16 September 2020
John Luke
By email:
[FYI request #13354 email]
Dear John Luke,
Official information request – Honorary and Adjunct appointments
I refer to your request for information under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act)
dated 21 July 2020.
I would like to know the name of current Honorary and Adjunct Appointments and
separate by their title, (e.g. honorary lecturer, senior lecturer, associate professor,
professor). Also their bio as well and I would like to request any policy/guideline for
such appointment.
Further I understand, Honorary and adjunct appointments are usually for a period of
up to three years and appointees may be reappointed as appropriate. May I have
their term of appointment as well.
On 18 August 2020, the University notified you of an extension of the time to make a
decision on your request, to 15 September 2020.
Please find attached the following University policy, procedure and guideline documents
which are relevant to your request:
Adjunct and Visiting Staff policy;
Appointing an Honorary Research Associate procedure;
The Award of the Title and Status of Emeritus Professor guide.
Information regarding current Honorary and Adjunct appointments is publicly available on
the University’s website, including names and bios where individuals have made that
information about them public:
www.wgtn.ac.nz (relevant information can be obtained
through the use of search terms “adjunct”, “honorary” or “emeritus”).
In addition, details of Honorary and Adjunct appointments is also available from the
University Calendar section of the University’s website:
https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/about/governance/university-publications/calendar.
Honorary Research Associates – one category of honorary appointments - are appointed
by the Dean of the University’s Faculty of Graduate Research. Their details are not
generally publicly available on the University’s website.
We have given careful consideration to your request to provide details of the names, titles,
terms of appointment and bios for all Honorary and Adjunct Appointments, beyond the
information that is publicly available from searching the University’s website and
University Calendar.
As at August 2020, the University has identified over 320 individuals who currently hold an
Adjunct or Honorific title (including those of Emeritus Professor). Because the specific
information you have requested involves the release of information that affects the privacy
of those individuals, we have considered whether it could be practicable to discuss your
request with those individuals and seek their feedback on any proposal to release to you
the information about them that you have requested.
Given the scale of the request and the number of individuals whose personal information
is involved and who would need to be consulted on its release, the work to respond to
your request would have a significant and unreasonable impact on the University’s ability
to carry out day-to-day operations. The University consider that it would impracticable for
its staff to undertake the collation and research required to respond to a request for
information of this size.
In accordance with the Act, the University has also considered whether to affix a charge in
respect of this work. However, the University believes there is no countervailing public
interest in the release of this information which would outweigh the requirement to protect
the privacy of the individuals involved.
Beyond the information that has been released to you with this letter, including through
the publicly accessible information from the University’s website, the University confirms
that the balance of your request is refused on the grounds that withholding of the
information is necessary to protect the privacy of natural persons (sections 9(a) and 18(a)
of the Act), and that the information requested cannot be made available without
substantial collation or research (section 18(f) of the Act).
You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of this
decision. Information about how to make a complaint is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802 602.
If you wish to discuss this decision with us, please feel free to contact us
at [VUW request email].
Yours sincerely,
Aaron Mills
Aaron Mills
Manager, HR Planning & Reporting
Human Resources
Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington
cc:
OIA Requests
[VUW request email]
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