[TEU-academic] ] TEU update
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Fri Oct 06 2023 13:00:00 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)
Tēnā koutou katoa
Time to Vote: Voting is now open; head on down to your local voting placehttps://map.vote.nz/voting-places by 7pm Saturday 14th October. Grab your friends and whānau and make a trip of it! Check out the TEU’s quick guide to the major parties’ tertiary policies herehttps://x.com/nzteu/status/1708925965525737540?s=20 to consider when deciding on your vote. (And see below)
Massey U’s VC has her hatchet out. Again. 'Absolutely outrageous proposal': Union slams 'short-sighted', 'horrific' job cuts at Massey University msn.com. Reaction: Massey University scientists scramble to save jobs amid ‘brutal’ restructure and ‘significant losses’ msn.com. Impacts: on students [ 'We feel distraught': Students frustrated after lack of detail surrounding courses Massey University threatens to cut msn.com] and on employers ['Symptom of bigger problem': Engineering NZ weighs in on Massey Uni's proposed engineering cuts msn.com]
Staff satisfaction survey. The BusinessDesk has picked up on the troubling staff satisfactions survey results from a few months ago: Low staff satisfaction resultshttps://businessdesk.co.nz/article/law-regulation/law-school-staff-unhappy-in-latest-survey (paywalled), or at least those specific to the Law School. These revealed that only 15% of staff in that faculty feel free to speak “without fear of any negative impact”. We are aware of these results and will follow up with delegates and members in that faculty. However, as you realise, the survey results across the university highlighted a variety of worrisome issues. Freedom to speak is one element but so are workloads, advancement, communications, and managerial styles. Indeed, when members report not feeling free to speak without fear of repercussion, it is often tied to concerns about these other issues.
Progress in the disability space. Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington have released their refreshed Te Ara Taupuhipuhi- Disability Inclusion Action Plan 2023-2025https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/about/governance/equity-diversity-and-inclusion/disability-inclusion. These plans are recent requirements by the TEC and are having an observable positive impact on the rates of disability disclosure. VUW’s rate of students disclosing a disability was 10% of domestic enrollments in 2022. The University of Auckland attained an 8% student disclosure rate in 2022. This is in line with the national average rate of domestic student disclosure, and double our rate in 2019. There are improvements in the staff space too: 6% of staff at the University of Auckland now feel comfortable disclosing a disability to the employerhttps://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/about-us/about-the-university/equity-at-the-university/about-equity/a-safe--inclusive-and-equitable-university/disability-action-plan/disability-action-plan-annual-report.html. This is double the rate of staff disclosures from 2019, and while we still have improvements to make, a positive sign for both our workplace and the sector.
“The Usefulness of the Useless”: Challenging the “Depreciation” of Arts Education and Cultural Critique. TEU member Walescka Pino Ojeda (Latin American Studies) gives a Cultures, Languages and Linguistics seminar and seeks conversation. Wednesday, 11 October, 12-1pm, Pat Hanan Room, Arts 2 (207-501)
On the decline of the university press. Publishers and Scholars, Unite! - Public Bookshttps://www.publicbooks.org/publishers-and-scholars-unite/
Trigger warnings: do they work? Bridgland, V. M. E., Jones, P. J., & Bellet, B. W. (2023). A Meta-Analysis of the Efficacy of Trigger Warnings, Content Warnings, and Content Notes. Clinical Psychological Science, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/21677026231186625
What is consciousness? A letter, signed by 124 scholars and posted online last week, has caused an uproar (“pseudoscience!”) in the consciousness research community. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-02971-1. See also Even if it is wrong, that doesn’t mean it’s pseudoscience nautil.us
Reminders:
- Pay Equity. The TEU pay equity claim for administrative and library staff is active. This claim has the potential to affect as many as 900 UoA staff members. We are now moving into a new phase of the claim, where member involvement is very important. If you’ve received an email from TEU administrator Lucy Fowler about your role, make sure you’ve replied! If you are interested in more information, email Nicole or Lucy: nicole.wallace@teu.ac.nz or lucy.fowler@teu.ac.nz.
- Medical Academics. The bargaining-related issue is now going to the Employment Relations Authority. If you have any questions, please contact Nicole, nicole.wallace@teu.ac.nz
- Short guides to party policies on tertiary education. https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/25-09-2023/election-2023-the-tertiary-education-policies-in-two-minutes. See also https://policy.nz/2023/party-vote/policies/education. See also https://www.tertiaryinsight.nz/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/2023-Election-Political-Parties-Policies-v1.pdf
- TEU office hours. Our organisers, Nicole and Andy, will be running open office hours on the City Campus every Friday from 10am till 2pm, in the TEU Office, Room 417, Level 4 of the Fisher Building (Building 804, 18 Waterloo Quadrant). Drop in for advice or to catch up on TEU activities.
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Barry Hughes, PhD School of Psychology Faculty of Science Phone: +64 9 923 5265 Extension: 85265
Website: www.psych.auckland.ac.nzhttp://www.psych.auckland.ac.nz/ Address: Science Centre, Building 302, Level 6, 23 Symonds Street, Auckland 1010 | Private Bag 920129, Auckland 1142, New Zealand