News
Defining a University
23 February 2005
| Source: | NZVCC Electronic News Bulletin (Vol. 5 No. 2 22 February 2005) |
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Auckland polytechnic Unitec's application for university status should fail, according to the NZVCC's submission to the NZ Qualifications Authority.
NZQA has convened a panel to assess the application, which is expected to report in May. The NZVCC's submission says Unitec does not meet all the characteristics of university as set out in the Education Act. It falls short of characteristic 1 – universities are primarily concerned with more advanced learning, the principal aim being to develop intellectual independence – by a substantial margin. Analysis of data put forward by Unitec in support of its application shows that 17% of its enrolments are for community education and 42% for courses at levels 1-6 on the qualifications framework while only 41% are at degree level. NZQA's guideline on this characteristic is 50% at degree level while the NZVCC's benchmark is 75% of enrolment at degree level.
On characteristic 2 – university research and teaching are closely interdependent and most of university teaching is done by people who are active in advancing knowledge – Unitec's application fails, the NZVCC's submission states. Of the 648 full-time equivalent Unitec staff in 2003, 10% had doctorates and 32% masterates. The balance (58%) had bachelor or other qualifications. "This accords with the nature of the institution but does not look like a university."
Unitiec falls short of meeting characteristic 3 – universities meet international standards of teaching and research – the Committee says. In the 2003 Performance Based Research Fund (PBRF) assessment, only 29% of Unitec academic staff were submitted for assessment and of those, 78% were judged research inactive. That suggested that just 6-7% of Unitec staff were research active. For comparison, the university average for the proportion of PBRF-eligible staff submitted for assessment was 78%.
Universities are a repository of knowledge and expertise constitutes characteristic 4 of a university as defined by the Education Act and here the NZVCC submission states that the Unitec case is weak. "One of the key distinguishing characteristics of a university is its library and it is essential that any university library is adequately resourced to support its research and teaching mission. At this time it appears that the Unitec library cannot support the research required for Unitec to be considered a university."
While the NZVCC submission has no comment to make on what Unitec's application said on characteristic 5 – universities accept a role as critic and conscience of society – it does note that the application made no explicit statement on a further legislative requirement. That stipulates that universities are characterised by a wide diversity of teaching and research, especially at a higher level, that maintains, advances, disseminates and assists the application of knowledge, develops intellectual independence and promotes community learning. Unitec should be asked to comment on this requirement, the NZVCC believes.
Finally, the Committee's submission notes that Unitec's application places considerable emphasis on the notion of a "dual sector" university. "There is no such institution in legislation in New Zealand."
