Jessica Milford had next year all planned - but a last-minute email from Auckland University of Technology has set fire to those plans
An Auckland University of Technology student is saying she feels like the rug was pulled out from under her after her university course for next year was cancelled just last week.
News of the last-minute cancellation of the Master of English and New Media Studies reached Jessica Milford just last Thursday, leaving her scrambling for a new place to study in the new year.
She had been given an offer of place on September 12 on a provisional basis - however, the provisions spelt out in the offer largely refer to the academic requirements of the programme.
After passing her Bachelor of Arts with a GPA of 8.5 - equating to something between and A and an A+ overall - Milford considered it a done deal that she would be returning to the city campus next year to embark on her Master’s.
Now she’s not sure what the future holds for her, and has had trouble even communicating with the institution she spent the past three years studying at and paying tuition fees toward.
It’s left her feeling angry and stressed out.
“This is something that could have been avoided in so many ways,” she said. “One of the things AUT’s known for is its pastoral care, and for the first two years they did take such good care of me.”
Milford said that added to the shock of the out-of-the-blue email.
“They made tonnes of provisions for students during Covid. That’s almost why this came as such a surprise,” she said. “I almost get a sense of betrayal, and there’s that element of panic, now.”
A spokesperson from AUT said it's not out of the ordinary for universities to get rid of courses with low enrolment numbers and offer students alternatives.
“AUT, like all universities, regularly withdraws courses with low enrolments and offers students alternatives,” she said. “Semester One does not begin until 28 February, meaning there is sufficient time to work with any students impacted by course closures. Students ultimately decide which courses they wish to enrol in, and universities respond accordingly.”
Milford said she was offered no advice or support on how she can get back into another course by Semester One, and course lecturers that given how late she is in the process it will be difficult to get in anywhere else.
The university came back to her following enquiries from Newsroom to acknowledge her "tricky situation" and direct her to the compliments, concerns and complaints feedback line.
Deadlines for application to postgraduate programmes down the road at the University of Auckland have already passed, although late applications will be considered if there is room. Down at the University of Otago, the deadline for most Master's programmes is December 10.
And with a range of knock-on effects such as having to consider moving down country and what to do for a semester without student loans and discounts, it's put Milford's academic and financial future in an uncertain place.
When questioned why the Master of English and New Media Studies in particular was dropped, the AUT spokesperson said it was a course that had been identified back in early September as “no longer strategically aligned with future direction”.
That was in the university’s proposal for change, which came out on September 5.
It’s a plan to make some big changes in the wake of a difficult few years. Covid has obviously rocked the boat, cutting off the supply of big-spending international students for years, but other environmental factors like record low youth unemployment and changed expectations about what tertiary institutions deliver have made it a challenging time to be a university.
However, Milford saw the list of courses on the chopping block back in September and didn’t see her Master's on there.
The change proposal singles out the Bachelor of Arts Major in English and New Media, but there is no mention of cuts to the Master equivalent.
“That was when I kind of relaxed,” Milford said. “Up until that point I had been worried, but when I saw that the Master's wasn’t on there I was relieved.”
On top of this, the proposal promises that any big cuts would be forecast at the end of November.
“Following consideration of feedback, if a decision to cease an activity/discontinue accepting enrolments is confirmed, all positions directly affected by the decision will be declared surplus to requirements with effect Friday 25 November 2022,” the proposal reads.
That didn’t stop the news of the course cancellation only reaching students on December 15.
“I’d be less angry if they told me two months ago and I had time,” she said. “Instead, they really breezed on by some important dates.”
The course is still offered on New Zealand Education’s website angling for international students.
With staffing costs forecast at nearly two thirds of the university’s total operating costs, AUT put forward a plan to save at least $21 million through redundancies “to ensure the university is financially sustainable and able to deliver our strategic initiatives”.
However, the Employment Relations Authority just this week knocked back an attempt to axe staff, ruling that the process was flawed and breached the collective agreement.
The AUT student association recently made recommendations to the university on how to avoid redundancies and turbulence within the institution affecting its students unduly.
“Students should not suffer financially if they move institutions due to their supervisor being terminated by AUT,” they wrote. “For example, we have many students coming to AUT for their supervisor's specific expertise; what will the university do to support them and help them finish their postgraduate studies?”
Milford said she already had a supervisor more or less picked out, and moving to another institution would mean hoping she can find somebody who can provide the same specific path of study she was looking forward to.
It’s meant a lot of research and sending out applications without being able to do any prior reconnaissance.
“One thing I hate about the position they’ve put me in is I’m now rushing something that’s not designed to be rushed,” she said. “I’m having to speed through and apply to a bunch of courses.”
Milford is aiming for a career in academia, but is now struggling to see a reason to say in the country for her PhD and wondered how situations like this stack up against the country's ongoing 'brain drain'.
