Critic Sides With Scientific Evidence As Pro- and Anti-Vaxxers Lock Horns

Posted 11:31am Sunday 7th May 2017 by Joe Higham

An OUSA Facebook post promoting National Immunisation Week (1-7 May) provided the latest platform for both sides of the vaccination debate to lock horns. OUSA made the post on 2 May to help spread awareness for the Southern District Health Board’s program of providing free human Read more...

Protestors March Against Construction of Animal Testing Facility

Posted 10:31am Sunday 30th April 2017 by Anna Linton

A recent protest on University of Otago grounds saw more than 70 people voicing opposition to the construction of an animal testing facility on Great King Street.Headed by the New Zealand Anti-Vivisection Society (NZAVS), and supported by several national and international organisations, the protest Read more...

Otago University Coy Over Plans to Replace Dept. of Politics Staff Member

Posted 10:45am Sunday 30th April 2017 by Joe Higham

Critic understands that a second staff member from the Department of Politics has taken an offer of voluntary redundancy, with the University keeping tight-lipped on whom, if anybody will be replacing them. It is not publically known at this stage which staff member has taken up the offer. The Read more...

Will the University Have Any Staff Left After Yet More Redundancies?

Posted 10:52am Sunday 23rd April 2017 by Joe Higham

Otago University’s Support Services Review is reaching the end of its ‘Solution Design’ phase, coming as rumours have been circulating that as many as 300 jobs will be lost once the final ‘Implementation Stage’ begins.  However, Otago University Human Resources Read more...

Uni Strives To Be A Leader On Environmental Issues With New Plan

Posted 10:55am Sunday 23rd April 2017 by Joel MacManus

The University of Otago announced a new plan last week to increase environmentally sustainable practises throughout the institution over the next four years, something it hopes will showcase its “desire to strengthen our efforts towards sustainability, becoming genuinely world class in how we Read more...

OUSA to Provide Flu Vaccinations to 2,500 Students After Success of Pilot Scheme

Posted 10:37am Sunday 2nd April 2017 by Joe Higham

OUSA will build upon the success of their 2016 flu vaccination pilot scheme to provide free vaccinations to roughly 2,500 students at a cost to the association of approximately $50,000.  The 2016 pilot scheme provided 150 free flu jabs to students in late May, and was part of former Read more...

University Working with OUSA To Address Sexual Harm

Posted 10:41am Sunday 2nd April 2017 by Joel MacManus

The University of Otago has taken a major step to address the issue of sexual harm among students, establishing the working group called Sexual Harm and Assault Response and Evaluation (SHARE). The aim of the group is to “investigate a co-ordinated response to any future reports of sexualised Read more...

Financial Position of PE School “Not sustainable” ­ —Pro-Vice Chancellor

Posted 10:48am Sunday 2nd April 2017 by Joel MacManus

p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-align: justify; line-height: 12.0px; font: 7.5px DobraSlab} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 8.5px; line-height: 12.0px; font: 7.5px DobraSlab} span.s1 {font-kerning: none} The Department of Physical Read more...

Flaws in Funding Model Incentivises Research Over Teaching, Report Claims

Posted 10:35am Sunday 2nd April 2017 by Anna Linton

A report published by the Productivity Commission on tertiary education last week has highlighted that the current funding model incentivises research over teaching.  It claims that both the Performance-Based Research Fund (PBRF) and international rankings systems encourage tertiary Read more...

PE Alumni Raise Concerns over Falling Enrolments and Departmental Changes

Posted 10:48am Sunday 26th March 2017 by Joel MacManus

Physical Education (PE) Students have raised serious concerns about the future of the PE department after reports of dwindling enrolments and budget cuts risk changes to the curriculum and degree structure. The organisation Phedders United, which formed in 2015 to represent the interests of alumni Read more...