TEU national president Dr Sandra Grey has written to the Tertiary Education Commission requesting it take University of Canterbury, Lincoln University, and CPIT out of the coming Performance Based Research Funding (PBRF) exercise

Dr Grey says she has also asked the commission to give to all other academic staff living in Canterbury, no matter what institution they work for, permission to opt out of the coming PBRF evaluation round if they so desire.

“In our view, staff who must care for families, rebuild homes, and re-organise their teaching and administrative responsibilities in order to ensure students continue to receive a quality education in adverse circumstances, should not be required to participate in PBRF which would add compliance costs and emotional energy that cannot be found at this stage. What is more, the allocation of funding in any PBRF exercise undertaken which includes academics in Canterbury would disadvantage both the institutions and the individuals involved, because they have lost valuable time and resources as a result of the earthquake.”

TEU will be meeting with the commission on Monday next week to discuss this proposal.