We Are The University

More cuts are coming

Java Grant

Fri Aug 30 2024 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)

Based on some recent leaks it is apparent there are more cuts on their way at The University of Auckland beyond the ones students and staff are already kicking up a fuss about.

Cuts to Staff

• "We are now starting to eat into that [financial headroom] and as we look forward, well, we're recognising currently a significant decline in our operating surplus."
• "We've identified a plan to address a $45 million improvement over the next 18 months or so."
  • Such a plan to cut costs or increase revenues by $45 million will mean significant changes or reductions in staff and resources for education, research, and service.
• "We have started some analysis and planning around how we could reduce our professional staffing costs by 15 million against our 2024 levels by 2026."
• "We certainly don't want to put any pressures on key parts of our university and student research and staff areas in particular, but recognise that we do have some urgency that we do need to get on and develop and implement these plans."
  • Why is it always so urgent? Did you not realise the numbers aren't adding up before or after refusing to collaborate with the TEU to secure more funding? Urgency leads to quick decisions, poor/no consultation, and decreased quality of core functions!
  • We are seeing a pattern of management fast-tracking process to avoid scrutiny and only justified by claims that, when examined say they made poor decisions and we now must suffer the consequences. How about we get management that doesn't make poor decisions?

Cuts to Courses

• "I think this refers to the work that PDDC Provost, Deans and Directors meeting has initiated just asking faculty to look at the portfolio of courses and programs."
• "I don't want anybody to think that we have asked for faculties to make wholesale large cuts to postgraduate courses."
  • No, just to prepare to have less on offer going forward.
  • Why not align this with the usual 3-year program review cycle? Is it a money concern? Clearly not because the provost kept repeating to students and staff at the open forum "this is not about money"

Commercialisation and Commodification of the university

• "We will firstly be looking at increasing revenues [from] working professionals [...] through our University of Auckland online platform."
  • Increasing revenue through online platforms shifts priorities and impacts traditional on-campus programs. So much investment in non-core funcationality and prioritising human capital over education.
• "This will result in UniServices being a much more agile and focussed organisation on innovation and commercialisation and business development."
  • Sounds like even less focus on education, non-profit endevours, and even more on commercialisation and putting pay-walls between the publicly funded research staff and students do and the public we are supposed to serve.

International Student Recruitment

• "Immigration New Zealand's rationale for increasing student visa fees by 90% is that it simply brings us up roughly to par with our main competitors."
• "So yes, it's disappointing that we've increased our fees by that much, our visa fees."
• "We are looking forward to the next, the first priority coming through the internationalisation framework, being the international recruitment strategy."
• "The Australian cap is a bit misleading because it's taking them to pre-pandemic numbers in 2019, but what it's actually doing is it's an increase of 15% in 2025."
  • The increase in Australia's student cap concerns the Universty's international student market share, yet again viewing international students as cash cows rather than the campus-enriching, knowledge-sharing community they are.