A Voice for General Staff

DRAFT

A Voice for General Staff
Professionals in New Zealand Universities (Working Title Only)

We are higher education professionals with vast expertise and experience in a wide range of specialised roles.

Quality teaching, learning and research in New Zealand universities would not be possible without general staff, and the work we do in partnership with our academic colleagues. We are an essential part of the union and the university.

We are the people who:
• Organise the enrolment and induction of students
• Make learning resources and the learning environment a reality
• Purchase, set up and maintain software for research, teaching and administration
• Determine the appropriate responses to the ever-changing IT infrastructure
• Advise research groups on advanced computing techniques
• Facilitate student and staff access to information resources
• Manage and support specialist research facilities
• Allocate and manage student housing
• Create budgets and monitor expenditure
• Plan and implement student recruitments and outreach programmes
• Promote and market the university to the wider community
• Write, edit and publish university publications
• Manage quality assurance processes in teaching and learning
• Negotiate research grants and links with industry and iwi
• Advise on and enforce health and safety requirements
• Service committees and provide advice on legal and regulatory matters
• Help students find rewarding careers
• Support students and staff with disabilities
• Support the mental and physical health of students
• Manage and implement human resources policies
• Develop and maintain buildings and grounds
• Provide a front line reception service to all visitors and callers
• Plan and administer assessment procedures

We believe:
• That as general staff we are vital to the university environment, and make a contribution to university teaching and research that is both different and equal to that of our academic colleagues
• That continued under funding to universities has resulted in low pay and lack of recognition for many general staff, casualisation of general staff roles, and lack of job security due to constant reviews
• That growth in student numbers and other changes to the university environment have led to increasingly unmanageable workloads for general staff
• That general staff do not have adequate representation on university governing bodies and committees or participation in their processes
• That the implementation and application of HR policies in our universities is often inequitable, with the result that general staff face procedures and checks which are not imposed on academic colleagues
• We are entitled to quality management that gives us the opportunity to organise our own work and to contribute to improvements across the workplace.
• That AUS is strengthened by our membership and activism.

We expect and will organise to achieve the following:
• That our employers recognise our expertise, professionalism, experience and qualifications by maintaining the links between academic and general staff in salaries, superannuation, grading and career progression
• That our contribution to university education is acknowledged by our employers through quality, secure and permanent work, higher pay, better opportunities for career development, improved working conditions, and work-life balance
• That there is fair representation of general staff on all governing bodies and committees, participation in decision making at all levels and access to information
• That legal rights to academic freedom also apply to general staff, and the work we do, and should be supported by the university and by government
• That the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi will underpin the work of all staff in the university
• That current unmanageable workloads are addressed through greater investment in general staff
• That our employers implement internal policies equally across all staff categories to ensure fair and equitable treatment.
• That our union encourages the membership and active participation of all general staff, develops recruitment campaigns aimed at general staff, and ensures that the representation of general staff is maintained and improved at all levels