckland University of Technology (AUT) among academic staff — particularly on post-graduate students who are losing their supervisors.

    The university has announced that 170 academic positions are being cut, but there are concerns about whether the criteria by which staff were selected to lose their jobs was fair.

    Legal proceedings have been launched by the Tertiary Education Union (TEU), which says the university has truncated the processes for dismissal set out in the collective agreement.

    It argues staff were selected because they failed to meet teaching and research requirements they did not know they were subject to.

    Presenter Kathryn Ryan spoke to Professor Damon Salesa, who is vice-chancellor of AUT.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ. 

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • ‘Huge distress’: Postgrad students feel impact of AUT academic staff cuts

    RNZ Nine To Noon

    Postgraduate students are petitioning Auckland University of Technology over academic staff cuts — saying it is hugely disruptive and will impact on New Zealand’s research sector.

    AUT planned to cut 170 academic positions — those affected had until last Thursday to take voluntary redundancy or face a compulsory layoff.

    The petition states the criteria for selecting which staff would go was based on “unjust” and “flawed” performance criteria — something backed by the Tertiary Education Union (TEU) which is taking legal action against AUT on similar grounds.

    The criteria included “teaching” and “research” on disputed grounds, but ignored “supervision” and “community service”, vital components of academic workloads.

    The petition says that it is “to reinstate AUT academic staff who have been made redundant based on unjust and flawed performance criteria.

    “This decision heavily impacts [on] postgraduate and undergraduate students who were not considered in this process. Numerous academic staff members who are integral to the success of students and the university have been made redundant and we urge the AUT senior leadership team to reinstate them.”

    RNZ’s Susie Ferguson talks to TEU organiser Jill Jones, and two PhD students: “Sarah”, and Melanie Welfare, who have both signed the petition requesting AUT reinstate staff.

    • Pacific Media Watch reports that the journalism programme, which celebrates 50 years of teaching media tomorrow, is among those sectors hit by the AUT layoffs.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ. 

  • NZ university union members to strike tomorrow over pay demand

    RNZ News

    Thousands of New Zealand tertiary union members will go on strike at eight universities tomorrow over a cost of living pay demand.

    The Tertiary Education Union (TEU) said its members were walking off the job for part of the day at the eight universities in the country.

    Union members at Auckland University of Technology initially planned to refuse to enter students’ marks from October 6 to 21, the union said.

    However, after the AUT management warned that striking staff would face suspension and loss of pay for two weeks, TEU withdrew the action so that staff would join the Thursday strike instead, a later union statement said today.

    The TEU, which has 7000 members, is demanding an 8 percent pay rise needed to keep up with the cost of living.

    Each university was negotiating its own collective agreements with the union, but the agreements expired at about the same time enabling a co-ordinated industrial action.

    The action announced includes full stoppage between 1pm and 5pm at University of Auckland, University of Waikato and AUT; from 12pm to 4.30pm at Victoria University of Wellington and for shorter periods at three other universities.

    There will be rallies at each university and marches and pickets at Waikato and Massey universities.

    On its website, the University of Auckland stated it had explained to the unions that it had made an offer that was fair and reasonable and rewarded staff, while retaining fiscal responsibility.

    “The university has made a best offer of a 5 percent and 4 percent general revision offer over two years, subject to certain conditions,” the statement said.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

  • NZ union ‘shocked and horrified’ at AUT’s proposed 230 job cuts

    RNZ News

    A union representing New Zealand tertiary sector staff says a proposal which could lead to massive job cuts at the Auckland University of Technology came completely out of the blue and was a major shock.

    Around 230 jobs could be axed as the university suffers a significant drop in international student enrolments, due to the covid-19 pandemic.

    AUT yesterday announced it would review administration and support roles and a small number of courses with low enrolments.

    Programmes included in the university’s proposal included Bachelor’s degrees in Social Sciences, Conflict Resolution, Japanese Studies, and English and New Media.

    The faculty with the highest number of proposed cuts is Design and Creative Technologies, with 50 jobs being axed.

    Tertiary Education Union national secretary Tina Smith told RNZ Checkpoint she was shocked and horrified by the depth of the cuts.

    “The thing that’s horrific, really horrific, is the numbers of staff that they’re talking about – they’re talking about 150 academic and about 80 general professional staff and that’s full time equivalent, in real numbers, in real people numbers, that could be a lot more.”

    Smith said a member who had worked there for more than 20 years told her they had never before seen cuts of this magnitude.

    Significant international student drop
    Costs had increased, international student numbers had dropped significantly, and it had fewer New Zealand students than last year because more people, including school leavers, were choosing to work instead of study, AUT said.

    AUT vice-chancellor Toeolesulusulu Professor Damon Salesa said the proposed staff cuts would reduce spending by $21 million a year.

    Smith acknowledged that student numbers would be down next year because students had had a tough time due to covid and there was a workforce shortage.

    “So there’s that option for students to go and earn some money instead of study,” she said.

    “But what we need to do is encourage people into the long-term futures that will do the best for them and their whānau, which is gaining the real skills that they need to rebuild our economy, this country and for businesses.”

    Cutting courses and students was “short-term thinking” and not the right approach, she said.

    Smith acknowledged that some courses did have low student numbers but said it was important to keep those staff on board and look at alternatives for them.

    Faulty ‘benchmarking’
    “One of the things they’re [AUT] using for their rationale is that the percentage of staff of our operating expenses is above the benchmarking of other universities.”

    But AUT was a comparatively new university so had higher debt and less reserves than some of the more established universities, she said.

    AUT had had a high percentage of lower decile students and had been a good employer in the past, Smith said.

    “So why change a formula that worked really well? Yes, it’s going to be a bit of a rocky time – but what you do in a rocky time is you stand together, you hold tight and you say, ‘we’re going to take the long view’.”

    It was essential not to lose what made your institution valuable, Smith said.

    • AUT made a $12.9 million surplus in 2021, after a $12.3 million surplus in 2020. It has a policy of being the “university of choice” for Māori and Pacific students.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

  • NZ’s international student downturn costs 700 university jobs

    By John Gerritsen, RNZ News reporter

    Nearly 700 university staff are losing or leaving their jobs in New Zealand because of a financial hole left by falling foreign enrolments.

    The eight institutions are missing hundreds of millions in student fees this year because they are expecting no more than 10,000 international students – less than half the normal figure.

    Since last year they have been cutting positions and calling for voluntary redundancies or “early leaving” that will run through this year and into the start of next year.

    At the University of Auckland 300 people have signed up for a voluntary leaving package, at Victoria University of Wellington 100 have put their hands up for voluntary redundancy, and at each of AUT, Massey and Lincoln more than 70 staff have left or are going.

    Only the University of Otago, which limits international students to no more than 15 percent of its total enrolments, has made no cuts at all.

    Tertiary Education Union (TEU) president Tina Smith said the cuts were huge and the most experienced researchers were leaving.

    “The senior academics are being pushed out, shoved out, encouraged to leave because they want them to be replaced by cheaper options, but that’s not good for the New Zealand students who want to learn,” she said.

    Universities ‘over-reacting’
    Smith said the universities were over-reacting because domestic enrolments were growing and the institutions had not lost as much money as they had expected.

    “Their deficits are down but instead of investing in the quality of education and investing in people they’re making ridiculous, short-sighted, poor management-decision cuts and it’s wrong, it’s really wrong,” she said.

    Smith said the fact domestic enrolments could not fill the gap left by foreign students showed that government funding for domestic students was inadequate.

    Universities New Zealand director Chris Whelan said universities were enrolling more domestic students this year but that increase would not compensate for the loss of foreign students and their fees.

    He said universities could end up with as little as one-third of their usual number of foreign students this year.

    “Very roughly, universities, about 13-15 percent of their revenue on average comes from international students, and two-thirds of that we’re missing at the moment because of border closures so universities have some big financial gaps they need to close,” he said.

    “Our problem is we didn’t get a first-year intake in most universities last year. That means we don’t have a second-year intake this year and that means we don’t have a third-year intake next year at the same time as we’re missing out on another intake coming through this year.

    ‘Compounding problem’
    “So it becomes a real compounding problem and universities need to make changes earlier in order to avoid having to make really big more dramatic changes later.”

    Whelan said the universities’ staff cuts were significant, representing about 3 percent of the sector’s total staffing, and it was too early to say if more might be needed.

    Polytechnics reported much smaller staff cuts to RNZ.

    The largest were at Weltec and Whitireia, which lost more than 40 jobs, mostly from the closure of its Auckland campus for foreign students, followed by Wintec which reported a reduction of 30 full-time-equivalent positions, more than half through forced or voluntary redundancy.

    University job losses
    (includes voluntary leaving, voluntary redundancy and forced redundancy)

    • University of Auckland – 300
    • AUT – 71
    • University of Waikato – 25 with eight more under consideration.
    • Massey University – 74
    • Victoria University of Wellington – 100 expressions of interest in voluntary redundancy
    • University of Canterbury – more than 40
    • Lincoln University – 72
    • University of Otago – 0

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • NZ’s international student downturn costs 700 university jobs

    At the University of Auckland 300 people have signed up for a voluntary leaving package. Image: Claudine van Massenhove/RNZ

    By John Gerritsen, RNZ News reporter

    Nearly 700 university staff are losing or leaving their jobs in New Zealand because of a financial hole left by falling foreign enrolments.

    The eight institutions are missing hundreds of millions in student fees this year because they are expecting no more than 10,000 international students – less than half the normal figure.

    Since last year they have been cutting positions and calling for voluntary redundancies or “early leaving” that will run through this year and into the start of next year.

    At the University of Auckland 300 people have signed up for a voluntary leaving package, at Victoria University of Wellington 100 have put their hands up for voluntary redundancy, and at each of AUT, Massey and Lincoln more than 70 staff have left or are going.

    Only the University of Otago, which limits international students to no more than 15 percent of its total enrolments, has made no cuts at all.

    Tertiary Education Union (TEU) president Tina Smith said the cuts were huge and the most experienced researchers were leaving.

    “The senior academics are being pushed out, shoved out, encouraged to leave because they want them to be replaced by cheaper options, but that’s not good for the New Zealand students who want to learn,” she said.

    Universities ‘over-reacting’
    Smith said the universities were over-reacting because domestic enrolments were growing and the institutions had not lost as much money as they had expected.

    “Their deficits are down but instead of investing in the quality of education and investing in people they’re making ridiculous, short-sighted, poor management-decision cuts and it’s wrong, it’s really wrong,” she said.

    Smith said the fact domestic enrolments could not fill the gap left by foreign students showed that government funding for domestic students was inadequate.

    Universities New Zealand director Chris Whelan said universities were enrolling more domestic students this year but that increase would not compensate for the loss of foreign students and their fees.

    He said universities could end up with as little as one-third of their usual number of foreign students this year.

    “Very roughly, universities, about 13-15 percent of their revenue on average comes from international students, and two-thirds of that we’re missing at the moment because of border closures so universities have some big financial gaps they need to close,” he said.

    “Our problem is we didn’t get a first-year intake in most universities last year. That means we don’t have a second-year intake this year and that means we don’t have a third-year intake next year at the same time as we’re missing out on another intake coming through this year.

    ‘Compounding problem’
    “So it becomes a real compounding problem and universities need to make changes earlier in order to avoid having to make really big more dramatic changes later.”

    Whelan said the universities’ staff cuts were significant, representing about 3 percent of the sector’s total staffing, and it was too early to say if more might be needed.

    Polytechnics reported much smaller staff cuts to RNZ.

    The largest were at Weltec and Whitireia, which lost more than 40 jobs, mostly from the closure of its Auckland campus for foreign students, followed by Wintec which reported a reduction of 30 full-time-equivalent positions, more than half through forced or voluntary redundancy.

    University job losses
    (includes voluntary leaving, voluntary redundancy and forced redundancy)

    • University of Auckland – 300
    • AUT – 71
    • University of Waikato – 25 with eight more under consideration.
    • Massey University – 74
    • Victoria University of Wellington – 100 expressions of interest in voluntary redundancy
    • University of Canterbury – more than 40
    • Lincoln University – 72
    • University of Otago – 0

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

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    This post was originally published on Radio Free.