We Are The University

[TEU-academic] ] TEU update

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Fri May 03 2024 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)

Tēnā koutou katoa

TEU’s national conference. This Update comes from Wellington, where delegations from every tertiary institution, large and small, are gathered for our annual conference. News will come via the TEU website News | Tertiary Education Union – Te Hautū Kahurangi o Aotearoa teu.ac.nz, plus via its social media accounts. We have a highly representative delegation: co-President (Professional) Noel Zeng (below), branch committee members Allan Fowler, Andy Fey, Rosaria Price, Maribel Caballero, yours truly. Other UoA members are here as part of their national union roles: Antonia Verstappen, John Egan, James Love, and Jeanette Anderson. Our organiser Nicole Wallace has joined other union staff members in attendance. We have covered a range of topics, in workshops: from pay equity and living wage, to bargaining to academic freedom. We were addressed by economists at the Council of Trade Unions and Business and Economic Research. We farewelled, with honorary lifetime membership of the TEU, Irena Brörens a 40y veteran of the union movement, 30 of those in the tertiary education sector.

University Advisory Group calls for submissions. The first of several consultation phases for the University Advisory Group (UAG) opens on 1 May and closes on 31 May. Phase One consultation covers high-level sectoral questions that consider the role of universities in New Zealand. Submissions received will inform the initial report to Government. This advisory group has the potential to significantly change the university sector. The first phase has 11 broad questions about the role and place of university education in New Zealand. We encourage members to respond to as many questions as possible. For more information, including consultation questions and how to make a submission, visit University Advisory Grouphttps://uag.us22.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5ce1903ca26a2f091d65cb858&id=7aa0f2a794&e=576b50b713. We await word on when Sir Peter Gluckman, who chairs this group, will address staff at Waipapa Taumata Rau as he has with staff at other universities.

Draft Research Integrity Policy. The branch submitted feedback on the definition of Research Misconduct as including ‘Other research practices which bring or are likely to bring the University into disrepute.’ The University's reputation can be affected through appropriate exercise of Academic Freedom. For example, it is appropriate for an academic to be critical of actions of foreign governments through their research, including governments of countries where the University of Auckland conducts significant operations. The removal or relevant revision of this aspect of the definition was recommended.

Shenanigans at the U Waikato. That fishy smell was indeed fishy. Auditor-General: Waikato University dismissive of public accountability amid concerns about former National minister’s $1m contract - NZ Heraldhttps://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/auditor-general-waikato-university-dismissive-of-public-accountability-amid-concerns-about-former-national-ministers-1m-contract/PH4HYSZ5T5HLLBU7MB3EMBZ3RQ/ and Auditor-General criticises way University of Waikato contracted Steven Joyce msn.com

How management seeks to divide and conquer. But how unions work. Junior hospital doctors are set to walk off the jobhttps://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/514923/junior-hospital-doctors-to-strike-for-24-hours-in-may for 24 hours on 7 May, likely causing significant disruptions to services. Why? Union secretary Deborah Powell said most of the 2500 doctors were offered a significant pay increase -- up to 25%. But they were striking for about 300 of their colleagues who were instead in line for an effective pay cut of up to 12%, she said. Junior hospital doctors plan strike in May | Newshubhttps://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2024/04/junior-hospital-doctors-plan-strike-in-may.html, and Doctors’ strike: 2500 Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora employees to strike after pay offer rejected - NZ Heraldhttps://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/doctors-strike-2500-te-whatu-ora-health-new-zealand-employees-to-strike-after-pay-offer-rejected/SDD3YIPAPBC4HPQQFNYRDKS6ZY/.

Official notification on New Zealand passport upgrades. The annual flurry to renew passports ahead of planned winter holidays, combined with a major system upgrade at the passport office, means that the Department of Internal Affairs is now advising New Zealand passport applicants to allow up to eight weeks, plus delivery time, for their passport to be processed—in the short-term. The system upgrade is the most significant change to New Zealand’s passports system in over ten years. It is recommended all staff intending to travel this year to check their passport is valid with at least a 6-month validity, if not, staff should consider starting the application now process to ensure their new passports arrive in time for upcoming travel.

TEU Yoga Classes moved to the Grafton Campus. Class this week will be May 9. Classes run from 0800-0855 for five consecutive weeks ending May 30 and take place in Building 507 lobby (where the tennis table is set up). Some mats will be provided but you are welcome to bring your own. 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 in cash, students welcome for a gold coin donation. You are welcome to register your interest using this formhttps://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeUwJAh0vXWRc8XdcX2GecKgdryQL6HVADNI1rpGlQZoZaBRA/viewform?usp=sf_link.

Vincent O’Sullivan has passed. An Auckland alumnus who taught at U Waikato and was a long-time VUW professor. Poet, critic, editor, playwright, and far more: Vale, Vincent O'Sullivan (1937-2024) newsroom.co.nz; and 'I was in awe of him': Poet Sir Vincent O'Sullivan dies at age 86 | RNZ Newshttps://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/515441/i-was-in-awe-of-him-poet-sir-vincent-o-sullivan-dies-at-age-86. 2016 Honoured NZ Writer: Vincent O’Sullivan on Vimeohttps://vimeo.com/170409729?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR0Yxy6M2ta1Eb9V8O39xdosbgeKzV0Espf0q3Lsjm8oURc-p6CT4SmppnE_aem_AcjZk2M0eehfVSopROTNIujwQfd6sHMUgLusHfYP66kcjpJ3WQEZ1tRlKXXzX9j-k8LHzrv9MDQLiiADnwiiy5dY. He once wrote: “A politician is a citizen who believes he has the skills or the right to tell other citizens what to do, whether that is replacing the national flag with a golf shirt logo, to tell another culture their destiny is to behave like yours, or advising the poor in South Auckland to just toughen up, eat more Big Macs, and leave the subtleties of nutrition to the gym-trim waistbands of Epsom.”

Speak of the devil. (Or is he just a philistine?) “Actually it was a portfolio I asked for”. Act's arts spokesman once watched a musical newsroom.co.nz

Student protests on Gaza. On Tuesday the VC wrote that student intentions to demonstrate against the ongoing destruction of Gaza and its people. “We fully support the right of our students and staff to engage in peaceful and lawful protest. However, we also remind staff and students of our expectations of civil and respectful discourse on our campuses, as outlined in our Code of Conducthttps://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/on-campus/life-on-campus/code-of-conduct.html… Having carefully considered the matter and taken into account advice from the New Zealand Police, the decision has been made to work constructively with the students to facilitate a peaceful and lawful protest on campus, but to not support the establishment of an overnight encampment. This compromise enables students and staff who wish to express their views to do so in a peaceful and lawful manner, without introducing the significant risks that such encampments have brought to other university campuses”. We don’t think she is referring to the police brutality unleashed on students (Columbia University faculty ‘horrified’ by mass arrests of student protesters | Protest | The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/may/01/columbia-university-student-protesters-arrested-faculty-reacts; Top New York prosecutor says 280 people arrested at campus protests; independent review into UCLA violence – as it happened | US campus protests | The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2024/may/01/columbia-university-protest-live-updates-nypd-new-york-police-enter-campus-pro-palestinian-demonstrators-latest-news?filterKeyEvents=false&page=with:block-6631b0868f08df7ec2bd9b78; ) but we don’t know what the reference is to. In any event, the action opened on Wednesday with a series of powerful speakers and was, by all accounts, entirely peaceful. Watch: Hundreds gather for pro-Palestinian protest at Auckland uni, set up tents msn.com and University of Auckland students rally on campus for a pro-Palestine protest. - NZ Heraldhttps://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/university-of-auckland-students-rally-on-campus-for-a-pro-palestine-protest/YDF23GSQKFFVOO3VCUUUUIUQGA/. See also University protests dominate media coverage, obscuring the true horror of Gaza war yahoo.com

The real world has never been more regulated and monitored for children, but the opposite is the case for the virtual world. Jonathan Haidt urgently bids us to reverse this order. Why tech execs don’t give their kids phones | David James | The Critic Magazinehttps://thecritic.co.uk/why-tech-execs-dont-give-their-kids-phones/

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Barry Hughes, PhD 302.363 Science Centre School of Psychology University of Auckland / Waipapa Taumata Rau