Appointments to the University of Auckland Council

On this page you will find:

1. Constitution of the University of Auckland Council from 1 January 2020
2. Statement of skills and experiences sought relevant to positions
3. Processes for appointment to the University of Auckland Council
   • Call for expressions of interest for appointment to Council
   • Call for Elections for members on Council
      

Amendments to the Education Act 1989 passed in 2015 reduced the size of University Councils. The University of Auckland Council recommended to the Minister a Council comprised of 12 members, with effect from 01 January 2016. The Minister approved
a new amendment of the Constitution, and the Notice for the new Constitution appeared in the NZ Gazette in February 2019:

Amendment to the Constitution of the University of Auckland Notice 2019

Pursuant to section 170 of the Education Act 1989 (“the Act”), the Minister of Education gives the following notice.

Notice

1. This notice may be cited as the Amendment to the Constitution of the University of Auckland Notice 2019.
2. This notice shall come into force on the day after the date of its publication in the New Zealand Gazette.
3. The Council of the University of Auckland (“the Council”) shall, from 1 January 2020, be constituted as follows:

(a) Four persons appointed by the relevant Minister;

(b) one person, being Māori and able to advise the Council on issues relevant to Māori, appointed by the Council following a call for expressions of interest from iwi and other Māori individuals or groups;

(c) the Vice-Chancellor by virtue of his/her holding office as the Chief Executive Officer of the University of Auckland;

(d) one person being a permanent member of the academic staff of the University of Auckland elected by the permanent members of that staff;

(e) one person being a permanent member of the professional staff of the University of Auckland elected by the permanent members of that staff;

(f) one person being an enrolled student of the University elected by the students of the University;

(g) one person being an alumnus of the University of Auckland appointed by the Council following a call for expressions of interest from alumni; and

(h) two persons able to provide skills specified by the Council to be appointed by the University of Auckland Council following a call for expressions of interest.

4. Prior to calling for nominations or expressions of interest, the Council shall publish a statement of the skills and experiences it is seeking from members to be so appointed.
5. With the exception of the Vice-Chancellor, each person may be appointed, elected or co-opted as a member of the Council under the foregoing provisions for any period of not more than four years, and for no more than three such periods. In such cases where a person is a member of the Council on 31 December 2015, and has not completed their current term, they may serve up to four periods of no more than four years each.

Dated at Wellington this 19th day of February 2019. Hon CHRIS HIPKINS, Minister of Education.
 

The functions, duties and powers of the Council are prescribed in the Education and Training Act 2020, sections 280, 281 and 283.

Council seeks members who can contribute to the University in some or all of these areas:

Relevant to all positions:

Teaching and Research

• Understanding of, and commitment to, academic freedom and institutional autonomy
• Understanding of excellence in education, training and research
• Understanding of and sensitivity to issues faced by students
• Understanding of and sensitivity to issues faced by various relevant communities,  particularly those that are under-represented among the students and staff of the institution

Community understanding

• Understanding of and sensitivity to the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi
• Understanding of and sensitivity to equity issues
• Understanding of what constitutes the public interest

Management skills

• HR/senior executive appointment experience
• Institutional strategic and operational planning
• High level organisational management
• Assessment of institutional policies
• High level finance and governance (opex and capex)

Reflecting the diversity of the community served

• Ethnic diversity
• Socioeconomic diversity
• Gender balance 
  

Additional requirement for appointment under section 3(b) of the constitution

• Māori applicants must be of New Zealand Māori descent, and able to advise Council on issues relevant to Māori

• very strong finance and accounting skills and experience with large organisations
• governance experience with large complex organisations
   

At its meeting on 26 August 2019 and 15 March 2021, Council approved the Council Appointments Statute and Council Appointments Procedures which govern the processes to be followed for appointments to Council through:

i) expressions of interest (Constitution 3(b), (g) and (h)) and
ii) the election of one permanent academic staff member, one permanent professional staff member and one enrolled student elected by the students of the University. (Constitution 3(d), (e) and (f)).
Consequential changes to the Elections Procedures were also approved at this meeting.
 

• Call for expressions of interest for appointment to Council

 Council invites expressions of interest from persons who consider they meet the attributes required to fill one of the following positions:
i) one person, being Māori and able to advise Council on issues relevant to Māori

ii) one person being an alumnus of the University of Auckland

iii) two persons able to provide skills specified by Council, to be appointed by Council

Alumnus means a person who has been awarded a qualification by:

1. The University of Auckland, or

2. The Auckland College of Education, or

3. The Auckland College of the University of New Zealand.

Method of application

 Please complete the Expression of Interest for an appointment to Council form describing how you meet the statement of skills and experiences sought (above).

The form can be downloaded below.

(Internet Explorer users should choose "Save" rather than "Open" to download the file.)

The closing date for expressions of interest is 5pm on Friday 30.04.2021

Expressions of interest (not more than 1,000 words) should be returned by email to w.verschaeren@auckland.ac.nz

Telephone: (09) 923 5782

· Call for Elections for members on Council

Elections  for one permanent member of academic staff elected by the permanent members of that staff, one permanent member of the professional staff elected by the permanent members of that staff and one enrolled student elected by the students of the University  will be conducted in accordance with the Council Appointments Statute, Elections Procedures and Council Appointment Procedures.

For the purposes of the Council Appointments Statute, permanent means a member of academic or professional staff who is employed on an employment agreement with a duration of 12 months or more as at the date of eligibility determination.

Academic staff includes persons employed as a professor, associate dean, associate professor, senior lecturer, lecturer, senior tutor, tutor, professional teaching fellow, senior research fellow or research fellow, and such other positions as may from time to time be designated ‘academic staff’ by the Vice-Chancellor.

Professional staff includes  persons employed in administrative, technical and library positions, and such other positions as may from time to time be designated ‘professional staff’ by the Vice-Chancellor.

Student means enrolled students of the University.

Timeline for elections for staff members

4 September 2019: Notice of Election through Vice-Chancellor’s Update to staff 

11 September 2019 12pm: intranet notice 

3 October 2019, 12pm: Closing date for Notices of candidacy. 

Notices of candidacy for a staff member on Council must be submitted online The candidate’s statement submitted with this candidacy notice is to address how the candidate considers they meet the skills and experiences sought for this position on Council (see below), and must not exceed 500 words.

The online notice of candidacy forms can be submitted online from 12pm on 11.09.19 

Complete and submit the notice of candidacy form for an academic staff member

Complete and submit the notice of candidacy form for a professional staff member