My partner is also a lawyer, so in the skilled migrant category, but graduate accountancy positions start in the 20k range. We should be okay in that respect. I don't dislike accountancy - I just really love audience research. I'm a year into my research, currently writing a chapter on methodology.

Up until this point, the experience was pretty much the same as your European uni: poor facilities, the other staff don't care. Having to call IT every month because my password stopped working. Stuff like that is normal in the NZ context. I can handle that.

See, Mr Kenny would be employed in the same position. We have to use the same buildings. He would have keys to my building, and keys to my office. If I need to call Campus Care, then they can offer no guarantees about who will be sent - I could be face-to-face with him. I'm not a calm person generally, but this makes my blood boil. I snap very quickly - I have a really sharp temper when something's affecting me personally, but professionally, I'm very calm.

But it's not just the theft - it's the way VUW have treated me. As far as they're concerned I'm the problem, and they would rather have a caretaker than a PhD student. They did nothing about informing people about who's got keys to their offices and who'll be around the buildings alone. They actually told me "All the best for your future" when I expressed concerns about campus security and withdrawal. I've been ignored, marginalised and with the suggestion I just not use the campus, I've been effectively punished. I can't do a PhD like that. I feel isolated enough in terms of my work as it is.

My work is considered valuable in an under-researched field, in a growth industry. If VUW don't value it, then I don't want to work there.

:)

Oh, the worst part is that I'd done this at least twice before. But the building isn't a particularly busy one at the best of times, and it was 7.30am. I wasn't worried, but it was a shock when it had gone.

What happens next, itt depends. I've applied to Otago University in Dunedin, but I need a scholarship. If I can't get a scholarship, then my career prospects here are really poor. It's not like the UK. You can't switch to a professional course in a different field after any honours degree. There's no single year law transfer course (too many lawyers here anyway, career prospects are poor), and there's no professional course in accounting like ICAEW or ACCA. You have to go back and do a four year honours degree.

So I'll have to leave NZ and go back to the UK, see about training as an accountant, which is what I was doing before. I can't go back and study because my partner will have to come with me and I need a job for her visa.

Hi satchi.

Pretty much - I've tolerated everything else that's terrible at the university. It really is an awful place. But being told that the guy that's stolen from you and lied to your face about it is now going to have keys to your building and your office, and nothing else will happen... that's pretty galling.

Hi taka. Thank you for your reply.

Unfortunately, in New Zealand the courts rarely award damages, or even costs if I win in principle. The usual way it works is that people who sue for damages end up with little more than a large legal bill.

As an example, it took ten years of legal battles for a woman who was nearly killed by a former prisoner who the Department of Corrections had failed to properly monitor to get a settlement from them - and that was only $300,000.

The only way legal action becomes realistic is if the university try and claim back part of the doctoral scholarship. Then I'll have little choice but to defend myself, and probably at that point I'll counter-sue for any losses.

What are the regulations on embargoes? It's not normal that someone could unilaterally demand a 25 year embargo. I know a lot of places don't have embargo periods in the regs, but most places are very low - we're talking 2 years. It's not in the interest of the institution to withhold publication.

You've probably seen it, but this might have some good information for you:

This sounds like a little more than the usual PhD stress. You should maybe think about using the university counselling services before anything. You have to be completely healthy when you're doing this amount of work and have support networks in place. I really would look at making an appointment with a counsellor or a doctor to to talk about this.

Good luck.

Just wanted to update this. Even though Mr Kenny has plead guilty, this is the university's response:

"Employment matters are dealt with on a case-by-case basis, and we must consider a variety of factors in each case.

"The university stands by its decision not to terminate the staff member's employment."

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10871091

I recently withdrew from my PhD at the Victoria University of Wellington. I had my $800 phone stolen in June 2012, and by chance in December 2012 I found that the thief had failed to sign out of my Google account. I remotely installed tracking software to the phone and was shocked to find out that the thief was a member of the Campus Care security team who, on the morning the phone had gone missing, had told me he had not found any phone in the building.

I collected a whole bunch of evidence, which was taken to the police. They arrested the thief, a man by the name of Arana Kenny, and charged him with theft. Mr Kenny has admitted taking the phone to police, myself and the university, and is currently before the courts.

However, the university have chosen to carry on employing Mr Kenny in his current position, where he is required to have unsupervised access to buildings.

When I complained and said that I felt uncomfortable with being around him and that I might have to consider withdrawing, Rainsforth Dix, the Associate Director of Campus Operations told me she was satisfied with their internal processes and wished me "All the best for your future."

Professor Laurie Bauer, Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Research, told me there was nothing he could do: he believed that " the actions that were taken were in line with general expectations in the institution." He would do nothing, despite the risks.

Full story here: