[TEU-academic] ] TEU update
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Fri Mar 01 2024 13:00:00 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)
Attachment: UoA International Womens Day Invite 2024-1.pdf
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Reminder: International Women’s Day breakfast event. Outlook invites have gone out for our 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 Friday, 8 March, 8-9 am, Old Government House Dining Room, and we hope you can join us. Attached is a poster for the event. Please print and post to get the word out!
Reminder: Pay Equity claim meetings. Claims for low-paid university library, clerical, and administrative staff are underway, and your views are needed. The claims can only be assessed accurately if the real nature of your work is well understood. Job descriptions and process documents are not substitutes. Only you and your colleagues can describe in detail the actual work you do.
The TEU is running a series of meetings for members and non-members under the claim to:
- discuss what happens next with the pay equity claims;
- get key information about the real nature of your work;
- talk about the way your roles will be assessed;
- give advice on how to talk about your work in a way that communicates your responsibilities.
The following meetings will be held in March. Attend the meeting that works best for you. We have spread the meetings across campuses to make it more convenient, but feel free to attend whichever meeting you wish.
Wednesday 13 March 2024 1230 – 1330 Owen Glen Rm 260-223 City Campus Thursday 14 March 2024 1230 – 1330 ClockTower Rm 105-101 City Campus Monday 18 March 2024 1230 – 1330 Science Rm 303-257 City Campus Tuesday 19 March 2024 1230 – 1330 Engineering Rm 401-1202 City Campus Monday 25 March 2024 1230 – 1330 FMHS Bldg Rm 507-LG045 Grafton Campus Tuesday 26 March 2024 1230 – 1330 Northey – Law Rm 801-204 City Campus
A message from the Rainbow Rep, Andy Fey. As Auckland Pride Month draws to a close, I had the joy of attending the all-Faculties Rainbow Orientation run by Campus Life on Wednesday night. In a packed and colourful lecture theatre, students from across the University connected with one another and their Faculty Rainbow Clubs. I’m particularly proud of some of our TEU U35 members on the club executive. For those of you whose summer employment is coming to a close, know that the TEU will always welcome you back.
If you’re feeling like you need your own ‘orientation support’, consider browsing the recently released LGBTQIA, Takatāpui & MVPFAFF+ friendly teaching and learning resource on Canvas: https://canvas.auckland.ac.nz/courses/113745 Developed by TEU members in concert with an advisory group of staff and students, this resource has plenty of material to help you navigate supporting and respecting your Rainbow students (and colleagues!) in the university context.
Yoga classes for TEU members. Join us for TEU Yoga on Thursday mornings weeks 2-6 (inclusive) of semester 1 from 0800 to 0855 am at the Mclaurin Chapel on the main university campus. These classes will be led by Reha Kumar, winner of the Yoga Teacher of the Year Award from Sport New Zealand in 2023 and active yoga advocate and educator. Reha teaches accessible yoga for all body types. Each class is capped at 20 students and free for TEU members. Non-member guests are welcome but will need to bring a $10 contribution. You can register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1yvJWm665HZv7xRhs7sdoVFZotquo4LWxCPgZj_q2fz0/edit In the second half of the semester the class will be offered at the Grafton campus, so if you are based there, please keep an eye out!
Last week we noted RadioNZ’s use of the Official Information Act to learn that tertiary institutions are relying on hostels and consultancy work to make ends meet, because teaching students is barely “profitable” for universities and is loss-making for polytechnics. NZ universities facing a 'liquidity crisis' - briefing | RNZ Newshttps://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/509620/nz-universities-facing-a-liquidity-crisis-briefing. This week, we see reports that students are finding the cost of campus living is onerous in the extreme. The rising cost of university accommodation in NZ msn.com and AUSA president Alan Shaker on the situation: University accommodation costs rising, students under pressure newstalkzb.co.nz.
The most hated academic in New Zealand. Nobody likes PBRF, not even its developer. 'Back-breaking' tertiary fund architect agrees it's time to re-design newsroom.co.nz
All-staff forum. The first of these was held on Wednesday. It provided senior management’s overview of the year ahead. The VC is wary about the direction of the new government, concerned about external research funding opportunities, and worried about liberal democracy’s future. There are also: a Taumata Teitei “refresh”, ongoing proposals for curriculum transformation, initiatives to increase public engagement (Eden Park naming rights is but one), and “substrategies” for marketing, recruitment, communications, and engagement. Enrolments are reported to have increased, including at the postgraduate level, and for Māori, although there remain serious concerns about the capabilities of incoming cohorts (but there was no mention of the passing or graduation rates of students). As usual, management believes that enrolment processes have improved (“a thousand fewer concessions”), although staff feedback, at the forum and elsewhere, suggests otherwise.
“A third of respondents said they didn’t see a positive future for themselves in Aotearoa.” The passing of Fa’anānā Efeso Collins and the celebration of his inspiring work on behalf of Pasifika youth is also a reminder of how much work we all need to do in this area. TEU member Analosa Veukiso-Ulugia’s (Curriculum and Pedagogy) research looks at the issues Pasifika youth continue to face in our society. https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2024/02/26/Housing-insecurity-and-mental-health-major-concerns-for-Pacific-youth.htmlhttps://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2024/02/26/Housing-insecurity-and-mental-health-major-concerns-for-Pacific-youth.html
“He told me: ‘You know I’m very pro-Israel, but given the current anti-Israel sentiments in the U.S., I can’t publish this,’” she says. “He thought it would harm the journal.” Fallout from Israel-Hamas war causing ‘significant harm’ to researchers in Israel, survey finds | Science | AAAShttps://www.science.org/content/article/fallout-israel-hamas-war-causing-significant-harm-researchers-israel-survey-finds?utm_source=sfmc&utm_medium=email&utm_content=alert&utm_campaign=DailyLatestNews&et_rid=17038520&et_cid=5120119
Seeing the modern university as in crisis, the University of Buckingham opens “the only explicitly non progressive-dominated social science research centre in Britain”. Renewing academia | Eric Kaufmann | The Critic Magazinehttps://thecritic.co.uk/renewing-academia/
Diversion. Why American Fiction should win the best picture Oscar | Oscars 2024 | The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/feb/27/why-american-fiction-should-win-the-best-picture-oscar. See the Trailer youtube.com
Other reminders.
- 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; one academic, one professional), Women, Recruitment, Professional Staff, Pasifika, PTFs and GTAs/TAs. Of particular importance are the Te Uepū reps (one academic, one professional). If you are interested, or have any questions about the roles, email please email me, Noel, or Nicole.
- Office hours on campus. We have a TEU office on campus, Room 417 in the Fisher Building on Waterloo Quadrant. TEU Organisers Nicole and Andy have walk-in office hours every Friday between 10am and 2pm. They can be contacted otherwise by email: nicole.wallace@teu.ac.nz or andy.hipkiss@teu.ac.nz
Please consider sharing this and subsequent Updates (electronically or print) with colleagues who may benefit from knowing what we are doing.
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Barry Hughes, PhD School of Psychology Phone: +64 9 923 5265 Extension: 85265
