Changes for PhD's and Other Research Students - of /courses

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PhD Regulation Changes
The key statute governing PhD
students has just recently undergone
substantial change,
which should be noted by all
current postgraduate students.
The changes to the statute are
“intended to provide greater
clarity; as well as grammatical
corrections” according to a
notice in VicNews (http://
w w w . v u w . a c . n z /
victorianews/print.aspx#826),
but are also about bringing
programmes into line with the
changing funding environment,
which emphasises (among other
things) research degree completions.
All students enrolling in a PhD
after the passing of the revised
Statute (on April 30 th 2007)
will be bound by it, whereas
PhD students enrolled before
this date will be subject to the
prior statute.
All PhD students are encouraged
to familiarise themselves
with the PhD Statute and Policy,
both of which are available on
the VUW Policy Website:
http://policy.vuw.ac.nz/
The revised statute is:
Degree of Doctor of Philosophy
Statute
PhD Statute Changes:
The following changes to the
PhD Statute, proposed by Professor
Neil Quigley, DVC
(Research), were discussed by
the University Research Degrees
Sub-Committee in 2006 and
considered and endorsed by the
University Research Committee
on 1 st March 2007. Academic
Board then approved the revised
statute on 8 th March 2007, and
University Council finally approved
the Statute on 30 th April
2007.
In particular the changes have
implications for enrolment
arrangements, progress reporting,
suspension regulations,
completion times, and procedure
for withholding a thesis.
The following summary should
be read in conjunction with the
revised statute.
4.2 Conditions of Enrolment
(a) A stipulated period for halftime
candidates to move from
provisional to full enrolment
(24 months).
4.3 Re-enrolment, Termination,
Suspension and Extension
(a) Six-monthly reporting date
changes from April and October
to May and November.
(c) A tightening up on suspension
regulations (a maximum
of 12 months, measured in
monthly increments, with no
access to university services
including supervision and the
library).
(d) A change from 5 to 4 years
to complete the thesis for fulltime
candidates, and the inclusion
of 6 years for half-time
candidates.
4.4 Course of Study
(c) Reference to withholding
theses (application must be
made before submission)
By Ed Challies
Towards a Research Strategy
You will all have noted that in
the recent round of the PBRF,
Victoria’s ranking fell from third
to fourth. Upon this ranking
depends a great deal of research
funding, therefore the development
of a research strategy for
the university is a matter of concern
to all postgraduate students.
This paper, “Towards a Research
Strategy”, by Professor Neil
Quigley was presented at Academic
Board on 19 April 2007.
It had previously been sighted by
the University Research Committee
which commented on it
prior to its present form.
The paper invites feedback, and
states that a revised version,
incorporating the responses to it,
will be presented at Academic
Board in the middle of this year.
The Postgraduate Students’ Association
has not specifically
been invited to comment on the
paper, but nevertheless, feels
that the voice of postgraduates
should be heard in the development
of the University’s research
strategy.
The paper is available to
download, for those on a staff
account at: http://
intranet.vuw.ac.nz/researchoffice/about-us/news.aspx
otherwise
please e-mail Sue Kelly
(sue.kelly@vuw.ac.nz) and she
will forward you a copy.
In asking the question “How research-intensive
is VUW?”, Prof
Quigley focuses, among other
factors, on postgraduate research
students. He notes the value that
postgraduate students bring to the
research community of the university
and the benefits that accrue
to the university through
being seen as a teacher of future
academics. But of course the 25%
of PBRF funding for research
degree completion is another
aspect of our existence which
brings cheer to the university.
Specifically dealing with difficulties
in the postgraduate programme
Prof Quigley notes:
VUW has a substantially smaller
proportion of its total EFTS
(equivalent full-time students) in
PhD programmes than its peer
universities in Australia and New
Zealand.
VUW has strong masters programmes
in some Schools, and
overall has a relatively high proportion
of research EFTS in masters
degrees. But VUW’s research
EFTS in PhD programmes
are low by comparison with peer
universities in New Zealand and
substantially lower than those at
Australian universities.
Forty percent of the Schools at
VUW have fewer than 10 PhD
students which makes it unlikely
that those schools are able to
offer postgraduate students a
learning experience that includes
substantial interaction with peers
working in similar areas.
There is a very large variation in
the postgraduate supervision
workloads of staff across Schools
at VUW, with eight Schools having
two or more research students
per Full-Time Equivalent staff.
Only one School in the University
meets the target set in the Strategic
Plan if 20% of EFTS in postgraduate
research programmes.
This will give you a flavour of the
whole document. Please
download it and read it and give
us your comments. You can email
them to sue.kelly@vuw.ac.nz
We will bring you further news
on the shape our submission is
taking in the next newsletter.
By Lisa Sacksen
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