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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005

THE UNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC

University Grants Committee Triennial Submission

2003 - 2005

May 2002

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Page No CONTENTS PAGES i- iii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY iv - vi ABBREVIATIONS vii - viii 1 INTRODUCTION 1 - 7 1.1 University Grants Committee Triennial Report, 2000 – 2002 2

and Mid-Term Report 1.2 Council’s Review Committee on the Future of the USP 4 1.3 The USP Strategic Plan and This Submission 4 1.4 Regionalising Tertiary Education in the Pacific 6 1.5 Structure of the Submission 7

2 REVIEW OF THE TRIENNIUM , 2000-2002 8 - 56 2.1 Student Numbers 8 2.2 University Staff 14 2.3 The Schools

2.3.1 School of Agriculture 19 2.3.2 School of Humanities 21 2.3.3 School of Law 23 2.3.4 School of Pure and Applied Science 25 2.3.5 School of Social and Economic Development 29

2.4 University Extension 34 2.5 Academic Support Services

2.5.1 Library 40 2.5.2 Information Technology Services 41 2.5.3 The Media Centre 43 2.5.4 CELT 44

2.6 The Institutes 46 2.7 Oceania Centre for Arts and Culture 47 2.8 Administrative Divisions

2.8.1 Registrar’s Office 48 2.8.2 Planning and Development Office 48 2.8.3 Community Services 49

2.9 Staff Development 53

3 MAJOR PLANS 57-62 3.1 Capital Management Plan and Physical Facilities 57 3.2 Distance and Flexible Learning Management Plan 58 3.3 Research 58 3.4 Information Technology Systems Management Plan 61 3.5 Implementation Plan, Reviews and Quality Assurance 62

4 PLANS FOR THE TRIENNIUM 2003-2005 63-70

4.1 Main Issues in Submissions 63 4.2 New Initiatives and Commitments 63 4.3 Major Equipment 67 4.4 Priorities 68

University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 5. RESOURCE ALLOCATION, BUDGET MANAGEMENT AND 71-79

FUNDING STRATEGIES 5.1 Commercial Activities 71 5.2 Resource Allocation 72 5.3 Reserves 72 5.4 Internal Audit 73 5.5 Risk Management 73 5.6 Funding Strategies 74

5.6.1 Differential and Flexible Fee Structure and Inducement 75 5.6.2 Institutional Fundraising 76 5.6.3 Aid Budget 78

6. CONCLUSION 80 BIBLIOGRAPHY 81 ANNEX Annex 1 Review of Recommendations of the UGC Triennial Report, 2000-2002 Annex 2 Financial Plan, 2003-2005 (F$`000) APPENDICES Appendix 1 Full-Time Equivalent Students (FTES) by School, Teaching

Section and Mode of Study 1997-2001 Appendix 2 Full-Time Equivalent Students (FTES) by School, Teaching

Section and Mode of Study (Annual Growth Rate) 1997-2001 Appendix 3 Full-Time Equivalent Students (FTES) by School, Teaching Section and Mode of Study (Per Cent) 1997-2001 Appendix 4 2001 Full-Time Equivalent Students (FTES) by School,

Teaching Section and Mode of Study Appendix 5 2001 Full-Time Equivalent Students (FTES) by School,

Teaching Section, Mode of Study and Type of Demand Appendix 6 2001 Full-Time Equivalent Students (FTES) by School, Teaching Section, Mode of Study and Type of Demand (Per Cent) Appendix 7 2001 Full-Tine Equivalent Students (FTES) by School,

Teaching Section, Type of Demand and Sex Appendix 8 2001 Full-Time Equivalent Students (FTES) by School,

Teaching Section, Type of Demand and Sex (Per Cent) Appendix 9 Full-Time Equivalent Students (FTES) by Country and Mode of Study 1996-2001 Appendix 10 Full-Time Equivalent Students (FTES) by Country and

Mode of Study (Per Cent) 1996-2000 Appendix 11 Undergraduate Courses by School, Teaching Section and Mode of Study 1996-2001 Appendix 12 Postgraduate Courses by School, Teaching Section and

Mode of Study 1996-2001 Appendix 13 Enrolments by Level of Programme, Programme and

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Mode of Study 1997-2001 Appendix 14 Completions by Level of Programme and Programme

1991-2001 Appendix 15 Undergraduate Course/Staff Ratios 1992-2001 Appendix 16 Total Assessed Government Contributions 1990-2001 Appendix 17 Assessed Government Contributions to the General and

Special Grants and the Medium Works Fund (F$`000s), 1997-2001

Appendix 18 Assessed Government Contributions to the General and Special Grants and the Medium Works Fund (Per Cent), 1997-2001

Appendix 19 Consolidated Aid Budget Report 1998-2002

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The University of the South Pacific has continued to be a sound and effective education institution. It has prided itself on providing not only quality and cost-effective education but also meaningful service to its member countries and various communities, based on strong academic foundations. Through a review of its activities, achievements and challenges over the last triennium 2000 - 2002, the University has also demonstrated that it is meeting the objectives of its Strategic Plan and remains committed to its mission as defined in the University Charter, viz: The objects of the University shall be the maintenance, advancement and dissemination of knowledge by teaching, consultancy and research and otherwise, and the provision at appropriate levels of education and training responsive to the well-being and needs of the communities of the South Pacific.1 In this triennial submission, the University explains how resources granted to it in the last triennium have been used, and the extent to which and in what form the University Grants Committee's earlier recommendations have been implemented, and suggests what resources are needed for the next three years, 2003 - 2005. It makes requests in line with the overall USP Strategic Plan and Support Plans of Schools and academic support Sections, which will enable the University to meet the needs of a profoundly changing region. Significant advances in information and communication technologies, new opportunities created by a more diverse and global society; competition amongst education providers, increasing financial constraints of the University member countries, and growing political instability in the region are just some of the major challenges to which the University must respond in creative ways. In preparing this UGC submission, senior staff of the University, different Schools and Sections, and management engaged in many hours of discussion about the current state of the University, its areas of greatest strengths and opportunities, and its challenges, values and regional character. In the discussions, it was recognized that in the last triennium the University had successfully focused its attention on further improving its services to clients in the region, implementing measures to reduce operating costs, and restructuring and strengthening its infrastructure. In responding to its commitment to distance and flexible learning, the University had expanded its activities and responsibilities in this area with improved Centre facilities, digitised library services and improved access to networking facilities. These have led to increased decentralised services assisted mainly by an expanded Information and Technology Services section and USPNet. The University further recognised some of its major achievements in the last triennium. These include: • Launching of USPNet • Fifteen Support Plans • Review of Distance and Flexible Learning and Teaching and the subsequent development and

approval of the Distance and Flexible Learning AusAID Project • New Postgraduate Diploma in Governance • New Postgraduate Diploma in Tourism • Library Digitisation • Establishment of the Department of Engineering • Completion of a number of major reviews • Expanded Book Centre with computer shop • New look USP Solutions 1 The University of the South Pacific. Mission Statement. 1994. p. 1

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 Since 1998, the University has been guided by its USP Strategic Plan and implementation is well advanced. In a five-year period, the University is achieving its objective of being a centre of excellence in six academic priority areas, namely: marine studies, teacher education, tourism studies, agriculture, sustainable development and, more recently, information and communication technologies (ICT). Other than the funded core programmes, the University is actively participating in a number of activities that do not require resources. These include work in good governance, staff interest groups in various developmental areas, advisory groups for different courses and programmes, new and expanded IT courses for professionals and students administered and taught by the University Centres and Information Technology Services, and community services. In addition, many staff members are being invited to sit on various national, regional and international committees and boards. In the last triennium, the commercial initiatives of the University, including the Book Centre, Institutes, catering, IT short term training courses, University Centres, USP Solutions and consultancies contributed towards the University's recurrent budget in a small way. In the next triennium, the University plans to market its services and expertise more widely, as well as put in place an infrastructure that will support more commercial activities and capture the interest of more international students, aid sources and other potential clients. The University is well placed to undertake a host of activities, particularly with the skills and expertise of its staff and the resources and physical facilities spread throughout the region. During the deliberations on the requests for inclusion in this submission, five themes emerged which were felt to be basic to the future of the University as a major regional education and research University. First, there is a commitment to fostering the international dimension of the University. This will apply to every aspect of University life, including research, scholarly collaborations, faculty exchanges and agreements, consultancies, quality assurance work, student recruitment, alumni development and relations, and curricula. Related to this are the University's plans to focus attention on improved science teaching and programmes in governance, adjustment reforms, public sector management, leadership and gender studies. Second, is the University's commitment to further regionalisation and restructuring. Beginning in the triennium 2003 to 2005, every effort will be made to decentralise selected activities, staff and services of the University, as well as to consolidate its activities. Third, is the University's determination to improve its research activities. The development of a research plan will be a priority undertaking. Fourth, the University fully supports the utilization of state-of-the-art technological resources, including technical staff, technical equipment and facilities to support study, research and scholarship, particularly in the sciences and distance and flexible learning. Fifth, is the University's attempts and plans to generate more income through its programmes, services and expertise, as well as through fundraising. These five themes - the fostering of a truly international University, regionalisation, improved research, the procurement of new technologies and related courses and programmes and the generation of more income - underlie the requests made in this submission. Choices had to be made when deciding on the requests to be submitted. Approval was based largely on the responsibility for academic excellence and the education and training needs of the countries of the region. They include planning and managing the expected growth in student numbers in demand areas, the introduction of flexible fees, the introduction of a number of new programmes, monitoring the quality of courses, improving staff salaries and conditions, managing physical

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 facilities and space requirements, improving research and equipment, and reviewing the University's regionalisation programme with a view to further transforming distance and flexible learning, the Institutes and University activities. To enable it to meet these priority responsibilities, the University is requesting a three per cent real growth in its budget. These goals will chart the new direction to enable the University to fulfil its mission with creativity and a commitment to academic and institutional excellence.

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ABBREVIATIONS

AETS Academic English for Tertiary Students AFM Accounting and Financial Management AusAID Australian Agency for International Development CDS Centre for Development Studies CELT Centre for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching CIDA Canadian International Development Agency COLA Cost of Living Adjustment CQU Central Queensland University CRC Community Recreation Centre C-SPODPII Canadian South Pacific Ocean Development Programme Phase II DBA Database Administrator DFL Distance and Flexible Learning DFLC Distance and Flexible Learning Committee DPD Director of Planning and Development ELSA English Language Skills Assessment ESCAP Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific EU/HRD European Union/Human Resources Development FCAE Fiji College of Advanced Education FFA Forum Fisheries Agency F&GPC Finance and General Purpose Committee FIT Fiji Institute of Technology FJD Fiji Dollar FNTC Fiji National Training Council FSM Fiji School of Medicine FTES Full-time Equivalent Students GIS Geographical Information Systems GOA Government of Australia GCDE Graduate Certificate in Education IAS Institute of Applied Sciences ICT Information and Communication Technologies IFLA/ALP International Federation of Library Associations/Advancement of

Librarianship IFM Internal Funding Model IJALS Institute of Justice and Legal Studies IOE Institute of Education IMR Institute of Marine Resources IPS Institute of Pacific Studies IRETA Institute for Research, Extension and Training in Agriculture IT Information Technology ITS Information Technology Services JICA Japanese International Cooperation Agency MACS Mathematics and Computing Science MBA Masters in Business Administration MIS Management Information System MSP Marine Studies Programme NUS National University of Samoa NZODA New Zealand Overseas Development Assistance

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 OCAC Oceania Centre for Arts and Culture OHS Occupational Health and Safety ONOC Oceania National Olympic Committee OPAC Online Public Access Catalogue ORMP Ocean Resources Management Programme ORSTOM Office de la Recherche Scientifique et Technique d'Outre Mer OSIC Oceania Sport Information Centre PA Public Administration PACLII Pacific Islands Legal Information Institute PDSU Pre-degree Studies Unit PGCE Post Graduate Certificate in Education PHALPS Permanent Heads of Agriculture and Livestock Production

Services PIA Pacific Islands Association PIMD Pacific Institute of Management and Development PIMRIS Pacific Islands Marine Resources Information System PNGUNITECH Papua New Guinea University of Technology PPA Pacific Platform for Action PSA Pacific Science Association PIC Pacific Information Centre PIMD Pacific Institute of Management and Development QAU Quality Assurance Unit RMI Republic of Marshall Islands SICHE Solomon Islands College of Higher Education SOA School of Agriculture SOH School of Humanities SOL School of Law SOPAC South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission SPACHEE South Pacific Action Committee for Human Ecology and the

Environment SPAS School of Pure and Applied Sciences SPC Secretariat of the Pacific Community SPREP South Pacific Regional Environmental Programme SSED School of Social and Economic Development UE University Extension UEHQ University Extension Head Quarters UGC University Grants Committee UK United Kingdom UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNICEF United Nations Children's Fund URC University Research Committee USA United States of America USP The University of the South Pacific USPSA The University of the South Pacific Student Association USQ University of Southern Quensland USNC United States National Committee VASS Voluntary Agency Support Services

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 ` 1. INTRODUCTION

Higher education is called upon to make a key contribution to opening up and highlighting new paths to a better future for society and the individual, and to give direction and shape to that future.2 The University of the South Pacific is committed to providing the governments and the peoples of its member countries with high quality, internationally recognised, relevant, and cost-effective higher education and training, research, publications, and consultancy services. It is also committed to providing academic leadership to the University region. 3

The University has come through well in the last triennium amidst the worst political crisis Fiji has ever faced. The University remained open throughout this critical time except in the second semester of 2000 when many students were forced by circumstances to return home early. These students continued their studies by distance mode. This was made possible through USPNet, a project which was funded jointly by the Japanese, Australian, New Zealand and USP Member Governments, and successfully launched in March 2000. USPNet also allowed the University to decentralise, manage and maintain its academic programmes and administrative operations efficiently throughout the region with some sense of pride. There is no doubt that this new facility has given strength to the University and has placed the University in a unique position, regionally as well as internationally, as an institution of excellence in distance and flexible learning. Despite the challenges of political insecurity and tight budget faced by the University in the last triennium, the submissions from the Schools and Sections illustrate the strength and calibre of the University personnel, such that, in 2001, student numbers remained fairly constant, programmes continued except in a few disciplines, planned activities were implemented with success, and the University managed to access aid and assistance at the same high level as in the past. It is pleasing to note that the University, guided by its Strategic Plan, has made major strides in fulfilling some of its objectives. It completed a major review of distance and flexible learning and put together a plan for further development in this area with the assistance of AusAID. Special audits and reviews of a number of sections within the University were undertaken and improvements made. Consolidation of Institutes and their restructuring as well as the restructuring of University Extension have been major developments. New and expanded academic programmes in governance, engineering, marine science, tourism, labour studies and early childhood education were introduced. With the quality of leadership and staff in the University, there is really no limit to what the University can do and offer in terms of academic qualifications, services and advice to the governments and people of the Pacific region within the boundaries of its mission and beyond. This new outlook of greater accountability and open style management with improved services to students, staff and members of the community is reflected in the submissions

2 Higher Education in the Twenty-first Century - Vision and Action: Towards an Agenda 21 for Higher Education. Paris: UNESCO, 1998. p. 5. 3 The University of the South Pacific. Mission Statement. 1994. p. 1

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from the Schools and Sections for the next triennium. The new initiatives and thinking for greater services to education will be driving the University forward into the future. More and more, the University is becoming proactive in marketing its services, programmes and facilities. The flow-on impact can only be positive in that many senior staff members are now being invited to serve on various national, regional and international committees and boards, and no doubt will play an active role in development and change in the different environments. In preparing this document, many meetings and discussions were held within the Departments, Schools, University Committees and with individuals, stakeholders and customers. Of significance is the clear direction that the University is taking into the future and this is largely the result of the University having a USP Strategic Plan, Support Plans of the Schools and Sections and a Review Committee on the Future of the USP. Unavoidably, the political crisis had a major negative impact on the staffing situation in the University. A number of staff members, both academic and comparable and at different levels, departed. Recruitment was difficult and slow. People were very uncertain of the future. In one department alone, about two thirds of its staff establishment resigned, noting better offers and security as major reasons for leaving. The regional economic outlook continues to deteriorate with recent indicators suggesting that the current downward trend has some way to go before the bottom is reached. In these terms, tertiary education in the region may see some difficult times ahead and may require creative management and focused development. The Governments of the region have, however, been investing heavily in education and in the University in the past 34 years and their demand for education has remained generally high, particularly in disciplines such as information systems, accounting, management, business and computing science, and there is no reason to believe that their support and commitment to USP will be reduced. It is useful to note that the region's participation rate in tertiary education is low when compared with other regions. In 1995, world-wide, higher education served 82 million students throughout the world. In 1960, world enrolment was only 13 million; in 1970, it was already 28 million; in 1980, the total stood at 51 million. The growth has been great in developed countries but slow in developing countries, particularly the Pacific region. 4

1.1 University Grants Committee Triennial Report, 2000 - 2002 and Mid-Term Report

In the last UGC Triennial meeting held in April 1999, the UGC made 18 recommendations. All these recommendations were eventually endorsed by the Regional Finance Ministers Meeting. A review of the actions taken by the University relating to these recommendations indicates that the University has made good progress on all the 18 recommendations. A report appears as Annex 1. Briefly, however, the recommendations covered many areas. Recommendation 1 noted the need for Support Plans for all Schools and Sections. Plans are now available for all the Schools and Sections and they provide a

4 World Statistical Outlook on Higher Education: 1980-1995. Paris: UNESCO, 1998. In the Caribbean region for instance, rates for students completing secondary school and going on to tertiary education vary considerably: Jamaica 7.8%, Trinidad and Tobago 8.2%, Barbados 28.7%. Key Indicators of the Labour Market 2000 - 2001. Geneva: ILO, 2001. In the South Pacific, the estimate number of students completing secondary education and going on to tertiary level education is not available readily for many of the USP member countries. Unconfirmed estimate for Vanuatu is 0.1% and Fiji it is 12.0%.

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vision and guide for all the sectors. The recommendation on the management of student enrolments has seen the University taking a number of actions to ensure that student numbers are managed well and that the University is not put in a situation where quality is compromised. On the recommendations to do with the Centres, an overall plan for the Centres is being developed and will be ready in July 2002. A review of leadership in the Centres has been undertaken and several new Centre Directors have been appointed: Samoa, Kiribati, Solomon Islands and Nauru. Two new Deputy Directors for Fiji were appointed: one in Lautoka and another in Labasa. In relation to the Centre Directors' working relation with governments, this has been communicated to the Directors and the impact will be monitored.

Regarding reserves, the University has instituted a system of assessing its reserve situation and plan and is attempting to ensure that reserves stand between 5% and 10% of the recurrent budget. The University has moved well ahead in its review of Distance and Flexible Learning and is concentrating on a plan which aims to ensure that all extension students receive equitable services and attention in their studies. Much work is being undertaken in University Extension and this is detailed in the input from the section included in this submission. For a number of recommendations, work has begun and these should be completed by the end of 2002 or in 2003. These include a decision on Laloanea Farm in Alafua, as well as the future of agricultural education at USP. Discussion has taken place within the University on this matter and some suggestions for the future direction are included in this submission. The issue of establishing a Trust Fund for the University has been discussed. While this recommendation has not been formally developed, the matter will be investigated further.

The funding arrangements for Institutes have been changed since the beginning of 2002. The University subvention now supports only the salary and related costs of Directors, and other costs are being met from Institute income. Further rationalization of Institutes is being planned. A first step has been the newly established Institute of Advanced Studies in Pacific Development and Governance. The Institute is an amalgamation of the Institute of Pacific Studies, Centre for Development Studies, Governance Programme and Employment, Industrial Relations and Labour Market Studies Programme. This new Institute will focus on modern and traditional concepts of Employment, Labour Markets, Industrial Relations, Poverty, Security, Land, Human Rights, Democratic Processes, Adjustment and Reform Programs, and Regional Development Issues and Policies. This consolidation of University units is part of the University's on-going strategy to more sharply focus its activities and to respond fully and quickly to key development needs through teaching, research and consultancy. On the Mid-Term Report, two issues were raised that need mention here. These are University research and equipment matters. The University accepts that both areas are vital to the academic operations and reputation of the University and is now working on finalizing a research plan as well as identifying and procuring funds for equipment, particularly for science teaching and replacement computers for student laboratories.

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 1.2 Council's Review Committee on the Future of the USP

The Review Committee on the Future of the USP is an important Committee appointed by Council in 2000 to examine and keep in check the future of the University as a regional educational institution of education excellence. Its overall role (is) to make recommendations on policy and strategy with regard to the direction that the USP should take in the medium and long term to ensure the survival of the institution.5

In its work, the Committee has identified a number of short and medium term strategic issues. The short term strategies include: distance and flexible learning, development of Centre plans, upgrading of Alafua and Emalus Campuses and of the centres into mini-campuses, relocation and the amalgamation of the Institutes, cooperation with national institutions, augmented Foundation Programme, legal status of USP, and a review of the decision-making structure of the University. The University has been able to undertake considerable work and is continuing to do so on almost all of these areas. The long-term strategies included a review of the relevance of courses offered by the University stakeholders, relationship with donors, broadening and strengthening the Alumni network, service delivery, competition and globalisation. But an important concern for the next triennium would be to ensure that the University continues to meet its commitment to students, be able adequately to meet salary adjustments for staff and to guarantee its commitment to research, consultancy and improved services and get savings from efficiencies. This would require a concerted effort in fundraising, awareness raising of the University to customers, and a move towards more business-like operations. No doubt income generation proposals and fundraising plans will not be easy in the present economic and political climate in the region. However, apart from a newly established Vice Chancellor's fundraising committee, Sections, Schools and Units have been encouraged to operate more efficiently so as to reduce operation costs, as well as to focus attention on raising additional income.

1.3 The USP Strategic Plan and This Submission The USP Strategic Plan was prepared in 1998. It identifies Pacific Studies as an academic priority area and incorporates Pacific issues in all courses, programmes and studies at the University. In addition, the University acknowledges the importance of the expressive arts and cultures to the University region, and plans to promote the development of high quality contemporary arts that are uniquely Pacific with a view of to link expressive arts, Pacific studies and education. The Strategic Plan also has plans and activities that will enable USP to become a centre of excellence in marine studies, teacher education, tourism studies, agriculture, sustainable development and, more recently, information and communication technologies (ICT).

5 Minutes of the Third Meeting of the Review Committee on the Future of USP, 17th May 2001.

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While much of the strategy of the plan is still relevant it should be noted that many changes are taking place in the academic, social, economic and political environments and additional issues and focus may appear and need to be considered and incorporated into the Strategic Plan. For instance, the University is committed to producing outputs (graduates) who are well-rounded and well-equipped and who are articulate, good citizens, numerate, analytical, and promote good governance. Attention will have to be directed to this. Further, the issue of gender or gender studies does not feature in the Strategic Plan. The University is already working on a draft gender policy and also has plans for a task force to examine the possibility of offering gender studies at USP.

Another shortcoming is the lack of a USP philosophy of education. The University will re-examine and articulate a philosophy of education, taking into consideration our whole curriculum, modes of delivery and international, regional and national job markets. This will be an important exercise in the next triennium. The issue of space at Laucala and Emalus is also an important one. The need for additional facilities is urgent as student numbers at Laucala continue to grow. A number of alternatives are being considered, such as the more efficient use of space, space buying, and joint arrangements with others, such as Centres, on long term leases. A review of the master plans at Laucala and Emalus, including a space audit, will be undertaken in the latter half of 2002 in response to the space need. In addition, this UGC submission has taken into consideration the outcomes of the actions recommended by the UGC Mid-Term Report, 2001 and Review Committee on the Future of the USP. These have all contributed to a clear strategic direction for the University. Aid projects and initiatives are now guided by the strategic direction of existing plans and these are making a difference in the work of the University, outputs and products. In relation to plans for certain key areas such as research, for example, many staff members are involved in research activities in addition to teaching and have a shared understanding of the overall strategic importance of research, but there is no specific formal documentation which sets out the objectives, overall research strategy and plan. In this submission, the University is giving its commitment to formalising a research plan which will ensure more relevant and practical research. Alongside the formal academic and administrative plans, there are longer term and specific plans giving strategic directions and initiatives. Some of these long-term plans appear in Chapter 3.

In collecting data for this submission, all heads of Schools, Sections, Institutes and Units submitted reports on their activities and achievements, and requests for the next triennium. Meetings were held to discuss all the requests submitted, agree on funding requests, establish the priorities and prepare budget figures. These figures are based on known government contributions, fee income, money earned by the University and the aid budget. While this process has been effective, the University is viewing a mechanism by which the overall USP Strategic Plan framework can be reviewed and be able to absorb new strategies and changes.

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 1.4 Regionalising Tertiary Education in the Pacific

The University sits at the centre of tertiary education activities in the region which it serves. It works closely with national tertiary educational institutions, giving them professional and technical support while it competes actively with universities from outside the region. Close cooperation is the policy it promotes with those institutions. Cross crediting arrangements are in place with the Fiji Institute of Technology (FIT), Fiji College of Advanced Education (FCAE), Papua New Guinea University of Technology (PNGUNITECH), Solomon Islands College of Higher Education (SICHE) and with the National University of Samoa (NUS), for instance. In the case of the Fiji School of Medicine (FSM), the relationship has reached a very advanced stage. FSM meets all the costs of training while USP, which sets the required standards, awards its degrees to FSM graduates. The University's Pre-Degree Foundation Programme is in heavy demand in the region. As resources are limited, collaborative work on pooling resources between the University, other providers and the national Form 7s to meet the needs of these students is necessary. Work in this area is being explored. In the area of science programmes, the University is committed to expanding its offerings in science courses beyond the pre-degree level. More effort is also being made to increase the offerings in science through distance and flexible learning, as well as to teach undergraduate science courses in Alafua and the Centres. Collaborative work in this area is being developed between the University and national institutions.

In the coming years, the University will continually prioritise what it does, based upon changing external and domestic demands and pressures and its resource constraints. The University will therefore need to continually review its programmes; pass on components to national tertiary educational institutions which may optimally absorb them, and take on new offerings which maximise synergy and intensify the national impacts of its services within the region. Guidance and support for the national institutions within a closely linked network of Pacific tertiary institutions will become an even more important focus for the University.

The fiscal burden of a modern university like USP is extremely heavy. No single Member Country of USP will ever have the economic and financial capacity to support USP on its own. Ensuring that the 12 Countries maintain the regional integrity of USP is therefore critical for the long-term survival of the institution.

A number of necessary conditions for entrenching long term support by the Member Countries are immediately apparent: • Member Countries must increasingly feel that they own the institution; • The benefits, generated through services provided and expenditures, both

recurrent and capital, are distributed equitably among the Member Countries; • The quality of USP graduates and services are seen as competitive with other

global educational service providers; and • The prices attached to USP services are equally competitive regionally and

globally.

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The perception of equitable distribution of benefits will need to be pursued, employing a range of measures. Such will include: a) Allowing for accelerated growth in the breadth and depth of services at the USP

Centres b) Employing the potential of modern technology to the full, allowing increased

flexibility in staff deployment within the region and in the Centres from which distance and flexible learning services will be delivered

c) Relocating activities from Suva to the other Campuses and Centres. The Management team is working upon a ten-year medium term plan for implementing (a), (b) and (c) above. This exercise is expected to be completed in 2002.

1.5 Structure of the Submission

The submission is made up of six chapters. Chapter 1 is the Introduction. Chapter 2 reviews the work, achievements and challenges of the different Schools and Sections. Chapter 3 examines briefly other major plans apart from the USP Strategic Plan and Support Plans of the Schools, Sections and Institutes. Chapter 4 discusses the University's new initiatives and priority requests for the next triennium, 2003 - 2005. Chapter 5 deals with Resource requirements and fundraising. Chapter 6 is the Conclusion.

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2. REVIEW OF THE TRIENNIUM, 2000 - 2002 2.1 Student Numbers In the last three triennia, the UGC was concerned about the relatively high growth rates in USP student enrolments. It realized that such growth rates would not be sustainable for any prolonged periods, particularly if resources available did not match enrolments. The UGC was concerned that the high enrolment numbers not planned for would likely affect the quality of education provided and result in the deterioration of funding per student (Triennial Report 1999, p. 26). In response to this concern, USP set up some general guidelines in 1997 for the management of the 1998 enrolments and beyond. Despite this, both the 1998 and 1999 figures surpassed the UGC targets by more than 300 Full-time Equivalent Students (FTES) for each year. In its last Triennial Report, the UGC recommended that, in the triennium 2000-2002, the increase in enrolments should be no more than 250 FTES in each year. The Ministers of Finance, however, agreed that this cap would not include full-fee paying students, and be confined to the Laucala Campus only. USP, in accordance with this recommendation, accepted that it would carefully manage its enrolments in 2000 and keep within the UGC targets. With the political crisis affecting the second semester 2000 enrolments on the main campus, the management of enrolments in 2001 was not stringently enforced. However, the 2001 FTES are below the UGC recommended cap for 2001. The FTES for 2001 (with all self-funded programmes excluded) were 6021. Compared to 2000 FTES, the 2001 FTES recorded an absolute increase of 229 FTES, representing an increase of about 4% as shown in Table 2.1. Table 2.1: FTES 1996 – 2005

P P P P % Change

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 1996/00 1998/01Actual 5215 5278 5762 5781 5792 6021 6271 6521 6912 7326 0.5 7.3UGC Recommended 5139 5211 5384 5435 6031* 6281* 6531* 13.1 17.8Difference in FTES 76 67 378 346 -239 -260 -260

Note: *eventually changed by the Minister of Finance meeting to read that this cap will not cover full-fee paying students. The UGC Recommended FTES for 2000-2002 was also adjusted in line with their requirements in paragraph 3.4.6 of the 1999 UGC Report. P- projections: Assumptions used for 2002 and beyond – 4% annual increase in 2003 and 6% annual increase in 2004 and 2005. The projected FTES figures for the 2003-2005 triennium were based on the assumptions of a 4% annual increase for 2003 and a 6% annual increase for each of the last two years of the triennium. These are the growth rates anticipated by the University for the new triennium and are used elsewhere in this report to project the expected student fee income in 2003-2005. In terms of FTES growth, the annual increase used here is still lower than that used in the projections in the Strategic Plan where the University’s target is a total of 9,000 FTES by the year 2007 or approximately 450 FTES growth per year. A breakdown of enrolments (FTES) by mode of study is provided in Table 2.2 below. For 2001, Internal FTES was 4161 and External FTES totaled 1860. The proportion of external enrolments was

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 31% with a corresponding 69% for internal enrolments. At the end of the last triennium (1999), the proportions were 28% and 72% respectively. Table 2.2: FTES by Mode 1997 – 2001

% Change

MODE 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 1997/00 1997/01External 1939 1985 1591 2187 1860 12.8 -4.1Internal 3339 3777 4190 3605 4161 8.0 24.6TOTAL 5278 5762 5781 5792 6021 9.7 14.1

Table 2.3: FTES by School 1997 - 2001

% Change

SCHOOL 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2000/01 1997/01Agriculture 121 145 199 156 167 7.0 38.0Humanities 1021 1180 1336 1362 1463 7.4 43.2Law 256 274 262 279 312 11.8 21.9Pure and Applied Sciences 1578 1811 1654 1657 1765 6.5 11.8Social and Economic Development 2286 2329 2285 2300 2276 -1.0 -0.4Other 16 23 45 38 38 0.0 137.5TOTAL 5278 5762 5781 5792 6021 4.0 14.1

Enrolments in the Schools have continued to grow in 2001 with the exception of SSED where there was a very small overall decrease. However, these are very minor fluctuations in SSED’s total enrolment in the short-term, and should not be a case for concern as the table above shows that in 1998 and 2000 there were actual increases in the absolute FTES for SSED. SSED also takes the largest share of enrolments averaging about 40% of all USP enrolments. When the Schools data are disaggregated to teaching sections, the main growth areas in 2001 in terms of absolute FTES were Maths and Computing with an increase of 167 FTES, representing a growth of 18.3%. This was followed by Education and Psychology with 56 FTES (6.2% growth), Literature and Language with an increase of 40 FTES (9.3%) and Accounting and Financial Management with 25 FTES (3.8%). Table 2.4: FTES by School and by Mode 1999-2001 1999 2000 2001 SCHOOL Internal External All Internal External All Internal External All SOA 153 46 199 103 53 156 109 58 167 SOH 766 570 1336 632 730 1362 766 697 1463 SOL 192 70 262 216 63 279 230 82 312 SPAS 1508 146 1654 1374 283 1657 1514 251 1765 SSED 1528 757 2285 1247 1053 2300 1506 770 2276 Others 43 2 45 33 5 38 36 2 38 TOTAL 4190 1591 5781 3605 2187 5792 4161 1860 6021 With 2000 being an extraordinary year in terms of movement of students from one mode to the other, some caution should be exercised in the interpretation of figures for this year. The drop in external enrolments recorded in 2001 over 2000 and visible only in SOH, SPAS and SSED (Laucala Campus

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 based schools) was not a real decline in external enrolments but the mere shifting back of enrolments to the usual pattern of previous years, as in 1999. Table 2.5: FTES by Country 2000 and 2001

External Internal All Country 2000 2001 2000 2001 2000 2001

Cook Islands 26 22 21 21 47 43Fiji 1541 1321 2808 3171 4348 4492Kiribati 134 98 105 148 239 246Marshall Islands 19 19 6 9 25 28Nauru 11 9 6 7 17 16Niue 16 19 9 13 26 32Samoa 97 63 127 217 223 280Solomon Islands 93 102 185 203 278 305Tokelau 1 1 3 2 4 3Tonga 116 84 84 101 200 185Tuvalu 32 28 70 80 101 108Vanuatu 87 86 116 138 204 224Others 14 8 66 51 80 59

Total 2187 1860 3604 4161 5792 6021 As far as total enrolments by countries and mode are concerned, the only noticeable change in 2001 was in the Samoa enrolments, where a decrease in the number of external enrolments was offset by a corresponding increase in their internal enrolments. However, this was due to the crisis of 2000 where Samoan students remained at home in the second semester, studying by extension or some other flexible delivery modes, and returned to on-campus studies in 2001. Table 2.6: FTES % Share of Total Enrolment

External Internal All Country 2000 2001 2000 2001 2000 2001

Cook Islands 1.2 1.2 0.6 0.5 0.8 0.7Fiji 70.5 71.0 77.9 76.2 75.1 74.6Kiribati 6.1 5.3 2.9 3.6 4.1 4.1Marshall Islands 0.9 1.0 0.2 0.2 0.4 0.5Nauru 0.5 0.5 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.3Niue 0.7 1.0 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5Samoa 4.4 3.4 3.5 5.2 3.9 4.7Solomon Islands 4.3 5.5 5.1 4.9 4.8 5.1Tokelau 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.0Tonga 5.3 4.5 2.3 2.4 3.5 3.1Tuvalu 1.5 1.5 1.9 1.9 1.7 1.8Vanuatu 4.0 4.6 3.2 3.3 3.5 3.7Others 0.6 0.4 1.8 1.2 1.4 1.0

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 Fiji has continued to contribute about 75% of student enrolments. In 2001, some increases were recorded for Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Niue, while a small decrease in the proportion for Tonga was recorded with the remaining smaller member countries showing no significant changes. International Enrolments There is a small proportion of International students at USP. In 2001, it was 1.0% in FTES terms. Students came from many countries, as indicated in Table 2.7 below. International students are important to USP in terms of the income that can be earned through the payment of full fees and in terms of adding more international character to the University environment. Table 2.7: 2001 International Students by Country Country Number of Students Australia 5 Canada 2 China 12 Egypt 1 Federated States of Micronesia 7 France 1 Ghana 3 India 1 Japan 2 Maldives 7 Netherlands 2 New Zealand 2 New Caledonia 1 Nigeria 1 Norway 1 Palau 2 Papua New Guinea 5 Philippines 2 South Korea 5 Sri Lanka 1 Tanzania 2 Uganda 1 United Kingdom 3 United States of America 4 TOTAL 73

Completions Since 1995, there has been a steady growth in the number of graduates. In 2001, the University awarded 1631 qualifications, an increase of 74.2% over five years since 1995. Most notably, there continues to be an increase in the number of students graduating with a first degree (11% increase in 2001 over 2000), and a steady growth in the number graduating with postgraduate qualifications, 19% increase in 2001 over 2000. A much more detailed table on completions by Programme is given in Appendix 14. The progressive increase in the completion rates is positive and is a particularly useful measure of USP's contribution to the region where the need for trained and skilled human resources remains urgent.

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 Table 2.8: Completions by Level

Level 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001

Certificate 131 76 59 84 83 96 93 Diploma 167 156 114 126 154 147 149 Degree 527 546 673 793 909 984 1089 Postgraduate Certificate & Diploma 92 71 80 183 194 186 227 Masters 18 33 49 38 62 66 72 PhD 1 - 3 1 1 - 1 Total 936 882 978 1225 1403 1479 1631

Student/Staff Ratios The Student/Staff Ratios for 2001 show that, even though the University-wide ratio has remained at the same level as in 2000, in comparison to other overseas universities, the ratios are still fairly high. National ratios for NZ and Australian universities are generally below 20. By Schools, the ratios have increased notably in SOH and SOL. All schools, with the exception of SOA have relatively high student/staff ratios. This has far-reaching implications for the kind and quality of services that the schools are able to deliver. In addition, the quality of teaching and research are no doubt affected. When the number of students per academic staff member continues to rise, as evident from Table 2.9 below, less time is available for research and interaction with students, and staff workloads increase. Table 2.9: Student/Staff Ratios SCHOOL 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 Agriculture 7 7 8 15 11 12 Humanities 25 25 29 32 33 39 Law 19 22 29 22 25 28 Pure and Applied Sciences 23 21 25 21 23 22 Social and Economic Development 29 24 27 25 31 31 All (Average) 24 21 25 23 26 26

Course/Staff Ratios It has been recognised at USP that the student/staff ratio is only a very crude measure in that it tends to skew resources in favour of sections with large classes. Another useful indicator is the Course/Staff ratio which is calculated for departments and shown below. These ratios give a more accurate picture of lecturing workload. The table below shows wide variability, with some departments having high student/staff ratios carrying a light course load. Table 2.10 shows a detailed breakdown of the student/staff ratios by teaching sections (departments). The University is taking steps to address the high student/staff ratio and will be working with a consultant to address this problem.

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 Table 2.10: Student/Staff Ratios by Departments 1994 - 2001 SCHOOL DEPARTMENT 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 Agriculture* Total 5.4 6.6 6.9 6.8 8.2 14.5 10.6 11.9 Humanities Education & Psychology 28.2 29.7 29.8 29.7 30.2 39.3 39.9 50.2 Literature & Language 21.1 23.7 19.7 21.1 32.6 26.6 28.6 27.6 Library Studies 22.0 26.0 10.5 9.5 6.3 8.5 8.8 20.0 Total 24.6 26.6 23.8 24.5 28.8 31.8 32.8 38.5 Law Total 29.4 26.7 19.2 22.3 28.8 21.8 25.4 28.4 Pure & Applied Sciences Biology 9.0 13.9 17.0 17.8 17.7 13.7 14.2 8.0 Chemistry 12.5 17.4 20.7 18.9 22.9 14.0 15.4 11.5 Food & Textiles 5.5 10.0 10.0 24.7 37.0 19.0 25.0 23.3 Mathematics & Computing Science 22.8 28.7 34.3 29.2 37.8 35.0 37.3 60.1 Physics 8.8 10.8 16.8 14.7 14.0 10.6 13.7 10.2 Engineering 10.0 10.7 13.5 11.3 16.3 16.8 17.0 17.9 Total 13.7 18.0 22.6 21.0 25.2 20.7 23.0 22.3 Social & Economic Development Accounting & Financial Management 43.9 40.4 35.2 28.6 33.6 31.4 43.9 50.8 Economics 40.7 31.4 27.9 27.9 31.1 31.2 40.0 44.7 Geography 25.3 27.3 32.6 26.7 27.4 22.5 30.3 25.6 History & Politics 15.6 17.3 18.0 13.9 15.5 13.1 13.3 13.4 Land Management 12.3 17.0 21.3 9.8 7.8 7.3 9.0 9.0 Management & Public Administration 37.6 39.4 40.6 26.9 29.1 29.7 37.6 48.4 Sociology 28.4 24.8 22.8 22.8 21.7 14.6 20.3 17.1 Business Studies 9.2 10.0 16.2 - - - - - Development Studies 18.0 36.0 19.0 18.5 17.5 10.0 8.7 6.3 Marine Affairs 13.5 15.0 17.0 19.0 28.5 - - - Population Studies 7.0 7.0 7.5 6.5 4.0 5.5 4.5 4.5 Tourism Studies 22.0 44.0 26.5 25.0 28.5 25.0 37.0 22.0 Social Science 63.0 107.0 103.0 88.0 90.0 89.0 84.0 36.0 Total 30.4 31.0 29.6 24.7 26.8 25.3 31.1 31.2 Others Total 0.5 2.0 2.5 2.0 3.8 5.6 4.2 2.9 ALL SCHOOLS 20.5 23.3 23.5 21.5 24.7 23.3 26.1 26.4 Note: *In December 2000, SOA was restructured from one single department to four academic departments: Departments of Agricultural Economics, Extension, and Education; Department of Animal Science; Department of Crop Science; Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Engineering.

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 Table 2.11: Undergraduate Course/Staff Ratios 1994-2001

1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001

Agriculture Total 2.9 3.6 4.2 4.1 4.5 4.1 4.5 4.4

Humanities Education & Psychology 3.1 3 3.1 3 3.4 3.3 3.9 4.4 Literature & Language 2.8 3.3 3 3.6 4.6 4.1 4.7 3.9 Library Studies 7 8 4.5 2.3 3 4.5 3.5 8.0 Total 3.1 3.3 3.2 3.2 3.9 3.7 4.1 4.4

Law Total 4.8+ 3.4 2.3 6.46 6.1 4.8 4.7 4.2

Pure & Applied Sciences Biology 1.5 1.7 1.6 1.5 1.7 1.1 1.8 1.1 Chemistry 1.8 2.1 2.1 1.8 2.4 1.4 1.7 1.3 Food & Textiles 3.3 4.3 4.3 6 6.3 5.3 4.3 4.0 Mathematics & Computing Science 2 2.1 2 2 2.4 1.8 1.9 2.3 Physics 1.5 1.5 1.7 1.7 1.8 1.2 1.7 0.9 Engineering 2.8 3 2.8 2.4 3.6 3.0 2.8 3.0 Total 2 2.2 2.1 2 2.5 1.8 2.0 1.7

Social & Economic Development Accounting & Financial Management 2.5 2.1 1.8 1.5 1.9 1.5 2.4 2.2 Economics 2.4 1.6 1.4 1.7 2.2 2.0 2.8 3.0 Geography 3.3 2.8 2.8 2.6 3.1 2.5 3.6 3.2 History & Politics 2.9 2.9 2.8 2.2 2.8 2.4 2.4 2.3 Land Management 4.3 5 5 3.3 3.6 3.1 4.8 3.0 Management & Public Administration 2.3 2.4 2.2 1.9 2.2 2.2 3.6 4.0 Sociology 4.1 3.5 3.6 3.6 4.3 3.4 4.8 5.1 Business Studies 2.3 3.8 3.1 – – – – – Marine Affairs 2.5 3 3 3.5 5 * * * Population Studies 1.7 2 2.5 2 2 2.5 3.5 3.0 Social Science 3 4 4 4 3 4.0 5.0 2.0 Tourism Studies 7 9 4.5 4.5 4.5 3.7 7.0 4.3 Total 2.8 2.6 2.4 2.2 2.6 2.3 3.3 3.1

Other – 0.3 0.8 1 2 1.6 1.2 0.9

All Schools 2.6 2.7 2.6 2.6 3.1 2.7 2.8 2.8 * included under Other; + include Certificate and Diploma courses, - No undergraduate courses 2.2 University Staff The University considers its staff as one of its most valuable resources. It wants to have a workforce which is professional, effective, of high quality and well-motivated. With these aims in mind, the University is well aware of fundamental problems that must be addressed first. These include the following:

• Salaries (and to some extent, the benefits) that are not competitive and are at the bottom end of the international scale.

6 The large increase is due to the introduction of third year level law courses for the first time.

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• Working conditions and opportunities that are well below that of our main comparators. Examples are: limited access to research funds, high student/staff ratios, deteriorating equipment and facilities in most Schools.

• Recruitment and retention problems that are increasing in key areas such as Maths and Computing and Information Technology Services, compounded by the perceived insecurity and political crisis in some University member countries.

To address the above, the University, with the endorsement of Council, reviewed the salaries of its staff in 2001. In the review, 11 overseas universities were used as comparators: 3 from New Zealand, 3 from Australia, 2 from the United Kingdom, 1 from Singapore and 2 from the Caribbean. The review found that, on average, a Professor at USP was receiving a salary worth about 72% of what a Professor is getting in our comparator universities. The main reason contributing to this was the devaluation of the Fiji dollar on three occasions since 1987. To raise the competitiveness of USP and for the University to be able to attract and retain high quality staff from throughout the world, the University is proposing to bring the salary level up (for Professorial level) from 72% to 82% (in comparison, the Porter Report recommended the level of 85%). This will mean an increase of about 16% in salaries at a cost of about $4.2 million. A number of financial measures will be implemented by the University in order for it to meet the salary review recommendations. The Council agreed in December 2001 to a COLA of 3% and a salary increase of 6% from January 2002. This leaves a balance of 7% which will be discussed further with the UGC and Council. Staff by Levels Table 2.12 below shows that, overall, about 63% of all USP staff in 2001 were at the lower end of the salary scale – junior/intermediate or permanent hourly staff. Amongst the senior staff, 7.3% are at Professorial level, 6.8% at Associate Professor level, 21.1% at Senior Lecturer level and 39.0% at Lecturer level, and 9.4% at Assistant Lecturer level and the remaining 16.5% at comparable and tutor level. Staff Turnover Between the twelve months of 01 September 2000 and 31 August 2001, 50 staff members left the University for various reasons. About 30% indicated that they were leaving because they were offered a better job elsewhere, 10% noted the unstable political situation as the main reason for leaving and 22% gave no reason at all. The remaining 38% gave other reasons including emigration, personal reasons, no offer of renewal, retirement, or further studies. Having better jobs elsewhere may mean better salaries and conditions than at USP. The issue of retention of staff is a serious one for the University to address appropriately, with USP putting in place the means and the incentives for staff to remain. Staff losses severely affected the Schools as 66% of those leaving were academic staff. These losses were felt largely at SPAS, and to a lesser extent at SSED and SOH. At SPAS, a total of 16 staff members left with half of them from the department of Mathematics and Computing Science. The average age of staff in 2000 was 41.13 years compared to 40.21 years in 2001. The average length of service in 2000 was 8.17 years compared to 7.88 years in 2001, representing a drop.

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 Table 2.12: 2001 Staff by Level and by Departments

P AP S/L L AL CP Tut I &J P/H TotalAgriculture 0 0 4 7 1 1 1 0 0 14SOATotal 0 0 4 7 1 1 1 0 0 14 Law 1 0 2 7 1 0 0 3 0 14SOL Total 1 0 2 7 1 0 0 3 0 14 Education & Psychology 1 2 6 7 3 0 0 7 0 26SOH Literature & Language 1 1 7 3 3 0 2 2 0 19 School - General 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 4 8

Total 2 3 13 6 0 2 13 4 SPAS

Biology 1 2 6 2 1 4 3 20 1 0 5 6 2 4 9 3 32

Food &Textiles 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 1 7 MACS 1 1 6 4 0 1 4 1 Physics 1 2 5 1 1 2 5 19 Engineering 1 1 4 1 0 0 1 12 Earth Science 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 2 0 0 0

10 53

0 1 Chemistry 2

3 5 23

1 1 0 4

0 0 School - General 1 0 2 0 8 3 14

Total 4 4 16 27 14 6 8 37 13 129SSED

Accounting & Financial Mgt. 2 0 2 3 2 0 4 2 0 15 Economics 0 1 2 4 2 0 2 2 0 13 Geography 2 0 3 2 1 0 2 1 0 11 History & Politics 1 1 1 6 0 0 0 1 0 10 Land Management 0 1 0 3 0 0 1 0 0 5 Management & Public Adm. 1 1 2 2 1 0 1 2 0 10 Sociology 1 0 4 1 1 0 0 0 0 7 Development Studies 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 4 Population Studies 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 Tourism Studies 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 4 School - General 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 9 2 13 Total 8 5 16 26 8 0 10 19 2 94

Marine Studies MSP 1 0 2 6 2 2 0 8 7 28 IMR 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 Atoll Research Unit 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 Total 1 1 2 7 2 2 0 9 7 31

Institutes IOE 0 2 1 2 0 1 1 3 0 10 IPS 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 3 1 7 IAS 1 0 0 2 1 1 0 10 2 17 IJALS 1 0 2 2 1 0 1 4 0 11 IRETA 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 PIMD 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 3 2 10 Total 4 5 7 6 2 3 2 23 5 57

Academic Support CELT 0 1 0 2 1 0 0 1 0 5 ITS 1 0 4 11 0 4 0 15 7 42 Library 1 2 1 9 1 1 0 40 8 63 Media Centre 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 23 3 30 University Extension 0 4 10 19 3 2 13 91 13 155 Total 2 7 15 45 5 7 13 170 31 295

Administration Alafua Campus 1 0 3 2 0 0 0 - - 6 Emalus Campus 1 0 2 2 0 2 0 14 22 43 Bursar's Office 0 0 1 4 0 4 0 32 4 45 Community Services 0 1 2 5 0 6 0 19 125 158 Registrar's Office 1 1 3 7 0 0 0 36 1 49 Physical Planning 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 12 62 77 Vice Chancellor's Office 3 0 0 3 0 0 0 5 2 13 Total 7 2 11 25 0 12 0 118 216 391

Other Oceania Centre 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 4 USP Solutions 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 3 6 12 Book Centre 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 16 0 17 Total 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 21 7 33

TOTAL USP 30 28 87 161 39 32 36 413 285 1111Note: P-Professor; AP-Associate Professor; R-Reader; SL-Senior Lecturer, L-Lecturer; AL-Assistant Lecturer; CP-comparable, I&J-Intermediate and Junior; P/H-Permanent Hourly Staff.

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 As a staff member moves higher up the academic ladder, the average age of staff and average length of service increases correspondingly and must be addressed appropriately with USP putting in place the means and the incentives for staff to remain. Staff by Gender In 2001, the overall staff composition by sex was 57% males to 43% females. In the senior Academic and Comparable level, females account for only 30% of the staff while at the junior and intermediate levels the proportion is 51%. This indicates that a gender gap (especially at the upper level) exists within the University and needs to be addressed. While the University has a Pacific Charter for Women Managers in Higher Education (1996), the development of this gender policy is essential as it covers a much broader spectrum of activities with many benefits to be obtained. The University is in the process of putting a gender policy in place. This policy specifically aims to value equally both the similarities and differences between men and women, analysing our programmes and processes for any discriminatory practice and taking steps to eliminate unfairness and advance equal rights and opportunities and outcomes for men and women. This policy is presented as part of the University of the South Pacific's commitment and responsibility to gender equity and to the Pacific Platform for Action (PPA) for the Advancement of Women which was adopted in 1994 by all Forum members as part of the Noumea Declaration and which formed part of the Global Platform for Action endorsed in Beijing in 1995. The Declaration formally recognises the importance of women's equal participation in national and regional development activities. Staff by Country In 2001, Academic and Comparable Staff from the region totaled 64% and 36% respectively from outside the region. Table 2.13 shows staff from non-member countries. Generally, USP staff come from all over the world. Of the non-USP member countries, Australia has remained at the top for many years with over 25% of the academic and comparable staff, followed closely by the UK and then the USA. In Table 2.14, recruitment of academic and comparable staff from the region for 2000 and 2001 is shown. Over 75% of regional staff in the Academic and Comparable level are from Fiji, followed by Samoa, Tonga, and Solomon Islands. While there were no major changes in terms of absolute numbers within this short period, the lack of historical data has prevented further analysis of staff movements over the years. In the next triennium, the University will make a concerted effort to balance out the recruitment of staff from USP member countries. A number of measures will be put in place to ensure that the University attracts young, as well as experienced, qualified regionals. Heads of Schools, Departments and Sections will be asked to identify possible candidates for particular positions and invite them to apply for a post with the University.

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 Table 2.13 : 2000 and 2001 Academic and Comparable Staff by Non-USP Countries

Non-USP Member Countries Staff Numbers Per Cent Staff Numbers Per Cent

2000 2000 2001 2001

Australia 37 8.9 38 9.2Bangladesh 1 0.2 1 0.2Canada 9 2.2 8 1.9China 1 0.2 1 0.2France 2 0.5 2 0.5Germany 3 0.7 5 1.2Ghana 3 0.7 2 0.5India 13 3.1 13 3.2Netherlands 1 0.2 1 0.2New Zealand 12 2.9 12 2.9Nigeria 4 1.0 6 1.5Pakistan 1 0.2 0 0.0Papua New Guinea 1 0.2 2 0.5Sri Lanka 7 1.7 7 1.7Switzerland 1 0.2 1 0.2USA 16 3.9 17 4.1Russia 2 0.5 2 0.5United Kingdom 30 7.2 22 5.4Other non-member 2 0.5 9 2.2 Total Non-USP Members 146 35 149 36

Table 2.14 : 2000 and 2001 Academic and Comparable Staff by USP Member Countries With mid-year population 2000.

USP Member Mid-year Staff Numbers Per Cent Staff Numbers Per CentCountries Population 2000 2000 2001 2001(UMC) 2000

Cook Islands 18,700 1 0.2 1 0.2Fiji 824,700 202 48.8 197 47.9Kiribati 90,700 5 1.2 6 1.5Marshall Islands 51,800 0 0.0 0 0.0Nauru 11,500 0 0.0 0 0.0Niue 1,900 1 0.2 1 0.2Samoa 169,200 19 4.6 19 4.6Solomon Islands 447,900 11 2.7 11 2.7Tokelau 1,500 0 0.0 0 0.0Tonga 100,200 14 3.4 14 3.4Tuvalu 9,900 7 1.7 6 1.5Vanuatu 199,800 8 1.9 7 1.7 Total UMC 1,927,800 268 65 262 64 ALL STAFF 414 100 411 100

A search committee will be established to be responsible for this activity as it is a well-known fact that a number of regional people will not apply for a post unless encouraged to do so. In addition, many are usually not well-informed of positions that are available at the University.

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2.3 THE SCHOOLS There are five Schools in the University: Agriculture, Humanities, Law, Pure and Applied Sciences, and Social and Economic Development. Agriculture is based in Samoa and Law in Vanuatu. There are plans to institute a change in nomenclature from School to Faculty, with Heads of Schools being called Deans. It is expected that this change will have a positive impact on the image of the University and will be in line with international nomenclature. The review of the Schools that follows shows that much has been achieved in the last triennium.

2.3.1 School of Agriculture (SOA) In the USP Strategic Plan, Agriculture was identified as one of the five core areas for further development. However, over the past two triennia and longer, SOA has continued to face the significant problem of low student numbers. The University Grants Committee 2000 - 2002 Report, as well as its Mid-Term Report, 200,1 makes reference to this problem and directs the University:

to initiate a critical review of the provision of agriculture education and training in the region, and enter into discussion with member governments to determine the likely future patterns of enrolments in agriculture at the University and hence the future of the School of Agriculture.7

The University for its part has raised this matter at different forums, including discussions with Ministers of Education and/or Directors of Agriculture, in three USP member countries, namely, Fiji, Samoa, and Vanuatu, and with Permanent Heads of Agriculture and Livestock Production Services (PHALPS) in November 2000. Similar discussions were held in 2001 with various key government departments and individuals. All these efforts revolved around appealing for more scholarships and increased stipend for would-be students of Agriculture, to enable them to pay for on-campus accommodation in addition to obtaining the needs in agriculture education of the countries. In addition, SOA's Support Plan includes a number of objectives aiming to increase student numbers, improve the quality of programmes, improve the academic staffing situation and productivity, improve research, improve the management of the farms, expand cooperation with other institutions in the region, and establish a mechanism for quality assurance. With these objectives, the School has managed to achieve a small increase in student numbers and improved efficiency in operations to some degree. The on-campus student enrolment increased from 97 in 1999 to 117 in 2000, and to 122 in 2001. This is in spite of the fact that the Foundation Science Programme at the SOA was phased out in December 1999, a development that impacted negatively on the student numbers of the School. The number of Extension enrolments also increased from 358 in 1999 to 414 in 2000. The restructure of the School in December 2000 from a single department to four academic departments comprising the Departments of Agricultural Economics, Extension, and Education;

7 UGC Report 2000 - 2002, p. 7

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 the Department of Animal Science; the Department of Crop Science; and the Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Engineering has, inter alia, given the SOA a true academic profile with other improvements in sight. The proposed restructuring of the SOA curriculum is seen to bring about more changes. SOA has also put in place measures to market and advertise its services and programmes by using its web site which is updated regularly, organizing workshops, introducing a student exchange programme with University of Guelph, and having open meetings and consultations with interested groups and members of the community. This is expected to have a positive impact on the marketing of the SOA and USP internationally. The academic alliances forged by Alafua extend this promotion. The School continues to collaborate closely with a number of regional and international institutions namely the Samoa Department of Agriculture, the National University of Samoa, the Samoa Polytechnic, the Fiji School of Agriculture, and the Solomon Islands College of Higher Education for academic, professional and research matters. With some of these organizations, the Schools plays a very prominent and crucial role in joint organization of workshops and other activities. The same applies to the cooperation with the USP Samoa Centre. Within the University, the School collaborates with SPAS, IRETA, and IAS. While noting these achievements and plans for improvements, major constraints remain. These include among others inadequate numbers of teaching staff, again resulting from low student/staff ratios. This makes it extremely difficult and sometimes impossible to teach certain essential courses. In quite a number of cases, diploma students and degree students take some courses together. This abnormal situation creates serious problems for lecturers, as they have difficulty in deciding at what level to deliver their lectures. There is also inadequate technical support for teaching and research. Thus, the entire School of Agriculture has just one Senior Technician and no Chief Technician. Supporting the Senior Technician are some technical staff who have not received any training as laboratory technicians. This situation places the academic staff at the SOA at great disadvantage with respect to teaching and research execution. The need for a technician is great. In its attempt to revamp the School, a number of new initiatives have been recommended for the period 2003-2005. These include the introduction or reintroduction to Alafua of Food Science, Home Economics, Diploma in Community Nutrition Programme, Certificate Programme in Crop Protection & Quarantine, and a one-year Masters Programme by coursework only. Many of these are still in the discussion stage and will need to go through the normal University committees before any decision can be made. Most importantly, the University plans to examine the appropriateness of the new curriculum in the light of the needs of the region now as highlighted in the UGC Mid-Term Report 2001.8 Despite all the activities and strategies that SOA has endeavoured to put in place, including the inclusion of the University Centre, these have not made a significant impact. Recently, however, and although all the farms of the School of Agriculture are now regarded as teaching and research laboratories (as against trading units), the SOA has identified a project which appears to have the potential of enabling the Laloanea Farm to generate substantial income annually, while simultaneously fulfilling its primary functions as a teaching and research unit. In

8 UGC Mid-Term Report 2001. Suva: UGC. p. 15.

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 this regard, the SOA intends to go into partnership with noni-producing and exporting company in Samoa. The University will continue to move more effectively on reviewing the School of Agriculture's activities, as recommended by the UGC, and make major changes. As agriculture is the backbone of most of the region's economies, the University is obligated to provide an education in this field that is relevant, industry-focused, cost-effective and exciting. SOA will also need to capture the market for undergraduate science in Samoa. In the next triennium, the University plans to undertake a major review of SOA with plans for more decentralisation, expanded centre activities and procurement of government support. Thus, in addition to the new initiatives recommended by SOA, the University is contemplating the movement of the Biology Department from the Laucala to the Alafua Campus, to form what could become the ‘School of Agriculture and Natural Sciences’. The University also plans to procure substantially increased and improved government support for agriculture students. 2.3.2 School of Humanities (SOH) A mid-term review of the School’s Support Plan for 2000-2002 has shown that it is on target as far as most of the School’s objectives are concerned. Teacher education continues to be the School’s biggest programme as far as enrolments go and managing this has become a challenge for the School. The goal of establishing new teaching areas within the BEd (Secondary) and PGCE (Computing and Vernacular studies) was achieved, as was the successful implementation of the BEd (Primary) and the Graduate Certificate in Tertiary Teaching. Work towards externalising more teacher education courses is ongoing and will continue in the next triennium. In the area of Pacific Studies, the School has made some progress. The inclusion of Vernacular Studies as a Teaching Major; the marked increase in Hindi Studies enrolment; the continuing efforts by staff to better contextualise their courses by including more Pacific content; and the offering of a Diploma in Pacific Media Studies are examples. The Department of Literature and Languages is currently engaged in a drive to increase enrolment in Fijian Studies, and links with other tertiary institutions in the Region regarding the teaching of other Pacific vernacular languages are being negotiated. The two departments in SOH are currently finalising their Action Plans. Part of this process has been the formation of various quality assurance committees set up to review and monitor courses as well as programmes in order to ensure relevance as well as quality. Input from stakeholders is being sought in this exercise. SOH continues its commitment to ensuring improved access to higher education through championing more open and flexible teaching and learning. As well as its plans to externalise as many programmes as its resources allow, staff in SOH are encouraged to adopt more open and flexible methods of teaching and to take advantage of the university’s many facilities, including USPNet. Staff response to this has been very good and it is anticipated that all staff will make this a priority in their own teaching in the future. As well as the School’s ongoing commitments to open and flexible learning, there are other commitments which SOH will continue to honour in the next triennium. These include commitments to Postgraduate Studies, the improvement of students’ English language abilities, the work of the Centre for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching (especially through the

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 Graduate Certificate in Tertiary Teaching), research and consultancies in the Institute of Education, the work of the Oceania Centre for Arts and Culture and other collaborative programmes in which the School is involved. To manage its programmes well, the School needs an efficient administrative support system. The University has been able to provide support in terms of technical upgrade and equipment but there are continuing space needs in the School for a Psychology laboratory and a Language laboratory, as well as additional space for Journalism and Postgraduate students. The management of large enrolments, particularly in Education courses as well as in English for Academic Purposes, will continue to be a challenge for SOH. On the other hand, there are programmes and courses that have not attracted large numbers of students, as is the case in some courses in Applied Psychology as well as Linguistics. A review of Applied Psychology is being arranged, and the staggering of Linguistic courses has been introduced by the relevant department as a way of addressing low enrolment in that area. For both Departments in SOH, and indeed for the whole university, the unstable political climate in Fiji and Solomon Islands partly contributed to loss of staff and difficulties in attracting well-qualified staff. However, both Departments have been able to maintain their teaching responsibilities with the use of part-time staff, and some senior staff have carried extraordinarily heavy teaching and administrative loads. In the Department of Education and Psychology, new programmes which were approved during the current triennium included a Master in Education (comprising six postgraduate courses and a research project); BEd and PGCE majors in Computing Science and Pacific Vernacular Studies; and a BA degree pathway for Early Childhood Education diplomates. A pre-service teacher education programme, (BA/BSc GCED) is being planned to replace the current BEd (pre-service) programme. Graduates of this programme will be able to teach two subjects at senior high school levels. The Department is currently working on the detailed structure of this programme in consultation with other Schools of the University as well as schools in the region. The Department of Education and Psychology’s commitment to distance and flexible learning is reflected in the number of courses it has been offering through distance mode, summer schools and mixed modes. In 2001, for example, as well as undergraduate summer schools, postgraduate summer schools were offered not only in Fiji but in Solomon Islands, Tonga and Samoa. The Department continues to place priority on externalising as many of its courses as it can and during the next triennium, the BEd (primary) is a top priority. Some staff have also used a combination of modes of delivery, in order to allow students from other parts of Fiji as well as the region to enroll in Laucala based courses. This included the use of video broadcast, and a mix of face to face teaching on alternate Saturdays, intensive workshops during the school term holidays and satellite tutorials. In the Department of Literature and Languages, the current triennium has been a period of consolidation in some areas, such as Literature and Theatre Arts, and good progress in others, such as Pacific Vernacular Studies (especially Hindi) and Journalism. Despite staffing and space problems, the Journalism Programme continues to make its mark in journalism training throughout the region, achieving some kudos on the international scene. A review of the programme is being arranged and the Department hopes that this review will address not only the resource and space constraints but also the programme’s epistemology base and cultural contexts. In Linguistics, the staff at Laucala and the Pacific Languages Unit continue to produce good

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 research outputs, serving the majors in the areas of Linguistics and Pacific Languages on a common platform of courses at first and part of second year levels, while contributing to the Department’s distance offering in a significant way. In the next triennium, the School will be consolidating its ongoing commitments to operationalising the university’s Strategic Plan, especially in relation to those strategic objectives in the areas of Teacher Education, Pacific Studies, Sustainable Development, Curriculum Relevance, Excellence in Teaching and Learning, Flexible and Innovative Teaching, and Research and Consultancy. For SOH, the University is seeking the following in the next triennium: • One lecturer each in Curriculum Studies, • One lecturer in Physical and Leisure Education, • One lecturer in Journalism, • One lecturer in English for Academic Purposes. 2.3.3 The School of Law (SOL) The School has implemented the University's mission in several areas. These include meeting professional educational needs of the region, extension teaching, flexible and multi-modal learning, utilisation of the USPNet, achieving excellence in research, establishing co-operative relations with other institutions, providing community service to the region and strengthening regional institutions. All activities of the School have a South Pacific focus and serve, directly or indirectly, the interests of USP member countries and their citizens.

The School of Law/Department of Law is the unit responsible for the delivery of the legal education programmes at USP primarily to serve the needs of the region for professional legal training. These programmes comprise the following:

(a) two sub-degree Certificate of Law programmes offered by extension to cater to the

demand for paralegal education, (b) the Bachelor of Laws degree and a combined Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Laws degree

-- both are accredited academic programmes leading to professional admission, and (c) postgraduate programmes including a Master of Laws and PhD studies.

The School provides legal education for the citizens of the regional countries with a focus on the laws and legal systems of the region. The School offers courses both by internal and extension studies and is a leading provider of courses offered by the Internet.

The School undertakes consultancies and community service in the region in areas such as judicial training, legal training, civics awareness programmes, law reform work and participation in projects for governments and legal sector agencies.

The School has established a major initiative in Internet-based law reporting for the region under the auspices of the Pacific Islands Legal Information Institute which attracts major funding from AusAID and from NZODA. This provides free public access to court decisions and legislation of the member countries of USP. The School is well placed to achieve all the goals contained in its Support Plan. The major areas of achievement here have been:

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(a) increasing overall student numbers in accordance with projected levels; (b) implementing and further developing the Master of Laws programme; (c) increasing the number of courses made available by Internet-based course delivery,

including securing funding from Sasakawa Foundation funding for further development; (d) obtaining external and longer term funding from NZODA and AusAID for ongoing

Internet-based law reporting programme for the Pacific; (e) developing of new platforms for the delivery of Internet law reporting in co-operation

with the Australian Legal Information Institution; (f) increasing the level of consultancy activity by members of staff in accordance with

projected levels; (g) establishing common law courses taught in French in cooperation with the University of

Moncton, Canada and AUPELF-UREF Francophone educational centre in Port Vila; (h) importing courses taught by academics located in New York in elective areas in the LLB

using Centra Internet technology; (i) promoting the profile of the School through various community service activities and

publication activities of staff, such as editing of the Solomon Islands law reports and including the successful offering of the Australasian Law Teachers Association Conference in July 2001;

(j) maintaining the research and publication profile of academic staff at a high level; (k) ensuring a reasonable success rate of staff in obtaining research funding both inside and

outside USP for academic research; (l) maintaining a Journal of South Pacific Law and occasional papers series as outlets for

academic research by staff; (m) further developing proposals for the establishment of a community legal centre and law

clinic with assistance from Australian Youth Volunteer staff support; (n) attracting high profile academic visitors to the School on a regular basis; (o) negotiating possible further links in areas of teaching (particularly at the postgraduate

level) and research with the French University of the Pacific Law School in Tahiti, the University of New Caledonia Law School, the faculty of Law at the University of Ottawa and the Law Faculty at the Victoria University of Wellington; and

(p) enrolling a small number of international students in the law programme.

While the School has been successful and active since its establishment, a number of challenges remain. Some of these include:

(a) instability through staff absences and resignations; (b) absence of a properly equipped lecture theatre, library building and other areas covered

by the Emalus Campus Plan. Emalus Campus has grown rapidly and beyond expectations. An Emalus Campus Plan for new buildings required on campus was formulated and adopted over a year ago; and

(c) inadequate and underfunded law library collection. Recommendations in two review reports relating to the inadequate funding of the law collection have not been followed.

In this triennium, the School is focusing on a number of activities. These include:

(a) completion of projected online delivery of whole LLB and LLM programmes via the

Internet, (b) expansion of the Internet law reporting project,

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(c) implementation of Emalus Campus Plan recommendations, (d) purchase of online law courses, (e) further development of co-operative links with other institutions as noted above, (f) attraction of greater numbers of international students, and (g) increasing the consultancy income of the School.

Many of these activities will be funded from the recurrent budget and the School is not putting in any request for additional resources. However, a major capital proposal, the Emalus Campus Plan, requires urgent action, and support for this is sought. Bachelor of Laws and Master of Laws by Online Delivery Since 1998, the School of Law has been involved in offering courses of instruction in the Bachelor of Laws using courses and materials set up on the Internet via the School’s home page. The School has made available certain courses at second year level to students on the Laucala Campus in Suva from time to time in order to trial the use of these materials. The Internet-based materials have supported the teaching provided by video and audio conferences through USPNet, as well as that provided by local tutors for some courses. In 2001, the School, on behalf of the University, received a grant from the Sasakawa Peace Foundation of Japan to improve the quality of existing Internet courses and to develop new courses for online delivery both in the Bachelor of Laws and the Master of Laws programmes. This funding will enable the School of Law to have the whole of its Bachelor of Laws courses and most of its Master of Laws courses on the Internet as stand-alone online courses by mid-2004. This project has enabled the School to improve the graphic design and delivery format of courses considerably. It has also enabled the School to experiment with the use of different software for delivery, incorporating self-assessment tasks, discussion panels, discussion groups, internet-based teaching resources and course management tools to improve the status of the courses to genuinely online courses. Effective use is being made, for teaching and other purposes, of a database of primary legal resource materials available on the Internet which the School is developing as part of an independent project funded by NZODA and AusAID. This project is known as the Pacific Islands Legal Information Institute (or PACLII) project. Currently there are over 2,000 case reports from Pacific countries available on this site, and the collection of Pacific legislation is proceeding rapidly. The project has many justifications, such as provision of access to justice, facilitation of legal research and improvement of the quality of justice. However, in the context of online teaching, what this project does is to make available to students a library of basic materials in electronic format which can be accessed from wherever the student has access to Internet services. It provides an extremely valuable support base for teaching Pacific law, particularly in conjunction with online course delivery.

2.3.4 School of Pure and Applied Sciences (SPAS)

The achievements of the School of Pure and Applied Sciences have been satisfactory, viewed against the set objectives of the School’s Support Plan for the period 2000-2002. Particular attention was given to a number of areas. In its plan to maintain high quality programmes, the

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 School adhered to the University's moratorium with respect to the expansion of undergraduate courses, monitored student response and performance, and provided specialised learning opportunities for students who required remedial assistance. In this effort, the School worked closely with the Centre for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching; and several School staff undertook the Graduate Certificate in Tertiary Teaching. The School will continue to ensure that its teaching programmes and other activities are of international standard, which includes the external vetting of its courses and programmes.

In terms of research, each of the six Departments of the School, and its Earth Science Unit, is continuing to strengthen departmental research focus in recognition of the importance of research knowledge and findings fed back to courses and resulting publications. The School has carried out active research programmes funded mostly through University grants, but an increasing number of programmes are now being made available through external aid sources. Collaborative and co-operative links have been established with organizations within countries of the region, and with larger regional groups, in projects that are highly relevant to the region: environmental studies and climate change, kava chemistry research, marine natural products, food science and technology, renewable energy technologies, energy conservation and auditing, plant physiology, animal behaviour, molecular biology and tropical ecosystems, systems analysis and modelling, marine and terrestrial pollution and applied engineering for hazard mitigation. Junior staff have been encouraged to engage in team-research with senior colleagues, and this has worked successfully with productive results. Collaborative links have been formed with regional bodies such as SPREP, SOPAC, IRD, and with other national learning and research institutions in Japan, New Zealand, Australia, France, Germany, and the United States. The School has established a very effective research working relationship with both the Institute of Applied Science and the Marine Studies Programme in marine-related project areas (marine natural products, marine chemistry and oceanography/marine physics). In relation to promoting science education in schools, SPAS has an active promotion and awareness programme and is aggressively marketing science courses in schools. The School has embarked on a series of Science, Mathematics and Computing Science and Engineering Expos in various parts of Fiji and in the region. In addition to this, the School carried out school liaison visits, Laucala Campus University Days and Careers Expo, and a systematic programme of Science quizzes and competitions. About $30,000 of total funding has been deployed to these activities, and these have undoubtedly helped to promote the School and its programmes to potential students making for a fairly consistent and healthy student enrolment in the sciences, engineering, mathematics, computing and information systems. The School continues to develop its staff at all levels through a variety of schemes. Currently, three staff members are on training leave for higher degrees, and several have been approved for short-term attachments. Seven staff of the School were enrolled in the Graduate Certificate in Tertiary Teaching in 2001, and it is envisaged that further enrolments from among the younger, inexperienced teaching staff will be in place for 2002. Regarding the School's commitment to distance and flexible learning, the School is challenged to offer more courses in the distance mode. Over the past two years, 2000-2001 degree science offerings through a more flexible learning mode have been initiated in Biology, Food & Textiles and Physics; the entire first year degree platform for the Bachelor’s degree is now able to be completed through distance and flexible learning. Staff members are already employing the satellite communication facility for tutorials with students in regional Centres. Laboratory workshops, course lectures and tutorials are regularly conducted in the regional Centres by staff

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 of the School, assisted by competent local tutors. Apart from this commitment, there is a plan to develop more in this area in this triennium. Another positive development is that, in 2001, the Department of Technology became the Department of Engineering; the name had been suggested for some time by successive External Advisors to the Department who strongly recommended that the Department’s name should clearly describe the courses and programmes offered. The Bachelor of Engineering Technology (BETech) in electrical/electronic and mechanical/manufacturing may now form the first two years of an internationally recognised Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) degree; the Department is working on plans to further its programme development and the proposals form part of the UGC submission by the Department. The rebuilding and re-equipping of a totally new School/Faculty of Engineering would require about US$15 million to provide updated facilities and equipment in engineering.

The School is trying harder to encourage its high quality graduates to remain at USP and assume positions as Graduate Assistants and Tutors; the strengthening of the School’s postgraduate administration will involve the identification and recruitment of these good students. Despite these achievements, the School continues to face major challenges which may threaten the quality, continuation and credibility of its programmes. A case in point is the high student numbers in Mathematics and Computing Science, and the difficulty in retaining staff.

The Department of Mathematics and Computing Science (MACS) is currently the largest Department in USP, both in terms of personnel and in FTES. In the reconstruction exercise of the early 80s, the Department of Mathematics, then housed in the School of Education, became the Department of Mathematics and Computing Science, and transferred to the new SPAS (previously School of Natural Resources). The development of computing science worldwide drove the decision to incorporate this field of learning as a substantial component of the Department. The MACS Department has continued to grow and in 2001, student enrolments formed about 61% of the total FTES in SPAS; this Department teaches its own majors but contributes to programmes across the wider University in both Mathematics and Computing Science. The Department currently operates under one Departmental Head, but academic leadership in each of the two streams is provided by a professorial Chair. The Department, in terms of staffing, has enjoyed a long period of relative stability, and this is still so for the Mathematics stream. However, the last three years have seen serious problems in both the recruitment and retention of good computing science staff; the worldwide marketability of computing specialists and scientists, and the less attractive terms and conditions offered by USP compared to the private sector, have created serious staffing problems for computing science. In 2001, 8 of the 9 USP Computing Science staff resigned from the University, and advertisements attracted very few responses. Many who were offered appointments later turned these down, clearly attracted by better offers. The end of 2001 saw the filling of all 8 positions vacant in Computing Science, but by the start of 2002, four of these had already withdrawn, again leaving the Department with staff shortages. It may be possible to address the Computing Science problems by the following strategies:

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 a) a simple strategy to attract and retain staff is to increase the inducement, and/or offer

specific salaries for teachers of those courses that are in high demand and result in lucrative earnings later on;

b) a review of the current computing science offerings, both the Majors, as well as the service courses available, with a view to better reflecting market needs – a review by a team of experts of the University’s Computing and Information Systems programmes would be timely as we enter the new millennium;

c) a more determined use of on-line courses, and the purchase of course materials from other universities;

d) the restructuring of the current MACS Department, as part, perhaps, of an overall restructuring of USP’s Schools and Departments: one approach would be to create a new School (Faculty) of the Information Sciences, and insert Computing Science into that Faculty; the Mathematics stream might stay within a Faculty of Applied Sciences and Mathematics. Another approach might be to create a totally new School/Faculty of Mathematics and Computing Science; and

e) differential fees, as currently being discussed, with subsequent resources obtained being channeled into the operation and staffing of the Department/Faculty/School.

A Department that has come under scrutiny is that of Food and Textiles. This Department was established in the early eighties as part of the reconstruction of the School of Natural Resources (SNR), which became the School of Pure and Applied Sciences (SPAS), and the School of Education (SOE) which became the School of Humanities (SOH). Previously, the Department of Home Economics was sited within SOE. The change of both name and focus was driven by the need to establish this Department in a direction that followed patterns in other universities, especially in the discipline of food science; the study of textiles and fashion design had already been a component of the previous Home Economic programmes, and this fact, together with a burgeoning of the Fiji textile and garment industry, resulted in a two-streamed Department of Food and Textiles. The BSc degree programme also underwent changes in order to allow students to pursue majors in Food Science and Nutrition, and a minor in Textile Science. The Department, since inception, has always been small and it was only in 1999 that the number of teaching staff increased from three to four. The Department, although small, is a very strong and vibrant one, with high FTES, and aggressive in its contribution to distance and flexible learning. The Department has excellent bridging links with both Fiji and Regional Food and Nutrition Agencies, and with the Fiji Garment Training School and factories. Discussion on the future development of this Department, over the past 25 years has centred on various possibilities: a) to close the department as it currently exists, and merge both the textile and food science

courses into the Department of Chemistry; b) to expand the Food Science and Nutrition stream, but terminate the Textile stream, and

establish close links with the Institute of Applied Science; c) to close the Department as it currently exists, and incorporate an expanded food science

entity together with food technology into an expanded Alafua campus; this would entail the dropping of the textile component;

d) to retain the Department as it is, but increase its profile by the provision of senior level staff especially in the area of Food Science (as per the University of Otago Department of Food Science); and

e) retain the status quo.

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 In the next triennium, the University proposes to come to some agreement regarding the future of this Department. 2.3.5 School of Social and Economic Development (SSED) SSED is the largest School of the University in terms of the number of departments and programmes, and in aggregate student numbers, courses and academic programmes offered (SSED Handbook, 2000). The school has seven departments, four programmes and a Centre for Development Studies. The departments are Accounting and Financial Management, Economics, Geography, History/Politics, Land Management and Development, Management and Public Administration and Sociology. The School's programmes comprise Business Studies, Marine Affairs, Population Studies and Tourism Studies. The Centre for Development Studies (CDS) and the Masters in Business Administration (MBA) provide exclusively graduate studies. Closely aligned to the School with jointly appointed staff is the Pacific Institute of Management and Development (PIMD). SSED activities have continued to focus on its mission, which is the enhancement, maintenance and dissemination of knowledge and effective and quality teaching and research in the social sciences, accounting and financial management, management and public administration and other areas of inter- and multi-disciplinary studies to benefit the communities of the South Pacific. With respect to teaching and learning, it will respond to the well-being and needs of the communities in providing relevant and appropriate knowledge, skills and experiences. The School received no additional resources for the 2000-2002 Triennium but continued to provide its existing range of courses and programmes as well as take new initiatives. These initiatives included: courses in Information Systems by AFM; video-based courses and summer school courses by the Economics Department; Environmental studies and climate vulnerability programmes by the Geography Department; review and writing of History/Politics courses; the review of Sociology courses and incorporation of a Community Youth Programme Diploma; a 300 level practicum in Tourism Studies; an E-Commerce offering by AFM and a Governance programme by the History/Politics Department. The School continued its seminar and public lecture series during this time. The School also provided a wide range of summer schools. In terms of staffing, the School continued to be committed to recruiting well-qualified and experienced staff to promote high quality teaching, research, consultancy and community outreach. Unfortunately, this was impeded in 2000 due to the political crisis in Fiji. This was further compounded by an exodus of well-qualified and experienced staff, following the political crisis. Many of the positions left vacant from 2000 are still to be filled. This has had an adverse impact on the quality of teaching, research and consultancy in the School. The exodus of staff after the events of 2000 was felt widely in SSED, mainly because the departments with the largest proportion (approximately 70%) of enrolments (i.e., Accounting and Financial Management, Economics and Management and Public Administration) were the most severely affected by staff shortage problems. Staff shortages meant that existing staff carried heavier workloads generally, especially in high demand departments. The student numbers in terms of FTES in 1999 and 2000 showed the following trends: 1) the extension enrolment increased from 757 in 1999 to 1053 in 2000 – an increase of 39.1%; and, 2) the on-campus enrolment fell from 1528 in 1999 to 1247 in 2000 – a reduction of 18.4%. The reason for this trend in enrolment can be attributed to enrolment management introduced in 2000.

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 The overall enrolment, however, remained over 2285 throughout the five-year period between 1996 and 2000, and accounted for over 40% of the total University enrolment. Research activities by staff and students in the School continued, despite political problems in Solomon Islands and Fiji. Research on tourism, agriculture and food production systems, marketing, the general election, climate change, environmental issues, accounting, urban planning, water supply and other social, cultural and political issues have continued to be carried out in the University region. The School planned to promote innovations in teaching to facilitate student learning. Some significant developments have taken place in this area, despite, and perhaps in part because of, the traumas of 2000. Most notable has been an accelerated development of material for alternative modes of delivery. Nine of the School’s teaching sections prepared 28 courses for delivery by live video broadcast mode. Two departments included video segments within conventional text-based distance mode presentations, and one utilized fully multimedia presentation for one of its courses, including optimizations of WebCT. The GIS Unit’s negotiations with the Marshall Islands Centre seem likely to lead to better provision of instruction for in-country GIS certificate and diploma students there. The interest in alternative modes of teaching remains high in the School and several courses are being prepared for offering via WebCT and video delivery in the near future. In order to improve face to face teaching many lecturers participated in discussions, seminars and training sessions organized by CELT, UE and the Media Centre. A number of lecturers from the School are enrolled in the Graduate Certificate in Tertiary Teaching run by CELT. Field research, fieldtrips and other forms of practical work are increasingly becoming integral parts of the teaching-learning process in the School. The School continued to expand its work in distance and flexible learning. The two main aims of the School with regard to extension offerings in the current triennium are: 1) to write up all outstanding core and optional courses comprising certificate and diploma programmes so that these can be completed entirely in the distance mode; and, 2) to offer as many of its courses at all levels in the distance and summer school modes as School resources will allow to enable students to complete the bachelors degrees via extension mode. The School is continuing its efforts in this direction through writing more extension courses and making more courses available to the extension students via summer schools. The Tourism Programme has written TS 213: International Tourism for flexible delivery. With the availability of this course students can complete the Certificate in Tourism Studies and the Tourism Studies minor in the BA programme via the distance mode. The History/Politics Department has written a 300-level course to offer by extension and is in the process of writing a 200–level course. The Department also hopes to write another 200–level course in 2002. When that is completed, the Department will be able to offer a full BEd in History/Politics by distance. The Economics Department has begun to offer two 300–level courses through extension and another 300–level course is currently being written. A number of other departments and programmes are revising and writing extension courses.

During the 2000 – 2002 triennium, the School planned to achieve the following objectives in relation to sustainable development, thus supporting societal maintenance and sound environmental management in the region: a) to develop and teach courses in Governance and Public Sector Reforms, conservation and

sustainable management;

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 b) to carry out departmental reviews of courses to ensure integration of issues related to

economic, political and social justice and environmental issues in History/Politics, Sociology, Geography, Population Studies and Tourism Studies; and

c) to introduce certificate and diploma programmes in Governance, Sustainable Development, Business Management, Productivity Management and Quality Management.

In this area, the School has made good progress to date. With regard to the first objective, a considerable amount of work has already been undertaken by the History/Politics Department in developing and teaching courses in Governance and Public Sector Reform. The Department has introduced a new undergraduate course HP311: Government, Governance and Public Policy. This course examines contemporary debate about good governance and its importance in policy formulation. At postgraduate level, a diploma programme in Governance has been designed and will be offered in 2002. In relation to the second objective, a number of courses in Geography, Economics, Land Management and Tourism Studies already deal with social, cultural, political and environmental issues related to sustainable development. Moreover, the School also offers a Diploma in Environmental Education programme. The Department of Management and Public Administration introduced MG103: Management Applications and strengthened its Postgraduate Diploma in Management and Public Administration in spite of ongoing staffing difficulties. The School continues to work with other Sections, Departments and Schools across the University to offer a range of courses in Geography, Economics, Environmental Studies and Tourism that address agricultural systems, innovations and product marketing. With the University's Marine Studies Programme, Marine Affairs has established a full undergraduate programme with a double major. The programme also offers a Postgraduate Diploma in Marine Studies and Marine Science. Work towards offering a single major in Marine Studies in the BA programme has not progressed due to a shortage of staff in the Programme. However, a new appointment has now been made and it is expected that work will progress to achieving this objective next year. With the development of two additional 300-level courses (MS302: Principles of Integrated Coastal Zone Management and MS303: Coastal Fisheries Management and Development), the number of courses offered by the Programme has increased. The cessation of C-SPOD from 2002, is potentially, a further deterrent to increasing student rolls. Tourism is a core interest of the School and is the direct teaching, research and consultancy concern of the School's Tourism Studies Programme. As a major and growing industry with perhaps the greatest potential for island economies, tourism is also covered in courses taught by other departments and programmes of the School and is the subject of disciplinary and interdisciplinary research. The Tourism Studies Programme emphasises the relative strengths and weaknesses of tourism as a development tool. Emphasis is placed on the critical evaluation of the social, cultural, environment, political and economic effects of tourism in a range of contexts, with particular emphasis on the South Pacific region. In the current triennium the School intends: a) to continue to emphasise tourism’s development value to the communities as well as its more

problematic impact on culture and society and the ethical questions arising from these in relation to cross-cultural encounters and distributive justice with respect to local stakeholders;

b) to introduce sustainable tourism development in tourism as a new dimension to the Tourism Studies Programme;

c) to initiate discussion in the School on the change in status of the Programme considering the

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 significant place given to it in the USP Strategic Plan. The Tourism Studies Programme has progressed well towards all these goals. The Tourism Studies Programme also implemented its first postgraduate course in 2001. The offering of a full Postgraduate Diploma in Tourism Studies commenced in 2002.

In the current triennium the School plans to strengthen support for teacher education by: a) offering a sufficient number of courses in the distance mode in each of the teaching subjects

to enable BEd students based away from the Laucala campus to complete the requirements for majors in these subjects;

b) offering summer schools in courses not offered via extension mode for the benefit of students based away from the Laucala campus; and

c) beginning dialogue with the Head of School of Humanities and with Heads of Departments in SSED with the aim of reducing the number of courses required for majors by BEd students.

Significant progress has been made towards a) and b). The number of courses required for majors by BEd students has already been reduced. In the last triennium, postgraduate courses continued to form an important part of the SSED programme of studies. The School’s Departments and Programmes, and the Centre for Development Studies currently offer 48 postgraduate courses. The Master of Business Administration Programme offers another 16 courses. These courses are available for Postgraduate Diploma and Masters students. MA and PhD Studies and thesis supervision have also been available. It is anticipated that a range of subjects offered in some disciplines such as tourism will be expanded with the inclusion of new courses (discussed above). Major objectives of the School in this triennium were to: a) review all postgraduate courses that were written more than five years ago to assess their

relevance to current needs of the USP region. SE412: Advanced Research Methodology course was reviewed and repackaged as a one semester course;

b) offer as many courses via distance mode using multi-media and summer school modes as school resources will allow in order to benefit the students based away from the Laucala campus

Some Departments have gradually embarked on revising or replacing old courses. The Tourism Studies Programme and History/Politics Department have written new courses. The Management and Public Administration Department have commenced offering a Postgraduate Diploma Programme in Lautoka. Despite these positive developments, major constraints remain. The impact of the political crisis in Fiji in 2000 forced the truncation of the first semester, shortening of the second semester and changing the modes of delivery of courses. The crisis also led to a large number of senior academic staff leaving the University. All of these contributed to the School’s inability to achieve some of the planned objectives for the last triennium. In the next triennium, a number of challenges remain. Vacancies created by the departure of staff in the aftermath of the political crisis need to be filled. The impact of staff shortage is already

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 resulting in excessive work loads for some staff members and to some extent, low staff morale and dissatisfaction among students in some subject areas. Despite facing staff shortage problems and their associated challenges, the School has made reasonable progress towards most of its goals over the last two years. In the next triennium, the School plans to carry forward some of the areas emphasised in the last triennium in addition to adding a few new areas which are of growing importance to the region. Thus, the major areas of emphasis in the next triennium will be: e-commerce and finance courses in AFM; governance; sustainable development; marine studies; tourism; GIS; and industrial relations. More emphasis will be given to offering more courses in the distance mode.

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 2.4 University Extension In the last triennium, University Extension innovations continued to be guided by the objectives and goals of its own Support Plan, USP’s strategic plan and UGC’s past recommendations. In 1999, there was a round-table meeting to consider the various applications that were possible for USPNet. The outputs of this meeting led to various applications of the USPNet. In 2000, there was the review of USP’s Distance and Flexible Learning Systems (DFL) that resulted in the Lockwood Report which included more than 90 recommendations. Following this report, USP had another round-table meeting to consider this report. Senate and Council have accepted USP’s response to the Lockwood Report and many of the recommendations of the report have been and are being implemented. An AusAID Project Design Team has completed the report for the implementation of various DFL projects, and recommendations made in the report will be implemented in 2002. During 2001, a JICA Project Design Team visited various campuses and Centres and plans to implement the multimedia component of their project by providing some experts and equipment to enhance the development of course materials at UE. This will commence in 2002. The implementation of these plans should result in further improvements to USP’s DFL. It should be noted, however, that the USP’s distance programmes have been mainly print-based and this delivery mode will be continued to cater for the students who cannot enjoy access to the USP Centres in their countries. Additional efforts are being put into making these materials more pedagogically appropriate for these students and the Centres will consolidate their efforts to support these remote students better. Students who can access the Centres will have the opportunity of using the USPNet to get counseling and to discuss any problem with staff on any of the campuses. In the last triennium, University Extension has had a wide range of achievements. On the consolidated centre plans, each Centre has put a plan together which will feed into a major Centre Plan for the development of the Centres. Part of this plan is the work on improving services to all extension students. This includes a number of activities. The e-transmission of assignments has been trialed for the Marshalls, Kiribati, Tuvalu, Niue and Tokelau Centres. This has resulted in assignment turnaround times to these Centre to be reduced considerably from 1-2 months to 1-2 weeks. The provision of email accounts, and access to the Internet and email facilities for all extension students have improved communication among the Centres, lecturers and students. The most significant development that has taken place is the launching of the upgraded USPNet (in March 2000). This enabled 40 courses to be offered by videobroadcast mode in semester 2, 2000 for students who did not return to the Laucala campus for studies due to the political unrest in Fiji. To build the capacity of staff to deliver a new range of services, a series of training and orientation programmes to prepare them for teaching and learning using the DFL operations of USP were implemented. This training was extended to students as well. In 2002, these training programmes are being consolidated and, with help from the AusAID Project, the training programmes put together by sections such as: CELT (for teaching/learning issues for staff); the Library (for using the web for both students and staff, digitisation project, teleCentres); ITS (for the introduction to computing, keyboard skills, power point for both staff and students); the Media Centre (for USPNet operators, lecturers and Centre staff and students); and the Schools (for local tutor and laboratory technicians); UEHQ (for banner, audio conferencing, audio-graphics, webCT, orientation to DFL teaching for staff and students) will be sequenced and better coordinated.

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 Staff at UE and others involved with USPNet have been provided with various training opportunities to allow them to acquire skills that will allow them to do their jobs better. For example, two USPNet technicians were sent to the USA for video and polycom training; Australian personnel were brought to Fiji to train staff here in webCT; some staff were enrolled for certificates in desktop publishing and in graphic design, from FIT via evening classes; some took short courses in excel, photoshop, publisher and access; some studied for postgraduate courses such as Graduate Certificate in Open and Distance Learning and the Graduate Certificate in Computer Technology, from USQ via on-line mode, Certificate in On-line Education and Training from London University's Institute of Education via on-line mode, MBA and Graduate Certificate in Tertiary Teaching, and a number of degree level courses from USP, and middle management and supervisory courses from FNTC. Other major achievements with regard to using state-of-art technology of USPNet include: • provision of audio-graphics facilities to all students who have access to the Centres, • provision of video conferencing and broadcast lectures to all students who have access to the

Centres, • provision of webCT facilities to all students who are enrolled in courses that use webCT as

the support technology, and • provision of banner inputs and outputs at all Centres. The Extension Studies operations have received more positive attention from all those involved in developing, teaching and supporting the DFL course materials and teaching/learning systems. Staff from across the USP community, including course writers, lecturers/tutors and markers both in the teaching departments and in the Centres, and also staff at UEHQ, the Media Centre, ITS and the Library have all made concerted efforts to work together on the DFL approach that USP has embarked upon. This is reflected in the overall improvements in assignment turnaround times, increased use of audio, audio-graphics and video conferencing tutorials, webCT and video-broadcast courses. To market UE further, UE is putting in place structures to improve and diversify its activities. A retreat was conducted in March 2002 aimed at these objectives including team building, articulation of a vision, philosophy and mission statement for of DFL, and re-engineering UE's approach to DFL. This should lead to the re-structuring of UEHQ. The document from this was presented to the Regional Centres Conference in April of that year and a statement of vision, philosophy and mission statement for DFL will be formulated by June 2002. This will then be presented to the DFLC for its comments, modification and eventual adaptation. It is hoped that this document will focus UE’s multi-skilled staff, strengthen UE's team spirit and also inform the USP community of its DFL approaches. An area of concern is science teaching by distance. In the last triennium, the development of the one level platform in the practical sciences, Chemistry, Physics and Biology, has taken place. Work to complete the 100-level platform in Engineering, Food and Textiles, Mathematics, Computing Science and Information systems is continuing. The PDSU unit has started revising all its science courses and these should be completed by the end of 2002. For the first time, a 200-level practical science course, CH204 was successfully offered as a summer school in 2001. Currently, science is only offered to students in Cooks, Fiji, Kiribati, Niue, Tonga, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu as these are the only countries where USP Centres have science laboratories. The issue of offering science in Alafua needs to be looked into. The mathematics and computing

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 department has indicated that it needs interactive audio-graphics technologies to teach via USPNet. New equipment has been purchased and this will be trialed in 2002. If proven, this will be implemented in all Centres. Unfortunately, this new system uses the already over subscribed 64 kb channels of USPNet. The PDSU has revised its History/Politics, Sociology and Geography courses and in so doing it has increased the Pacific contents of these units. Consultancies in the last triennium consisted of various types of requests from regional and national organizations and institutions for UE staff to share their expertise in DFL. Examples of consultancies undertaken include the conduct and training of Fiji School of Medicine staff in an orientation to DFL operations and a series of workshops designed to teach FSM staff to develop DFL materials. Similar work was also conducted for South Pacific Commission staff working on the ParaVet programme, the Women's Fisheries Network and the Community Workers Certificate. There was also work done on the STI Trainers’ Training Manual project, English diagnostic testing and the IOI (International Ocean Institutes) TRAIN-SEA-COAST Curriculum Development Unit project. Staff were asked to help with the VASS (Voluntary Agency Support Services), funded by NZODA as consultant to the PIA project in Auckland and to deliver keynote addresses as temporary advisors to the Fiji Government on e-governance, to the U.S. National Committee (USNC) for the Pacific Science Association (PSA) (a committee of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council), to the Pacific consultation on Open and Distance Learning, and to the Fiji Institute of Technology staff who wanted to know about DFL. Table 2.15: Comparison of pass rates 1999-2000

Year 1999 1999 1999 2000 2000 2000 Semester 1 2 30wks 1 2 30wks Nos. sat exams. 8643 8989 484 8486 10730 484 % Pass 61.1 57.5 42.4 63.5 68.3 55.7 % Fail 35.0 24.7 22.1 21.7 21.6 18.1 % ‘EX’ 13.4 17.2 35.5 14.8 10.1 26.2 Nos. with ‘EX’ grade 1160 1537 172 1470 1211 71 Enrolment after official withdrawal dates 9033 9036 488 10444 12454 370

Note: PDSU enrolments are included in the numbers above. Table 2.16: Full-time Equivalent Students by Mode of Study with projections to 2007

Year External Internal %External % increase of Extension

1997 1939 3339 36.7 -0.4 1998 1984 3777 34.4 -2.3 1999 1591 4190 27.5 -6.9 2000 2187 3605 37.8 10.3 2001 1860 4161 30.9 -6.9 2002 2000 4200 32.0 1.1 2003 2400 4300 36.0 4.0 2004 2900 4400 40.0 4.0 2005 3500 4500 44.0 4.0 2006 4300 4600 48.0 4.0 2007 5000 5000 50.0 2.0

Note: Pre-degree course enrolments excluded since 1999

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 In the last triennium, UE faced a number of challenges. For instance, there is an increasing lack of workspace and airflow within the UEHQ work place resulting from the addition of 14 new staff of the newly created Pre-degree Studies Unit. New staff to the section for vacant positions and experts for the AusAID and JICA projects will not have work areas within UEHQ area. There have been many materials developed and larger stocks kept and therefore the space in the despatch unit has become untenable. This situation must be resolved in 2002. The fact that the students enrolled through the Fiji Centre and located in Lautoka, Labasa and Suva do not have access to the USPNet facilities that are available to the other Centres is problematic. (The approximate percentage of the total DFL enrolments of these locations are: Labasa _ 15%, Lautoka _ 20% and Suva _ 35%). Currently, Labasa and Lautoka each have two terrestrial lines (one with 64 kb and the second with 128 kb) while Suva has only a single line with 64 kb. There is no video provision for the 35% of the students enrolled at the Fiji Centre in Suva. While these students may be able to use the facilities at the Laucala Campus, some preliminary survey of volume of use needs to be undertaken before further plans are put in place. There are other challenges: the difficulty of hiring professional staff (UE has started to outsource some of this work); the positions of USPNet operator and the banner operators in the Centres need to be formalised to allow smooth operations; other positions within UE also clearly need to be re-designated. The work within UE has increased exponentially in the last two years. This is due to: • the increase in enrolments, • shifts from dual mode to multi-mode, • shifts from public sector to private sector modus operandi, • shift from only print-based to print-based and technology-based DFL, • shift from a systems-based to a student-centred approach, • shift from a Pacific focus to the Pacific focus within a market driven and global economy,

and • a concerted drive to improve the DFL course materials and services to students. There is a need to increase the number of operational and professional staff within this section. The actual numbers cannot be determined accurately as shifts are in a state of flux. By 2003, the picture will become clearer and these figures will be presented to the University. For the next triennium, structures, systems, marketing and training programmes will be put in place to ensure that the USP Strategic Plan targets of achieving 50% of FTES for DFL and all certificates and diplomas of USP will being completeable by DFL. The major area of focus from 2002 and into the new triennium will be to focus on the student-centred approaches to DFL. To this end, UEHQ and the Centres will work together to provide improved student support. A new section is being created within UEHQ to provide services to students in the Centres who have access to the USPNet facilities. It is hoped that these students can be supported from this central location and thereby free the Centre staff to concentrate on the support of the remote students. UE wants to promote itself as a Centre of Excellence for the remote distance students. There is an urgent need to strengthen the local tutor support by providing more training and forums for interaction between the local tutors and the course coordinators in the campuses. The

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 local tutors are arguably the most important student support mechanism that USP's DFL system uses, yet very little support is given to the local tutors. Promotions and marketing of DFL courses will become an integral part of UE's operations. There is a need to make the community more aware and have more empathy towards studying at USP via the DFL mode. In 2001 and 2002, UE spent a large amount of money on promotional activities including open days, promotional brochures, book marks, stickers and new handbooks. Teams of experienced distance educators will visit the USP Centres to help with marketing, counseling of students and providing the Centre staff with suggestions for improving the services available at the Centres. Marketing will be targeted at the degree level courses and students will be enrolled in programmes. A lot more counseling and documentation for the students will be made available. On-line registration will be investigated in the new triennium. The consolidation of the registration and policies on students will be undertaken to minimise the distinction between DFL and on-campus students. This could mean that there might be one administrative section to register and support students, though clearly this section would need to be a distributed one. There may be a need to separate the functions of this section into ‘front’ and ‘back’ office operations. The review of the academic functions of USP in 2002 will be the driving force in this shift. Attempts will be made to obtain USP scholarships for students studying by distance. Strategies to react to this concern will be put into place in the next triennium. It is expected that the e-transmission of assignments to and from the Centres and to all three campuses will be completed in the next triennium. By the end of 2002, it is expected that the three locations of the Fiji Centre will have access to similar audio, video and data facilities of USPNet. In the Centres where the audio and the video studios have not been separated, it is expected that these facilities will be separated before the start of the next triennium. With the extra usage of the USPNet, it is clear that there will be a need for a budget allocation for part-tine staff to man these facilities outside normal office hours. There is also clearly a need to increase the capacity of the USPNet as the 64 kb channels which carry the audio and data signals have already (in 2001) reached their maximum, and there needs to be more bandwidth so that two audio conferences can be conducted simultaneously. Video conferencing should be possible to more than the minimum two points that are currently available. Ideally this should be made available to all Centres simultaneously. Another need is to be able to video broadcast from one of the remote sites. This is in line with the deployment of PhDs into Centre lecturer positions. The issue of training of staff and students for DFL is a continuous process as there are always new staff and students. Thus, the training programmes described earlier will be offered at regular intervals. Performance indicators and quality assurance procedures will be systematised in this triennium. The UE support plan is being reviewed and updated to ensure that UE is able to develop courses that need to be developed so that the certificates and diplomas of USP are fully available in DFL. It is also planned that within the triennium all the core 100 and possibly 200-level courses will be completeable by DFL. With the additional support from AusAID and JICA projects it is

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 estimated that there will be an increase in output of new and revised courses from the current 40 to 55 per year. The teaching of degree level practical science courses is compromised by the lack of adequate laboratories. The laboratories that are currently available in the Centres were designed for PDSU courses only. Thus, these laboratories need to be upgraded and the science labs in Alafua need to be used for the preliminary, foundation and degree level science courses. There is also a plan to look for additional funding to build adequate degree level science labs in the USP Centre in selected countries. Continuing Education This section manages the offer of non-credit programmes of the University with open eligibility. Offerings are multi-modal and flexible and cover a range of subjects and skills. Students enrol in a variety of progammes for a variety of reasons, including upskilling for workers and re-skilling as an alternative entry point to credit programmes, for leisure and for personal development. There are many cases of adult learners returning to University studies after completing continuing education courses and programmes. Many of these programmes are offered through the Centres and for this reason, mainly, Continuing Education is located in University Extension. Currently, the University offers a host of non-credit courses. These courses are also scattered throughout the different sections of the University. Apart from the Centres, the Institutes, Sections and Schools offer non-credit courses. This is an area that will grow in the future in terms of needs and in terms of revenue that can be earned. More and more demand is seen in the need to provide training for practical work type programmes, professional training, workshops and seminars. The range and type of people requiring this type of programmes range from young school leavers to adults. In the next triennium, the University will seek to review and to formalise its Continuing Education responsibility. The question of location and the structure of the unit will have to be decided. There is every reason to believe that Continuing Education programmes will grow and the University is in an ideal position to be able to coordinate these programmes, working with civil society institutions and government departments.

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 2.5 ACADEMIC SUPPORT SERVICES 2.5.1 Library In the last triennium the Library introduced several new initiatives aimed at improving library services throughout the region. It is hoped that the Digitisation Project in particular will have far-reaching impact in terms of services for our remote users. Funding for the Project was provided by AusAID under the University’s Flexible Learning & Teaching Project. The primary focus will be the digitisation of the Closed Reserve Collection to provide library users, whether they are on campus or in the University Centres in the region, easy access to recommended reading material. At a later stage, the Library plans to digitise selected works from the Pacific Collection, rare and heavily used Pacific materials, theses, law reports and statutes. To date, all USP examination papers held by the Library and some Pacific Collection materials have been digitized and are available on-line through the Library catalogue. As part of the Project, the Library has subscribed to several important electronic databases. The Project will also aim to speed up the Inter-Library Loan process for the Centre libraries through the electronic delivery of materials. It also includes an extensive programme of user education in the use of online services and the Internet. Another major project was the implementation of the SPYDUS (previously URICA) Serials Control module and the retrospective conversion of Serials records. The project is now well under way and, once full bibliographic records are provided for the ten thousand plus serial titles held and individual issues are checked in on SPYDUS, users will be able to access the collection more efficiently. The Library also decided to trial an All-Night Reading Room in response to requests from students needing a quiet place to study after Library opening hours. The All-Night Reading Room is open from 10pm to 7am. No library services are provided but the room is supervised by a security guard especially recruited for the purpose. Statistics show that it is heavily used at certain times of the night and certain days of the week. The Library will continue to provide the service in 2002. New developments were introduced to enhance existing library services, including an upgrade to the Library’s integrated system (SPYDUS), which involved the implementation of a web-based OPAC. This allows the Library to provide direct hypertext links to digital materials, including online journals and materials digitized by the Library. Other developments include enhanced customer services by the USP network of libraries throughout the region and by its specialized information units (PIC, PIMRIS and OSIC), and greater bibliographical control through the strengthening of the Library’s Technical Services, ISBN & CIP services and the Legal Deposit programme. A camera surveillance system was installed at the Laucala Campus Library to provide increased security. The Library’s formal Training programmes continue to attract high enrolments from all the countries of the region and informal feedback indicates that the programmes are highly successful and effective. Staff members were able to conduct a summer school in the Marshall Islands, and make tutorial visits to the Marshall Islands and Kiribati. The Library also hosted less formal training opportunities, such as the week long IFLA/ALP Regional Workshop on Information Technology (IT) and Preservation Awareness Raising for Paraprofessionals in the Pacific from 29 October to 2 November 2001 (funded by International Federation of Library

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 Associations/Advancement of Librarianship) and attachments for seven library personnel from the Cook Islands, Samoa, Marshall Islands and Vanuatu. The Library plans to enhance communication and contact between library professional staff and academic staff through the Liaison Librarians. Reports show that LL’s have been successful in their efforts. Their roles include liaising with academic staff on matters pertaining to the library so as to provide a vital link between the two groups, informing academic staff of library activities and developments, and directing and referring academic staff to the appropriate librarian or section in the library. They will complement the role of the School Representatives to the Library Advisory Committee and the Library Representatives to the School Boards. The concept was accepted and passed by the various Boards of Studies in 2001. The Library experienced a severe shortage of senior staff during 2001. The year started with two vacancies in key sections of the Library, one at the Alafua Campus Library and the other in Reader Services. This necessitated moving staff from their regular positions to fill in, in addition to their normal duties. Needless to say, the staff shortage impacted on the productivity of some sections. However, the Library was able to sustain its frontline services to users at an extremely satisfactory level. Staff also showed their flexibility when some (cataloguers) willingly took on ‘flexi time’ (from 4.30am to noon, or 6am to 1.30pm) to utilize the faster Internet links in the early hours of the morning. The Library recognises that there is a need to review its role in the light of recent developments in distance and open learning. Therefore, it is investigating the concept of ‘telecentres’ that will offer both a traditional Library collection as well as access to online and multimedia facilities. A proposal has been submitted to the University Grants Committee. Future plans also include the establishment of a business centre at the Laucala Library. The business centre will offer services that are related to the Library collections, including binding services, photocopying, printing, call centre services, reprinting of old rare books, card production, lamination, sale of stationery, etc. The Library is already offering some of these services but the business centre will streamline and consolidate them. 2.5.2 Information Technology Services The Information Technology Services (IT Services) is approaching the next triennium with a record of successful achievements, despite limited resources and high staff turnover. These achievements were based on various factors, such as commitment from University management, collaboration from our partnerships, dedication from the IT Services staff, and understanding and tolerance from our stakeholders. Since the last triennial, IT Services has been suffering from the global movement of IT personnel. It was further disadvantaged because of the political crisis in the region, which resulted in difficulties in recruiting and retaining IT personnel. Despite these challenges, IT Services’ operation expanded beyond data communication and now includes voice and satellite communication. The number of supported PCs also increased from approximately 800 to 1300. The range of software in use and the sophistication of users’ requirements have also steadily increased. With the large expansion in operations with increasing

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 numbers of PC’s and new services, levels of staff have remained the same, with the exception of temporary staff in place as a short-term measure to cope with our staff shortage. There are a number of very important specific developments that have taken place in the last triennium. The commissioning of USPNet in March 2000 marked a milestone in IT development at USP. USPNet is probably the largest IT development in the history of USP. While the network is functioning well, the USPNet Technical Planning Group is working to complete and enhance the network. The size and complexity of the existing infrastructure means that problems could arise if we do not provide adequate support on the ground. MIS provide a crucial role in maintaining and enhancing the Banner System. Over the years, experience has showed that the level of staff we have is not adequate to carry out the required development work. We do not have a Database Administrator (DBA). IT Services recognises the commitment and the investment that the University has put into the development of its information technology infrastructure. The F$14million investment on USPNet, and over $800,000 investment on Communication Network infrastructure have clearly indicated that the University is committed to developing its Information and Communication infrastructures. Over the last triennial, IT Services conducted four main projects:

• Y2K, • USPNet Project, • Network Upgrade Project, • Upgrading student facilities.

These projects were well implemented, but additional funds are now required to maintain the infrastructure, so that the initial investment is not wasted. Maintenance and replacement of failed equipment is a priority. It has become clear that there are two ways to deal with these issues. It is a choice of having funds made available upfront, or acquiring funds by charging for our services. Other crucial services that need to be dealt with in the next triennium include improving the telephony system at USP. A report from Telecom Fiji indicated the existing PABX is over 10 years old. It is envisaged that acquiring a new PABX would be more economical than upgrading the old PABX. A team is working on a practical and affordable option. The other service is that of the Internet. The high cost of Internet access in the Pacific Region, particularly in Fiji, is one of the biggest obstacles to improving services to the USP community. In some cases, services had to be rationalised because of limited Internet resources. For instance, student Internet access is limited to the multimedia room located in the library, and the general student labs have Internet access only after-hours. The bandwidth increase from 384Kbps to 512Kbps (Oct 2001) was seen as a major step to achieving our objective of operating this service at 1 Mps, and eventually 2 Mbps. However, the extra capacity was immediately used, and the demand for further increase in the bandwidth is already being felt. Alternatives are being explored to accommodate the high demand for this service. However, it is evident that, if the demand is to be met, a steady funding increase will be required, or service fees be introduced to sustain this service.

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 Possibly the most urgent need is to review the policy for the replacement of old PCs and associated funding mechanism. There is no funding allocated for PC replacement. Software license and use is also a very important factor in planning for IT. As a new development, ITS successfully ran a number of short professional training workshops using experienced and qualified ITS staff. These attracted many interested participants and have now led to the possibility of ITS organising and continuing more training courses to generate income for the University. 2.5.3 The Media Centre

The Media Centre is a support service dedicated to providing leadership in the development of modern and innovative instructional media and graphic design to the University and its mission. The centre consists of the following units: Projection Services, Graphics/Photography, Video Production/Instructional Television, Engineering/Technical (USPNet video), and Multimedia, formerly Audio Production, plus administrative and teaching support in the Media Resource Coordinator’s office.

The socio-political events of 2000 in Fiji delayed full implementation of many of the strategic objectives outlined in the Centre’s 2000-2002 Support Plan. In 2001 significant senior staff turnover and financial retraction were experienced. In terms of service level and production output, the Media Centre in late 2001 is holding steady in some areas (Projection Services, Graphics/Photography) and advancing in others (Video Production, USPNet/Technical) despite the challenges. Without doubt, the largest challenge faced by Media Centre in the past 12 months has been severe staffing shortages at the senior level. The workload and resulting stress were significant. Due to staff shortages, the Media Centre outreach training programmes and internal staff development programmes were curtailed. Teaching duties affiliated with ED350 have increased. In prior years we offered the media component for 5-6 weeks during a normal semester. In Semester 2, 2001 we taught 11 weeks of the semester, serving nearly 450 students. The coming years will be brighter, once the senior staff vacancies are filled. Other constraints of the past triennial period worth mentioning include those of our facilities, which we are gradually outgrowing. Noteworthy amounts of reconstruction were performed in 2000 to create the new video editing suites, the student editing facilities, the USPNet technical area, USPNet video-conferencing, video-broadcast and video-viewing rooms, the new video archives, a new Projection Services office, and an enlarged Graphics Unit. The USP radio station, Radio Pasifika, is managed by the USPSA with professional assistance and help from the Media Unit. The station covers a broadcast area stretching roughly from Pacific Harbour to Nausori. It has a reasonably generous, albeit non-profit, broadcast license. It could become a quality symbol of USP’s excellence in and commitment to general community education. The content could be broadcast over USPNet to the regional centres during slow satellite times. Looking to the future, with a full staffing of senior level personnel, the Media Centre should be able to re-establish its revenue flow through such things as outside video productions,

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 implementation of workshops and training for non-USP clientele, and marketing of USP-copyrighted products such as video tapes and interactive CD-ROMs. Here is a summary of our thinking. For the future, the need for staff, equipment and facilities will increase in a number of areas. The Media Centre is bound closely to USPNet and growth or change in that activity will affect the centre proportionally. The centre hopes to improve revenue generation in the next triennium, and support the clear directive for distance education, learning and teaching activities. 2.5.4 CELT Over the last two years, CELT has actively offered high quality professional development opportunities to academic staff (including accredited Graduate Certificate in Tertiary Teaching) and working in collaboration with staff to introduce generic skills into their curriculum to ensure more holisitic support for students. The success of CELT can be measured in the high level of demand for a range of services from staff and the high level of response from staff to CELT-initiated activities. In the triennium 2003-2005, CELT plans to be actively involved in Effective and Efficient Resource Management through training Heads of School, Heads of Department and Directors in the use of the USP Personal Management System (PMS) and in training staff in responding to the PMS. With this training, full use can be made of the annual review process to ensure that staff members are well focused on their portfolios and receive appropriate development opportunities to enable them to continue with their portfolios in a changing world. CELT could also facilitate a leadership programme for Heads of Schools and Departments and Directors to ensure the mentoring of new staff into these positions and the continuing development of those who already have experience in the positions. All of this work would also address the quality core strategy. All of CELT's work addresses the core strategy of quality. To ensure that the many demands made on CELT by Senate are met, it is necessary to have an additional lecturer post in the professional development area. The lecturer could address: • introduction to tertiary teaching programmes for all staff and specialist groups (e.g. Graduate

Assistants), • postgraduate supervision, • programmes for markers and tutors, • action research groups, • peer feedback on teaching, • curriculum development for flexible delivery, and • other needs as they are articulated. Relating to Distance and Flexible Learning, flexible delivery is now an integral part of all CELT courses in learning and teaching and is the special focus of some courses. In 2003, the ELSA test and courses will be available by distance. These will be developed by the ELSA lecturer and run in collaboration with the Pre-Degree Studies Unit. There will also need to

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 be flexible delivery initiatives in other areas of student support. With the increase in work responsibilities and load, a number of positions are needed.

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 2.6 THE INSTITUTES The funding arrangement for the Institutes has been changed. Subventions to the Institutes were reduced at the beginning of the Financial Year, 2002, and are now limited to covering the emoluments of the Institute Directors. Consequent upon this decision, the total Institute Subvention has declined from $1.7 million in 2001 to about $0.7m in 2002. Institutes are encouraged to cover their operating costs, including, in due course, imputed rental for spaces occupied, and show annual surplus. In the short term, say in two to three years’ time, Institutes which show negative cash flows will be allowed temporary advances from Bursary. In 2002 such advances will not accrue interest charges. The use of interest charges on advances as an instrument for entrenching a sound commercial culture within the Institutes will be examined closely. This instrument will be employed when the need for it is established. A Working Group made up of the Directors of the Institutes and Members of the Management Team is working on the details of institutional restructuring aimed at: a) substantially improving the capacity of the University in multidisciplinary research and

consultancy covering all aspects of development in the Pacific Region; b) continually building up USP as the Centre of Excellence in the Pacific, the Institution which

will have much influence in the determination of the national and regional research agenda and be able to secure for itself the bulk of the larger multidisciplinary consultancies and research in the Pacific area; and

c) improving co-ordination and co-operation within the University to ensure that the intellectual energies within the organization are marshaled quickly and efficiently in support of the research and consultancy objectives of the organization.

Two possible structures are being considered by the Working Group. The essential elements of the first are as follows: a) merging all the Institutes and Centres under the umbrella of a new Institute of Advanced

Studies and Research in Pacific Development and Governance. In the interim, the current Institutes can function as cells or centres within the enlarged Institute;

b) academic staff members in the Schools with an interest in team research could be deemed fellows of the enlarged Institute; and

c) a single administration will support the new Institute. The enlarged Institute is to have a Management Board. A Think Tank made up of Senior Members of the Institute will, building upon accumulated knowledge of the development challenges confronting the Pacific Island Countries, identify research priorities and expected demand for consultancies and the strategies for executing the attendant work programmes that will be identified.

Cost savings through improved efficiency are likely under this structure. Overheads are also expected to be reduced with a single administrative arrangement backing the enlarged Institute.

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 The second alternative structure is a transitional arrangement between what USP now has and the merging of all Institutes. The option merges IPS, and the Centre for Development Studies. Governance, now accorded weight and priority by USP, will feature in the work programme of this merged entity. Additional senior positions in the Governance area are now included in USP's submission for resources over the triennium, 2003-2005.

Discussion within the Working Group and consultations with other staff members are continuing. Convergence on the way ahead is expected before the end of the third quarter of 2002 and commencement of implementation will begin in 2003. 2.7 Oceania Centre for Arts and Culture (OCAC) The establishment in 1997 of the Oceania Centre as a continuing education arm of Pacific Studies, was an acknowledgement of the importance of the arts and cultures of the University region. Thus, in the context of the University’s overall mission, the Oceania Centre seeks to promote the development of high quality contemporary arts that are distinctively Oceanic. Success in this endeavour will contribute significantly to the revival of creativity and originality in our region. Creative cultural production transcends our preoccupation with economic and political imperatives, and is necessary for the social and psychological well being of any community, especially so with those that have been emerging from the traumas of colonial subjection and postcolonial disillusionment. This may explain in part the outpouring of positive response from the entire cross-section of the community to the University’s arts and culture programmes. These programmes shine through the economic and political gloom that has enveloped our region. Very significant and positive outputs of the Centre include the music and dance theatre, both traditional and modern. The creative blending of music and dance from all countries of the region and modern dance and music has a great potential and is an area, that will be developed further. The University can be the leader in this area mounting more serious performances of Pacific music and dance. Over the past two triennia, the Oceania Centre has achieved the following: a) the provision of adequate work space for visual and performing arts. The construction of this

space was also aimed at providing a physical environment that was aesthetically pleasing, informal and friendly;

b) the provision of a regional art gallery for exhibitions, storage/conservation of art treasures, as well as for small performances and seminars;

c) the development of workshops and hands-on learning strategies, as the appropriate ways of skills development. This necessitates short-term appointments of established artists to conduct beginner and follow-up workshops, or act as sources of inspiration for aspiring artists. The appointment of emerging regional artists as short-term artists-in-residence will nurture their talents, as well as to help implement specific programmes for the Centre;

d) the strengthening of existing staffing, and the establishment of new posts; e) the building through Medium Works, of a very attractive extension, a wall-less structure on

the western side of the original building, with an arched roof somewhat like a Samoan fale; f) the University has provided some initial funding for an art gallery; g) the satisfactory development of the Centre’s programmes, with workshops, and artists-in-

residence programmes, funded through New Zealand aid funds made available to the

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University. Through the same sources, the Centre is building up a valuable collection of contemporary Oceanic art works, most of which are works done by the Centre’s own artists, and produced also at the Centre.

2.8 ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS 2.8.1 Registrar’s Office The Registrar’s Office has undergone many changes in the last triennium. Of particular note are the changes in personnel matters, staff training and development, and student and staff management services. The appointment of the Manager Personnel after a long period to head the Personnel Office, and the subsequent re-organization of that office and its procedures have resulted in the delivery of much improved services. More effort has been directed towards streamlining the flow of work and introducing electronic services for the recruitment process, staff matters and staff development. Staff members from the University’s three campuses have also continued to conduct training in the other member countries of the University for University staff based in those countries. Various staff policies have been revised and put on the network. There is a plan to review and manage the student database so as to enable it to be accessible to various people, especially the students from outside Laucala Campus. Students will be able to access personal information on themselves or complete a variety of forms on-line. This should result in greater responsiveness by the University to student queries. For international students there is a full time staff member who is dedicated to the needs of students in this category. A marketing plan will be developed to provide the detailed strategies for attracting more international students to USP. A review will be undertaken of academic administration throughout the University with a view to streamlining procedures so as to ensure the delivery of quality and cost-effective services. An area that is now being promoted is that of public relations and marketing USP. The Marketing and Public Relations Officer who is responsible for publicity generally and information awareness is working on a marketing plan for USP. In addition, the Registrar's Office has put in place measures to improve the corporate image of the University. Publications, brochures, and posters will be produced and distributed widely. 2.8.2 Planning and Development Office The Planning and Development Office is a key section in the University. It is strategically responsible for the preparation, implementation and review of the Strategic and Support Plans of Schools and Sections. It is also traditionally responsible for identifying, managing, coordinating and monitoring implementation of aid and other funds procured by the University, as well as maintaining a database of student and staff statistics. The DPD's Office will be responsible for a number of specific projects planned for now and into the next triennium. These include quality assurance, tracer studies of USP Alumni, coordinating the EU/HRD, JICA and AusAID projects and the establishment of a regional database.

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 In addition to these responsibilities, this Office will step up its responsibilities in preparing a pipeline of projects. These will be obtained by communicating directly with staff and working with them on the preparation of their profiles and their needs and vision of work in their respective areas of speciality. The focus will be to create specialised working groups on different themes in development. So far, a number of working groups have been identified and have commenced working on a number of tasks. The question of quality assurance is an important component of the DPD's Office. USP, since its inception, has emphasised the importance of maintaining high standards and ensuring that its qualifications are internationally recognised. It was not until the early 1990s that quality became an over-riding global theme of higher education which resulted, among other things, in the setting up of professional associations dedicated to quality in universities throughout the world. USP took cognisance of these important developments and agreed that quality issues must be seriously addressed. Demands for quality improvement and quality assurances at USP have also come in varying forms and magnitude from many sources, including member governments, aid donors, business communities and several university committees. The USP Strategic Plan, adopted in 1998, identified the need to have a comprehensive quality management system in place. It went further to state that:

Within the next three years, the University will consolidate its quality assurance effort into a quality management plan for USP as a whole.

The responsibilities of the Quality Assurance Unit (QAU) will include: • consolidating and coordinating all the quality assurances mechanisms at USP into a quality

management plan (in consultation with other relevant University sections), and to comment on and review such mechanisms for monitoring and enhancing the academic quality and standards which are necessary for achieving USP’s aims and objectives.

• The QAU will focus its activities in a number of crucial areas to identify what quality assurance mechanisms are currently in place, and to recommend mechanisms for:

a) quality assurance in the design, monitoring and evaluation of courses and programmes of study;

b) quality assurance in teaching, learning and assessment; c) quality assurance in relation to the appointment and performance of academic and

other staff who contribute directly to the teaching and research functions; d) quality assurance in research, especially in the contexts of its relationship with

university teaching; and e) taking into account of the views of students, external advisers, of professional bodies,

and employers in respect of academic matters. The QAU will also consider the overall institutional quality system, including the provisions for regular review of not just sections and departments (external advisers are currently used) but programmes (or units) such as BA, BSc, LLB etc. It will also cover both academic and non-academic areas. 2.8.3 Community Services Community Services is responsible for the provision of support services in the areas of accommodation, catering, sports and recreation, health, counseling (including chaplaincy) and

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 security. These services aim to promote and maintain the welfare and well-being of students, staff and other members of the University community. Like the other sections of the University, Community Services had to ensure that the services were not disrupted, despite the almost impossible situations created by the crisis in Fiji in 2000. As an example, during the 30-hour curfew at the height of the crisis there were staff in the Dining Hall who took the risk of walking from their homes to the Kitchen to prepare meals for students in residence. Moreover, the section had to provide beds and meals for day students who could not get home because of roadblocks or some other related reasons. Also, the Halls of Residence spent considerable time in arranging urgent repatriation of regional students. In the triennium 2000-2002, Community Services performed its functions effectively, despite deficiencies in physical facilities and other resources. For further improvement on its current performance, the section looks forward to better standard of physical facilities for student accommodation and common rooms, office and storage space, staff amenities, and equipment. Also, it hopes that problems associated with water and power cuts can be eliminated. Last year USPSA requested Community Services to put in place a system that allows residential students to have their meals in any of the food outlets on campus rather than being restricted to the Dining Hall only. The section considered introducing a smart card system in the Dining Hall and the other outlets. A preliminary technical report was prepared with assistance from ITS and Systems Administrator (Human Resources). The report showed that other sections in the University were interested in using similar cards and they should be included in the proposal. As the proposed system is to cater for other sections as well (e.g. Library, Book Centre), the matter was taken over by a University-wide Committee chaired by the Registrar. This Committee is still working on the card system to be used and there are fundamental issues that need to be sorted out regarding the way the records are stored. The Registrar is still working on these issues with ITS. The proposed system is a magnetic strip card system which would require:

• a central server to host the database; • card readers to be installed in all catering outlets; • network cables to reach all catering outlets connecting all card readers to the USP

network; • IT staff to install, test and implement the system, possibly a Unix specialist and a

staff member from the MIS section to work on the central database with an estimated time frame of six plus months;

• an estimated cost of $50,000; and • at least one week for training staff.

The Dining Hall and CRC were reviewed in 2001 and their responses to the recommendations are shown below.

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 Catering Services The Catering Services underwent a review carried out by KPMG Chartered Accountants last year. In response to the recommendations which were made on the basis of the findings, the section has undertaken the following actions: General

• Management and Supervisory staff are carrying out spot checks in all food outlets of food items issued, returns and wastage.

• The Head of the Food & Textiles Department has been invited to carry out a nutritional assessment of meals and menus.

• Tighter controls are in place regarding the purchase of goods. These are restricted to Stock Controller, Production Coordinator, Chef or Supervisor with the approval of management for specific line items, e.g. bread, meat, milk.

• Production schedules are being closely monitored through daily Production Summary Reports which have reduced the excess and wastage.

• The day to day issues and returns of food items and the number of customers, sales and transactions to all outlets is analysed on a regular basis to ascertain supply and demand.

OHS - Occupational Health and Safety • 3 sets of protective clothing/uniforms are now being issued to staff and constant

monitoring and enforcement is carried out by supervisors and management to ensure standard Food Safety and Hygiene policies are followed.

• Regular maintenance checks are carried out to ensure all fire fighting equipment and extinguishers are in working order.

• The majority of staff has received fire fighting training and instruction during the past year.

• Unauthorised personnel are restricted from entering the kitchen. A new kitchen design will eliminate this problem.

• General precautions are taken to reduce the risk of food contamination when transferring waste.

Budgeting • Wastage records are being maintained, which is giving us tighter control. The

Chef is being more proactive in utilizing left over product, fruit and vegetables thus reducing waste.

• A close monitoring of production statistics has provided tighter controls and accurate production levels.

• The collected budgeting data is now providing relevant and meaningful information. Areas of concern are identified and addressed.

• Meal costing is an ongoing exercise. • There is a marked improvement in cooking by following recipes and correct

cooking methods. • The Purchasing Procedure has undergone a review. Following the

recommendation of the Purchase Consultant, Purchasing Manager and Management, a better system is being formalized. Tenders for major line items are being implemented.

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• More effective and efficient methods of processing major line items, by out sourcing e.g. meat cutting are being introduced.

Community Recreation Centre (CRC) Following the review of CRC carried out by KPMG the Section undertook the following actions in response to the findings and recommendations made by the review.

• Guidelines are in place for the use, hiring, rental and safety of all CRC facilities. • A communication network is in place between all the major stakeholders in CRC

- Administration, Community Services, USP students and the public. • A complete USP Community facilities usage set of information is available at

every CRC facility. In addition this information has been made available over USP Net, Radio Pasifika, Wansolwara and USP Beat.

• The USP Council and Senior Administration have agreed to a modification of the existing CRC Trading Account Budget where the University will underwrite 50% of CRC operating budget. The section is to continue in its efforts, however, to earn maximum revenue.

• With Bursary, input all controls regarding cash receipting and recording have been streamlined and improved, including CRC now depositing income at the Bursary on a daily basis.

• Sports equipment issue has been devolved in three sport specific areas with commensurate receipting and record keeping procedures in place.

• All CRC Attendants are now fully qualified in aquatic safety. An ongoing in-house programme makes CRC Staff the most qualified Fitness Centre Attendants in Fiji. External instructional programmes are being introduced in 2002 to supplement in-house training.

• Verandah Shop operations have been overhauled physically, procedurally and service wise with a tender being sought by USP for quality fast food providers. Shop Assistant work has been streamlined and made over the counter customer oriented, eliminating food preparation times and maximising contact with clients.

• All staff are now qualified in Fire Safety procedures, CPR and First Aid. • CRC facilities underwent major renovations in December and January and they

are in full use for Semester 1, 2002. • All items susceptible to theft have been transferred to a secure new Fitness

Centre office with procedures set and recorded for checking. • All CRC outlets have a fully equipped and (issue recorded) first aid kit.

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 2.9 Staff Development The University has had a long-standing programme and satisfactory record of staff development. This includes formal fellowships for regional staff to pursue higher degrees, short-term training, professional development, staff induction and staff appraisal. Focus has largely been on training for formal qualifications as well as short-term upskilling and hands-on training programmes for staff at all levels. Under the staff development scheme, the University has been successful in getting many regional staff trained. Financial assistance for this training has come from various governments and organizations and the University is grateful to them for their continued support. From 2003, however, with the change in the funding focus and processes of a number of agencies, aid for staff development will be seriously reduced and other funding sources will need to be found to ensure that staff development continues with the same vigour as in the past. Training for Formal Qualifications: 1991 - 2002 USP staff can access short-term training, attachments or long-term awards through the University Staff Development Scheme. A Staff Development Committee manages these awards, following approved University policy. The application of the policy is transparent and has been effective in the training of staff. The long-term awards are those awards of not less than one academic year duration and available only to regional staff. Funding is usually from three main sources: Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. It does not include members of staff who applied for training leave without pay and were self-financing, or received awards from other sources apart from sources available to the University. An analysis of the data available shows that 78 long-term training awards were awarded in the period 1991-2002. Given below are some of the detailed tables and analysis pertaining to the 78 awards.

Table 2.17: Number of Awards, 1991-2002

Year Number of Awards Per Cent1991 12 15.4 1992 10 12.8 1993 3 3.8 1994 5 6.4 1995 8 10.3 1996 8 10.3 1997 10 12.8 1998 7 9.0 1999 3 3.8 2000 5 6.4 2001 5 6.4 2002 2 2.6 Total 78 100.0

More than 60% of the awards had a duration of three years or more. This is, however, expected as a large majority of those under the long-term awards are for PhD studies. Those under three years are mostly for master's degree and, to a lesser extent, bachelor's degree for studies in areas not available at USP.

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 Table 2.18: Duration of Awards

Duration No. of Awards Per Cent 1 year 12 15.4 1.5 years 2 2.6 2.years 13 16.7 2.5 years 1 1.3 3 years 45 57.7 3.5 years 2 2.6 Unknown 3 3.8 Total 78 100.0

Table .2.19: Completions

Extension Completion Status Total Completed Not Completed Currently Studying No Extension 38 7 13 58 Extension granted 13 2 3 18 Not Stated - 2 - 2 Total 51 11 16 78

Of the 78 awards, 48 were for PhD studies undertaken at various tertiary institutions, mostly outside the region. While the awards have been widely distributed to most sections of the University, over half of the awards have gone to the staff of the Schools, mostly SSED, SPAS and SOH. This is expected, given that the Schools have the teaching staff and are the most likely category to avail themselves of such opportunities. In the support sections, the Library and the University Extension, including the Centres, have also made use of these opportunities and a good number of their staff have undertaken long-term training. Table 2.20: Field/Programme of Study

Field/Programme of Study No. of Awards Per Cent BA Photography 1 1.3 BSc Computing Science 1 1.3 BA Graphic Design 1 1.3 BA Library & Information Science 3 3.8 Postgraduate Diploma (Library & Information Systems) 1 1.3 Postgraduate Diploma in Personnel Management 1 1.3 MA Human Resources & Industrial Relations 1 1.3 Master in Internal Accounting Management 1 1.3 Master of Business in Information Technology 2 2.6 MA in Library Information Studies 3 3.8 MA in Librarianship 2 2.6 Masters in Computer Science 2 2.6 MSc in Engineering Design 1 1.3 Masters in Development Studies 1 1.3 Masters in Management 1 1.3 MEd 2 2.6 MBA 5 6.4 MSc 1 1.3 PhD 48 61.5 Total 78 100.0

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 Long-term awards are only available to staff from the USP member countries. The table below shows that staff from seven USP member countries have benefited from long-term awards. Fiji took the largest share with over 79% of the awards, reflecting the high proportion of staff from Fiji employed at the University. Awards to staff from Solomon Islands (7.7%), Vanuatu (3.8%) and Samoa (3.8%) followed Fiji. While the ultimate aim of the long-term award is for the regional staff to enhance their capability and knowledge by getting a higher degree, there are a number of staff who were prevented from completing their qualifications for various reason, not readily deducible from the available data. Of the 78 awards, 51 (65.4%) completed their training while 11 (14.1%) did not complete their training with 16 (20.5%) currently studying. Table 2.21: Location of Awardees Status Still working at USP Total Yes No Completed 34 17 51 Not Completed 10 1 11 Currently Studying 16 - 16 Total 60 18 78 Of those who completed their training, a third, are no longer with the USP. Of this number, about 80 per cent have left USP for work in Australia and New Zealand. Of the eleven who have not completed their training, only one is now not with the University. No reasons are available as to why these staff members did not complete their studies and some attempt must be made to address this matter. Those currently studying are expected to return, but if the above trend continues, losses in highly trained staff members of USP in the future should be expected. New bonding arrangements are in place to deal with the likelihood of staff leaving without serving out their term with the University. Unfortunately, these do not seem to serve as a useful deterrent. USP is committed to training its regional staff to a high level so that they may improve their quality and their capacity to perform to the best of their abilities. It will therefore need to continue to support training, despite the wastage. Short-term training: The short-term training awards for staff are mostly in the form of attachments to an institution or organization overseas or at USP. Through these attachments, staff members are given the opportunity to observe and learn on-the-job to enhance and upgrade their skills that are relevant to their own work at USP. The table below shows the number of short-term awards for1991-2001. This totalled 170. The number of awards given annually range from a high 29 in 1996 to no awards in each of the three years 1998-2000 when no funds were available. Funds originally allocated for short-term training in 2000 were re-allocated to some other more pressing University activities after the May coup.

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 Table 2.22: Short-Term Awards

Year of award Frequency Per Cent 1991 11 6.5 1992 24 14.1 1993 24 14.1 1994 15 8.8 1995 27 15.9 1996 29 17.1 1997 23 13.5 1998 0 0.0 1999 0 0.0 2000 0 0.0 2001 17 10.0 Total 170 100.0

The attachments vary in length from a week to 12 weeks. About 50% were either 2 or 3 weeks long. The main areas of attachments were mainly administrative in nature, followed by science and technology, library activities, distance education and scientific instrumentation. While the attachments are generally available to all the sections of the University, there are certain sections that have managed to utilise more of these opportunities to their advantage by exposing staff to such training. SPAS, given the nature of their activities, have tended to send staff overseas for upgrading, while the Centres have mostly sent their staff to the Laucala Campus to observe, learn and upgrade their skills in areas relevant to their work at the Centres. These attachments can be with the University Extension, the Library or with the Bursary. Likewise, a few attachments grouped under SOA or SOL are administrative, in nature rather than specific agricultural or law duties. Unlike the long-term awards, the short-term attachments can be for any staff member of USP, irrespective of nationality and category of staff. Rather than showing the individual organization/section where an attachment was served, the place of training was grouped into major groupings. Australian institutions took more than 60% of all attachments with the various Australian Universities taking about 40% of the training. This would be a reflection of the availability of the training required plus the source of funding for the attachments. USP, on the other hand, also continues to be a source of training attachments especially for staff from the Centres and outside the main campus. While it is expected that all who participated in these short-term training attachments would have completed their training, from the available data, it is not possible to gauge whether their skills were really enhanced and improved. While there is no denying the usefulness of such activities, the annual staff review process would have provided a better mechanism to assess the effect of the training to individual staff members and eventually to the University as a whole. More than 50% are still working for USP.

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 3. MAJOR PLANS

In the last triennium, the University has embarked on a number of plans that will further develop its infrastructure. The plans cover critical areas such as physical facilities, distance and flexible learning, information technology services and research. These plans are being developed to guide the University in its future operations.

3.1 Capital Management Plan and Physical Facilities

The University properties and physical facilities are valued at about $280,000,000. These facilities are scattered throughout the twelve member countries and serve the needs of the students and staff. The projected capital expenditure plan in the last triennium, 2000-2002, listed a number of development works amounting to $28,000,000. No projects were undertaken, due largely to the lack of funds and resources. Many of the jobs were major projects such as the Emalus Campus master plan, Library, staff offices and lecture theatre. Other major jobs include the development of the Fiji Centre and Sub-Centres in Lautoka and Labasa, Laucala Campus stores and workshops, Maths and Computing staff offices, student accommodation both at Laucala and Emalus, and space for the Tourism and Employment, Industrial Relations and Labour Market Studies Programmes. This means that many projects have to roll over to this triennium. In the absence of a Capital Management Plan for this triennium, the University has been able to source assistance to undertake master plan projects for Laucala and Emalus. This task will include an audit of space, usage of facilities, offices and lecture rooms. In addition, the master plan will review the requests for buildings and space by both Emalus and Laucala and put together a Master Plan for the next ten years and a short-term plan for five years. Any existing plan would need to be reviewed and revised. The Vice Chancellor has indicated that a small task force will be established to address the Capital Management Plan and Physical Facilities of the University. An issue that should be raised here is the critical shortage of space in both Laucala and Emalus campuses due to increased student numbers, new programmes and increased staff numbers in some areas. The University has examined this situation seriously and agree that there is a need for office space for staff who will manage the newly approved AusAID Distance and Flexible Learning Project and the European Union Human Resource Development Project, as well as student hostels and more large lecture rooms to accommodate increased student numbers. These can be built by doing one of two things: procuring funds for the purchase of the facilities or obtain a loan to build the new premises. The University is looking seriously at building new facilities in Emalus, Lautoka, Labasa and offices in Laucala. Budget Plans have been prepared for Labasa and Lautoka Sub-Centres with the aim of getting these buildings built as soon as possible. These Centres have high student numbers and the potentials are good to enable them to make these projects self-funding. There are alternatives to the space problem and the University is seriously looking at this matter and will be assisted greatly by the Master Plan work and an audit on space at Laucala, Emalus, Alafua and the Centres.

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 3.2 Distance and Flexible Learning Management Plan

The University is committed to distance and flexible learning and with the USP Council's support, development in this area will expand. In April 2002, the University hopes to begin its work on the AusAID funded DFL project. The goal of this project is to improve the access, equity, efficiency and quality of the provision of distance and flexible learning at the University of the South Pacific.9 In addition to this plan that will run in this triennium, the University Extension has a Support Plan that deals with the direction and development that distance and flexible learning should take and a Centres Coordinated Plan that will be available in July 2002. Because of the increased responsibilities, staff of University Extension have and will continue to undergo training at all levels to ensure that the University will be able to meet the demands made of it in this area. Another project that deals with DFL to some degree and will need to be covered by the plan is the JICA Capacity Building and Institutional Strengthening Project. A more detailed report on distance and flexible learning has been covered in Chapter 2.

3.3 Research

University research is managed by the University Research Committee. This Committee distributes the $262,000 budget allocated annually by the University for research. Staff may submit their research proposals to this Committee for consideration. A research report is compiled annually. Over the years, the number of staff members undertaking research has not been high. Many indicate that, with the heavy workload, it is not possible to undertake serious research. There are a number of staff members who have large research projects. Institute staff also undertake research in their related fields. Research is largely, conducted by individual staff members and postgraduate students with a few team and multi-disciplinary type research projects. The resulting products, publications and research reports are useful and can be located in the Library. In the UGC Mid-Term Report, 2001, attention was drawn to the University's research role and the following observation was made:

The UGC believes that the University should aspire to a strong research culture. During the next triennial review it intends to have a comprehensive discussion with the University about its research mission. It hopes that by then the University will have completed the task it is now undertaking of preparing a research plan which sets out its vision for research, its priorities and the strategies it will use to achieve them.10

9 Distance and Flexible Learning Project (DFLP). Canberra: AusAID, 2002, p. iii. 10 UGC Mid-Term Report, 2002. Suva: USP, 2002. pp. 21-22.

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The USP Strategic Plan included the University's commitment to nurturing a research culture that is relevant and effective to the region. The University is also committed to increasing funding allocated for research from the recurrent and aid budgets over the past triennia. The amount of funds allocated to research has been between $250,000 and $315,000 annually. This represents 0.3% to 0.5% of the University's entire budget. This is indeed very low. If we compare this to other universities of USP's size and age, generally 23% or more of the budget is allocated to research. Furthermore, the number of staff and teams undertaking research has also varied for the entire University and for the different sections. In the early years, USP's focus was concentrated on academic activities such as teaching and learning and the University was not in a position to allocate additional resources to research. In addition, staff workloads were too heavy and this affected the type and output of research activities. The possibilities of team research have remained low. Despite these and other factors affecting research, a number of staff members continue to do research in their specialised fields, manage to attract research grants and publish locally and abroad in recognised international journals. The University recongnises that this situation must change and that research is significant to the development of the institution and its programmes, particularly post graduate programmes, to member governments and to the region. The University plans to undertake more constructive and applied research and be the leading authority in many areas of study, particularly those relating to the Pacific region and the USP's strategic core areas. This will involve linking research, postgraduate work and consultancies conducted by the Institutes, Schools and individual researchers rather than being kept separate as at the present time. The results of these research projects and consultancies should then feed into courses taught at the University. The management of research work, procurement of funds and the dissemination of the results will have to be reviewed and changed to ensure the development of a more vibrant research culture. Apart from internal reorganization of the research structure at the University, every attempt will be made to aggressively market the University's research skills and capacity to industry and governments in and outside the region. Hence, to attain its vision on research, the University will be working on its research plan and will include priorities and objectives. The plan is to be completed by December 2002.

In this submission, the University is making a commitment to improving its research activities in the next triennium. Discussions are underway in Schools and Sections to support a more expanded role in research and the possibility of establishing a research unit and graduate school. In moving in this direction, the University plans to have discussions University-wide on the matter and to draw up a research plan to be ready by December 2002. From preliminary discussions, some of the areas that could be considered as part of the research plan are given below. These are in no way complete but provide a beginning to what the University community will decide on its research programme. Vision: The University is committed to being the foremost research University in the Pacific Island region.

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This vision is in line with the mission of the University which is:

… the maintenance, advancement and dissemination of knowledge by teaching, consultancy and research.

3.3.1 Increased research output

The University will support research that is linked to teaching and learning at all levels including undergraduate, postgraduate, development of junior academic staff, and continuing development of senior staff. Specific fields of research will link to the priority development needs in the region and the core areas included in the USP Strategic Plan.

3.3.2 Increased funding for research activities The University is seeking to increase its funding for research and at the same time

seek more government and external funding sources to supplement its research fund. The aim is to increase its research budget from the present $262,500 to $500,000 in real terms by the end of this triennium. This money could be raised in a number of ways.

The University will need to put together some performance indicators where

funding for research will be performance-based. Output will be measured by research publications. New arrangements with guidelines will have to be prepared.

In addition, the University will identify aid donors to support the University's

large-scale equipment access focusing on research.

3.3.3 Contribution to national research and development The University will encourage all appropriately planned research work that has an impact on government, industry, non-government organizations, institutions and other organizations. Furthermore, research linked to major development problems facing the countries of the region and local communities will be encouraged and supported. The University will further assist USP member countries in the conduct of research as well as the establishment of a research unit in selected departments that may make a request. Assistance will be mainly professional rather than financial. Work with NGOs to conduct research in specific fields should be encouraged.

The University will seek to work closely with different industries in the countries of the region to serve both government and industry in their research needs, particularly in the scientific area -- agricultural, marine, IT, water and environment -- and earn resources that could contribute to the operating costs of research.

3.3.4 Promotion of multi-disciplinary research The University will encourage cross-disciplinary research and group discussions. It will also establish a database on research and the results and findings will be publicly reported.

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Postgraduate students will be encouraged to do multi-disciplinary postgraduate research work at USP.

3.3.5 Building an excellent research infrastructure The University will coordinate its use of internal and external resources to optimise and expand research infrastructure, including equipment and computing. The availability of skilled support and technical staff will be encouraged to participate in research projects as administrative assistants, organisers, technicians and record keepers. This will be an ideal training ground for such staff. Team research will be promoted and encouraged and include researchers, both staff and postgraduate students, across the University. The Institutes, whose work is mainly research-based will be encouraged to coordinate and link in with other researchers within the University where it is appropriate to do so. Where necessary and appropriate, the University will encourage joint research work with Universities abroad. Findings will be reported widely in the media. Researchers will have to be encouraged to undertake research in the areas of the University's academic priority: marine studies, agriculture, tourism studies, information and communication technologies, sustainable development, and teacher education. The University will also implement more vigilantly its recovery of overheads from all research contracts for contract research and consulting. The funds will be directed to improve University infrastructure and, where possible, allow additional contribution and funds to University operating costs.

3.3.6 Expanded base of recognised world-class research and researchers at USP The University will build strategic links with other world-class institutions and researchers and where funding opportunities can be identified. Research work and its results will be protected and reported worldwide in major journals and in the local and national media.

3.4 Information Technology Systems Management Plan

The University has an IT Plan that provides a framework for the development of University-wide IT initiatives. This includes equipment purchase, student and staff services, training and USPNet activities. In addition, ITS is responsible for the University's Banner database management system and plays a leading role in maintaining this service. The Plan attempts to provide a mechanism to plan for the needs of the University as a whole that will be of benefit to many staff and students. In addition, IT Services is also responsible for equipment advice, replacement and troubleshooting services. In its Mid-Term Report, 2001, the UGC noted its concern over

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the lack of replacement of old computers and suggested that an equipment replacement policy for the University be drawn up to guide the University in its purchase, use and replacement of computers, both hardware and software. A review of ITS is planned to take place in the next triennium.

3.5 Implementation Plan, Reviews and Quality Assurance

The Planning and Development Office will be responsible for monitoring and ensuring that the initiatives for the triennium are implemented and achieved. At the present time, the Schools and Sections are responsible for their own Support Plans and reporting to management of their progress and compiling their Annual Reports. From at least the past two triennia it is clear that the implementation of plans across the University has been efficient. There has been progress in almost all the recommendations made by the UGC 2000-2002. For example, in line with its objective to foster areas of excellence, and in accordance with the recent UGC initiative, the University has identified 6 Areas of Excellence, from a starting point of 5 in 1998. In a number of Areas of Excellence there have been successful impacts of several UGC initiatives. For example, in the marine area, initiatives have allowed the University to identify and develop research priorities. The University, no doubt, has worked hard to improve its performance and effectiveness and efficiency, particularly in the face of political upheavals and uncertain funding situation. In a number of areas there has been no planning. For example, there is no overall plan for research, and yet staff appear to be clear about the main objectives of the University and Areas of Excellence. The University will document all its overarching strategies and plans to assist it further in implementation and monitoring. Further, consideration will be given to developing an overall plan for continuing education, since this is an increasingly important area, which has a potential impact on many areas of work and interest of the University. The monitoring process will continue to feed through into subsequent planning exercises, as well as performance review. The Planning Office and Schools and Sections will establish clear performance indicators within their plans. The performance indicators will help the University to achieve its objective of maintaining quality and excellence in education. The University has been mindful of the importance of good quality education and has taken on itself the responsibility of ensuring that the quality of education and University courses and programmes must remain high. With this objective, the University has introduced various measures towards the goal of quality assurance. In the last year of the last triennium, the University has set aside initial funds for the recruitment of a Quality Assurance Officer and Technical Assistant. Continued funding for these two positions are projected in the University financing for 2003 - 2005 triennium.

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4. PLANS FOR THE TRIENNIUM 2003 – 2005

4. 1 Main Issues in Submissions

Included in the submissions from the Schools and Sections are their needs which are generally consistent with the USP Strategic Plan and Support Plans. Common to all submissions is the need for staff, staff development and training, equipment, salary improvement, better research conditions and improved workloads. At the same time, the need to attract aid and other external funds to assist in a number of areas, particularly in the purchase of science teaching equipment and computers, remains a priority. All schools requested the creation of a central pool of funds to fund graduate assistants. Similarly, a central pool of funds was suggested to cover tutor positions. Schools have tried to retain promising students and staff and develop them academically and professionally. The University plans to encourage its high quality graduates to remain at USP and assume positions as Graduate Assistants and Tutors. The strengthening of the School’s postgraduate administration will involve the identification and recruitment of such students. All Schools and most Sections had identified plans to develop their participation in distance and flexible learning.

4.2 New Initiatives and Commitments

4.2.1 SOA

There is inadequate technical support for teaching and research. The entire School of Agriculture has just one Senior Technician and no Chief Technician. Supporting the Senior Technician is a number of technical staff, who have not received any training as laboratory technicians. This situation places the academic staff at the SOA at great disadvantage with respect to teaching and research execution. The need for a technician is great.

4.2.2 SOH In the next triennium, SOH will focus on consolidation of the School’s ongoing commitments to operationalising the university’s Strategic Plan, particularly in relation to strategic objectives in the areas of Teacher Education, Pacific Studies, Sustainable Development, Curriculum Relevance, Excellence in Teaching and Learning, Flexible and Innovative Teaching, and Research and Consultancy. For SOH, the University is seeking the following in the triennium: One lecturer each in Curriculum Studies, Physical and Leisure Education, Journalism, and English for Academic Purposes.

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4.2.3 SSED

SSED has identified a number of priority areas and these are directly related to and support the USP Strategic Plan and the SSED Support Plan. 1 lecturer in GIS for Regional delivery. This person will assist in the development of additional undergraduate offerings in GIS, particularly in the following areas: remote sensing, digital image processing, and remote sensing for applications, the development and implementation of postgraduate offerings in GIS and the development and implementation of GIS Continuing Professional Development courses. 1 Cartographer 1 Tutor in Tourism Studies Programme 1 senior lecturer and 2 Assistant Lecturers in Accounting and Financial Management to work on the development and implementation of two undergraduate electronic courses; one in electronic commerce and one in electronic security, the development and implementation of two undergraduate courses in finance; one in personal finance and another for non-finance students.

4.2.4 SPAS

A fully trained staff in the area of Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) is urgently required. This person will assist in the monitoring of School safety requirements, and assist with comprehensive training of all staff in the area of OHS. The complete development of the Engineering Programme will require an augmentation of the current staff levels, especially to cover engineering areas not currently being offered. In the new Triennium, the Department and School will need a number of staff members. The three staff members urgently required include: one senior lecturer in Mechanical Engineering, one senior lecturer in Electrical Engineering and one senior lecturer in Civil Engineering. The Department of Engineering urgently requires the uplifting of its staff profile; it requires, as a matter of priority, senior level staff in electrical, mechanical and civil engineering to enable the provision of more sound and experienced academic leadership in engineering. The other urgent priority is that of equipment and instrumentation; current levels of funding by the University for science and engineering are totally inadequate for this, and this department, like other SPAS departments, will be required to aggressively seek the assistance of outside funding agencies to provide for consolidation and expansion in this area. In its requests, SPAS has identified a number of areas for which funding can be found, either through aid sources or other fundraising activities. In making requests for the next triennium, SPAS is seeking requirements for initiatives, some of which are ongoing and will roll onto this triennium while others are entirely new and need resources.

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4.2.5 University Extension

One of the areas of growth in services is that of student support. A new section is being created within UEHQ to provide services to students in the Centres who have access to USPNet facilities. It is hoped that these students will be supported more from this central location and that the Centre Staff will concentrate on the support of the remote students.

The emphasis in this report/submission is to increase the services to USP students especially those in the outer islands and rural areas. This will be made possible through the installation of additional telecommunications networks. The advent of the USPNet, electronic transmission of assignments, shifts in duties of the Centre lecturers and Banner work have meant that the administrative duties in the Centres have increased exponentially. Therefore, there is a need for additional administrative staff in all Centres.

Like the lack of support or recognition for the local tutor, the USP has not recognised sufficiently the positions of the USPNet operators. These positions are vital for the successful operation of the USPNet applications at the Centre level, yet they are not substantive positions. The staff in these positions are only on 12-month contracts. Funds have been allocated for these positions for 2002, but these positions need to become substantive positions for the triennium, if not before then.

4.2.6 Information and Technology Services

As a new area of excellence, the University is seeking to build up the ITS section. The request is for additional staff. These are: 4 user consultants, 1 programme analyst, 2 USPNet operators, 1 technician (Laucala), 1 technician (Alafua), 1 database administrator, 1 computer programmer and 1 telephony technician. These additional posts are necessary to upgrade the services and work of the section.

IT Services provides seven computer laboratories for students and for the general use of the greater University community. This is almost double the number of computer laboratories ITS had five years ago. The seven labs currently offer computing services to students at a ratio of 14:1 compared to a 40:1 in 1996. The ratio is based on the number of computers available to students from the general computer labs, plus the special labs operated by schools and sections. In these labs, all students have access to the USP website and printing services, and can enjoy the use of standard commercial software used elsewhere in the University. There is a separate Student Help Desk that offers full-time computing-support services for minor computing problems.

User requirements are becoming rapidly more diverse and complex. At the same time, users are becoming much more experienced, and well aware of their specific or unique requirements. ITS resources are often stressed because of high demands from its clients; often forcing it to re-group its human resources in order to cope with pressures and demands. A separate HelpDesk for Staff has been established with accompanying improvements to HelpDesk facilities. Staff are often asked to work on special projects while being required to carry out their normal duties. A

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significant increase in staff numbers in User Services is necessary to cope with the workload.

A rapidly increasing proportion of information and services are now being provided electronically via the University website. This service is becoming vital to the university operation. At the moment, only one person looks after this service. Strategically, it is important to establish a group or a section to deal with this service if it is to improve, and keep pace with the demands.

4.2.7 Library These new commitments reflect the Library's objectives and strategies of the Support Plan. While progress has been satisfactory in the priority areas of collection development and services, there are a number of activities and ongoing commitments that have to continue to be priorities in the development of the Library.

The request is for increased book budget, one staff position for cataloguing and funds for staff development -- a graduate trainee. In 2001, the Library book budget was $1.3 million. This amount is shared between the schools, sections and centre libraries. This amount is very limited and puts the Library in a difficult position when trying to purchase additional compulsory texts for all courses, required databases covering all disciplines, new Pacific titles and subscriptions for serials. The $200,000 allocated for the 18 centre and sub-centre libraries annually is totally inadequate to build centres of minimum standard. There is no book budget for the Institutes. A number of Institutes offer full-time degree courses and certificates.

4.2.8 The Media Centre

One Clerical Officer is needed to handle all financial, clerical and other duties of this 30 staff centre. It would be useful to have a lower level receptionist/general support staff. 1 media assistant (projection services) to manage the lecture theatre and assist with the USPNet activities. 1 media assistant (video production) to be responsible for pre- and post-production, project planning and general work, USP-TV.

4.2.9 Planning and Development Office

The Planning and Development Office is requesting support for the Quality Assurance Unit which will commence in 2002 with aid funds. This unit will consolidate and coordinate all the quality assurance mechanisms at USP into a quality management plan (in consultations with other relevant university sections), and comment and review such mechanisms for monitoring and enhancing the

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academic quality and standards which are necessary for achieving USP’s aims and objectives. The QAU will also consider the overall institutional quality system, including the provisions for regular review of not just sections and departments (external advisers are currently used) but programmes (or units) such as BA, BSc, LLB etc. The Quality Management Plan will cover both academic and non-academic areas.

The QAU will initially have the following staff: 1 Quality Assurance Manager (at Senior Lecturer Level) 1 Quality Assurance Officer (at Lecturer Level)

4.2.10 Registrar's Office

Two Public Relations Officers are required to undertake a number of tasks relating to marketing and publicity for the University; and also liaise with departments and sections in mounting information on USP to clients in the public and private sectors in the region.

4.2.11 OCAC

No staff positions are being recommended, except for the provision of funds for an art gallery, is recommended.

4.2.12 CELT

The expansion of the ELSA area necessitates the allocation of extra staff. Two permanent half-time tutors would allow flexibility for the running of the ELSA course, the AETS course, the FSM course and other entrepreneurial initiatives. The tutors would be fully occupied (1) on ELSA invigilating, marking and teaching (2) on teaching AETS and (3) tutoring individually or in small groups in the CELT Drop-In Centre. The lecturer (ELSA) would have responsibility for the development of the test, the adminstration of the test, analysis of results and development of courses, as well as research using the data from the tests.

4.3 Major Equipment

The provision of major equipment is important to support education, training and achievement of the University's Strategic Plan. An instrument/equipment-intensive School of learning such as SPAS is in serious danger of lagging behind in its endeavour to produce graduates in science, computing and engineering of an internationally-accepted standard of quality. All departments in the School now find themselves with aging, not-so-modern instrumentation, much of which is subject to frequent breakdowns necessitating costly repairs by overseas-based service personnel. In 1998, an estimate provided by the Bursar for SPAS’ immediate equipment needs was $3 million to upgrade the equipment/instrument base to a standard acceptable by internationally-recognised universities. The School is very much aware of the need to become much more aggressive in its quest for large instrument/equipment upgrades and, over the period of this remaining triennium

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and throughout the period 2003-2005, will work on a number of strategies aimed at procuring more funds for equipment.

Submissions from Schools and Sections have raised similar needs for more equipment and computers. An approximate estimate of the overall need across the University is a total of over 6 million dollars.

4.4 Priorities The priorities as described above are listed in Table 4.1

Table 4.1: Estimated Additional Costs, 2003 - 2005 (constant 2002 FJD) Yr 2003 Yr2004 Yr2005 TOTALAdditional Expenditure Consists of: SCHOOLS (i) SOH - Teacher Education 1 Lecturer (Curriculum Studies) $64,000 $57,000 $57,000 $178,0001 Lecturer (Physical and Leisure Education) $64,000 $57,000 $57,000 $178,0001 Lecturer (English for Academic Purposes) $64,000 $57,000 $57,000 $178,000 Journalism 1 Lecturer $64,000 $57,000 $57,000 $178,000 (ii) SPAS 1 OHS Officer $77,000 $70,000 $70,000 $217,000 1 Senior Lecturer (Mechanical Engineering) $77,000 $70,000 $70,000 $217,000 1 Senior Lecturer (Electrical Engineering) $77,000 $70,000 $70,000 $217,000 1 Senior Lecturer (Civil Engineering) - - $77,000 $77,000 Marine Studies 1 Mate $23,000 $23,000 $23,000 $69,000 1 Deckhand $23,000 $23,000 $23,000 $69,000 1 Curator (Marine Reference Collection) $53,000 $46,000 $46,000 $145,000 1 Lecturer (IMR) $64,000 $57,000 $57,000 $178,000 (iii) SSED GIS 1 Lecturer $64,000 $57,000 $57,000 $178,000 1 Cartographer $64,000 $57,000 $57,000 $178,000 Accounting & Financial Management 1 Senior Lecturer $77,000 $70,000 $70,000 $217,000 2 Assistant Lecturers $106,000 $92,000 $92,000 $290,000 1 Tutor $44,000 $37,000 $37,000 $118,000 Tourism 1 Tutor $44,000 $37,000 $37,000 $118,000 (iv) SOA 1 Technician $53,000 $46,000 $46,000 $145,000 Table 4.1 (continues next page)

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 ACADEMIC SUPPORT Yr2003 Yr2004 Yr2005 TOTAL (i) University Extension and Centres Restructure salary for ET and TPs $20,000 $20,000 $20,000 $60,000 Student Support $50,000 $50,000 $50,000 $150,000 Electronic Transmission of assignments (Cook Is.) $6,000 $1,000 $1,000 $8,000 Electronic Transmission of assignments (Kiribati) $4,000 $2,000 $2,000 $8,000 Electronic Transmission of assignment (Solomon Is.) $7,000 $2,000 $2,000 $11,000 Electronic Transmission of courses $8,000 $8,000 $8,000 $24,000 1 Administrative Assistant (Solomon Is.) $15,000 $15,000 $15,000 $45,000 1 Administrative Assistant (Marshall Is.) $15,000 $15,000 $15,000 $45,000 USPNet Applications – Overtime/PT Staff $60,000 $60,000 $60,000 $180,000 (ii) The Library 1 Cataloguer $44,000 $37,000 $37,000 $118,000 1 Graduate Trainee $50,000 $50,000 $50,000 $150,000 Collection Development $325,000 $325,000 $325,000 $975,000 (iii) IT and Communication Technologies Information Technology Services 1 Computer Programmer $53,000 $46,000 $46,000 $145,000 1 Programmer Analyst (Staff Support) $64,000 $57,000 $57,000 $178,000 4 User Consultants (Student/Staff) $209,000 $181,000 $181,000 $571,000 USPNet 2 Operators (Lautoka & Labasa) $106,000 $92,000 $92,000 $290,000 Other Campuses 1 Technician (Laucala) $53,000 $46,000 $46,000 $145,000 1 Technician (Alafua) $53,000 $46,000 $46,000 $145,000 Management Information Systems 1 Database Administrator $64,000 $57,000 $57,000 $178,000 Telephony 1 Technician $53,000 $46,000 $46,000 $145,000 Internet Bandwidth $200,000 $200,000 $200,000 $600,000(iv) Media Centre 1 Media Assistant (Projection Services) $23,000 $23,000 $23,000 $69,0001 Media Assistant (Video Production) $23,000 $23,000 $23,000 $69,0001 Clerical Officer $23,000 $23,000 $23,000 $69,000(v) CELT 2 Tutors (half-time) $44,000 $37,000 $37,000 $118,0001 Tutor (half-time each Emalus and Alafua Campus) $44,000 $37,000 $37,000 $118,000ADMINISTRATION (i) Registrar's Office 2 Public Relations Officers $128,000 $114,000 $114,000 $356,000(ii) Planning and Development Quality Assurance 1 Manager, Quality Assurance Unit (S/L) $77,000 $70,000 $70,000 $217,000 1 Quality Assurance Officer (L) $64,000 $57,000 $57,000 $178,000 (iii) Pacific Studies Art Gallery (OCAC) $30,000 $30,000(iv) Central Pool of Funds Visitor Fund $50,000 $50,000 $50,000 $150,000Graduate Assistants $200,000 $200,000 $200,000 $600,000Flexible and Distance Learning $200,000 $200,000 $200,000 $600,000TOTAL $3,467,000 $3,173,000 $3,250,000 $9,890,000

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 Table 4.2: Total Resource Requirements: 2003 - 2005

Estimated Additional Costs 2003-2005 Yr 2003 Yr 2004 Yr 2005 TOTAL Priorities 3,467,000 3,173,000 3,250,000 9,890,000 Salary Comparative Index Inc 6.88% 1,366,000 1,366,000 1,366,000 4,098,000 Equipment/Research 1,000,000 1,000,000 1,000,000 3,000,000 Insurance premium increase 550,000 550,000 550,000 1,650,000 Utilities, Grounds & Maintenance 100,000 300,000 500,000 900,000 Savings -309,100 -309,100 -309,100 -927,300 TOTAL $6,173,900 $6,079,900 $6,356,900 $18,610,700 4.5 Additional Resource Requirements 2003-2005

The additional resource requirements for the University over the Triennium 2003-2005 will be F$18,610,700. The amount required each year is F$6,173,900 in 2003, F$6,079,900 in 2004, and F$6,356,900 in 2005. The requirements are detailed in Table 4.2 above.

The Financial Plan for the years 2003-2005 of Income, Expenditure, and Movement in Recurrent Reserves is appended in Annex 2. The projected figures are stated in 2002 constant prices, including the effect of the 2001 COLA awarded to staff, and the 6% salary increase awarded to senior staff in Fiji, Kiribati, Niue, Nauru, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Tokelau. In the next Chapter, details on how the University proposes to raise the additional amount required is given.

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5. RESOURCE ALLOCATION, BUDGET MANAGEMENT AND FUNDING

STRATEGIES

The Financial Plan for the years 2003-2005 of Income, Expenditure, and Movement in Recurrent Reserves is appended in Annex 2. The projected figures are stated in 2002 constant prices, including the effect of the 2001 COLA awarded to staff, and the 6% salary increase awarded to senior staff in Fiji, Kiribati, Niue, Nauru, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Tokelau. The University proposes to raise the additional amount required in the following ways: The increase in costs attributable to the further implementation of the Porter Report referred to in Section 2.2 of this submission will be funded by increased contribution from Governments. An increase of 6% in the salaries of Senior Staff has already been granted with effect from 1 January 2002. The annual cost of this increase is F$1,102,000. The University has funded the cost for 2002 from reserves. A further increase of 6.88% is proposed with effect from 1 January 2003. The annual cost of this increase is F$1,366,000. Total annual cost to meet the partial implementation of the Porter Report is F$2,468,000. Government contributions, in addition to the contribution to meet the salary increase costs, to increase in real terms at the rate of 3% per annum. This increase of $1,205,000 in 2003, $1,241,000 in 2004 and $1,278,000 in 2005, will increase funding by member governments for the new triennium by F$3,724,000. Income raised from student fees to increase by 1% in real terms, 4% from increase in student numbers, and 2% as a result of the introduction of differential fees for courses in high demand. This will increase income from student fees from F$8,605,000 in 2002 to F$10,541,000 in 2005 The University’s other income is expected to continue to increase as the University’s commercial activities are worked harder to continue to increase returns. Income from these activities is expected to increase from F$2,669,000 in 2002, to F$2,969,000 in 2005. In particular, the University kitchens, the Book Centre, the Computer shop, and USP Solutions are targeted to increase their return to the University over the next triennium. Overseas aid funds are projected to remain the same in real terms.

5.1 Commercial Activities

In the last triennium the University embarked on a number of new commercial initiatives while continuing with those that exist. The existing activities of the Book Centre, Institutes, Catering, IT short term training courses, USP Solutions activities and consultancies earned about $2,669,000. The Book Centre is by far the most promising of these contributing about $400,000 annually to the University. The others that are good money earners are the Pre-degree programme, photocopying services, accommodation and USP Solutions activities.

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In the next triennium, the University plans to move aggressively towards marketing its services as well as identifying more areas that can generate income. Of significance is the area of short-term training in IT where the University can offer a range of courses because of its available resources in terms of computer laboratories and teaching staff. The other areas that can be examined are the training in professional areas and upskilling courses. The University is well placed in the region in terms of available physical resources and staff to manage and teach the various courses needed in the region. What is left to be done, is for the University to sell its services in a more professional and coordinated manner. There are many sections of the University that can undertake income-generating projects. These should be encouraged where possible. USP Solutions is endeavouring to take the lead in this and, apart from marketing, will be on the lookout for new opportunities for the University to earn additional income. 5.2 Resource Allocation The University revised its Internal Funding Model (IFM2) in 1995. Within this model, allocation is guided by student enrolments. At the school level, a largely formula-based approach is used to distribute resources among the departments. The key measures used incorporate performance incentives. For example, teaching allocation is based on FTES numbers and relative unit cost, reflecting a department's ability to attract students and deliver its courses in a cost-effective manner. The University plans to review the IFM.

Resource allocation to non-teaching units follows no formula. It is largely based on several factors, including historical allocation, staffing establishment and additional funding needs such as those arising from changes in service duties. Some 26% of the University's total block grant goes to resource non-teaching units. Operation manuals are available to all staff, providing clear guidance on the application of the IFM. The process for the allocation of ad-hoc funds is clear, and understood well by staff. All departments are invited to submit special funding requests, supported by a full business case, at the initial stage of the annual planning exercise, allowing for the provision of front-loading or earmarked allocations if appropriate. The mid-year budget revision exercise then provides an opportunity to consider requests for additional resources. Each faculty and department can also choose to hold back a small proportion of their budgets to provide contingency funds throughout the year. The University is examining ways by which budget controllers – Heads of School and Heads of Departments – can be more flexible and creative as they manage their resources. In particular, more flexibility in the use of funds for salary, non-salary, and equipment costs could produce a more efficient delivery of service. 5.3 Reserves

The University recognises the importance of ensuring that financial reserves are maintained at a level that will give it financial stability and will enable it to respond quickly to urgent needs rather than await the triennial review process. To that end, Council has recognised that, as a minimum, reserves should be 5% of annual recurrent expenditure, with a more prudent level being 10%. Reserves of these levels represent

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funding for 18 days and 55 days recurrent operation respectively. Such reserves will allow the University to respond to urgent matters in a timely way, and will ensure that no programme or course is affected.

The reserves brought forward from 2001 into 2002 are likely to be around F$3,111,000. Together with the estimated surplus of $737,000 in 2002, the reserves of the University at the start of the triennium are expected to be F$3,848,300 with the reserves at the end of 2005 expected to be F$4,741,600.

The projected reserves at the end of the forthcoming triennium represent 7.9% of the recurrent expenditure in 2005. This level of reserves, while an increase from current levels, is towards the lower end of the range seen as being desirable.

5.4 Internal Audit

In 1998, the Council of the University established an Audit Committee to:-

a) approve and keep under review the internal audit policy; b) oversee the internal financial and accounting controls; c) advise the Council on the appointment of the external auditors and the audit fee; d) discuss, if necessary, with the external auditors before the audit begins the nature

and scope of the audit; e) keep under review the effectiveness of internal control systems, and, in particular

receive and review the external auditors’ management letter, the internal auditor’s annual report, and the management responses;

f) approve and review the annual audit plan, to consider major findings of internal audit investigations and management’s response, and promote co-ordination between the internal and external auditors;

g) discuss any problems and reservations arising from the interim and final audits, including a review of the management letter incorporating management responses;

h) satisfy itself that satisfactory arrangements are in place to promote economy, efficiency and effectiveness; and

i) monitor the performance and effectiveness of external and internal audits.

All members and the Chair shall serve for a term of two years. On the recommendation of the Audit Committee, Council has appointed KPMG as internal auditors of the University commencing in 2001 with a review of their appointment to take place before the end of 2002.

KPMG has developed an internal audit plan which aims to achieve improved operational efficiency and effectiveness, to ensure that the University’s assets are properly protected and compliant with approved policies and procedures.

5.5 Risk Management The University has large valuable assets in its physical facilities, equipment and programmes. The total value of the physical assets alone is over $280,000,000. There are also other costs that are not included in this value. For this reason, it is critical that the

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University puts in place risk management programmes to cover for professional, financial, personal and service risks as well as risk to physical property and space.

Increased insurance premiums will require the University to plan and allocate resources appropriately.

5.6 Funding Strategies In the past three triennia, but especially in the last four years, a number of factors have come to the fore in the Pacific region that have made funding of the University more challenging. It is clear that not all the additional funding should be sought from governments, for a number of reasons. The economies of a number of the USP member countries are facing difficult times, largely as a result of poor governance and management strategies. Inflation and devaluation have drastically affected the buying power of the different currencies. Many of the countries are facing poor investment prospects. In addition, there is a distinct shortage of skilled people, especially in the key areas of accounting, information technology, science, computer science, engineering, marine science, commerce and business. The number of skilled people leaving the region altogether has escalated, leaving big gaps in the workforce and increasing the need for skilled personnel to manage the infrastructure in the different countries and businesses in the region. These factors have not lessened the demand for higher education, but instead have increased the need. The growth areas seem to be in accounting and finance, management, information technology, business and commerce, teacher education and tourism. Ironically, except for two key areas of high demand, the others are not priority areas for USP. In the next triennium, there is every indication that student numbers will continue to grow in the areas mentioned above and an average of 4% growth overall annually. Apart from an expectation of growth in student numbers, there is the growth in the offering of more popular courses, an offering of different but better student services, greater consolidation of activities and programmes, and more expanded use of USP's communication system. The University will need to sustain this growth in its current and next triennium, and will therefore have to maintain the current level of funding with appropriate increases.

While the governments of the region have been committed to funding the University, the University itself has been endeavouring to identify and implement ways that additional revenue can be generated. There are a number of University ventures established with this objective in mind. These include the University Book Centre, Computer Shop and USP Solutions but at the present time, these are not big money earners, except for the Book Centre which continues to contribute $400,000 annually to the University's recurrent budget. Therefore, it is necessary to consider and examine alternative methods of raising funds for the University. This is highlighted in the UGC Mid-Term Report, 2001.

That the University must take urgent action to bridge the widening funding gap. To do so, it must identify commercial opportunities and manage commercial operations. (UGC Mid-Term Report, 2001, pp. 8-9).

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Apart from raising additional funds, the University has been seriously examining cost efficiencies in its operations, as noted above. The University is also in the process of considering introducing differential fees, institutional fundraising, increased international student numbers, and increased aid and consultancies.

5.6.1 Differential and Flexible Fee Structure and Inducement Differential fees are commonly charged in overseas universities. Courses and degrees for which demand is high and which promise better employment prospects and high future income, have higher fees attached to them. Enrolments for such courses do not normally drop off as fees are progressively adjusted upwards, so the introduction of differential and flexible fees which reflect demand are expected to strengthen the revenue base of the USP without reducing enrolment. The New Zealand experience is of relevance. Tuition fees for Medicine, Dentistry, Engineering, Law and Commerce are generally much higher than fees for other programmes. Entry requirements are similarly high and the high fees have been effective and are utilised in maintaining enrolments within the capacity constraints of universities. Management has identified, based on past trends and global demand patterns for skill categories, the high demand courses that can stand substantial increments in fees. These include, Mathematics and Computing Science, Information Systems, Engineering, Business Studies, Accounting, Economics, Management and Law. The situation will be monitored on a regular basis. Recruitment for staff to teach courses in these disciplines is particularly difficult. Terms and Conditions offered in industry and the relevant professions, reflecting escalating demand and lagging supply in the global market, are generous and virtually impossible for universities to match. In attempts to address this difficulty USP offers inducement allowances of up to 30 per cent of basic salary. These allowances have recently been extended to cover skills such as laboratory and IT technicians. While inducement has, to some extent, improved USP's ability to attract and retain the targeted categories of staff, it is already clear that the ceiling of 30% will need, as a matter of urgency, to be revised upwards. The main elements of the proposed preferential and flexible fee structure are as follows:

(i) Fees in disciplines identified above are to be varied in concert with demand which will be determined as objectively as possible;

(ii) The F&GPC and Council are to be invited to set the ceiling for such fees at 60% of normal fees and within acceptable margins below those charged by USP's competitors;

(iii) Management, with the endorsement of the F&GPC, is to set the actual fees to be charged, within the limits spelt out in (ii) at the beginning of each academic year;

(iv) The Medium Term Strategic Plan of the USP projects the convergence of internal and external fees by 2007. This targeted date has been reset at 2010 as it is now considered too ambitious to meet but adjustments have

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to commence early. It is therefore proposed that the level of external flexible and differential fees levied upon high demand courses be set at 75% of the corresponding internal fees commencing in 2003;

(v) Sponsored students enrolled in high demand courses will need to pay a premium, the level for which will be determined annually by the F&GPC;

(vi) The set of disciplines upon which flexible and differential fees will be levied and into which staff members will be induced will be reviewed every two years;

(vii) Depending on the tightness of the global market for categories of expertise and skills, the ceiling for inducement should be increased to 45 per cent in exceptional cases. The F&GPC may vary this limit from time to time;

(viii) Within the limit set for inducement and the range of identified high demand disciplines, Management Sub-committee made up of the VC, DVC and PVC will set the actual inducement granted to selected staff members;

(ix) Additional income generated through flexible and differential fees are to be applied towards:

(a) supplementing staff salaries in the relevant disciplines, (b) transfer to general income of USP, (c) funding of USP scholarships.

(x) The Flexible fee structure is to be used as the preferred mechanism for containing student numbers within limits commensurate with the maintenance of high standards and consistent with the fiscal, administrative and physical constraints of the University. This mechanism should progressively replace quantitative control of numbers currently used by the USP. Courses that are in heavy demand include Computing Science, Mathematics, Banking, Business Studies, Information Technology and Accounting.

It is important to ensure good access to high demand courses by students at the lower end of the income spectrum. Measures aimed at tackling this important issue may include the following:

(i) The use of (ix) (c) to support students from low-income families. A means test will have to be applied in the selection process.

(ii) Invitation to Governments and Donors to reserve scholarships or to Governments to establish loans schemes targeting high demand courses. Such assistance, through means testing, should give considerable weight to the needs of students from low-income families.

5.6.2 Institutional Fundraising

The UGC Report 2000 - 2002 had recommended that the University investigate the

possibility of establishing a Trust Fund to support the activities of the University. The University has not been able to move this idea forward in the last triennium but intends to put a framework in place before December 2002. Contributions to the capital of the Trust Fund will be sought from governments, donors, alumnis, business and wealthy individuals. The Tuvalu Trust Fund model which keeps the capital intact and limits distribution to income of the Fund might be attractive to donors. Sweeteners for business

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and wealthy individuals could take the form of income tax exemptions for contributions to the Fund. Securing these sweeteners will require extensive negotiations with Ministers of Finance and Governments in the twelve island member countries and in Australia and New Zealand. With determination and much exertion of energy, management is optimistic of success on this front.

Mention has been made of expanding the USP Alumni in the region in association with this effort. This would go hand in hand with the tracer studies that are being planned and coordinated by the Planning and Development Office.

Table 5.1: Current USP fees with options of raising by 45%, 60% or 75% and with comparative figures for CQU and Auckland University

Regional per course( F$)

Third Country per course (F$)

International Fee per course (F$)

Current 45% 60% 75% Current 45% 60% 75% Current 45% 60% 75% USP ON-Campus Undergraduate (not LLB) 100 level 350 508 560 613 1,065 1,544 1,704 1,864 1,390 2,016 2,224 2,433200 level 465 674 744 814 1,425 2,066 2,280 2,494 1,850 2,683 2,960 3,238300 level 465 674 744 814 1,425 2,066 2,280 2,494 1,850 2,683 2,960 3,238

Extension Studies Fees Undergraduate Tuition 100 level 180 261 288 315 625 906 1,000 1,094 810 1,175 1,296 1,418Tuition 200 level 235 341 376 411 810 1,175 1,296 1,418 1,055 1,530 1,688 1,846Tuition 300 level 235 341 376 411 810 1,175 1,296 1,418 1,055 1,530 1,688 1,846

Postgraduate 400 level 690 1000 1,104 1,208 2,130 3,089 3,408 3,728 2,770 4,017 4,432 4,848MBA Programme 1,165 1,689 1,864 2,039 1,715 2,487 2,744 3,001 1,715 2,487 2,744 3,001CQU Fees (F$) - 24 courses required for a BA and BSc

Undergraduate (p/course) 1,045 Undergraduate (6 months) 4,750 Undergraduate (1 year) 9,500 Postgraduate (p/course) 1,400 Postgraduate (6 months) 7,000 Postgraduate (1 year) 14,000 Auckland University (NZ$) Domestic Students ( 1 yr) Arts, Education 3,360 Arts Science Based 3,640 Engineering 4,480 International Students (1 yr) BA 10,000 BSc 12,500 BCom 12,500 BEng 17,000

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 The USP Centres will help establish and vigorate Alumni Chapters in the member

countries. Once established and running, these chapters will organise their own activities supported where possible by the University. Visiting staff members, including management, could, for instance, organise cocktails and dinners for alumnis while on duty visits in the region. A major event or reunion hosted by the University, inviting all alumnis to attend would be a good time to launch this appeal for the Trust.

In addition, the Planning and Development Office will make a concerted effort to identify

major new international donors that the University could ask. This will have to be an ongoing and important exercise for the Office.

An initial target of F$1m in the triennium has been set.

In addition, Management will endeavour to identify savings during the next triennium for further allocation, should the University encounter any genuine financial difficulties. The amount cannot be quantified at this time.

5.6.3 Aid Budget For the years 2000 and 2001, USP received external donor assistance in the region of F$7.8m and F$9.5m respectively. So far, indications are that USP will receive up to F$12m for 2002. These figures comprise cash grants, the value of technical assistance, training, equipment and project assistance. The phasing out of the 10-year British Manpower Project in 1999-2000, the cessation of capital assistance from USP’s major donor of physical facilities, the Government of Australia, and the withholding of funds and projects in response to the political environment in Fiji had a negative impact on the USP aid budget early in the triennium.

The AusAID-funded Lecture Theatre, computer laboratories and tutorial rooms comprised the last physical assets provided under aid from the Government of Australia. Since 1998, Australia has focussed on ‘softer’ development projects, concentrating on the areas of staff development, distance education and strategic planning and management. Grant aid from the Government of Australia (GOA) has been subject to 3-year Memoranda of Understanding between the USP and the GOA.

Since the inception of this arrangement, the grant from Australia has been fixed at A$2.5m annually, with a first call to the recurrent budget. Under the current MOU, the allocation to the recurrent budget is fixed for each year within the total allocation of F$2.5m. A new arrangement is due for the triennium 2003-2005.

In addition, there is open bidding for additional A$0.5m for other soft development projects. USP has been able to access this for the past two years, 2000 and 2001. USPNet staff training in preparation for the use of the newly upgraded USPNet 2000 and the digitisation of the USP Laucala campus library are two projects initiated under this allocation. For 2002-2005, these funds are earmarked for the Distance and Flexible Project, responding to the review of USP’s distance and flexible teaching programme. The Vice Chancellor also negotiated a special grant of F$1m to the University for the years 2001 and 2002.

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The Government of New Zealand is the only other donor which contributes to the USP recurrent budget. Its contribution together with Australia’s, has brought the external contribution to the recurrent budget. The increase in the 2001 aid budget was aided by special project assistance to USP in 200/2001 by the Government of New Zealand to help USP prepare itself for live broadcast lectures and video conferencing for tutorials via the new USPNet facility in the aftermath of the political events in Fiji in 2000. The New Zealand Government has introduced a new assessment arrangement for its development partners which will come into effect in 2003. Beginning in April 2002, the European Union will fund a HRD project at 5 million Euros or FJD10million over 5 years. The projects are in tourism development and training, in response to the focal areas identified in the USP’s Strategic Plan (1998), public sector reform and private sector development, and labour market studies. A project targeting the further development of marine studies at USP through the development of the IMR facility at Honiara has been delayed, pending the resolution of the situation in Solomon Islands. Also beginning this year, JICA will fund a project to support computing studies and distance education. USP has needs in replacement computing equipment for students, the current student/computer ratio being 1:22, as well as needs in science equipment and buildings and other equipment. USP will also be looking to non-traditional donors, particularly Foundations in the USA for assistance in these areas, as well as possible endowments for replacement needs. The addition in the revised strategic plan of the focal areas of information and communication technologies to bridge the digital divide in the Pacific, and science teaching to produce the scientists and specialists needed in the Pacific will help the University attract outside support for these areas.

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6. CONCLUSION

In presenting this submission and requesting an increase in its budget over the next three years, the University is mindful of the challenges and economic and political difficulties facing the University member countries. University education, however, is not cheap and, in the past, the University has always been asked to do much more with fewer resources. This approach cannot continue for too long as the quality of the courses, of the programmes and of the University as a whole will drop. This is a situation that the University cannot afford. As the premier tertiary institution in the region, USP will have to find alternative ways of raising funds and new ways of saving funds to ensure that it functions as a truly first rate regional and international University of education of excellence.

This submission, like the last, provides priorities and new initiatives which have been identified by the University and which reflect its strategic plan. These priorities have been decided after detailed consultations with Heads of Schools and Sections. They have been kept to the minimum. Other requests submitted and not listed may be made available upon request.

Aid Donors have all played a central role in the development and maintenance of USP. Some have been with the University since it was established in 1968. Others are the University's newer friends. The University is grateful to all for their commitment, support and belief in USP. This donor assistance is vital to the continuation of the University and the supply and development of trained human resources so badly needed in the region.

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University Grants Committee The Planning and Development Office Triennial Submission May 2002 2003-2005 BIBLIOGRAPHY Higher Education in the Twenty-first Century - Vision and Action: Towards an Agenda 21 for Higher Education. Paris: UNESCO, 1998. The University of the South Pacific. Triennial Submission, 2000 - 2003. Suva: USP, 1999. The University of the South Pacific. University Grants Committee. Mid-Term Report, 2001. Suva: UGC, 2002. The University of the South Pacific. University Grants Committee. Report 2000 - 2002. Suva: USP, 1999. The University of the South Pacific. USP Strategic Plan. Suva: USP, 1998. United Nations Development Programme. Human Development Report. New York: UNDP, 2001. World Statistical Outlook on Higher Education: 1980-1995. Paris: UNESCO, 1998

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