SIT union bid fails to get support

Southern Institute of Technology students have failed in their latest bid to establish a compulsory students' association, citing the widespread nature of SIT as a factor.

SIT students collected signatures last year in the hope they could force the institute to undertake a referendum on the issue, but fell 673 votes short.

A report by Invercargill solicitors French Burt Partners was accepted by the institute at its latest council meeting last night.

The report stated that under the Education Act, students required signatures from at least 10 per cent of SIT's 11,201-strong student body to force a vote.

That meant 1120 signatures were required but students only managed to collect 447.

Steering committee member Erica Donovan said having only four Invercargill-based students as part of the committee made it difficult to launch an effective campaign across SIT's four campuses in Invercargill. Gore, Queenstown, and Christchurch.

The petition required physical signatures and not having an online means of collecting them proved a hindrance, she said.

"I'm quite upset because we put a lot of our own time into this project. There was a lot of hard slog."

Ms Donovan said any potential association would have helped students with advocacy issues, assisted with course information, provided a more effective student network and given students a greater voice in planning SIT events, such as Orientation Week.

Until an association was established, SIT students would be missing out in these areas, she claimed.

The compulsory students' association debate is one that goes back several years, including several failed petitions.

The last active student association was disbanded in 1999 after the student body held a referendum that voted for voluntary membership.

SIT's latest Equivalent Fulltime Students (EFTS) report was also tabled at the meeting.

SIT business manager Bharat Guha said the institution was only 563 EFTS short of its 2009 target of 3834 EFTS, which the institution requires to provide its Zero Fees scheme.

SIT was also projecting a $2.06 million surplus for the year to March 31, but that is yet to be revised against Education Ministry funding for 2009.

- © Fairfax NZ News