University Salaries

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30405, 2 April 1964, Page 12

University Salaries

Do university positions in New Zealand “carry too “great a security and too little incentive”, as Professor W. S. Fyfe claims? Professor Fyfe, the New Zealand-born professor of geology at the University of California, thinks that this combination “ inevitably leads to a lower level of academic achieve- “ ment ”, “ The Press ”, which has expressed similar misgivings about other aspects of the New Zealand economy, finds itself broadly in agreement with Professor Fyfe. It does not follow, however, that New Zealand university positions should be radically altered so as to offer much less security and much more incentive than at present. It is generally admitted that the best of the American universities offer much more, to staff and students alike, than is available from New Zealand universities; but many American universities fall far short of New Zealand standards. The American system breeds prolific writers of papers in learned journals, sometimes at the expense of teaching. The New Zealand system, with all its faults, produces research work and teaching that is respectable by world standards. If a radical change in the system would bring all New Zealand universities up to the standard of the best American universities, the change could be seriously contemplated. Unfortunately, such a change might also work to the disadvantage of some of our universities.

There is an even stronger argument against any radical change in the university system: it would be quite out of place in the social climate of New Zealand. A university is only one of many institutions in a community, all of which reflect prevailing public opinion. Public opinion here is not in favour of the system of drastic penalties and munificent rewards that is reflected in American university salaries. However, because university staff are, to some extent, an “ international commodity ” the price offered for this commodity here must bear some relation to world prices, or New Zealand will lose university staff. More flexibility in university salaries would certainly be desirable, particularly if it could be combined with salary ceilings not far short of European or American salaries.