University of Canterbury reaches out to community
university-of-canterbury
Wed Feb 25 2009 13:00:00 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)
University of Canterbury reaches out to community
Wednesday, 25 February 2009, 4:51 pm
Press Release: University of Canterbury
University of Canterbury reaches out to community
The University of Canterbury released its 2008 Annual Report today. While the report revealed largely stable student and staff numbers it is clear new initiatives to build facilities and engage more widely with the community have had an increased focus in the past year.
Significant capital expenditure occurred in 2008 ($49.3M) in relation to the School of Biological Sciences, the NZi3 ICT Innovation Institute, the Library and Information Technology infrastructure. This compares with capital expenditure of $30 million the previous year and $18 million in 2006. The University is embarking on an ambitious 10 year capital plan going forward.
Emphasising its core capability in research, the University reported a 43% increase in the number of Doctorate theses completed (to 129), and a 6% increase in the contract value of external research grants awarded (to $38 million, including a 54% increase in the contract value of industry research grants received to $2.5 million).
Not only is the University engaging with business but last year it held 610 public lectures and 113 creative arts activities open to the public - nearly two events every day of the year. The University also undertook 464 liaison trips to schools and hosted 186 campus tours for prospective students.
The University has just under 108,000 alumni on its database with 40,000 active and more than 1,800 engaged enough to attend a function during the year.
Another highlight was increased engagement with Maori (percentage of first year students who are Maori increased from 5.4% in 2006 and 6.1% in 2007, to 7.1% in 2008).
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The University reported a net surplus of $15.565 million. While this was ahead of budget of $7.823 million, the better-than-expected outcome is due to a number of one off events: extra interest from investments; non-cash revenue such as reversionary interest from the University's arrangement with Campus Living Villages; foreign exchange gains on hedging future library purchases and the value attributed to donated art works. Increased research income and reduced staffing expenditure due to difficulties in filling some vacant positions also contributed.
The surplus represents what income is left after the University has met its operational costs. It is made up of cash and non-cash items. Cash surpluses are generally available for use by the University in providing services in the future. Non-cash surpluses are generally not available for use in meeting the University’s operational costs.
Vice-Chancellor Dr Rod Carr says while the University is in a sound financial position, it cannot afford to be complacent.
“There can be no doubt that we are in uncertain times but my view, at this stage, is that 2009 is something of a protected year for the University of Canterbury. Our funding is largely fixed; our costs are largely known; and prudent hedging has deferred the impact of the weaker New Zealand dollar on the costs of acquisitions.
“But the situation could change quite rapidly for us in 2010. The combination of the declining real value of government assistance both to students directly by way of loans and to the University in terms of contribution to teaching costs not passed on to students, means there is a risk of continuing under investment.”
Dr Carr points out that international students are willing to pay up to twice what the New Zealand Government is able to contribute by way of grants and loans to cover the cost of a university education.
“The value is clearly there but without adequate assistance the next generation of New Zealanders will not get the quality of education they must have if we are to retain, let alone advance, our wellbeing as a nation relative to other countries such as Australia.
“That assistance need not only be grants and loans. In the current environment we need to work to ensure students have access to opportunities for part-time and summer work to support themselves to the maximum.”
Dr Carr will be discussing his views when he leads a sub group on boosting business at the Prime Ministerial Job Summit on Friday.
ENDS
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