Research expectations being set

Slack academics will be in the spotlight under research standards being developed at Canterbury University.

Vice-chancellor Rod Carr said the university aimed to set minimum research output levels for academics.

Those not performing could not reasonably expect to continue their work at the university, he said.

"Academic staff who consistently fail to produce a minimum of, say, four pieces of quality assured research outputs in a three-year period cannot be assured of continuing support of the university," Carr said in a report to the university council yesterday.

Canterbury University is heading into the third round of performance-based research funding, which rates the country's academic staff according to their research output. The higher its ratings, the more money each university receives.

There was no excuse for academics to be rated "research inactive" except in special circumstances, Carr said.

Academic staff were expected to spend about 40 per cent of their time teaching, 40 per cent on research and 20 per cent on administration, he said. "We are a research-led teaching institution. We need to be able to hold ourselves accountable for the output of that research effort."

The head of the School of Political Science and Communication, Associate Professor Jim Tully, said some staff would be concerned about the proposal.

"The major apprehension will be around what is finally deemed to be appropriate output and the importance of recognising that between different disciplines there can be quite different expectations," he said.

Tertiary Education Union president Tom Ryan said the union was opposed to the idea. "Research performance is already at the heart of staff development and employment, so to formalise it in some way opens up the path to abuse."