2023 Annual Report | Te Pūrongo ā-Tau
AUT’s 2023 Annual Report has been submitted to the New Zealand Government and published on our website.
The Annual Report highlights AUT’s performance and key issues and activities for the year, including the University’s financial statements and resource reports, information about the services provided and the graduates and research produced.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Damon Salesa writes in Te Pūrongo ā-Tau that against the backdrop of 2023 marking the first uninterrupted academic year since 2019, AUT saw significant growth, development and transformation across the University.
“We are entering a time of remarkable transformation, where the pandemic, artificial intelligence, and geopolitical shifts will change so much about our world,” Professor Salesa says.
“Our shared vision - of being a community of diverse ideas that provides transformative solutions for real-world challenges and propels us towards a brighter and more sustainable future - has become even more crucial. In this way, we can continue to deliver exceptional, relevant, and consistent learning experiences.”
Included in the work that was undertaken over 2023 designed to lead AUT towards the future was the continued work on our student success plan, Ki Uta Ki Tai, the unveiling of two other key documents, Te Aronui and AUT’s Research Plan Rautaki Rangahau, and the Imagine AUT consultation programme, which underpinned the development Te Kete.
Among the service highlights for 2023 were:
- An additional 621 International Equivalent Full-time Students (EFTS).
- 88% of available graduates working full-time.
- An increase in external research income by almost ten percent, to $26.6 million.
- 324 Māori and 437 Pacific graduates from bachelors degrees.
- Third highest field citation ratio of all NZ universities.
- After a difficult year in 2022, which led to lower-than-normal retention rates in 2023, our students’ pass rates bounced back to more expected levels. This suggests the decline in retention rates should be similarly short-lived.
The statement of financial performance (page 71) notes:
- Total University revenue was $436.3 million, up from $414.9 million in 2022, reflecting the increased international, research, and other revenue.
- Our total expenses for 2023 were $426.0 million, up from $416.0 million in 2022, driven by higher costs required to support delivering the increased revenue.
- This resulted in an operating surplus of $10.3 million or 2.4%. This was $11.3 million more than in 2022, reflecting the benefits of the higher net revenue.