It’s no secret that New Zealand universities are struggling. There have been job cuts, faculty cuts, and a loss of opportunity for students. The news has been coming thick and fast, and it’s hard to keep track of it all. Here is a list of some of 2018’s major cuts and proposals:
• Auckland University of Technology to cut 40 jobs from the Society and Culture Faculty
• Victoria University considering relocating Art History, Religion, Classics, and Museum Heritage to other faculties
• Waikato proposes to take away Faculty of Māori and Indigenous Studies Faculty status
• Auckland university cut 45 full-time librarian jobs with a proposal to cut another hundred.
• Auckland university shuts down the Music, Fine Arts, and Architecture libraries
• Auckland university planning to shut down the Epsom education campus, as well as chopping their faculty by 15%
• Otago cut 162 jobs from support services
• Otago is proposing to cut its art history department.
Amidst these cuts, every NZ university (except Waikato and Lincoln, which, being our smallest university, does not negate the problem) has dropped in ranking. NZ universities have a worsening staff/student ratio. The arts departments have been especially hard hit, and there is seemingly no solution in sight.