Education Minister Anne Tolley has announced the ten new Trades Academies, which are to open around New Zealand from 2012, providing practical skills training for secondary school students while allowing them to study for NCEA credits and tertiary qualifications. Mrs Tolley also announced this week that Christchurch is to have [...]

Tertiary Update Vol 14 No 31 In the last year, AUT has conducted seven separate staffing reviews. While three of these reviews reorganised the university’s management structure and did not result in redundancies, the other four identified 8.1 full time equivalent staff as surplus. The biggest job losses were in [...]

Many TEU members will be joining the thousands of people expected to attend the state funeral later this morning for Sir Paul Reeves. Former Governor General Sir Paul was closely involved in New Zealand’s academic community as Visiting Professor at the universities of Edinburgh and Auckland and as Chancellor of [...]

The employers at the five Ready2Go polytechnics (Whitireia, Wintec, BOPP, Unitec and NorthTec) have now finally agreed that they are indeed ‘ready to go’ and have agreed dates to negotiate with their respective TEU members. The first, Whitireia begins negotiations tomorrow (Friday) and the last gets underway on 3 August. Weltec has [...]

Auckland University of Technology has just released annual report shows that student: staff ratios continue to rise. In 2008 there were fewer than 17 students for every full time academic staff member. By the end of 2010 there were nearly 20 students for each full time academic staff member. TEU [...]

The New Zealand Herald reports that the government is funding a trade show at AUT next month promoting university research to businesses. More than 200 business people are expected to attend and seven of New Zealand’s eight universities will be represented at the show. The trade shows are funded through [...]

AUT Media Melease Thursday, November 18, 2010 The second reading of the Employment Relations Amendment Bill (No. 2) brings New Zealand another step closer to an American ‘hire-and-fire’ model, suggests an employment relations expert. Professor Erling Rasmussen, AUT Professor of Work and Employment, says it looks like the National-led government [...]

Hau Taki Haere, Vol 13, No 28 An employment relations professor says proposed changes to employment relations legislation will support inefficient and disorganised employers. Professor Erling Rasmussen, editor of a new book ‘Employment Relationships: Workers, Unions and Employers in New Zealand’ launched at Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau [...]

Prime minister John Key announced this week that research, science and technology will be one of the major recipients of new funding in Budget 2010. Science funding will receive $321 million in funding for new initiatives, he said. Mr Key also released the government’s new policy direction for science and [...]

The following article by Dr Tom Ryan was published in NTEU’s Advocate magazine in March:  Three months away and the government’s budget is already looming here in New Zealand. In the last month the tertiary education sector here has had a new minister appointed and the prime minister, John Key, open [...]