Future Unstable for “Integral” Institute of Governance and Policy Studies

Words by Niamh Vaughan (she/her)

With potential redundancies on the horizon, Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington is currently working through a consultation process around the future of the Institute of Governance and Policies Studies (IGPS). 

Created in 1983, VUW was gifted $3 million by the Gama Foundation to support the IGPS in 2012, with an additional $7 million around 2015. After funding was suddenly removed in mid 2021, the School of Business covered the costs of the institute until June 2023, while the IGPS searched for new funding outside the university. Currently, no funding has been acquired and the institute has been operating without a director for several months.

A consultation document leaked to Salient stated the “likelihood of securing the type of funding required to run IGPS in its current form is very low at this time.” Due to current financial restraints, the university has indicated they are unable to support the institute alone. 

There are three proposed options for the future of the IGPS. First, in the unlikely event funding is secured, the institute carries on as is. Second, the IGPS is disestablished, with some of its activities relocated to other areas. Third, all IGPS and other related activities cease completely.

The loss of the institute would cause reputational damage to the university, creating a gap in the critical discourse on public policy in Aotearoa, an end to the publication of Policy Quarterly Journal, the dismantling of 32 Senior Research Associates, and job redundancies of two senior research fellows.

“There is an obvious responsibility [for the university] to engage with the policy community, and that includes the government of the day, Parliament, the public service, and all the other entities that contribute to policy making,” says Jonathan Boston, current emeritus professor at the School of Government, editor of the Policy Quarterly Journal, and former director of the IGPS (at the time known as the IPS) until his departure in 2014. 

“If [VUW], as the main capital city university, cannot sustain an institute of high relevance, it speaks volumes. [...] It tells you that this university is failing to fulfil one of its critical roles and responsibilities,” Boston continued.

At the time of the institute's initial funding debacle in 2021, the post graduate programme, Governing for the Future, was initiated by the university. The IGPS consultation document cites the programme as one of the reasons for “change” to the institution. According to Boston, “The Governing for the Future project seems to be seeking to do almost exactly what the [...] IGPS [was] established to undertake.”

It is Salient’s understanding that VUW decided to provide $300k funding annually, for two years, towards the Governing for the Future programme, however, this decision is reportedly under review due to the financial state of the university. 

Eddie*, a current policy student told Salient, “The IGPS brings in great academics who then foster a really modern and world leading school at Pipitea campus. [...] I know many people, myself included, choose to study policy, politics, or government at Vic because of the links it has to Parliament, government, and the public sector. IGPS is an integral part of that.”

Consultations on the IGPS will end on 10 May, and a decision document is to be released to the institution by 29 May. Implementation for the decision will happen mid-2023, and if either the second or third proposed change model is accepted, the institute will close. A statement from the university said that “while it is possible the IGPS as it exists now may change”, they are “open to ideas through the feedback process”.  

“The university regularly reassesses whether its research centres are continuing to provide strategic value for the university and allocates internal funding accordingly,” the statement said.

“We’ve had the institute for 40 years,” said Boston. “It's done some very important work. It's the kind of institute that a university like VUW should have. And now, it's probably on its last legs.”

*names have been changed