SINU Extends Staff Contracts from Three to Five Years

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The Solomon Islands National University (SINU) has announced significant changes to its staff employment contracts, extending the contract period from three years to five years.

In his widely circulated State of the University statement, Vice-Chancellor Professor Transform Aqorau said the reform is part of SINU’s broader corporate reform agenda, which places strong emphasis on human resource development.

“An institution is only as effective as its people,” Professor Aqorau said.
“Realizing this, part of our corporate reform agenda has focused on human resource development and policies. We made an important change by extending all staff employment contracts from the old three-year term to a more secure five-year term.”

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Professor Aqorau said the move will provide greater job stability for staff, helping the university retain talented faculty and employees while giving them a longer planning horizon to implement initiatives.

He said the contract reform is being supported by a push to strengthen a culture of continuous improvement and professional development across the institution.

“Many of our staff, both academic and non-academic, have undergone training and capacity-building programs, often with the support of partners such as DFAT,” he said.

For academic staff, Professor Aqorau said SINU is in the process of establishing a Learning and Teaching Excellence Centre on campus. The centre will allow lecturers and tutors to continually refine their teaching skills, adopt new pedagogical approaches, and strengthen their role as mentors to students.

Professor Aqorau emphasized that institutional reform is driven not only by policies, but by people.

“We recognize that reforms and new policies alone do not automatically create change – it is the people who implement them that truly drive transformation,” he said.

“One lesson I have learned is that recruiting and empowering reform-minded individuals is just as critical as the reform ideas themselves.”

He said SINU’s leadership has been fortunate to work with managers and staff who embrace change, adding that the university is steadily nurturing a professional culture built on accountability, strong customer service to students, and pride in the university’s mission.