"Earlier today staff at the University of Otago College of Education were presented with a proposal for consultation.

The proposal has been developed to address a significant annual financial cross-subsidy ($1.3 million in 2010) that is currently required to support the College's operations. It proposes steps that will reduce that cross-subsidy for 2011, and eliminate it for 2012.

It proposes taking these steps in a way that also ensures that a greater proportion of College teaching is delivered by staff who are active in research. This is in accordance with Otago's vision as a research-led university and an expectation under The Education Act 1989 that degrees be "taught mainly by people engaged in research".

There is a growing number of teacher education staff engaged in research relevant to teaching and the University wishes to accelerate the growth of this number.

Under this proposal, there will be no change to the range of academic programmes offered by the College at either the Dunedin or Southland campus, and no reduction in teaching practice opportunities for students. There will, however, be changes to the internal structure of the College, and to the way in which some courses within its programmes are delivered.

If implemented, the changes in College structure and programme delivery put forward in the proposal would result in an approximate reduction of 15-20 FTE positions within the College over the next two to three years.

In presenting this proposal to staff, the University re-states its commitment to ensuring a viable future for the College delivering the best possible teacher education, research and learning.

We regret that this is an unsettling time for staff, but these changes are necessary to ensure the future viability and vitality of the College at a time when, as we have seen with the latest budget announcements, Government funding for universities is set to decline in real terms from 2011.

The close-off date for submissions to the proposal is June 11. After consideration of these submissions a management of change programme will begin."