We Are The University

[TEU-academic] ] TEU update

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Fri Feb 09 2024 13:00:00 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)

Tēnā koutou katoa

On behalf of the union leadership and branch committee, we wish all our members a happy new year. Activities are warming up, literally and figuratively, and we hope that our members have had been able to recover from the rigors of 2023.

The year ahead. The Branch committee is preparing for the upcoming year.

· We are preparing for another round of formal bargaining. We would love to hear from members who are familiar with university operations (both academic and professional capacities), even if they are not familiar with the bargaining process, and who would be willing to consider joining our efforts across the table from the employer. Those who have been involved in bargaining will know that it can be an eye-opening --and an eye-watering-- experience. If you would like to learn more about being on our bargaining team, please contact me (if academic staff) or Noel Zeng (if professional staff).

· We are always looking to build our Delegate network in various workspaces across the university. If you are prepared to undertake occasional organisational efforts in your work area, please advise Nicole or Andy, our organisers (details below).

· The Branch committee is seeking members to complete several portfolios. We would love to hear from members interested in the following representational roles: Te Uepū (Māori reps), Women, Recruitment, Professional Staff, Pasifika and GTA/TA. Of particular importance are the Te Uepū reps (one academic, one professional) and the GTA/TA reps. These members are likely to require direct representation on issues in the near future. If you are interested, or have any questions about the roles, email please email me, Noel, or Nicole.

Membership. Membership strength is always important, but never more important than in a bargaining year. I am happy to report that we have been joined (or rejoined) by 28 members since the beginning of the year. Growing our membership is a matter of self-interest and self-preservation. Please continue to have conversations with your colleagues. Ask about the issues in the workplace that matter to them. Remind them that the union works for them. And that the union’s effectiveness is proportional to our membership density and activity across the workplace.

TEU is officially a co-governance union. A whakatau was held in Wellington yesterday, formally welcoming our union’s two co-presidents. Julie Douglas (AUT) and Hūhana Wātene (Unitec) have the responsibility of leading by example and demonstrating that co-governance is not only desirable and workable but beneficial even in --especially in-- the current political climate. See also https://twitter.com/nzteu/status/1755389050159030466 with more photos at https://www.flickr.com/photos/195692416@N04/albums/72177720314643806/with/53514836742https://www.flickr.com/photos/195692416@N04/albums/72177720314643806/with/53514836742.

UoA Members’ New Years Honours. Congratulations to TEU members Tamasailau Suaalii-Sauni and Yvonne Jasmine Te Ruki Rangi o Tangaroa Underhill who were recognised in the 2024 New Years Honours as Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit. Their Pacific-focused research and service warrants this important acknowledgment.

International Women’s Day. Save the date for our International Women’s Day breakfast event, with panel and discussion of the UoA Gender Pay Gap Reporthttps://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2023/12/06/pay-gap-report.html published late last year. Confirmed panellists include Pro VC Equity Prof. Cathy Stinear, Prof. Nicola Gaston, and Dr. Sereana Naepi. Date: Friday, 8 March. Time: 8-9 a.m. Location: Old Government House Dining Room. All TEU members are welcome, and an invitation will go out as soon!

Women in Science. The Women in Science working group is going to restart its brown bag lunches, starting from next Tuesday (13 Feb). This will be held 12:30 – 1:30pm in the 4th floor common room of Building 303. They will then meet the first Wednesday of each month. Anyone who identifies as a woman is welcome to join us! This is just an opportunity to connect with women across the faculty in a relaxed environment. Bring your own lunch. If you are interested in being included in reminders and kept up to date with any date or location changes, please email nicolette.rattenbury@auckland.ac.nz

Support unionised Tongan handicraft workers. Tonga Public Services Association, along with Tonga Handicrafts Workers’ Association, Tonga National Workers’ Council, and their exporter Pasifiki Tonga R&D Corporation, have created an online store to assist workers in Tonga’s handicraft sector. These creative workers are looking to revive livelihoods lost after the COVID19 restrictions and the 2022 volcanic eruption. Check out their work for purchase at https://www.pasifikitongarndwebsite.com/https://www.pasifikitongarndwebsite.com/

Reflections of a former PTF. Andrew Dubovyi, who served as PTF representative on the branch committee, reflects on his decision to work elsewhere:

“Why I Left the University of Auckland

As I embark on a new chapter, I wanted to reflect on my time at the University of Auckland—the good and the not so good—in hopes that sharing my experiences might spur positive change.

First, the many blessings. I was privileged to work among wonderful, supportive colleagues who readily shared expertise and mentored me as an early career academic. My fellow Professional Teaching Fellows brought tremendous dedication despite heavy workloads. My department chairs empowered me to keep growing. For all this, I am enormously grateful.

At the same time, there were concerning, demoralizing issues that slowly eroded staff goodwill. During the negotiations of the bargaining campaign, the university callously disregarded employees' extraordinary efforts during the pandemic—hundreds and thousands of unpaid hours people collectively put in to keep things going—and instead used twisted facts to paint reasonable requests for fair pay as unreasonable demands. Watching this firsthand made me realize that this is not how you treat people.

Then there was the matter of job security. I joined the university on a temporary fixed term PTF contract. It just happened that at the end of the first one there was another course to teach, and then there was another teaching assignment to cover, etc, etc. I think many people would find this story familiar. Being on a fixed term contract is challenging for career progression, not to mention the anxiety around the renewal when the contract is about to expire. While the school clearly had a need for an extra teaching person in a PTF role, I’ve spent almost 6 years on various fixed term contracts until the permanent role was finally advertised. This is not okay. Of course, I can say this now when I’m on a permanent contract here and have another lined up in Sydney, but the fear to voice your concerns, the fear to stand your ground, is real and no one should be put in this position.

But perhaps what finally tipped the scales for me was the lack of avenues for advancement. Under the current system, Professional Teaching Fellows have almost no pathway to progress beyond PTF4, no matter how stellar their teaching and service records, while discipline researchers breeze up the hierarchy. This hardly incentivizes teaching excellence.

If you look at position descriptions in other universities, you might find something called “education-focused academic”. The responsibilities are very similar to those of a Professional Teaching Fellow, but those roles are on the academic scale with Lecturers, Senior Lecturers, Associate Professors, and Professors. Yes, you can become a full professor by doing good teaching, not based on your discipline research. What are the chances of a PTF4 becoming an Associate Professor? Well, if you read academic standards closely – pretty much zero. You can’t be the PI on two big research grants and have 35-45 publications required for AP when 80% of your workload is teaching.

As I move on, my hope is that by sharing my experiences transparently, more PTFs will find the courage to speak up. You deserve job security. You deserve to be valued and respected by your employer. You deserve career progression pathways that honour your vital contributions.

The University of Auckland has so much potential to be a leader in fostering teaching excellence. With some structural changes to promote equity and inclusion, it can set the standard for valuing all academics equally. I urge university leaders to listen to your most important asset—your people.

Wishing you all the very best for 2024!”

Trying to do your job in sweltering heat? Indoors? We have had feedback that some workplaces are getting uncomfortably warm. Our employer must ensure that the temperature is ‘thermally comfortable’. WorkSafe recommends that for those in sedentary jobs, the temperature in our workplaces should be 19-24 degrees (in winter it is 18-22 degrees). If you are finding the temperature in your workplace is uncomfortable, bring this up with your manager. Logging this as a health and safety observation is also recommended, as this will ensure that the Health and Safety team are aware this is an issue. This can also be done via the website herehttps://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/health-safety-wellbeing/report-concerns-hazards/injury-incidents-observations-reporting.html, or you can report this through the University of Auckland Alert App on your phone using the Report Injury or Incident button, then use the Observation Report form.

Violence in translation: when logic becomes a tool of oppression — Logic in the Wildhttps://www.logicinthewild.com/blog/6v7ouv60lpu1dblguufw2mo32zal1k. TEU member Patrick Girard (Philosophy) on the logical pitfalls of translation and te Tiriti o Waitangi.

“..overly coached, inordinately cautious, excessively legalistic..” Randall Kennedy on why the President of Harvard U did not last six months. Randall Kennedy · Browbeating: Congress v. Harvard lrb.co.uk. See also The Future of Academic Freedom | The New Yorkerhttps://www.newyorker.com/news/the-weekend-essay/the-future-of-academic-freedom

“New Zealand must follow Europe’s lead and enact AI regulation to ensure police use of AI doesn’t cause more problems than it solves.” TEU member Alex Sims (Commercial Law) explains. NZ police are using AI to catch criminals – but the law urgently needs to catch up too theconversation.com

Reminders.

Please consider sharing this and subsequent Updates (electronically or printed) with colleagues who may benefit from knowing what the TEU is about.

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Barry Hughes, PhD School of Psychology Phone: +64 9 923 5265 Extension: 85265