Thu 22-Aug-24
all-staff-request@list.auckland.ac.nz on behalf of Dawn Freshwatervice-chancellor@auckland.ac.nz all-staff Mailing List all-staff@list.auckland.ac.nz Kia ora tātou
I would like to provide some clarification about the review of courses underway across the University. There is a suggestion that all courses with fewer than 60 students will be cut. This is incorrect. Please be assured that no such mandate exists, and the University will continue to offer a wide range of courses including those with smaller class sizes.
What is underway is a coordinated, collective review of our portfolio of courses to ensure it is relevant and balanced, and to identify opportunities to remove unnecessary duplication. As new courses are added over time, we rebalance the curriculum by removing other courses that may be duplicative, or are no longer relevant or supported by student enrolments. This helps to maintain manageable staff workloads and reduces pressure on timetabling and teaching spaces.
The University adjusts its course offerings on an annual basis. This year the Provost, Deans and Directors Committee (PDDC) has taken an early collective approach to this annual process to identify opportunities for increased cross-faculty collaboration in the delivery and support of courses. It is expected that this collective review will be broadly complete in August, with data and recommendations fed back into the normal annual faculty-based process for consideration and decision-making around potential course and regulation changes.
A special meeting of Senate will be held on Tuesday 27 August to enable members to discuss the collective review and raise questions about the process.
Ngā mihi nui
Dawn
Professor Dawn Freshwater
Vice-Chancellor