University sheds people, gains flash new facilities

Waikato University has unveiled a $30 million plan for a "superb campus" just days after announcing up to 30 jobs will be lost.

The plans include an indoor events centre, a student centre and main entrance, along with an upgrade of the Performing Arts Academy.

The university's foundation director, Gerald Bailey, said many of the developments were already in the university's five-year plan and now old ideas were being combined with new.

Meeting the cost of them would require a combination of funding options, he said.

"(It's) probably the most ambitious project to be undertaken by the university in recent memory."

The foundation would look to raise funds from external sources, including its alumni, Campus Services Limited and the Student Campus Building Fund Trust. The balance would be funded from the university's ongoing capital development budget.

University management would decide which project would be built first.

"We want to attract the best students," Mr Bailey said.

The events centre for university clubs and other organisations would include indoor recreational courts and activity, seminar and meeting rooms.

The student centre would be in a new three-level building overlooking Oranga Lake.

Extensions to the Performing Arts Academy would include rehearsal and practice rooms, a gallery for digital art works, an area for Maori weaving and visual arts, and a small lecture theatre that would double as a cinema.

Last week, more than 30 job losses were announced at Waikato University. Staff have been on full strike twice this year over stalled pay talks.

It was reported the university was facing its first ever deficit -- expected to be $2 million -- and vice-chancellor Roy Crawford said universities had to face reality in a changing environment.

- nzpa