Music programmes at Te Pūkenga’s WelTec, Whitireia campuses could be gone by year’s end

Music studies run at Te Pūkenga’s WelTec and Whitireia’s Dixon St campuses could be gone at the end of the year, with the Tertiary Education Union warning the move was a part of a funding model that could ‘decimate creative arts across Aotearoa’.

Music programmes have been offered by the Wellington institutions since 1991, but equivalent full time student (EFTS) numbers have halved from 102 students in 2019 to 51 in 2022, putting the offerings at risk of being axed.

The largest student drop has been seen in Bachelor of Creativity (Music) course where students have plummeted from 23.58 EFTS in 2019 to 0.75 this year.

A confidential proposal document to cut two Bachelor of Creativity degrees majoring in music and performing arts, two diploma and three certificate courses has been sent to affected staff for feedback. Consultation will close on Friday, September 30, with a final decision on the programmes’ fate due for release in mid-October.

READ MORE:
* Whitireia and Weltec polytechnics in Wellington to cut about 55 jobs
* Whitireia backtracks on plan to transfer students studying early childhood education
* Whitireia documents show enrolments close for 64 courses
* Whitireia culling programmes ‘likely to impact’ jobs
* Students rally over proposed staff cuts and support service changes at Whitireia

Whitireia and WelTec executive director Mark Oldershaw said consulting with staff over the provision of music courses followed a standard annual review of its programmes.

“No decisions have been made and feedback is being sought on [the] ways forward. At this point, ākonga (students) are not impacted, and the programmes are continuing as normal. No other creative programmes are being considered as part of this process,” Oldershaw said.

However, union organiser Drew Mayhem said the proposal was to disestablish music study and not to downsize, meaning seven jobs were on the line.

“I’ve seen other proposals where they’ve looked to reduce full-time staffing numbers due to falling enrolments, and as much as we may dislike that, it’s understandable. But to take a ‘we no longer want to offer that provision of study at all’ approach, once it’s gone, it’s going to be impossible to get back,” Mayhem said.

WelTec and Whitireia officially became a part of megapolytech Te Pūkenga – which brings together the country’s 16 institutes of technology and polytechnics (ITPs) – on September 1.

Deputy chief executive academic and delivery of the new entity Dr Angela Beaton said Te Pūkenga was committed to having a full and diverse range of programmes which connected students to employers in their chosen industry, so students could “come out with a level of student debt that isn’t out of proportion to their earning potential”.

While he acknowledged there had been a reduction in student numbers since the last institute-wide review in 2019, Mayhem said external factors have played a part, including the Covid-19 pandemic and a lack of music course promotion.

Vocational student numbers were also influenced by the job market – in times of high unemployment, people were more likely to engage in tertiary study to upskill or re-train, but with unemployment sitting at 3.3 per cent in the June 2022 quarter, demand for study was low.

The consultation document dated August 30 acknowledged the pandemic may have impacted student numbers, but also cited job availability and the increased cost of living in making studying less attractive to prospective students.

The Whitireia and WelTec Head of School Mick Jays wrote that an institute-wide review in 2019 enabled the school to keep the suite of music programmes going, while “continuing to work on efficiencies in delivery”.

However, “recent and current environments” have not been “conductive to growth or at least sustaining” student numbers, the document read.

Mayhem pointed out that while music courses were resource-intensive, they were vital to the health of society.

“The courses on the chopping block here produce people with technical and professional skills to make it in the music industry. It’s also a really important cultural identity space for students from diverse backgrounds,” Mayhem said.