Universities support tertiary ranking system

1.00pm

Auckland University vice chancellor John Hood said today he supported a new tertiary ranking system that will determine research funding despite joining Victoria University in taking out a court injunction to block release of the system.

Yesterday the two universities took out injunctions to stop the release of part of the league tables document which compares New Zealand's tertiary education with Britain's.

"We are strong supporters of the performance-based research fund (PBRF) and its methodology," Dr Hood told National Radio.

"The fund details were put together over a couple of years in a collaborative, contestable, internationally rigorous manner. We were looking forward to the release of the results."

He said it was a good way of differentiating New Zealand Universities but said the international comparisons should not have been included.

"The problem is without any consultation or collaboration the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) has decided to use the results of that analysis in an attempt to compare the research standing of New Zealand institutions with British Institutions.

The TEC, responsible for the PBRF, said yesterday the British comparison did need to be "viewed with caution".

The British system does not assess individuals, only departments that each organisation has chosen to put forward.

Meanwhile the TEC was holding the whole report until the injunction was dealt with in the High Court tomorrow.

Other universities were not told about the injunction until after they were due to receive passwords to access the PBRF ranks on computer disks yesterday at 10am.

The passwords have not been released because of the injunction and universities still did not know how well or poorly they did.

Canterbury University Vice-Chancellor Roy Sharp said yesterday he was optimistic about the outcome of the PBRF for the institution.

"Canterbury is a very strong, research-led university and it has been for many years," he said in a statement.

"We wouldn't be surprised to see ourselves ranked highly. It's very important for us and for our staff."

Professor Sharp said the exercise would have major effects on tertiary education in New Zealand.

"It has changed behaviours in Britain and I have no doubt it will in New Zealand as well. We will all be looking to improve our performance."

Lincoln University Vice-Chancellor Roger Field was hesitant to comment on the PBRF until the information was released.

He said the university produced excellent research which was relevant to New Zealand's strong agricultural and biological science sectors, but he did not know how that would be translated through the PBRF exercise.

The Royal Society of New Zealand, an independent national academy of sciences, is planning to review the progress of the PBRF in June.

- NZPA