Universities review panel appointed

Press, 15 October 1986, Page 12

Universities review panel appointed

PA Wellington The way New Zealand’s universities are run is to be reviewed for the first time since they were set up as independent institutions 25 years ago. A panel of international experts will make the review over the next 12 months, said the chairman of the New Zealand Vice-Chancellors’ Committee, Dr Neil Waters. The panel would report on the strengths and weaknesses of the universities, and had been asked to comment specifically on their responsiveness to the needs of all sections of the community, particularly the Maori people, Dr Waters said. The panel would also look at ways students from less-privileged backgrounds could be enrolled at university, and whether there were ways the fund-

ing of university education could be shifted towards a user-pays basis, without losing an emphasis on social equity. Finally, the committee would ’ report on future goals and developments universities should pursue, Dr Waters said. The review panel would be chaired by Dr Ron Watts, executive head of Queens University in Ontario, Canada, and other members were Dr Tom Johnston, the principal of Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, Sir Rupert Myers, the former executive head of the University of New South Wales, and Dame Jean Herbison, the Chancellor of the UnL versity of Canterbury.

Dr Waters said it was expected the review panel’s report would lead to collective and individual action by the universities.