Ok, they are telling us the budget is tight. We’re hearing professors/lecturers and faculty staff talking about the budget constraints at Waikato Uni Management School. Only a week or so ago, about 13 ’support’ staff were made redundant and there is talk of research budgets and conference travel allowances being cut back.
So – this leads me to the ‘flip side’. A $30 million student centre is currently under construction at the University. WOW! You would think they were rolling in money to undertake such an extravagant project at this time. Not so, in their infinite wisdom they seem to think that a lavish student centre will incentivise more students to want to attend the University. Not so! I’ve been asking questions of many students (past and current) and the general consensus is that they attend an institution like this for the value of the education it offers. Now, Waikato Uni (or is it just the Management School?) has a ‘Triple A’ rating. A show of hands when queried by a lecturer in my mature-age class indicated that the Triple A rating was the primary reason that my classmates had chosen Waikato Management School over, say, Auckland University. Now we are querying – will the budget constraints and staff cuts impact upon the Triple A rating? Many seem to think it might and that, at next review, Waikato’s ‘Triple-A’ status may be revoked. What a pity. The general opinion about the student centre is that it is a self indulgent and quite ill advised effort on behalf of a University that could well be using this extra money to support its educational content in these trying times.
There is also another issue. Universities and other tertiary institutions all over New Zealand are reporting a surge in the number of foreign students registering with them for the years 2009 and 2010. With New Zealands dollar having plummeted in value recently, education in New Zealand suddenly becomes affordable, if not a bargain, to international students exchanging their stronger currencies. Waikato University attendance is down. This is perhaps the primary reason for the lack of money at the University and Management School. ‘Bums on seats’ is their main source of income, and when those ‘bums on seats’ dont sign up, the University feels the financial impact. Now, why is Waikato University suffering from lack of student registrations at a time when other institutions are capping attendance and clapping their hands in glee? Sadly it appears the Management of the University is weak and has turned into an ‘old boys’ club. The international recruitment drive is turning into a campus joke and both University staff and students are losing confidence in the decisions made and the ’turning a blind eye’ to failures in international recruitment, as the old boys pat each other on the back.
Something needs to be done in order that the relevant people in this organisation are held accountable for its failures, and certainly a new strategic direction needs to be considered to ensure a sustainable future for this major contributor to Hamiltons economy.
These are my first words on this matter, and they are just a collection of jumbled thoughts at this point in time, but Im quite passionate about this subject, so it won’t be the last time you see me ‘jumping up and down’ in print.
Tags: Financial, Hamilton, Management School, University, Waikato
