We Are The University

Vice-Chancellor's Update | Tuesday 16 July 2024

undefined

Tue Jul 16 2024 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)

Kia ora tātou

University Town Hall meetings It was good to see so many of you at the Town Hall meetings at the Science Centre, Grafton Campus, Newmarket Campus and Tai Tonga Campus last week. Thank you for your engagement and frank feedback on a broad range of issues. Unfortunately, the Town Hall scheduled for the Owen G. Glenn Building and the online Town Hall had to be postponed. These will be rescheduled as soon as practicable.

Financial position One of the key topics of discussion at the Town Hall meetings was the University’s financial position. As we have indicated at our recent all-staff Zoom sessions, the sector finds itself in a challenging external operating environment. Our expected operating surplus for this year is close to break even, with a similar outlook for the next three years without positive actions. To this end, we will focus on driving material improvements across three key areas: generating additional revenue, containing and reducing operational costs and overheads, and ensuring our strategic focus on both the academic and professional staff skill mix remains. Further information about initiatives in these three areas will follow in the coming weeks and months.

Employment Court finding There has been considerable domestic and international analysis and commentary on the recent Employment Court ruling. The University is continuing to assess Judge Joanna Holden’s findings.

The University is acutely aware of the risk of harassment and abuse facing some staff. The risk environment and appropriate responses are constantly under surveillance. If any staff member is concerned about harassment and abuse, please contact the Staff Risk Intervention Teammailto:srit@auckland.ac.nz (SRIT). SRIT provides extensive and proactive support for individuals concerned about any and all forms of harassment and abuse. For more information about SRIT and types of abuse, see the SRIT Intranet pagehttps://www.staff.auckland.ac.nz/en/central-services/staff-risk-intervention-team.html.

Pacific relations I was delighted to be able to lead a small University of Auckland delegation to Samoa together with our PVC (Pacific) during the week of July 1st. Highlights included meeting Prime Minister Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa and attending a University of Auckland alumni reception with nearly 100 of our graduates. We also had the opportunity to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the National University of Samoa with a view to enhancing Pacific-led research and building closer connections between our two universities for students, academics and professional staff. Read more on our News pages.https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2024/07/05/UoA-signs-MoU-with-NUS.html

UAG opens second consultation phase The University Advisory Group (UAG) is inviting public submissions on its second consultation phase. This phase, which closes 5pm, Friday 30 August, focuses on universities’ core activities of teaching, research and knowledge transfer, as well as governance and management. We will once again present a comprehensive submission on behalf of the University. Additionally, we are keen to see the Science System Advisory Group’s (SSAG) first report, which was delivered to the government at the end of June.

Ngā mihi nui Dawn

Professor Dawn Freshwater Vice-Chancellor