Latest news with #OtagoUniversity
Scoop
21 hours ago
- Politics
- Scoop
Universities Will Be Weakened By Budget Focus On STEM And Science
, Education correspondent Universities warn next year's funding boost for science courses and other STEM subjects won't drive up enrolments in those fields. They also calculate that the government's decision to increase funding for STEM subjects but not for most other fields next year is a net zero. That's because the Budget allowed an emergency two-year four percent funding boost to lapse. Craig Marshall, an associate professor in Otago University's School of Biomedical Sciences and member of the Tertiary Education Union's council, told RNZ without a serious funding increase, universities would increasingly struggle to offer the research-informed teaching that defined them. Marshall said the ongoing decline in university funding compared to inflation could prove fatal. "I think it'll be incremental," he said. "You'll just see small losses here and there and everywhere else and at the end of it all it's very difficult to predict what that leads to but perhaps the loss of a university." Marshall said the latest decisions meant universities would struggle to offer some humanities courses and students would start to vote with their feet. "What we're starting to see is students instead of coming to universities in New Zealand from school, they'll go to universities overseas. They see that as a better outcome," he said. "Increasingly, students opt now for postgrad graduate training outside of New Zealand, rather than in New Zealand. Some of the universities will be weakened, some may be fatally weakened." Marshall agreed the government was unlikely to let a university to go under, but one or more could lose the ability to provide the research-informed teaching that fostered critical thought - in which case it would cease to be a university in all but name. Universities New Zealand chief executive Chris Whelan said the long-term trend for university funding was poor, but none of the eight institutions was close to failing. "It's becoming challenging to basically retain our position internationally. We shouldn't care about things like international rankings, but the reality is they do send quite important signals to academic staff, to people that want to do research collaborations with New Zealand researchers and to international students," he said, referring to league tables in which New Zealand universities had been falling. "There is a tipping point where if funding got so low we were not able to maintain that quality, we would have a problem. But I don't think we're anywhere near that." However, Whelan said the net effect of the Budget was no increase to total university funding next year. He said that was about as good as the sector could have expected under the circumstances. But he said the government's decision to favour STEM subjects over humanities was mistaken. "It's an unfortunate message. There seems to be a belief that somehow universities, if they're given more funding for science, technology, engineering, maths-type subjects, can persuade students to drop doing the liberal arts or social sciences and shift across. The reality is that's just not the case," he said. Whelan said all fields of university study contributed to the skilled workforce the government said it wanted. Universities minister Shane Reti told RNZ that was correct but STEM subjects were more closely linked to productivity. "The message we're sending is that we're particularly investing and funding those courses that clearly have a pathway to productivity and economic gain and these are generally the science and the STEM subjects," he said. Reti said enrolments in those subjects had been increasing and the funding decision should encourage universities to increase the breadth and depth of their STEM programmes. He said universities were not sliding toward failure. "Across the sector, there are some who are doing well and some who are struggling and indeed have been struggling for some period of time and and are receiving extra attention support and monitoring from TEC," he said. "But if we look at the big picture, there's a significant increase in student numbers this year... It's quite a change in trend from over the previous few years where student numbers have been falling away." Reti said the government had allocated $111m over the next two years to cover growing university enrolments. He confirmed that the government had allocated enough funding to cover 99 percent of expected enrolments next year and the Tertiary Education Commission would be expected to cover the remainder from its reserves. Changing shares of the enrolment pie Education Ministry figures show the sciences have lost ground against other subjects in terms of enrolments in Bachelors degrees in the past 10 years. Considered by predominant field of study, the percentage of students enrolled in the "natural and physical sciences" dropped from 14 to 13 percent between 2024 and 2015. Health enrolments rose from 17 to 20 percent while education, management and commerce, and the creative arts all dropped slightly. Predominant field of study for 120,995 domestic students enrolled in Bachelors degree programmes in 2024 and 127,705 in 2015. Subject 2015 2024 Sciences 14 percent 13 percent IT 6 percent 7 percent Engineering 3 percent 3 percent Arch and building 2 percent 3 percent Ag, envmnt 2 percent 2 percent Health 17 percent 20 percent Education 8 percent 7 percent Mngmnt, commerce 20 percent 18 percent Society and culture 33 percent 33 percent Creative arts 11 percent 10 percent
RNZ News
a day ago
- Business
- RNZ News
Universities will be weakened by Budget focus on STEM and science
A university lecture hall. Photo: AFP Universities warn next year's funding boost for science courses and other STEM subjects won't drive up enrolments in those fields. They also calculate that the government's decision to increase funding for STEM subjects but not for most other fields next year is a net zero. That's because the Budget allowed an emergency two-year four percent funding boost to lapse. Craig Marshall, an associate professor in Otago University's School of Biomedical Sciences and member of the Tertiary Education Union's council, told RNZ without a serious funding increase, universities would increasingly struggle to offer the research-informed teaching that defined them. Marshall said the ongoing decline in university funding compared to inflation could prove fatal. "I think it'll be incremental," he said. "You'll just see small losses here and there and everywhere else and at the end of it all it's very difficult to predict what that leads to but perhaps the loss of a university." Marshall said the latest decisions meant universities would struggle to offer some humanities courses and students would start to vote with their feet. "What we're starting to see is students instead of coming to universities in New Zealand from school, they'll go to universities overseas. They see that as a better outcome," he said. "Increasingly, students opt now for postgrad graduate training outside of New Zealand, rather than in New Zealand. Some of the universities will be weakened, some may be fatally weakened." Marshall agreed the government was unlikely to let a university to go under, but one or more could lose the ability to provide the research-informed teaching that fostered critical thought - in which case it would cease to be a university in all but name. Universities New Zealand chief executive Chris Whelan said the long-term trend for university funding was poor, but none of the eight institutions was close to failing. "It's becoming challenging to basically retain our position internationally. We shouldn't care about things like international rankings, but the reality is they do send quite important signals to academic staff, to people that want to do research collaborations with New Zealand researchers and to international students," he said, referring to league tables in which New Zealand universities had been falling. "There is a tipping point where if funding got so low we were not able to maintain that quality, we would have a problem. But I don't think we're anywhere near that." However, Whelan said the net effect of the Budget was no increase to total university funding next year. He said that was about as good as the sector could have expected under the circumstances. But he said the government's decision to favour STEM subjects over humanities was mistaken. "It's an unfortunate message. There seems to be a belief that somehow universities, if they're given more funding for science, technology, engineering, maths-type subjects, can persuade students to drop doing the liberal arts or social sciences and shift across. The reality is that's just not the case," he said. Whelan said all fields of university study contributed to the skilled workforce the government said it wanted. Universities are not heading towards failure, the minister says. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone Universities minister Shane Reti told RNZ that was correct but STEM subjects were more closely linked to productivity. "The message we're sending is that we're particularly investing and funding those courses that clearly have a pathway to productivity and economic gain and these are generally the science and the STEM subjects," he said. Reti said enrolments in those subjects had been increasing and the funding decision should encourage universities to increase the breadth and depth of their STEM programmes. He said universities were not sliding toward failure. "Across the sector, there are some who are doing well and some who are struggling and indeed have been struggling for some period of time and and are receiving extra attention support and monitoring from TEC," he said. "But if we look at the big picture, there's a significant increase in student numbers this year... It's quite a change in trend from over the previous few years where student numbers have been falling away." Reti said the government had allocated $111m over the next two years to cover growing university enrolments. He confirmed that the government had allocated enough funding to cover 99 percent of expected enrolments next year and the Tertiary Education Commission would be expected to cover the remainder from its reserves. Education Ministry figures show the sciences have lost ground against other subjects in terms of enrolments in Bachelors degrees in the past 10 years. Considered by predominant field of study, the percentage of students enrolled in the "natural and physical sciences" dropped from 14 to 13 percent between 2024 and 2015. Health enrolments rose from 17 to 20 percent while education, management and commerce, and the creative arts all dropped slightly. Predominant field of study for 120,995 domestic students enrolled in Bachelors degree programmes in 2024 and 127,705 in 2015. Subject 2015 2024 Sciences 14 percent 13 percent IT 6 percent 7 percent Engineering 3 percent 3 percent Arch and building 2 percent 3 percent Ag, envmnt 2 percent 2 percent Health 17 percent 20 percent Education 8 percent 7 percent Mngmnt, commerce 20 percent 18 percent Society and culture 33 percent 33 percent Creative arts 11 percent 10 percent
Otago Daily Times
27-05-2025
- General
- Otago Daily Times
Well-represented German dept alumni to hold reunion
Nearly 100 former students of the University of Otago German language department will be saying "auf wiedersehen" to the department for one final time on Saturday. The department, which was discontinued last year during Otago University's restructures, had a long history with the institution — the first recorded German-language course at the university dated back to 1875. Former department head Dr Alyth Grant said this weekend's reunion would bring together people from all over the world. They had at least 60 people attending the celebrations at the Otago Yacht Club's clubrooms on Saturday from 4pm, and another 30-40 participating via Zoom. "For many of them, studying German at Otago University led to jobs in foreign affairs and Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade [Mfat]. "At present, there are at least four of our graduates working for Mfat. "One's the consul in Los Angeles. Another is the deputy commissioner in Canberra. "Somebody else has just come back from the New Zealand Embassy in Germany. So, the qualification of a languages degree, so often in combination with another degree, was what got them where they wanted to go in careers." For more than 70 years, the department held a production of a German play. Dr Grant said this was crucial for people developing connections and friendships. "The fact that it was a small department, so they were in smaller groups and got to know all their contemporaries very well. "Students could come and we knew them personally and they knew us well. "I think all of that helped — we used to retain really quite a lot of students who would go on to do German honours, so they would be there for four years." Dr Grant was able to retrieve several old posters and German play memorabilia from the Hocken Collections, while there would be an appearance by a representative from the German Embassy. "Oh, I'm really looking forward to seeing so many people again," Dr Grant said. "Participants will mourn the loss of German at the University on Saturday. But primarily, the reunion will be a celebration of the travails and laughter of their time in the department, and a sharing of all that German has meant in their lives since."
Newsroom
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Newsroom
Trump's South African spotlight
Cathy is a 10th-generation white South African who moved to New Zealand 28 years ago, following the hijacking and killing of a man in her work car park. Her parents, dyed-in-the-wool South Africans, followed her 10 years later, after someone broke into their home and left knives in the ceiling. Today, from the safety of her Auckland home, she backs US President Donald Trump, who stunned the world last week with his orchestrated ambush of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office. Trump played videos that he claimed proved genocide is being committed against white people, driving farmers to flee to the US. The unexpected stunt turned the diplomatic setting into a stage for Trump's contention that white South Africans are being persecuted. 'I think that Donald Trump is a very astute gentleman,' says Cathy, who didn't want her last name used. 'And I believe that what he has intended to do with his reaction and his approach to the situation in South Africa is to put a spotlight on it. 'Media companies around the world wouldn't be talking about it unless he'd done that. So, let's give him some credit.' She says the current South African government isn't standing up to the opposition, which is making threats to different racial communities. In January, Ramaphosa also signed a bill into law allowing the state to seize land without compensation. 'A lot of the farmers and the Afrikaans community feel reasonably threatened by what is happening in the country,' Cathy says. 'I know of people who have had to run for their lives, leaving their farms. I know of people who live in New Zealand who have had to return home because their families have been murdered. It is real, it is true, and I don't believe it's being reported on.' Trump's meeting with Ramaphosa in the White House was billed as a friendly conversation about trade and regional cooperation, but it quickly turned sour with the South African leader visibly blindsided by the white genocide ambush, which critics have labelled 'inappropriate and undiplomatic'. Robert Patman, professor of international relations at Otago University, tells The Detail the stunt was performative, targeting MAGA supporters. 'I was appalled,' he says. 'It seems to me that America has humiliated itself – at least its president has humiliated America in the eyes of many people around the world. 'This is the second time that Mr Trump has applied 'gotcha' diplomacy, where he has ambushed someone in the Oval Office. It struck me as thoroughly unprofessional. 'If he had genuine concerns about white genocide, then he would have sent the documents in advance to the South African government to form the basis of a discussion … a discussion that would normally happen behind closed doors on sensitive issues. 'There is no basis in the allegations that Mr Trump has made. The whole thing was performative, and it may have won him some applause amongst MAGA supporters – Make America Great Again supporters – but it certainly hasn't won any international respect for the Trump administration.' He suggests that South Africa's genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice was another factor in the attack. A number of South African billionaires, including Elon Musk, have Trump's ear, Patman says. Earlier this month, a group of 59 white South Africans arrived in the United States after being granted refugee status by the White House, which has fast tracked the processing of Afrikaner refugees but paused refugee applications for other nationalities. This follows Trump freezing aid to South Africa in February over claims it was mistreating its minority white population. Ramaphosa has vehemently denied all the claims. Check out how to listen to and follow The Detail here. You can also stay up-to-date by liking us on Facebook or following us on Twitter.
NZ Herald
24-05-2025
- Health
- NZ Herald
Billionaire's family backs Friedreich's Ataxia research fundraiser for friend Flynn Mitchell
As he tried to get into the house, his wheelchair kept sliding backwards. With no one expected home for another four hours, Mitchell was left stranded in the cold. 'There was no way I could get up there. It would've been dangerous [but] if I'd stayed outside I would have frozen to death,' Mitchell said. 'I finally managed to open the door but couldn't get the wheelchair in, so I crawled into the house and pulled the wheelchair behind me. When I got in, I was freezing. I broke down and I bawled my eyes out. I thought, 'I can't do this anymore.'' Fundraising for a cure Mitchell, who graduated last week with a Bachelor of Entrepreneurship from Otago University, has Friedreich's Ataxia (FA)- a progressive, incurable neurodegenerative muscular disorder. There is currently no cure, and billionaire Graeme Hart's granddaughter Jemima Hawkesby, 21, is one of a group of Mitchell's closest friends raising awareness and funds for research into the disorder. They have a team, 'For Flynn,' in the Lend Us Some Muscl e campaign - to raise funds for future research and clinical trials. 'We are a group of mates in our early 20's from all over New Zealand, taking on the Lend Us Some Muscle Global Challenge 2025 for the second year running' says the blurb introducing their fundraiser. 'Flynn's one of the strongest, most determined people we know, and this is our way of backing him, and showing him how proud we are of his strength.' Hawkesby told the Herald, 'We want to help Flynn walk again. Each team will complete physical challenges like walking, running, golfing, swimming, and yoga- sadly all activities that Flynn and others with FA can no longer do.' So far, the friends have raised more than $16,500 of their $30,000 target. 'My friends keep me grounded.' Hawkesby and Mitchell boarded at Selwyn College, Otago in 2022 and instantly clicked, Mitchell confiding in her about why he chose to be in a wheelchair. Says Hawkesby: 'He got tired of people harassing him and taking the piss out of the way he walked. He knew he would end up in a wheelchair and thought, 'why wait'? It gets to me when my friends say, 'we're going on a hike' and obviously I can't go. Flynn Mitchell 'He was like a fourth brother to me. Flynny is one of us - we forget he's in a wheelchair. He shows up for everyone no matter what he's going through' Hawkesby said. 'I've had to take him to hospital a few times because he's been drunk and fallen out of his chair and banged his head. He doesn't like asking for help, but he always takes time to check in on me every day.' Mitchell says being around close, non-judgemental friends keeps him grounded. 'When I started walking funny, before I got a wheelchair, quite a few friends dropped off.' But his genuine friends stood by him - 'friends like Jemima, Jules and Xavier, my childhood friend from King's College.' I'd love to be a father one day. I'd like to be able to talk properly and be able to dance on two feet and walk without having to rely on my friends to lift me upstairs. Flynn Mitchell Hawkesby - public relations leader for Antipodes - now lives in Wellington with her partner Jesse Tashkoff, an all-rounder for the Wellington Firebirds. The pair caught up with Mitchell in Dunedin last week, when Hawkesby graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce and Mitchell with a Bachelor of Entrepreneurship. Hawkesby's grandmother, 'Mama' Robyn Hart - wife of Graeme Hart - has donated to the campaign and told the Herald Mitchell is much-loved by his friends. 'I admire him and his 'can do' attitude. One day he came to see me at home and announced there was going to be a drug that could reverse many of his FA symptoms. The look of hope on his face and the tears in his eyes as he told us was so special.' Hart told the Herald her fondest memory of Mitchell was at her granddaughter's 19th birthday. 'Drinking shots with Flynn in Dunedin - he out-drank me! That's not an easy thing to do' Hart said. One of Mitchell's university friends, Jules Aitken, 21, accompanied him to Melbourne last year for annual tests, treatments and monitoring. 'You never truly understand how much FA affects Flynn's daily life until you see it. I got a real insight being with him 24/7. Flynn will never talk about it or complain but you see how much more difficult it is for him.' 'For the Lend Us Some Muscle campaign we're trying to cover the length of NZ which is 1600 kilometers from the top to the bottom which is 8.6 kms a day. What motivates me is if my legs and feet are sore and I'm in pain and I don't feel like a run, I think how privileged I am to be able to exercise and raise money for my mate who would cherish the opportunity to go for a run.' The rare condition Friedreich's Ataxia is a life-shortening, progressive neuro-muscular disorder, and there isn't a cure yet. Mitchell's heart is fragile; he has lost co-ordination and the ability to walk, and talk clearly. It's the simple things he grieves the most. 'I used to be fully independent. I sailed, I could walk to the beach, play football in the park. It gets to me when my friends say, 'we're going on a hike' and obviously I can't go.' In New Zealand, as many as 1 in 90 people may be carriers of the gene. The diagnosis Mitchell grew up in St Heliers, Auckland, with his parents, Scott and Gesa, and his two younger brothers, Peer,19 and Yonas, 18. Gesa says when she first learned of her son's diagnosis, she couldn't breathe. 'It is hereditary, but we don't know anyone in our families who has it,' she told the Herald. 'It was quite a process for Flynn to be diagnosed. When he was 12, I noticed he was skinnier and shorter than the other boys, but I wasn't worried. Then he started losing his balance, and after he did the Ironman in 2013, he was struggling to breathe big-time. That was the first sign of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy which is part of FA.' Gesa describes her son as clever, kind curious, with a big smile on his face - a lover of marine life. She said it was devastating to see him unable to do the things he loves most: run, cycle, sail, ski and hike. 'You have to think outside the box. Last year, we took Flynn to the Sahara Desert,he didn't want to ride on a camel because it wasn't sustainable or 'the right thing for the camel,' so we put his wheelchair on the back of quad bike because Flynn didn't think it was ethical putting a wheelchair on top of a camel.' Mitchell hopes to finish his master's next February and start a business protecting the natural world and being amongst animals like his hero, Sir David Attenborough. He wants to fall in love and have his own family. 'I'd love to be a father one day. I'd like to be able to talk properly and be able to dance on two feet and walk without having to rely on my friends to lift me upstairs. 'I would love not to rely on anyone.' Carolyne Meng-Yee is an Auckland-based investigative journalist who won Best Documentary at the Voyager Media Awards in 2022. She worked for the Herald on Sunday from 2007-2011 and rejoined the Herald in 2016 after working as an award-winning current affairs producer at TVNZ's 60 Minutes, 20/20 and Sunday.
