Latest news with #OtagoUniversityStudents'Association
Otago Daily Times
5 days ago
- Politics
- Otago Daily Times
OUSA rescind Israel boycott
The Otago University Students' Association has backed down on a previous decision to boycott products and companies with ties to Israel. The issue came to a head earlier this year after the student body's decision to ban Domino's Pizza from "Tent City" during O Week. It was justified as being part of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) position — a Palestinian-led movement promoting boycotts, divestments and economic sanctions against Israel or products with ties to it. But OUSA walked back the policy at an executive meeting on Monday, citing a lack of information. This has led to Green Party MP Francisco Hernandez urging the association to rethink the damage done in a letter to the executive. Mr Hernandez asked OUSA to be mindful of their reputation. "While there may be sponsorship and funding opportunities that OUSA will lose as a result of taking this stance — there is no immediate expectation that OUSA seamlessly shift from 0-100 on the Boycott, Divest, Sanction campaign so the immediate impacts and costs are not as dramatic as you may have been advised. "But doing the right thing is rarely easy and politics is sometimes about making difficult choices." The letter also referred to the fact the executive had surveyed the students earlier this year, and more than 53% were in favour of the sanctions. A trio of action groups — Otago Students for Justice in Palestine, Muslim Student Association and Otago Staff for Palestine — also had stern criticism about OUSA's attempts to take a neutral position in a joint letter. "Purchasing decisions are not 'neutral'; they are actions. Currently, OUSA, on behalf of the students of Otago, wants to continue actively buying goods from companies directly complicit in war crimes." Academic Dr Olivier Jutel said the genocide in Gaza was "the moral horror of our time". Reuters has reported that Gaza's health ministry said Israel's post-October 7, 2023, military assault had killed more than 56,000 Palestinians. New Zealand Jewish Council representative Juliet Moses said she welcomed OUSA's about-face. "However, we believe it is a positive development to recognise the complexity of this war including the role of Hamas and its ongoing holding of hostages and oppression of Gazans, the desirability of constructive informed dialogue and engagement, and the need for two peoples to have self-determination and live with dignity and security." OUSA president Liam White defended the change in position. "This decision does not represent an abandonment of the underpinning principles of BDS. The OUSA executive remains committed to pursuing alternative actions that reflect solidarity and support in a more sustainable manner. "While the executive continues to express deep concern over the ongoing and distressing situation in the region, its foremost responsibility is to ensure the continuity and stability of essential student services provided by OUSA to benefit all students at the University of Otago."
Otago Daily Times
31-07-2025
- Politics
- Otago Daily Times
Anger over axing of scholarships
Top students will abandon the University of Otago after a shock decision to axe scholarships, the institution has been warned. Staff and students were informed of the cuts to doctoral scholarships in an email from vice-chancellor Grant Robertson this week. "We are now in a situation where, if we continue to award scholarships using our current approach, what is set to be a tight 2026 scholarship budget ... will likely be required entirely to fund students already studying with us now or who will have started based on 2025 offers," the email says. "A consequence of that situation would be that, to stay within budget, there would be no funding for new scholarship offers in 2026. This is a position I want to avoid. " Mr Robertson's email also referred to the difficult financial environment the university was facing: "Both at Otago and nationally we face tightening research funding and significant strategic shifts in the external landscape". Otago University Students' Association president Liam White said the announcement was "a huge shock, and frankly, disappointing". "It seems like all of this has happened rather quickly, without a ton of notice, and I am concerned for the students that potentially have planned the next three years of their life and now, for whatever reason, aren't able to get a scholarship." An Otago University spokeswoman said the decision was expected to mean a reduction of about 50 doctoral scholarships in the coming months. It still expected to award 140 of the scholarships this year. OUSA postgraduate representative Josh Stewart said he was absolutely livid at the university's "short-sighted decision making" and the lack of communication. "I really feel for all the students who consistently have to deal with the university system, where the ballpark keeps changing, and they don't get any say in the matter." Many students he had spoken to about the changes were now considering studying elsewhere, he said. "Otago is always having to compete with doctoral scholarships overseas ... If they, however, stay at Otago, one would think that a degree of loyalty will be rewarded, but now the rules have changed again." Green MP Francisco Hernandez had also seen the email. He said the announcement was the natural result of the government's Budget decision to cut overall tertiary funding by $162 million. "We are already experiencing a mass exodus of some of our best and brightest young people. These short-sighted cuts risk leaving communities like Dunedin as hollowed-out husks." MPols student Lindsay Roberts was among many students concerned about their academic future at Otago University. "I think for me and anyone considering doing a PhD in the future it kind of changes the incentive, to progress your career and progress your academic journey, you do want some kind of financial support as there is a big financial risk. "It pushes the incentive elsewhere — I've discussed going to Waikato University," Mr Roberts said. Former Otago University academic Prof Robin Gauld, now executive dean of Bond Business School at Bond University in Queensland, said he was aware of the concerns among the professoriate at his former university. "Good PhD students are incredible. They go on to be stellar academics, and they're incredibly productive. "So they build reputation and they build a research pipeline. They are a pretty important piece of the university's lifeblood, really." Mr Robertson's email said the September and November Graduate Research Committee doctoral scholarship panels and award rounds would be cancelled. Students who met the academic criteria for an automatic scholarship award would still be accepted and it would follow through with offers to those approved at the most recent (June) meeting of the Graduate Research Committee and the agreed Maori and Pacific Strategic awards. "Our budget for 2026 must continue the path to reducing our deficit and returning us to a financial surplus, as required by the Tertiary Education Commission." A university spokeswoman said it forecast spending about $19.77m on doctoral scholarships this year, slightly above last year's spend of $18.26m. It declined to give a projected spend for next year, other than to say it was "certainly no more " than this year. It did not expect the change to affect its reputation. "This is a temporary pause on new doctoral scholarship offers. We have hundreds of doctoral scholarship students studying at Otago, and we will be awarding more scholarships this year and next year."
Otago Daily Times
31-07-2025
- General
- Otago Daily Times
Views split on mandatory lecture recording
All lectures at the University of Otago could be recorded and available by next year if a group of academics and students gets its way. Deputy vice-chancellor academic Prof Stuart Brock, who is supporting the move, says the new policy would have measures in place to ensure student attendance at lectures did not dwindle. The proposal, which could be debated before the university's academic senate in September, has been sponsored by Prof Brock and the Otago University Students' Association. OUSA academic representative Stella Lynch said this had been "a long time coming". "To me it's just common sense, and showing some respect for our students that we provide them with learning materials when they can't turn up to class." Ms Lynch said making it mandatory had received some push-back from the academic community, who were worried it would lead to a drop in people attending lectures. "We can't always turn up ... we've got students who work multiple part-time jobs, or are sick because they live in cold, damp flats. "Something's got to give and that's often our education, so some staff are concerned that with a lack of attendance, there's going to be a lack of engagement with content — but if we give students rich recordings, that's just another avenue or mode for students to engage with their learning in a way that suits them." Prof Brock sent a memorandum to university staff last month, asking for responses. It said the recording of lectures and other teaching activities policy was last reviewed in 2016, and since then there had been many changes in teaching and recording practices at the university, particularly after the Covid-19 pandemic and the adoption of the disability action plan last year. "It is noted there are strong views from both sides of the lecture recording conversation and while the revised policy proposes making lecture recordings compulsory, we recognise the importance of encouraging in-person attendance whenever possible, and other work is being undertaken to support this." Prof Brock later told the Otago Daily Times any policy would acknowledge the importance of in-person attendance for a full academic experience. "If lecture recordings become compulsory, the university will also develop strategies to promote lecture attendance and engagement. "Recordings are intended to complement — not replace — attendance, providing support for revision or for students with valid reasons for being absent. "Lecture recordings would not be used as a substitute for regular lecture attendance. "The proposed policy sets out what exceptions and mitigations need to be in place to manage various risks including student attendance." Professors the ODT spoke to about the policy had mixed views. School of Biomedical Sciences Prof Peter Dearden said "we need to record lectures to make sure that if something goes wrong, we can provide them the information". "But I also think we need just to find ways to ensure that that doesn't mean that students sit in their hall rooms and never come to lectures. "We can't record labs. We just try to make sure that students come to labs and we do our best to interact with them and make sure that lab work is an interesting experience. "I kind of think that that's where we need to go with lectures. They need to be much more interactive ..." Ms Lynch hoped the policy would be adopted. "We've been talking about it for 18 months. Now it's been really a part of the conversations and socialised for so long that students are just, they're waiting, they're anticipating the policy to go through. "I don't think the university realises quite the shock and disappointment that it will be if we don't get this." Prof Brock said a second round of consultation would close later next month. A process will then follow whereby a revised policy would go through several formal committees before proceeding to the university's senior academic committee, senate and then to council for final approval.
Otago Daily Times
30-05-2025
- Politics
- Otago Daily Times
Student pub still wanted: referendum
A new student pub gets a big tick, but a boycott on products with ties to the Israeli government proved less favourable among the student populace. Those are the results of just two of the many questions the Otago University Students' Association (OUSA) asked its members over the past month. The results, which were published this week, could form the basis of student activism over the next year. OUSA president Liam White said he was very pleased with the level of engagement, with about 1900 people responding. "We got more students engaging with our referendum than we did with our executive election. So I can't be too disappointed with that. "I think having close to 2000 students voting is awesome." The referendum asked an array of questions, including "Should OUSA establish student-friendly bars and pubs in North Dunedin" which got a 70% favourable response. Meanwhile, only 53.5% of respondents believed OUSA should adopt a policy for its operations that aligned with the "Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions" movement (BDS) against the government of Israel. The latter question was asked after the OUSA received two formal complaints about its decision to bar Domino's Pizza from "Tent City" during O Week. Mr White said he was not surprised at the support for the student bar. "I don't think that one will go away anytime soon. "We've been talking about this for years, and I think I sat through for about two hours when it came out and read all the student comments and a lot of them were pretty harsh. "But I think it's a fair frustration for the student body that we've been trying to advocate for this for years, come close, then had to step away again, and it just kind of feels like they've gone round in circles on it." Asked about the BDS question, Mr White said the result was "clear as mud" and meant it probably needed to be sent back to the executive. He was more surprised there appeared to be just as much division over whether OUSA should receive alcohol sponsorship. "It's clear that there's not a particularly united front there." There was however "overwhelming support" (68%) to adopt a policy of educating students on affirmative consent. "It seems like the appropriate time for that." Meanwhile, Mr White's attempt to extend the president's reign to two years proved less popular — 62% voted against it. "There were a lot of Trump jokes [in the responses]. I'm not taking it personally."
Otago Daily Times
26-05-2025
- Health
- Otago Daily Times
Putting Nth Dunedin's house in order
The grungy student flat in Dunedin has become a stereotype that will be hard to shake. That is the nature of stereotypes: they become fixed in people's minds. They become reflexive word associations. Student flat in Dunedin equals dilapidated and unkept. Sadly, this label has more than an element of truth. Poorly maintained flats are not uncommon, as revealed by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment's (MBIE) tenancy compliance and investigations team. The team visited 53 North Dunedin student flats. It found "the majority" had maintenance issues, and three properties had "multiple breaches" of the healthy homes standards. While many homeowners might blush at their maintenance backlog, landlords operate a business, even if they own only one flat. They have both moral and legal obligations to provide satisfactory accommodation and respond to basic matters. MBIE targeted properties most likely to be poorly maintained and non-compliant with healthy home standards. Landlords had been "engaged" before the visits, allowing them to make improvements. They may have inspected smoke alarms and supplied copies of healthy home statements, but the number of remaining issues found was "disappointing", MBIE's team leader said. Otago University Students' Association president Liam White said he was not surprised by the inspection results. The core issue was the overall quality of housing. He cited one flat where mushrooms and mould were growing out of the walls. To gauge the extent of the problem, OUSA was preparing a Dunedin-wide flat survey. He had been told that 30% of student rentals would likely fail to comply with the healthy homes standards. Mr White said the housing regulatory system did not work because the burden was completely on the renters. Young students who did not know better were bearing the brunt of the poor flats. For some, the rundown flat is perceived as part of the Dunedin student experience, lowering expectations. Others might be reluctant to push landlords for improvements, fearing that doing so could impact their references for future rentals. When landlords get away with low standards, others are more likely to follow suit. Low standards beget low standards. If landlords can minimise upkeep costs while still profiting, why would they invest more? If landlords fail to maintain basics like wooden cladding and windowsills, students are less likely to feel inclined to care for the flats themselves. If the landlord does not care, why should they? Extreme cases of tenant damage and neglect also occur. Tenants should take responsibility for simple preventive measures such as ventilating bathrooms and airing the house when the weather is favourable. The healthy homes standards take effect from July 1, a critical safeguard and backstop. A bathroom extractor fan is among the ventilation, heating and insulation requirements. Mould on the ceiling and walls of a student flat. PHOTO: ODT FILES North Dunedin could be busy in the limited time available if landlords rush to comply. It would be unfair if some continued supplying substandard housing while others had made the necessary upgrades. Further regulation is tempting because tenants are vulnerable. Labour's Residential Property Managers Bill would have introduced compulsory licensing, a code of professional conduct and an independent complaints and disciplinary process. The government has abandoned this plan. A "rental warrant of fitness" has been an idea worth serious consideration. Further regulations, however, mean more time, bureaucracy and costs. That must be paid for somewhere and somehow. A good approach is for MBIE's unit to be efficient, decisive, firm and fair in its compliance operations. The regulatory system cannot just rely on potentially under-pressure tenants. Landlords need to know there are consequences for their failings. The grotty and poorly maintained North Dunedin flats are an important matter primarily for the health and wellbeing of students. Homes must be warm, dry and safe. Poor student accommodation also sends a poor message to families about life at the University of Otago and Dunedin. Landlords need to get their North Dunedin house in order. Even then, it will take years for the area to shake its deeply ingrained — and often well-earned — nationwide reputation.
