Council Minutes Part A
(Open Meeting)
4:00pm
17 October 2018
Present:
Mr St John (Chair), Professor McCutcheon (Vice-Chancellor), Mr Daniell, Mrs Dunphy, Ms Dawson, Mr Ferrier, Mr Kiely, Sir Ralph
Norris, Ms Tarrant, Associate Professor Sims, Ms Cusack, Associate Professor Kawharu.
In Attendance:
Mrs Cleland, Mr Gudsell, Ms Finucane, Mrs Verschaeren
Mr Phipps and Ms Litten for item 3 in Part B
1. APOLOGIES
None
2. DISCLOSURES OF
With regards to Item 7.2.2: Ms Cusack pointed out that, as
RESOLVED (Chancellor/Vice-Chancellor): That the disclosures
INTEREST BY
student, she had a conflict of interest for matters related to
be noted and the action taken be endorsed.
COUNCIL MEMBERS
Domestic and International Fees and the Compulsory Student
Services Fee (CSSF).
Ms Tarrant, Ms Dawson and Mrs Dunphy disclosed that they
had family members who were, current or prospective
students and might be affected by Item 7.2.2.
It was agreed that none of these conflicts should preclude the
members participating in the discussion and voting on those
issues.
3. CONFERMENT OF
With the authority of Council, the Chancellor
conferred the
DEGREES
degrees as per the schedule provided to the meeting.
4. AWARD OF
With the authority of Council, the Chancellor
awarded the
DIPLOMAS
diplomas as per the schedule provided to the meeting.
5. COUNCIL
5.1
Council, Draft Minutes (Part A), 20.08.18
RESOLVED (Chancellor/Associate Professor Sims): That the
MEETINGS
Minutes (Part A) of the Council meeting held on 20.08.18 be
taken as
read and
confirmed.
5.2
Matters arising from the Minutes (Part A),
20.08.18 not elsewhere on the Agenda.
No matters arising.
Council Agenda 17.10.18
Page 1 of 13
6. VICE-CHANCELLOR’S The report was taken as read.
RESOLVED (Chancellor/Mr Kiely): that the Vice-Chancellor’s
REPORT
Report be
noted.
The Vice-Chancellor commented:
With regards to p. 6, that Professor Cynthia Kiro had taken
up her role as new Pro Vice-Chancellor (Māori) on 01.10.18.
With regards to point 5.14: that the $10.5m legacy of
Warren and Judy Smith was the largest gift and bequest the
University had ever received.
Council requested to have a presentation regarding the
components of the rankings systems to ascertain what had
been changing over time; this would be addressed in one of
the future Council Briefings.
The top universities in New Zealand had been going down in
the rankings over the last ten years. Some issues of
Commentary had been produced about this issue recently and
these would be distributed to the members.
7. REPORTS OF COUNCIL 7.1
AUDIT AND RISK COMMITTEE
COMMITTEES
7.1.1 Draft Minutes (Part A), 18.09.18
RESOLVED (Chancellor/Ms Tarrant): that the Draft Audit and
Risk Committee Minutes (Part A), 18.09.18 be
received.
7.2
FINANCE COMMITTEE
7.2.1
Minutes (Part A), 08.10.18
RESOLVED (Chancellor/Mr Daniell): that the Finance
Committee Minutes (Part A), 08.10.18 be
received.
7.2.2
Domestic Student Fees 2019 and International
RESOLVED (Chancellor/Mr Daniell): that:
Student Fees 2020
The Report on Domestic Student Fees 2019 and International
This item was presented by the Vice-Chancellor.
Student Fees 2020 be
received; and
He drew Council’s attention to p. 2 of the fees paper which
THAT Council:
showed a summary of the recommendations.
a) Approve the attached Domestic Fees Schedule for
Key elements were that:
2019; (Ms Cusack dissented)
b) Approve the attached International Fees Schedule for
The domestic tuition fee be increased to the 2% permissible
2020; (Ms Cusack dissented)
under the Government’s Annual Maximum Fee Movement
c) Authorise the Vice-Chancellor to assign any new
Regulations. This would amount to a $159 per annum
programmes, or programmes becoming newly available
increase per full-time domestic student, generating
to international students in 2020, to an approved band
additional revenue of $4.6m.
Council Agenda 17.10.18
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The International tuition fees would be increased taking into
to enable offers to be made during the recruitment
account the University’s place in the market in comparison
cycle, and report these decisions back to Council;
to the Universities that were part of Australia’s Group of
d) Authorise the Vice-Chancellor to set fees for University
Eight.
programmes delivered offshore and to report those to
the Council meeting immediately following;
The context on p.5 of the fees papers demonstrated that there
e) Authorise the Vice-Chancellor to authorise faculty Deans
was a correlation between income per student and the
to award bursaries (effectively a discount) on
University rankings. The continuing decline in the ranking of
international fees on the understanding that this should
the top New Zealand universities was a result of the fact that
drive volume, that the published fee remains at the
the New Zealand universities had some of the lowest levels of
approved rate and that standard University overheads
income per student in the top 200 universities in the World.
are not compromised; and
Recently the University of Auckland had fallen out of the top
f) Approve the Compulsory Student Services Fee at $7.06
200 and sat now in the 208th place in the 200 – 250 band.
per point (GST inclusive), and
New Zealand provided a fairly high level of student support but
g) Approve the attached Other Fees Schedule for 2019.
a low level support for the institutions in comparison other
institutions considered for benchmarking.
To maintain revenue per EFTS at the same level as 2018 in
real terms, the 2019 Domestic student fees would need to
increase by 6%. However these fees can only increase with the
recommended maximum allowed 2%. This resulted in a
shortfall of $7.2m which needed to be compensated by
savings.
Over the last years the University had been growing its
international student enrolments, mainly with students from
China. However, the University was currently looking at
diversifying this market.
It was recommended that for 2020 the University-wide
International tuition fees would increase with 3.7%.
The Government had controlled the Compulsory Student
Services Fee (CSSF) since 2011. Each year, the University had
a collaborative consultation process with the students about
the CSSF. A joint survey conducted between the University and
AUSA showed increased student engagement with 1100
responses from students in 2018 compared to 700 the
previous year.
Council Agenda 17.10.18
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The majority of the students were of the opinion that the most
important of these services were:
Health and counselling;
Careers and employability; and
Sport and recreation
Over the years the University had put significant funding in
these services via the compulsory student services levy and
there were some concerns about the lack of transparency
about the use of this funding; the University would work
together with AUSA to get more clarity about the use of the
funding. If this could be finalised early in 2019, additional
funding for the identified services could be made available.
It was proposed to increase the CSSF with the projected cost
movement of 4.17% ensuring that all existing services were
funded to the same level.
In a discussion that followed a member noted that students
were most concerned about the immediate day-to-day cost of
living while studying and not only about the fees.
A survey conducted with international alumni showed that they
had a positive view about the way they were cared for by the
University while studying here.
As the international tuition fees were set two years in advance
based on an estimate, Council suggested that it would be
appropriate to investigate whether these estimates were
accurate.
As the international fees were mainly benchmarked against the
Australian market, Council asked to receive the Australian
Tuition Fees of the Group of Eight which were part of a
strategy paper submitted to Finance Committee.
In response to a query of the student representative, the Chair
of the Finance Committee commented that Finance Committee,
at its meeting of 08.10.18, had discussed the possibility to
review the welfare funding early 2019 and, although this was
included in the Finance Committee minutes, it would also be
appropriate to include this in the resolutions.
Council identified an error in the fees paper on p.13: The Vice-
Chancellors in New Zealand had protested that the original
Council Agenda 17.10.18
Page 4 of 13
Government Budget did not include an increase in SAC
funding for the first time in 20 years and asked for this to be
corrected.
7.3
NAMING COMMITTEE
RESOLVED (Chancellor/Mr Kiely): that Council
note that, to
celebrate the 125th anniversary of universal suffrage in New
7.3.1 Naming Committee Report, 05.09.18
Zealand, the Naming Committee approved the temporary
renaming of the Faculty of Science, its Schools and
Department, as follows:
For a period of 1 week from 19th September until 25th
September inclusive, to rename the following:
The Faculty of Science to the
The Dame Charmian Jocelyn
O’Connor Faculty of Science The School of Biological Sciences to
The Joan Marjorie Dingley
School of Biological Sciences
The School of Chemical Sciences to
The Lady Joyce Mary
Waters School of Chemical Sciences The Department of Computer Science to
The Myra Cohen
Department of Computer Science The School of Environment to
The Dorothy Una Urlich-Cloher
School of Environment The Department of Exercise Sciences to
The Annie Christina
Morrison Department of Exercise Sciences The Institute of Marine Science to
The Vivienne Cassie-Cooper
Institute of Marine Science The Department of Mathematics to
The Kate Milligan Edger
Department of Mathematics The Department of Physics to
The Janice Dolores McAdam
Department of Physics The School of Psychology to
The Dame Mira Szászy School of
Psychology The Department of Statistics to
The Jean Glover Heywood
Department of Statistics
At the end of this period those entities above reverted to their
original names.
8. SENATE MATTERS
8.1 Report of Senate, 24.09.18
RESOLVED (Chancellor/Vice-Chancellor): that the
recommendations in Part A of the Report of Senate, 24.09.18
Part Ai, 1 - 4: Reviews to be
received by Council
be
adopted and Parts B and C be
noted
Council Agenda 17.10.18
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Part Aii, 2-9: Policy and other matters requiring Council
approval
Part B, 1: Matters for
noting by Council
Part C, 1-2: Matters handled under Delegated Authority
9. CORRESPONDENCE
9.1 Invitation to attend the TEI Council member
RESOLVED (Chancellor/ Vice-Chancellor): that the invitation
REFERRED BY THE
induction and briefing on 22.11.18 and registration
to attend the TEI Council member induction and briefing on
CHANCELLOR
form
22.11.18 be
noted
All TEI council members were welcome – the day was intended
to complement the induction provided by each council for new
members, and more experienced members would benefit
from the sector and agency updates and networking.
10. OTHER MATTERS
10.1 Letter of thanks from Professor Neil Broom to the
RESOLVED (Chancellor/Mr Ferrier): that Neil Broom’s letter
FOR DECISION OR
Vice-Chancellor and Council
be
noted
NOTING
11. ELECTION OF
CHANCELLOR AND
11.1 Election of Chancellor for 2019
PRO-CHANCELLOR
FOR 2019
The Registrar assumed the chair.
Nominations were called for the position of Chancellor.
One nomination only was received, for Mr Scott St John (Sir
Ralph Norris/Mr Kiely).
There being no other nominations, the Registrar declared Mr St
John elected as Chancellor for a term for a period starting on
01.01.2019 and ending 31.12.2019.
Carried by acclamation.
The Chancellor assumed the Chair.
11.2Election of Pro-Chancellor for 2019
Nominations were called for the position of Pro-Chancellor.
One nomination only was received, for Ms Cecilia Tarrant
(Chancellor/Mr Kiely).
Council Agenda 17.10.18
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There being no other nominations, the Chancellor declared Ms
Tarrant elected as Pro-Chancellor for a term for a period starting
on 01.01.2019 and ending 31.12.2019.
Carried by acclamation.
12. GENERAL BUSINESS None
13. LEAVE OF ABSENCE (for Council meeting of 10 December 2018)
No request for a leave of absence was received
Council Agenda 17.10.18
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PUBLIC EXCLUSIONS
RESOLVED (Chancellor/Vice-Chancellor): that the public be excluded from Part B of this meeting.
The general subject of each matter to be considered while the public is excluded, the reason for passing this resolution in relation to each matter, and the
specific grounds under section 48(1) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 for the passing of this resolution are as follows:
General subject of each matter to be considered:
Item No. 1.1
Council Meeting Minutes (Part B), 20.08.18
Item No. 2.1.1
Animal Ethics Committee, Membership Report
Item No. 2.2.1
Audit and Risk Committee, Minutes (Part B), 18.09.18
Item No. 2.3.1
Finance Committee, Minutes (Part B), 08.10.18
Item No. 2.3.2
Financial Performance and Forecast for 2018
Item No. 2.3.3
Setting up a committed bank facility for the year-end funding requirements
Item No. 2.4
University Honours Committee Reports
Reason for passing this resolution in relation to each matter:
The protection of the interests mentioned below.
Grounds under section 48(1) for the passing of this resolution:
Those in Section 9 of the Official Information Act 1982 namely:
i)
To protect the privacy of the persons referred to in the recommendations and to maintain the confidentiality of those recommendations;
ii)
To enable the University to carry on without prejudice or disadvantage negotiations; and
iii)
To prevent the disclosure or use of Official Information for improper gain or advantage.
AND THAT Adrienne Cleland, Peter Gudsell, Lisa Finucane, and Wendy Verschaeren be permitted to remain for this part of the meeting, after the public
has been excluded, because of their knowledge of, or need to be briefed about, the matters to be discussed. This knowledge, which will be of assistance
in relation to the matters to be discussed, is relevant to those matters because they relate to aspects of the administration of The University of Auckland
for which those persons are responsible.
The meeting went into Public Excluded session at 5.15pm and closed at 6.30pm
Approved as a true and correct record.
Scott St John, Chancellor Date
Council Agenda 17.10.18
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