Universities shocked at cuts

Press, 1 August 1989, Page 7

Universities shocked at cuts

Universities were shocked and dismayed that their funding effectively had been cut in the Budget, the New Zealand Vice-Chancellors’ committee said yesterday. The committee chairman, Professor Bruce Ross, of Lincoln College, said there were 5000 more students enrolled at universities this year than in 1988. He said that by failing to provide additional funding to take account of this large increase, the Government inevitably jeopardised the quality of university education. He said universities were already

severely under-funded and the Budget worsened an already serious funding shortfall in several ways. “Firstly it fails to fund universities for the actual number of students enrolled. Secondly it fails to provide compensation for inflation and increases in GST, shrinking universities’ inadequate funding further.” He said the third effect was a reduction in grants for research, scholarships, computers and teaching equipment by 5 per cent. “To shrink universities’ resource base at a time when existing facili-

ties are stretched to breaking point by large increases in student numbers is educationally short-sighted,” he said. University administators faced a nightmare of uncertainty in planning for the next academic year. "We still don’t know whether the student loans scheme will be in operation, nor what the level of tuition fees will be,” Professor Ross said. Universities should have received an extra $65 milliobn in the Budget, he said, just to compensate for increases in student numbers, GST and inflation.