University staff welcome extra funds, more needed

association-of-university-staff

Thu May 22 2008 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)

University staff welcome extra funds, more needed

Thursday, 22 May 2008, 5:05 pm
Press Release: Association of University Staff

Association of University Staff

Media Release

Attn Education Reporter 22 May 2008

University staff welcome extra funding, but more needed

The Association of University Staff (AUS) has welcomed the announcement today by the Minister for Tertiary Education, Dr Pete Hodgson, that the tertiary education sector will receive $900 million in additional funding over the next four years.

Of that new funding, $15 million has been specifically allocated through the University Tripartite Forum to support recruitment and retention initiatives intended to increase the international competitiveness of New Zealand universities.

Responding to today’s Budget announcement, AUS National President, Associate Professor Maureen Montgomery, said that, although significant gains had been made in recent budgets towards addressing funding and salary problems within the university sector, the momentum needed to be increased further still to ensure the international reputation and competitiveness of the New Zealand university system. “The need for major funding increases has been made the more pressing with the announcement in the recent Australian Budget of more than $A2 billion in new policy initiatives for higher education in that country,” she said. “Their Budget announcement included the establishment of a new $A11 billion Education Investment Fund and a one-off allocation of $A500 million for capital development.”

According to Associate Professor Montgomery, the inclusion of funding targeted at the recruitment and retention of university staff illustrates the benefits of unions, vice-chancellors and the Government working constructively together. “We know that the tripartite process has been successful in achieving consensus and providing results for universities, including university staff,” she said. “What is still need though is a long-term strategy to deal with under funding and to increase salaries further still.”

Associate Professor Montgomery said that AUS will work with the New Zealand Vice-Chancellors Committee to determine the implications of today’s announcement for the current bargaining process.

ENDS

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

a.supporter:hover {background:#EC4438!important;} @media screen and (max-width: 480px) { #byline-block div.byline-block {padding-right:16px;}}

Using Scoop for work?

Scoop is free for personal use, but you’ll need a licence for work use. This is part of our Ethical Paywall and how we fund Scoop. Join today with plans starting from less than $3 per week, plus gain access to exclusive Pro features.

Join Pro Individual Find out more

Find more from Association of University Staff on InfoPages.