New Zealand universities shed "non-core" courses

The College of Arts governance group at UC has issued a proposal to eliminate the departments of Theatre and Film Studies and American Studies, as well as to make cuts in the School of Fine Arts, with a loss of twenty-one jobs. Staff were granted six weeks to submit counter-proposals, though this was during the busy beginning of the academic year. The cuts have been justified on the basis that the courses are not core and can be removed in order to redress the Colleges $NZ1.8 million ($US1.4 million, 908,000) shortfall. This is despite the fact that UC has been recording consistent surpluses in excess of NZ$6 million.

VUW, currently running an NZ$11.3 million surplus, aims at more modest cuts. The university intends to transform its department of Film Studies into the department of Cinema Studies, shedding two academic staff on the way. VUW staff were given only three weeks to prepare submissions, and the local Student Association (VUWSA) only received second-hand notification a week later. In response to a student outcry, the university later relaxed its deadline.

Deeply unpopular is the likely consequence that VUW courses teaching the practical skills of film production and scriptwriting will be unavailable to undergraduates. For film students interested in practical instruction, the change amounts to a de facto fee increase of thousands of dollars

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