Latest news with #UniversitiesNewZealand
Scoop
04-08-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Response To NCEA Changes
Universities New Zealand broadly supports the direction of the changes signalled to the NCEA qualification announced this morning but looks forward to seeing more detail. Chief Executive Chris Whelan says: 'We have previously raised concerns that the flexibility of NCEA has led to a focus on simply gaining credits rather than developing deep knowledge and critical thinking needed for students to succeed at a university level. This proposal appears to address those concerns. 'However, while the proposal will introduce subjects to replace the mix of credits and achievement standards that have made NCEA so hard to understand, we don't yet know what those subjects will be, or how they will relate to letting students know they are ready for entry into university studies.' The current requirements for University Entrance, which is administered by the NZQA, are: • NCEA Level 3 • A minimum of 14 credits at Level 3 in each of three approved subjects • A literacy requirement of 10 credits at Level 2 or above (5 in reading and 5 in writing) • A numeracy requirement of 10 credits at Level 1 or above 'We have previously highlighted the importance of University Entrance's three subject requirement at Level 3 as an indicator of a student's breadth and depth of learning in academic subjects, which matters in the transition to university. The proposed system increases that minimum to four subjects to pass, but it is not yet clear what subjects these will be in, which will be one of the things we consider. 'University Entrance is a robust indicator of a student's readiness for degree-level standards, and we would expect that to continue under a new system. 'We are pleased that the new system is being phased in over a longer time period, which will allow those decisions to be made with careful thought. 'We look forward to working with the Ministry of Education and Government to ensure the transition to a new system is smooth and sets up university students of 2031 and beyond for success in their chosen academic field.'
Scoop
25-07-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Australian And New Zealand Universities Join Forces To Negotiate Landmark Open Access Deals
Joint media statement by Council of Australasian University Librarians (CAUL), Universities Australia and Universities New Zealand—Te Pōkai Tara: Universities across Australia and New Zealand are teaming up to strike a better deal on open access research publishing, in a bold new approach to negotiations with the world's largest academic publishers. Led by the Council of Australasian University Librarians (CAUL), Universities Australia and Universities New Zealand – Te Pōkai Tara, the sector will take a unified position in upcoming negotiations with Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley, and Taylor & Francis. The moves come amid mounting pressure on university budgets and growing concern about the rising cost of open access publishing. The sector is now pursuing new agreements that are more sustainable, transparent and equitable, and deliver better value for the public investment in research. 'These are crucial negotiations for the future of research in our regions,' said Professor Iain Martin, Vice Chancellor of Deakin University and Chair of the sector's new oversight committee. 'Our universities are committed to making research openly accessible to maximise its impact for the communities we serve. The negotiations offer an important opportunity to establish new models that align more closely with the needs of our sector and the public who fund and benefit from our work.' The cross-Tasman initiative will be overseen by a senior academic advisory group, comprising university leaders and university librarians from both countries. The group will ensure that any new agreements reflect the changing needs of researchers and institutions alike. Luke Sheehy, Chief Executive of Universities Australia, said the move reflects the sector's broader commitment to collaboration and reform. 'Universities are stepping up to find smarter, more sustainable ways to support open access. By negotiating together, we're giving ourselves the best shot at securing a fairer deal for our researchers - and better value for public investment,' he said. 'Much of the research done by universities in Australia and New Zealand is funded by taxpayers. We have obligations to make sure that the knowledge we generate is widely and freely available and not hidden behind paywalls,' said Dr Bronwen Kelly, Deputy Chief Executive of Universities New Zealand – Te Pōkai Tara. "Where making the knowledge we generate widely available is best done by working through global publishers, we have obligations to make sure that we do this in a way that ensures the best value for taxpayers.' CAUL Content Procurement Committee Chair Hero Macdonald said the joint approach marks a pivotal shift for the sector. 'This new approach reflects our sector's shared commitment to achieving a sustainable, fair, equitable and truly open future for the region's research', Hero said. Angus Cook, Director of Content Procurement at CAUL, said the collaboration was designed to drive better outcomes for both researchers and institutions. 'This isn't just about cost, it's about securing fair access, improving transparency and supporting a healthy publishing ecosystem that works for our region. Negotiations will continue throughout 2025, with new agreements beginning from January 2026. About CAUL The Council of Australasian University Librarians (CAUL) is the peak collegiate body for the leaders of university libraries in Australasia and Oceania. It facilitates connection and collaboration and optimises its collective knowledge, expertise, and resources to achieve strategic outcomes at scale in priority areas for the university library sector. CAUL is the trusted voice of the university library sector in the region. About UA Universities Australia is the voice of Australia's universities. As the peak body for the sector, we advocate the vast social, economic and cultural value of higher education and research to Australia and the world. On behalf of our 39 member universities, we provide expert policy advice, analysis and statistical evidence, and media commentary on higher education. We also make submissions, develop policy across the sector, represent Australia's universities on government and industry-appointed bodies and partner with university sectors in other countries to enable bilateral and global collaborations. About UNZ Universities New Zealand—Te Pōkai Tara is the sector voice for all eight universities, representing their collective views nationally and internationally, championing the quality education they deliver, and the important contribution they make to New Zealand, economically, socially and culturally.
Otago Daily Times
02-07-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Fears immigration levy could hit international student numbers
Universities say a proposal that could make them pay a levy to Immigration New Zealand might harm international student numbers. The government is considering a law change that would allow Immigration New Zealand to levy organisations that benefit from its work, such as education providers. At the moment, it can only charge visa applicants. "Currently there are people and groups who do not contribute to the broader costs of the immigration system (because they do not pay an immigration levy; only visa applicants can be charged a levy under the Immigration Act 2009 (the Act)), but who do receive its benefits or create risks that require mitigation," a regulatory impact statement said. The statement said education providers benefited from Immigration NZ services that they did not directly pay for. "Education providers that enrol international students directly financially benefit from the immigration system by tapping into a wider pool of students who are generally charged high fees than domestic students for their education," it said. "Education providers that enrol international students also derive significant financial benefits from access to foreign students and benefit from the ICT, border, and settlement activities funded from the levy." Universities New Zealand said the cost of a levy was likely to be passed on to students and could deter them from enrolling in this country. It said the government needed to be careful the user-pays model did not cost the country more in lost economic activity than it earned Immigration New Zealand. "On average, each international student at a New Zealand university spends around $36,000 to study and this flows through to another $22,000 of broader economic activity for the country for a total of around $58,000 per student annually," it said. "International students have choices as to where they study and cost is a particularly important factor for many of the students from lower income countries." Universities New Zealand said Immigration NZ increased its student visa fees in October 2024 by 90%and actual student enrolments for the university sector for 2025 ended up about 10% below forecast. "As government considers amending settings around making users pay for public services, we hope that government will also consider the public benefits that flow through to the wider economy from these students," it said.
RNZ News
02-07-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Immigration levy could hit international student numbers, say universities
Universities New Zealand says the cost of an immigration levy is likely to be passed on to students. File photo. Photo: RNZ Universities say a proposal that could make them pay a levy to Immigration New Zealand might harm international student numbers. The government is considering a law change that would allow Immigration New Zealand to levy organisations that benefit from its work, such as education providers. At the moment, it can only charge visa applicants. "Currently there are people and groups who do not contribute to the broader costs of the immigration system (because they do not pay an immigration levy; only visa applicants can be charged a levy under the Immigration Act 2009 (the Act)), but who do receive its benefits or create risks that require mitigation," a regulatory impact statement said. The statement said education providers benefited from Immigration NZ services that they did not directly pay for. "Education providers that enrol international students directly financially benefit from the immigration system by tapping into a wider pool of students who are generally charged high fees than domestic students for their education," it said. "Education providers that enrol international students also derive significant financial benefits from access to foreign students and benefit from the ICT, border, and settlement activities funded from the levy." Universities New Zealand said the cost of a levy was likely to be passed on to students and could deter them from enrolling in this country. It said the government needed to be careful the user-pays model did not cost the country more in lost economic activity than it earned Immigration New Zealand. "On average, each international student at a New Zealand university spends around $36,000 to study and this flows through to another $22,000 of broader economic activity for the country for a total of around $58,000 per student annually," it said. "International students have choices as to where they study and cost is a particularly important factor for many of the students from lower income countries." Universities New Zealand said Immigration NZ increased its student visa fees in October 2024 by 90 percent and actual student enrolments for the university sector for 2025 ended up about 10 percent below forecast. "As government considers amending settings around making users pay for public services, we hope that government will also consider the public benefits that flow through to the wider economy from these students," it said. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Otago Daily Times
09-06-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Exam delayed over cheating allegations
The University of Otago was forced to postpone a law exam due to alleged cheating. The Otago Daily Times has been told information was disseminated after a student took the company law exam a day early due to a timetable conflict. A spokeswoman for the university did not comment on the details of the alleged cheating, but confirmed the exam had been postponed and "an investigation is under way into what has occurred". "The law faculty dean made the difficult decision to postpone the exam on Friday. "For the affected students, a new exam will be run on Wednesday for those who can make it, and a second version will be run in the special exam period at the start of semester 2." Company law is a 400-level paper about "what a company incorporated under the Companies Act 1993 is and how it operates", the university's website said. Universities New Zealand chief executive Dr Chris Whelan said all New Zealand universities took cheating or other allegations of academic misconduct very seriously, and all had very vigorous and clear policies on the matter. "At Universities New Zealand, we work with the sector to enable the sharing of information and best practice in the wake of new technologies and other changes and challenges, but how each university implements and responds to incidents is up to them." Otago University's latest academic misconduct report showed there were 55 examples of misconduct last year, of which four related to exams and 51 to internal assessments. This compared with 79 examples in 2023, of which 12 related to exams and 67 to internal assessment.
