VUW Consultation Before Cuts

In July, VUW management announced a new set of "change proposals", seriously changing the nature of the International Relations program at Victoria University.

The submissions and petitions from staff and students that followed were reviewed undemocratically by a select committee, who decided to ignore the 1000+ signatures and various submissions seeking accountability from management in these decisions.

The aim of this petition is to critically reflect on the arbitrary use of power by management and demand more accountability, particularly for students, in the future.

The goals are simple.

1. We want meaningful consultation through PUBLIC student forums that are well-advertised at least 2 weeks in advance, via Blackboard, student emails and posters. These forums must engage with your typical "go to class, go home" student.

2. When there is a "significant shift"* in university process or change in program, the student reps of the affected faculty must be consulted as a representative student body. These students must inform their classes in full and channel the feedback to management.

*We define "significant shift" as having been met with substantive concern from students and/or staff.

3. More student representation on Academic Board.

This is exceptionally reasonable on our part as affected students and constitutes the bare minimum for democratic student consultation process.