Student Debt, Staff Turnover
The region’s largest university is financially stable despite an $18 million student debt and high staff turnover. University of the South Pacific Vice Chancellor Pal Ahluwalia made the comment during a visit by Carmel Sepuloni, the Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand and Associate Foreign Affairs Minister for the Pacific Region.
Mr Ahluwalia revealed that USP had accumulated student debt in excess of $18m and was also facing a high staff turnover.
He called for empathy for the students who were in financial debt to the university, but also highlighted that it was implementing changes to address the issue.
“We understand that many people are suffering so we are not letting people graduate or continue until they pay up some of the debt they owe or have talked of a payment system to repay their fees,” the VC said.
The changes include looking at collection agencies to recover the debts owed.
He emphasised that the university was financially stable and would continue to provide services to students and staff members.
Staff turnover
In addition to student debt, Professor Ahluwalia discussed the issue of staff turnover.
While he did not provide specific statistics, he acknowledged that turnover at the university was high because of attractive packages from neighbouring countries.
He explained that USP could not afford to pay salaries that were on par with those offered in countries like New Zealand, the United Kingdom, or the United States, but they do pay more than other regional universities.
The Vice Chancellor added that the university was continuously recruiting staff members to address the issue.
Resilience
Mr Ahluwalia praised the resilience of both staff and students during difficult times and acknowledged the exceptional management of the university’s funds, where they were able to recognise the hard work of their staff members through two pay increments.
“One in October last year and another one in January this year,” he said.
Finally, Mr Ahluwalia expressed his appreciation for the coalition Government’s commitment to pay the $116 million grant owed to the university, with $10 million already paid in February.