We Are The University

[TEU-academic] ] TEU update

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Fri Apr 12 2024 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)

Attachment: Nous Group - Academic restructuring - International case studies.pdf Attachment: Wollscheid & Røsdal - The impact of mergers in higher education on micro-level processes – A literature review.pdf

Tēnā koutou katoa

Faculty re-structure. Senior management personnel have been doing the rounds, describing the proposal options to various staff groupings. Union members and organisers had another brief 30 min meeting with HR and Valerie Linton on Wednesday. Not so much time, but we were reminded that the “external environment”, student “demographics and preparedness”, and “what students want” are all drivers of the change, and the VC likes to be “ahead of the curve” on these matters. They denied that this was moving too fast, given the magnitude of the changes. They downplayed the lack of detail available to staff, claiming that staff prefer a two-phase consultation process: one with the big idea, a second with the details. The Provost denied that the proposal is a cost-cutting move but called it a resilience-promoting one. They claimed that there is no desire to deprive faculties of their unique identities.

We had our own union meeting yesterday. We updated members on what we know from meeting and attendance at meeting with senior management. Members updated us on what they have heard. We logged a long list of outstanding questions. To no-one’s surprise the big issue remains the lack of transparency and the lack of information on which staff could conceivably be able to make an informed assessment. No one in attendance prefers --or knows anyone who prefers-- a two-phase proposal where we only get the cost details later. Staff have encountered many buzzwords and HR-speak, but are none the wiser as to rationale, purpose, objectives, means -- or perils.

Reports from faculty meetings suggest that senior management are unaware of studies of comparable such large-scale faculty mergers now reported in the literature. Attached are two that are relevant.

The Branch Committee is preparing a submission, based on feedback received in person and on the Google form [Initial feedback on employer proposal to merge faculties - Google Formshttps://docs.google.com/forms/d/1o-_RTCFck_XIWfT0bNU3QTRRo5aeGas474faNJklyBk/edit]. Please fill this out if you haven’t yet done so. The branch committee strongly encourages members to make submissions, particularly group submissions with your colleagues (i.e., where you are part of a common interest network). If you feel you cannot make an informed view of the proposal given the lack of information, make this clear in your submission. It is very important that senior management gets this message, even if this is the only feedback you give. Members who, despite the lack of information, know what they think may also send email directly to strategicinitiative@auckland.ac.nz

Re: the restructure proposal, a member writes: “Out of curiosity, I put How did University of Western Australia’s restructuring impact its research faculties? into Copilot. In response, I got:

‘The restructuring at the University of Western Australia (UWA) had significant implications for its research faculties. Let’s delve into the effects:

In summary, UWA’s restructuring reshaped its research landscape, emphasizing collaboration, focus, and adaptability. The university continues to evolve, driven by its commitment to advancing knowledge and addressing global challenges.’

To find out where this came from, I googled one of the points, and the first hit was, wait for it, https://www.auckland.ac.nz/assets/news-and-opinion/2024/03/faculty-proposal-document-20240326.pdf ...”

Draft of Intellectual Property Created by Staff and Students Policyhttps://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/about-us/about-the-university/policy-hub/policy-development-review/documents-for-consultation/draft---intellectual-property-created-by-staff-and-students-poli.html is up for consultation. We are concerned about several aspects:

· its incompatibility with the provisions of the Academic Collective Agreement clause 10 ‘Copyrights, patents and trademarks’;

· its potential to stifle the development of intellectual independence required by the Education and Training Act (2020);

· how its assertion of ownership of intellectual property is in line with the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi which grants Māori ownership of their taonga;

· its apparent limitations on academic freedom We are taking these under advisement.

Health, Safety and Wellbeing. The HSW committee met this week, covering a wide variety of HSW related topics. Our representative Tamsin Kingston notes the most relevant topics:

Yoga classes for TEU members. Yoga classes will start up again in week 6. We have one more class from 0800 to 0855 am Thursday morning, week 6, at the Mclaurin Chapel. The 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 is free for TEU members. Non-member guests are welcome but will need to bring a $10 contribution. Starting in week 7 the classes move from the main campus up to the Grafton campus, so please add them to your diary!

Academic misconduct. A survey led by Jason Stephens (Education and Social Work) --and conducted before the introduction of ChatGPT et al-- found that deception among undergraduate students in Aotearoa was rife, with two in three respondents admitting to academic misconduct over the previous year. Among the conclusions: remote exams conducted “without any kind of invigilation or proctoring” are a form of “educational or assessment malpractice”. Two-thirds of New Zealand undergraduates admit to cheating timeshighereducation.com. Full text herehttps://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40841-024-00315-9

New Branch committee member. We recently welcome Leon Salter as a member-at-large. By way of introduction, he writes: “Kia ora, my name’s Leon and I’ve recently joined University of Auckland (School of Cultures, Languages and Linguistics) following 10 years at Massey, where I was on the branch committee as Wellington academic rep from 2019-23. This included the 2022 strikes, and my role involved helping to organise the Wellington pickets and meetings (which were well attended). And last year I was involved in the Stop the Cuts campaign against the vicious attacks on jobs, programs and courses at Massey, being forced through by senior leadership with minimal consultation. I’m passionate about fighting for worker rights and conditions, particularly precarious workers on fixed term and casual contracts, which is my area of research. I was the unofficial precarity rep for Massey and I would love to continue this work at UoA and have many ideas to take this forward.” Nau mai haere mai, Leon.

Job cuts in the public sector. Many proposals to cut jobs in the public sector are announced this week, including Crown Research Institutes (e.g., NIWAhttps://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/513799/niwa-proposes-to-cut-up-to-90-jobs-union); MBIE; Ministry of Culture and Heritagehttps://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/513977/cuts-at-mbie-double-in-size-to-286-roles-culture-and-heritage-announces-jobs-to-go and Department of Conservationhttps://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/513924/department-of-conservation-proposes-130-job-cuts. More than 1500 jobs have been cut so far, and there is no doubt that these are services that you depend on, and that colleagues and collaborators from these bodies will be impacted.

Encouraging critical thinking in young people. TEU member Patrick Girard (Arts) and Maree Davies (Education and Social Work) have introduced ‘Street Smarts,’ a video series crafted to enhance critical thinking skills across all ages, with a focus on adolescents. This series serves as a practical tool for improving listening, talking, and reasoning, rooted in the "Respectful Talk" educational model. It aims to empower viewers by teaching them to navigate the complexity of an information-rich world with confidence and critical awareness. Discover the series on their YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaRom5GSbjHJnr_cmso7_QlmFZl_0Yqrm and gain deeper insights by reading their paper, co-authored with Simon Esling: "Street Smarts" https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003296744-14/street-smarts-maree-davies-simon-esling-patrick-girard.

Four-letter words. TEU member and our former branch president, John Egan (FMHS) on PBRF’s demise. Bye bye PBRF | Tertiary Education Union – Te Hautū Kahurangi o Aotearoa teu.ac.nz.

“You need to work on your face.” Being a guinea pig in a new ‘bias response’ system that allowed individual students to register anonymous complaints against teachers. Facing It | THR Web Features | Web Features | The Hedgehog Reviewhttps://hedgehogreview.com/web-features/thr/posts/facing-it

Gender Trouble was controversial and even its author thought some of its sentences were “unforgivable”. But there is a new book, Who’s Afraid of Gender? and Judith Butler Thinks You’re Overreacting - The New York Times nytimes.com

Civic education. Professor Dame Anne Salmond schools politicians on why New Zealand is a democracy, not a company newsroom.co.nz

Reminders.

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