The $21 million allocated to the university over the next two years, although a welcome fillip, is more band-aid than bailout.
Indeed, Finance Minister Grant Robertson distanced himself from the idea the funding package was a bailout with the official media release describing it as significant extra support for universities and other degree providers.
Almost 200 staff at Otago have put up their hands for voluntary redundancy, but acting vice-chancellor Prof Helen Nicholson says it is likely more jobs will need to go to plug the $60 million operating deficit in the budget this year.
Mr Robertson bluntly made the point the two universities hitting the headlines over proposed staff cuts, Victoria and Otago, both have more staff now than they did before Covid-19.
Post Covid-19, other universities had recognised that given the "bums on seats" funding model they needed to cut their cloth accordingly, he said.
However, it could be argued the "bums on seats" model has encouraged that and contributed to excessive spending on management at the expense of academic staff.
The more than 15% increase in non-academic staff at Otago in the past 12 years compared with 0.9% for academics seems way out of kilter, despite the university’s attempt to justify it.
It is something former vice-chancellor Prof David Skegg has questioned, quoting a university leadership expert warning against top-down management with multiple layers between departments and the centre, and arguing the essential vitality of a university must lie in its academic departments.
Without such an emphasis it is difficult to see how universities can fulfil the role they are assigned under the Education Act to be the critic and conscience of society.
The Government’s decision to take a thorough look at the higher education funding system, including the contentious Performance Based Research Fund, over the two years of the temporary boost in funding is welcome and long overdue.
It says decisions on the scope and approach to that will be taken before the end of this year.
It would be disappointing if any change of government called a halt to that.
In the meantime, it is refreshing to hear of interest in greater collaboration between our universities.
Victoria University vice-chancellor Prof Nic Smith might have raised some legal eyebrows when he said the country did not need eight different law schools, but he was making the point that too many of the same courses are offered at every university.
Perhaps there are also lessons Otago and Victoria could learn from their Auckland and Canterbury counterparts, which have managed to increase their student numbers since Covid-19.
Whatever happens further down the track on the national scene, there is still much uncertainty about what the immediate future holds for Otago and the impact that could have on attracting students and retaining academics.
One good piece of news this week for all our universities was the increase in their standings on the QS World University Rankings, although such rankings may be a little like political opinion polls where parties get excited if they are in the lead and dismiss their importance when results are dismal.
Otago ranked 22nd for sustainability, and was at 206th place overall, up from 217th.
However, the university’s ranking for employer reputation was 359th, a placing unlikely to have been improved by recent events.
