Union criticises university over $2.6m budget blowout on innovation centre

A $2.6 million budget blowout for Canterbury University's NZi3 Innovation Institute has the Tertiary Education Union (TEU) worried.

The building, which was opened by Prime Minister John Key in April, had an original price tag of about $10.3 million. This money was provided by the Government through the Partnerships for Excellence Fund, which calls for equal private investment.

The original budget did not include the cost of furniture, carpet, audio-visual equipment and information communications infrastructure, which took the total cost to $13m.

The extra cost was approved by the university council in July.

Deputy vice-chancellor Ian Town said the extra millions came from the university's capital budget.

The management team had been "indirectly criticised" by the council for its mistake.

"It was an oversight. I take responsibility for it," Town said.

Private investment in the institute had exceeded expectations and the university wanted to make the public-private partnership work, he said.

Proposed sources of funding information provided to the Tertiary Education Commission when the university was applying for the partnership grant in 2005 said the cost of NZi3 to the university would be $200,000 over four years.

Canterbury University TEU representative Megan Clayton was disappointed to hear of the cost overrun.

"The union supports the university's expressed desire to be financially responsible in this time of restraint and funding cuts," she said.

"It's unfortunate, then, that we have inherited this problem because other areas of the capital budget also need urgent attention."