30 November 2022
Beryl Beauchamp
By email:
[FYI request #20922 email]
Dear Beryl
Official Information Act request 22.62 Brett Berquist travel
I refer to the Official Information Act (the Act) request dated 20 October 2022 for information relating to Brett
Berquist’s travel. You have requested the fol owing:
1. How many international trips has Brett Berquist taken on behalf of the University between October
2021 and October 2022?
Please note that Brett Berquist began his role as Assistant Vice-Chancel or Engagement in January
2022, therefore no travel on behalf of the University took place before this time. Brett has taken 2
international trips in this time on behalf of the University.
Part of his role as Assistant Vice-Chancel or Engagement is to engage with the international
community and to encourage prospective students and staff to join UC.
2. The itinerary for each trip.
Please see an outline of the itineraries for the relevant trips below. Some annual leave was taken
whilst overseas. Information relating to personal travel is withheld under s 9(2)(a) to protect Brett’s
privacy. The University has considered the public interest and is of the view that it does not outweigh
the privacy interest in this matter.
European trip:
• The week of 4 September, in London, Brett met with Times Higher Education leadership, Quacquarel i
Symonds (QS), Universities UK, Association of Commonwealth Universities, Oxford University,
Cambridge University, leadership of the PIE News, More consultancy, Public First Consultancy.
• On Friday 9 September, he attended the 2022 PIEoneer Awards Gala.
• Over the fol owing weekend, he travelled to Tarragona Spain to attend meetings of the
C33international education network.
• The week of 12 September, Brett participated in the European Association of International Education
conference in Barcelona. This included meetings with the NZ IE sector and Education New Zealand.
Business and partnership meetings and attendance of conference sessions.
• Brett took annual leave from 17 September and returned to New Zealand on 26 September 2022.
Australian trip:
• On 14 October, Brett travel ed to Melbourne.
• On 18 October, Brett travel ed from Melbourne to the Gold Coast for the Australian International
Education Conference (AIEC).
• On 24 October, Brett returned to Christchurch.
• During this time in Australia, as well as attending the AIEC conference, Brett met with staff from the
University of Melbourne, UniLodge, Australian Education Management Group, IDP (International
Education Specialists, SannamS4/Acumen, Adventus, Chronicle for Higher Education, and QS.
There are privacy considerations regarding the individual people that he met whilst representing UC
overseas. Their names and contact details are withheld under s 9(2)(a) of the Act to protect their
privacy. The names of UC staff below Senior Leadership Team (SLT) level have also been withheld
under s 9(2)(a) to protect their privacy. Those below the SLT level do not have a public facing element
in their role, whereas those in SLT have a public facing element in their role representing UC in the
wider community. The University has considered the public interest and is of the view that it does not
outweigh the privacy interest in this matter.
Given the public interest in a Senior Leadership Team member’s travel, a summary of the types of
officials that Brett met with is as fol ows: International student agents, diplomats at embassies and
high commissions, academics at a variety of universities and staff members of higher education
ranking companies. Describing the types of roles these individuals carry out rather than naming them
protects the individual’s right to privacy whilst providing transparency on the type of work and
meeting attendances that was carried out by Brett on behalf of the University.
3. The total cost of each trip.
The trip to Spain and England in September 2022: $13 823.33.
The trip to Australia cost in October 2022: $ 2658.74.
4. The proposal documents or authorising documents allowing each trip and any reports produced in
relation to each trip.
Please find attached the approval for travel documents.
The reports for the trips contain commercial information pertinent to UC and others, which are
therefore withheld under sections 9(2)(i) and 9(2)(b)(ii) of the Act. The provision of accommodation,
research and laboratory facilities provides more opportunities for prospective and current University
of Canterbury students. This assists with student recruitment, al owing more fees to be col ected and
therefore more revenue to be realised. The prejudice from this information being released is that the
University needs to be able to maintain the ability to establish commercial contracts on the best
terms available with a wide variety of partners and contractors. The risk of these being released
publicly would threaten the University’s ability to maintain effective relationships with third parties in
the future, expose their business IP and other commercial y sensitive materials, and undermine public
confidence in the University as a fair and equitable partner.
However, given the public interest in the work of a member of a SLT member, a summary of the
topics in the reports is provided below. Discussions were had with those outlined in question 2
regarding strategies for fundraising and marketing international y, opportunities for collaboration
regarding UC’s 150th anniversary, the direction of International Education in a post pandemic world,
international student accommodation and support and opportunities for jointly delivered
programmes with UC.
5. A list of any trips planned in the next year and any proposal or authorising documents related to
planned trips.
Brett does not currently have any trips planned for 2023 at the time of this response. Therefore, this
information is refused under s 18(e) of the Act, as this information does not exist.
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.
Yours sincerely
Claire O'Connell
Information Compliance Officer
Attachment(s):
Travel approval documents
