Do you guys realize that the university has raised the number of papers you need to do a degree, and reduced the workload per paper slightly, and yet the price per paper has continued to rise as high as it can under Fee Maxima?

I don't remember anyone raising a kerfuffle about it last year either. I had pretty much ignored it until this year, but now it seems you need 36 papers for a conjoint instead of 32. It won't affect me much, because the papers I've done have been converted to 17.14 points each (under the new system papers will be mostly 15 points), so I might have to do an extra paper but that's it. I'm assuming single degrees will also have their requirements increased.

The university says this is to bring it into line with the degree structure of other universities, but I don't believe there is any university where a fulltime workload (EFTS = 1.0) is 8 papers... at least, Otago isn't one.

But this is a horrific example of the way the university can just make this kind of change, get it implemented without anyone kicking up a fuss, and shafting us all even more financially.

I didn't hear anything about this from AUSA either?

EDIT: I've just looked at the requirement for single degrees. You now need 24 papers instead of 21 to complete your degree. This smacks of the university trying to increase revenue, wondering how it can under fee maxima... and then deciding that it can do that by cutting the content of our papers, but not cutting the cost; increasing revenue by 1/8 - which will raise the cost of university fees by at least 600 bucks.

I'm very fucked off - and you all should be as well.

I remember reading something about this on here. The points change didn't affect me (or at least I think they don't) but lots of people are complaining about having to take an extra paper. I think this has also something to do with the new compulsory paper they are introducing? It is fucked up but I prefer not to think about things like this :P I think Xavier Kicked up a fuss.. remember reading that somewhere too.. But overall it has been quiet.

Yeah, too quiet. I'd like to suggest that AUSA find out whether this change is allowed under the Fee Maxima system, as it seems to be against the spirit of the law (I'm not sure about the letter) - because if this change is allowed to occur, then what's to stop the university doubling the required number of papers, but continuing to charge the same prices per paper? How can they be allowed to do this?

AUSA dudes, shedevil etc, I am definitely prepared to help kick some shit up over this.

Thank God you actually raised this, Archie. I'd been getting pretty fucking angry at the time when I heard about it, but the the totally muted reaction of everyone around me made me start to think that perhaps I was making a big fuss about nothing. I didn't actually realise I'd need (probably) two extra papers to complete my degree (which will send me over into a fourth year for my BA even doing 8 papers a year).

But the covert fee increase really takes the cake here: it is totally unethical to simultaneously increase paper requirements and increase fees, thus maximising the money they steal from us that they shouldn't even get in the first place in the most part.

No I raised this point with various people, and it seems that your degree is set in terms of a year of study.

So the cost of a paper should actually drop a little.

Also, there is grandparenting, so if you only have a few papers left to do in your degree, they won't suddenly change the structure and cause you to do another 3 or 4 papers.

I suggest if you want to know about this stuff you become a class rep or write to your student reps on UNiversity committees/council/senate.

hahaha.
It rocks to be an exchange student and to have a set number of papers a year and that automatically gets you your degree...

but yes, if what archie and oliver say are correct, that bullshit.

*phew*

that makes me feel a whole lot better

Hmm...I'm very sceptical about that Scuzza, partly because the university is not a particularly altruistic organization, and also because the Craccum #0 confirms that the price of papers is going up yet again.

Yeah, I'm not entirely sure about the grandparenting... hopefully, as I really don't want to have to do those extra two papers. I was hoping that if I had a bit of time left over that I would be able to do an elective or two (which wouldn't count towards my degree - as Auckland, unlike Otago, are absolute cunts and don't allow you to have electives in a conjoint; at Otago, you can have up to three).

Anyway, at Hauser's suggestion, I've sent off an email to the NZ First MP who's that party's education representative. I forgot to save the draft though, so I'm waiting for her to reply before I send it to anyone else as I can't be bothered writing out a similar letter to others (hopefully when she replies she will leave the text of my message in :-P)

We had a protest at fee setting, it would seem though that the university, or rather certain people in the university, don't actually give two shits about what we say and raise fees regardless of us "kicking up a stink". As for the changes to degree structures, ditto.

Not too much came through us, it was a kind of surprise attack on the part of the university. They tend to do this, little covert ops without consulting us because they know that we will "kick up a stink", so instead they just ass rape us.

Like when they took our buildings, they didn't even give us a chance, they just rang Scott Kelly (ex-AUSA Prez) and said we are taking your buldings. APPARENTLY, we never owned them, instead of buying them we spent $6 million(?) repairing them (under the impression they were ours, rather than spending marginally less buying them) because they were in dangerous need of repair but the university had kept us in the dark about the actual tenancy and who legally owned them, for their own evil purposes, of course, and hence the reason why we have Hello Food, and had ECM. They wanted them for commercial purposes and deliberatley kept us in the dark until their plan could come to fruition.

They are indeed Bureaucratic Cunts.

Best thing to do guys would be to go see Xavier, he's our EVP and he deals with the university about these sorts of things.

:hilarious:

Getting your tenants to pay for your repairs, awesome.

thats pretty standard under commercial property I believe.

the awesome thing about being a commercial property landlord (from the landlord's point of view of course) is that the tenants pay to improve the building

Thank god I only have 2 papers left. In the three years i've been there it seems like Auckland uni is getting its soul torn apart more and more.

The issue with that Dr Steve is, if we had known the 'real' situation, we probably wouldn't have done it. We have held off spending money on renovations in our current spaces for fear that we will spend a fuck load of money on them and then the university will step in a few years down the track and take it all off us. The money spent would be wasted on something we cannot gain revenue off to continue to make improvements/provide services.

yeah I understand that, my comment was more in response to oob's than yours.


I suggest you make a bigass fuss and try to get the uni to sell you the remaining buildings (if you gots the money that is)

Sorry, that shouldn't have read "the issue with the Dr Steve" ie. My issue with you, which doesn't actually exist, but the edited version above. I know that was more in response to Oob, difference is when Oob says it you know he's just stirring, whereas when you say it I don't mind explaining/responding etc. Plus it's not really awesome.

We dont gots teh money. AUSA=POOR.