ANNUAL REPORT 2019
VICTORIA UNIVERSITY OF WELLINGTON STUDENTS’ ASSOCIATION
TE RŌPU TAUIRA O TE KURA WĀNANGA
O TE UPOKO O TE IKA A MAUI INC
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Contents
1 President’s Report 2 a. VUWSA Executive Members List, 2019 3 b. Events 4 c. Campaigns 10 d. Advocacy / Representation 16 e. Strategic Recommendations 20 2 Appendices: a. Sex Week Report 23 b. Mental Health Report 39 c. Check the Rec Report 54 d. Student Assembly Constitution (Draft) 68 e. Student Assembly Discussion Document 73
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Tēnā tātou e ngā tauira katoa o Te Whare Wānanga o te Ūpoko o te Ika. Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou e ngā tauira, e ngā kaimahi o tō tātou whare wānanga, mō tō koutou awhi i tēnei tau.
To the students and workers of Victoria University of Wellington, thank you for allowing us to serve you, to advocate for you, to heed and articulate your voice to the leaders of the University, in Wellington, in Aotearoa, and in the world. As a group of students who are passionate about giving back to our student community, we have strived our hardest to fight for a student experience and learning environment which not only helps you to succeed in your studies, but one that allows you to thrive, maintain a healthy wellbeing, keeps you safe and brings more opportunities.
It was an honour to become the first wahine Māori President in the 122-year history of VUWSA, and although the enormity of the role presented challenges sometimes which were compounded by some of the attitudes and behaviour I experienced as the first
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women President in five years (yikes!), I was really well supported by yourselves and our incredible staff. After 3 and a bit years at VUWSA, I am glad to have been able to contribute to such an important kaupapa.
Special thanks to our CEO, Matt Tucker, for all of his support in making all of our dreams a reality. Mā whero, mā pango, ka oti ai te mahi.
Tamatha Paul Ngāti Awa, Waikato Tainui
VUWSA EXECUTIVE MEMBERS, 2019
PRESIDENT Tamatha Paul ACADEMIC VICE PRESIDENT Geo Robrigado ENGAGEMENT VICE PRESIDENT Puawai Waller WELFARE VICE PRESIDENT Rhianna Morar Michael Turnbull TREASURER SECRETARY Delia Fu EDUCATION OFFICER Rinaldo Strydom CAMPAIGNS OFFICER Finn Carroll CLUBS & ACTIVITIES OFFICER Millie Osborne WELLBEING & SUSTAINABILITY OFFICER Kimberley McIntyre Michael Turnbull EQUITY OFFICER Komal Singh
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EVENTS
Orientation Week & Re-Set Week O Week is always a good time and it’s awesome being able to give freshers a good induction into the Capital City. We always have a good line up of day and night time events. Our night events included concerts with Rudimental, Mako Road, Sweet Mix Kids, Netsky, Max Key, Winston Surfshirt, Benee and my personal favourite, Melodownz. This year we saw the a declining trend of intoxication and incidences at our events which is supported by our effective Safe Room which provides students a safe place to take a break from the events of the evening. Our volunteers are always excellent, patrolling the events and making sure people are drinking plenty of water.
This year, we wanted to ensure we had plenty of non-alcoholic events on offer for students so we provided an outdoor Movie Night, Song Bingo, Campus Expo’s, Quiz Night, and heaps of on campus activities.
We rebranded Re-Orientation Week to Re-Set week so that it is more oriented towards students preparing for the second trimester of the year with more inspiring and motivating events. Many first year students struggle in the second semester, so we wanted to make sure we were cognisant of this, and supporting their success.
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We learnt that we need a much bigger venue for O Week and were happy to secure The Hub as a venue for 2020.
Recommendation: (1) continue with wraparound care and support for students at all of our events to ensure that we aren’t contributing to binge drinking cultures, and are able to reduce harm where possible. (2) Work with University on Hall kickout times to deter binge drinking and give students a safe place to consume alcohol.
Mental Health Wānanga One of our first exec-led events for the year was the Mental Health Wānanga at Tapu te Ranga Marae in Island Bay, Wellington. We brought together students from all of the academic and equity representative groups, different faculties and different age groups to get a comprehensive understanding of what solutions students would like to see to improve their mental wellbeing.
In 2018, we gained a lot of momentum following “The Wait is Over” Mental Health Rally and Campaign which we organised. This wānanga was intended to build off the strength of this, and to produce a report which we could give to University leadership and student leaders which would outline the key changes and opportunities that the University could invest in to support the mental wellbeing of their students such as making all lectures available online which would allow students to work, make space for family and cultural obligations, and take a day off when they need.
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Recommendation: (1) Support equity representative groups and faculty representative groups to find solutions that support students mental health. This is undeniably the biggest non-academic issue facing students and deserves VUWSA and the University’s full attention. (2) Vic Student Health & Counselling services will probably lose three or four counsellors when the Piki Pilot ends in 2021 which will add strain to the wait times students experience when awaiting to see a counsellor. VUWSA should keep up good relationships with Director of Student Services, people from Tū Ora Compass Health who provide us the extra counsellors, and the Ministers and Spokespeople for Health within Parliament to ensure VUWSA is aware of opportunities to improve the capacity of this service for students.
Sex Week is a fresh way to bring the sex birds and the bees to young people. It’s a cheeky, unapologetic educational experience on the sex week talk you wish you had. april 1-5, 2019 follow us for more info:
@vuwsagram
/vuwsa
@vuwsa
Sex Week
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One in three students will experience sexual harm during their time in tertiary education, in New Zealand. In 2018, the University and VUWSA partnered to create Sex in The Hub which was a one off event at Kelburn which had panels, a quiz and different stalls which explored consent, sexuality education and sexual health.
In 2019, we decided to scale this up to a full blow weeklong event. Rhianna and I decided we wanted to have expo’s at every campus catered towards the predominant disciplines at each campus (e.g. Te Aro campus had more of an art and design focus), we wanted to have a number of different events, and we wanted to empower our equity representative groups to be involved in the co-design of this week. We managed to get the event totally funded by the University (through Pam Thorburn and Emma Mossman) and Wellington City Council (through the Mayor’s discretionary fund). Our expo’s allowed us to partner with different organisation such as the HIV Aids Foundation and Wellington Rape Crisis, and had a focus on normalizing korero about sexuality, consent and sexual health.
We organised an interhall competition as part of the annual interhall competition in order to engage first year students where we asked halls to create a 40-sec video of what consent meant to them. Weir House won and created an incredible video which Wellington Sexual Abuse HELP Network now use as a resource when they go into High Schools.
We were really happy with how the week went, a key change we made was to have the event in April rather than September so that it is part of first year students introduction to tertiary life.
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Recommendation: (1) Ensure that Sex Week is always early in the year to hit the time when first year students are learning – continue to advocate for consistent, compulsory consent and sexuality education in secondary schools in New Zealand as per the major recommendation within the In Our Own Words, Thursdays in Black Report 2017. (2) Secure a multi-year funding agreement with the University for the future financial viability and consistency of the event. (3) Have more involvement of equity representative groups, faculty representative groups and University sports
clubs in the design and implementation of this week. (4) Find new, consistent and successful ways to engage with Halls of Residence around the subject of consent. The University has committed to this in the past, but we found that their approach is often inconsistent. Making it a part of the interhall competition in some way will be helpful.
Toitū te Ao This year, we combined Wiki o Te Reo Māori and Sustainability Week to create Toitū te Ao, the name was gifted by Prof. Rawinia Higgins. The University’s Sustainability Office fully funded us to run this week on their behalf, so we were able to combine a number of staff and student events. The stand out event of the week was our Sustainability / Kaupapa Māori expo in the Hub on the Wednesday where we had involvement from over forty organisations, departments, businesses and stakeholders from throughout the City.
Recommendation: (1) Get a multi-year funding agreement with the University to run this event. (2) Combine Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori (or other indigenous language weeks) with Sustainability Week to show the crossover and nuance between indigenous
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solutions and environmental sustainability. This will also ensure we reach beyond the environmentally-minded students who naturally engage with this type of kaupapa. (3) Apply for Wellington City Council’s Waste Minimisation or Natural Environment Funds.
Fundraising Events We also held a number of fundraising events for community organisations this year including holding a Quiz Night during Sex Week with all proceeds going to Wellington Sexual Abuse HELP. We also participated in a Meal in May which is a Kaibosh Fundraiser. Participating in local organisation fundraisers is crucial to VUWSA being a part of the local ecosystem of not for profit organisations advocating for various communities.
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CAMPAIGNS
Mental Health / Piki This year, I was able to work with VUW Student Services, Ministry of Health and Tū Ora Compass Health in steering the design and implementation of the Piki Project which is a pilot for free mental health services for 18 to 25 year olds in the Wellington Region, including students of that age range at Victoria University of Wellington. This project was worth $10million, of which Vic received about $3m across two and a half years which allowed us to hire 3-4 more mental health practitioners. This was really important because prior to this funding, students were experiencing wait times of six to nine weeks to see a counsellor.
Myself and the Welfare VP met fortnightly with the relevant student services staff member and Pam Throburn, Director of Student Services, to track how the Piki Pilot was going at Victoria. At the regional level, I chaired the Youth Reference / Co- Design group and was a member of the Project Steering Group.
Recommendation: (1) Ensure that VUWSA continues to go along to the meetings relevant to this project, and maintains good relationships with internal and external people involved in the project so we can be aware of upcoming opportunities. I, Too, Am Vic I, Too, Am Vic is a campaign that students have been keen for, for a long time. It was inspired by the I, Too, Am Auckland campaign which aimed to diversify people’s perceptions of Auckland City. Simialrly, at Vic, the perception is that our students are all wealthy, white, middle-or-upper class young people, when really, we have a hugely diverse mix of students for whom the struggle is real! We wanted to create a fun, engaging video series which profiled the lives of students from these communities to celebrate our diverse community.
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Save Fountown Wellington City Council proposed to put a Liquor Ban on Kelburn Park, citing high numbers of students drinking at the Park and around the infamous Kelburn Park Fountain (AKA Fountown). We took exception to this because rather than working with us to find constructive solutions, the Council decided to take a punitive approach which would result in students being fined for drinking in the Park. They did not investigate why this happens, which is the University kicks students out of the hall for consuming alcohol beyond 10pm but there are very few places for students to consume alcohol in town that students can afford so they opt to buy alcohol and go to the Park.
We managed to get 400 submissions on the Council’s liquor ban which subsequently got the ban thrown out. From there, the University commissioned a report into alcohol policy within the halls including reviewing the limits, kick out times and communal drinking spaces within the hall. University of Otago Halls provide some good examples for having no limits on the amount of alcohol students can have and better communal areas. Realistically, students paying many times above market rent prices for accommodation should be allowed to consume alcohol in a safe environment in their homes, as they would if they were flatting.
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Recommendation: (1) stay engaged with the Council around their work on City Safety and alcohol bylaws, particularly in and around the area of Courtenay Place. (2) Push the University to trust their residents and allow them to consume alcohol in communal spaces in their halls.
Check the Rec One of the key recommendations from the Mental Health Report was that the University needs to record all of their lectures. This would allow for students to have the time, space and energy to look after their mental and physical health, to fulfil any family or cultural obligations, and to work while studying because the cost of living as a student in 2019 is so high, particularly in Wellington.
We managed to get over 2,000 submissions from students supporting the universal recording of lectures, and in the report we produced, we managed to get stories/
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testimonials from students and lecturers alike, from all different backgrounds and faculties. We gave this report to Vice Provost Academic, Prof Stuart Brock, who investigated a number of policy options. Ultimately, we got the sense that the University was not prepared to invest the money needed to have the technological capacity to carry out this task. This was ultimately disappointing as we saw in 2020, with the onset of covid-19 around the world and the drastic pedagogical changes that the University had to make to ensure students could study from home, that universal access to all recorded lectures would have allowed the University to adapt more quickly to growing demands for this service. Moreover, following the terrorist attacks in Christchurch on March 15, 2019, many students felt with the rise of white supremacy and xenophobic actions and behaviour that they were safer studying from home, and did not want to be in public settings.
Recommendation: (1) continue working with the University to stress how overdue the provision of universal lecture recordings are, as is available at respective Universities of Auckland and Otago.
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Thursdays in Black This year, we decided that VUWSA needed to put more effort into making Thursdays in Black a student club rather than a campaign that VUWSA leads every year to ensure it’s a sustainable campaign. We launched the VUW Thursdays in Black Club, got heaps of students to join and then ran the Initial General Meeting so that a student executive could be elected. This improved the viability of the club, and one year on the club is definitely a lot stronger and consistent throughout the year than when VUWSA was exclusively running the campaign.
Recommendation: (1) Let Thursdays in Black club have a bigger role in designing and organising Sex Week, (2) Continue to provide funding in support of their events.
Take Back The City / Local Body Elections Local Body Elections were this year. We ran a campaign to get students engaged and keen to vote in local body elections here in Wellington. First, we canvassed which issues students cared about a the local government level, which was public transport, quality and availability of rental housing, city safety and climate change / environmental issues. After that, we showed how various local bodies like City
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Councils, Regional Council and District Health Boards are relevant to students everyday lives. Throughout these two phases, we did active enrolment activations across all the campuses and at different events to get students enrolled. We didn’t track how many students we enrolled, but we enrolled more than 400 students. Finally, we hosted three separate debates so that students were aware of who they could vote for. The first was a regional council debate, the second was a Mayoral debate hosted by Robbie Nicol (AKA White Man Behind a Desk) and the third was a youth candidate debate from across the region.
Recommendation: (1) work with the City Council (specifically the community engagement portfolio holder) to allow local body election voting on campus. We were denied this because it was assumed that this would give an unfair advantage to younger candidates. General election voting is always held on campus by the Electoral Commission, local body voting should be no different and should be prioritised by local bodies because of the declining turnout rate.
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ADVOCACY / REPRESENTATION
Student Assembly I developed the concept of the Student Assembly, and spent this year refining the Terms of Reference and concept in conjunction with student leaders.
The Student Assembly is a forum of student leaders at Victoria University of Wellington from a range of cross-faculty, cross-cultural backgrounds who come together to discuss business/ issues affecting students. The Assembly meets at least four times a year. Every student* who attends is paid a Living Wage for the full day and has their transport costs covered. Students and staff from Victoria University of Wellington and other local/national stakeholders are able to bring business to the Student Assembly for deliberation. All discussion and proceedings are recorded, and advice from students is fed back to relevant stakeholders.
The Student Assembly is intended to increase access, participation and quality of consultation on business relevant to students, while strengthening the unified student voice, holding the University to account and building networks of students across backgrounds and faculties.
The funding for this Assembly has been secured (~$30,000) from the Advisory Committee on the Student Services Levy (ACSSL) for five meetings in 2020.
Recommendation: (1) Run the Student Assembly meetings and meet regularly with the various involved organisation to make sure they know what’s going on and know what the purpose of the Assembly is. (2) continue to refine the Terms of Reference to find a formula that works and empowers all. A strong and clear student voice is the primary objective for this project, as well as empowering students to participate
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through acknowledging financial inequities and unequal access to participate and remunerating students accordingly.
Events of March 15th Following the terrorist attacks in Christchurch unfolded on March 15, 2019 in Christchurch, student leaders immediately gathered in the Hub to check on students to make sure they were okay and sing waiata for those who were in shock and grieving the actions they had just witnessed.
That Monday, we took to the black construction wall in the Hub, wrote “Tribute to Our Muslim Whānau”, and put out paint and chalk for students to leave a message of hope or prayer. Within an hour, the wall was covered. We felt it was important to show Muslim students that we care about them and have their back, but to also show students that hatred and racism is not welcome in our student community.
We advocated that the University urgently make all lecture recordings available online because many students were really scared about being in public spaces. The University mandated this for two weeks, however, many faculties and schools did not record their lectures online, unfortunately.
Recommendation: the VUWSA Equity Officer needs to actively work with representative groups like Vic Muslim Club and Victoria African Students Association
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to make sure that the University is doing all they can to create safe spaces for these groups, and to design and implement actively anti-racist policy. It is not enough for the Institution to say “we’re not racist.”
Ngāi Tauira seat on ACSSL The Advisory Committee on the Student Services Levy (ACSSL) is the student x staff body which decides on the allocation of the student services levy which is a compulsory fee that every student pays every year. There are legislative rules around what the levy can and can’t be spent on. This body is meant to act as a partnership model between students and the University. VUWSA were the only group to have a decision making seat on the committee on behalf of all students, however, we managed to get Ngāi Tauira – the Māori Students Association, an equal seat on the committee alongside VUWSA.
Sexual Harassment Policy After years of advocating for a standalone sexual harassment policy which existed separately from the Student Conduct Statute (which does not mention sexual harassment in the list of unacceptable behaviour), the University created a sexual harassment policy which outlined the reporting process and the procedures which would be followed if student/s wished to lodge a disclosure or a complaint of sexual harassment against a student or staff member within the University. This process was designed to centre restorative justice which centres the mana of the survivor and preventative outcomes, i.e. the perpetrator is also required to reflect on and change their attitudes and behaviours through a mana-enhancing process which seeks to ensure that further victims will not be created through their future actions.
We coordinated ongoing consultation with representative groups and helped many of them to create their own submissions on behalf of their groups on the policy. We managed to get seventy submissions on the policy making it the most submissions on a University policy ever. We helped the University to organise their forums where the Vice Provost Academic and students presented the intention of the policy and sought feedback across campuses.
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Recommendation: (1) If the University engages VUWSA to run consultation on their behalf again, the University should just give VUWSA the funding to do this and leave us to it. This will be more effective at engaging students than the University organising the events and engaging VUWSA to attend.
Faculty of Law Seat VUWSA has representative seats for students on almost every Faculty Board across the University, except for the Faculty Law which has a VUW Law Students Society (VUWLSS) has a seat on and so does the equity groups at Law School. Welfare Vice President and former Education Officer, Rhianna Morar, negotiated the VUWSA seat with VUWLSS and the Faculty of Law.
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Strategic Recommendations
Student Assembly VUWSA must continue to develop the Student Assembly so that we can ensure student voice is strong and so that students have confidence that we will listen to and articulate their voice. The reality is that, alone, VUWSA can’t reach all students and shouldn’t attempt to. This is a massive criticism that VUWSA has always received over the years, particularly from the University Council.
Equity and faculty representative groups are the best vessels for communities to organise and social through. When all of these groups are strong, then collectively the student voice is at its strongest. VUWSA’s responsibility needs to be to act as a conduit for all of these voices and to try our best to always stay on top of how the student experience is going and what the mood is around campus on different issues ranging from academic, to pastoral, to social issues (critic and conscience of society).
When big issues arise like the University name change or designing the sexual harassment policy, it’s important that all students have a space where all information can be shared honestly and transparently, and where students can formulate views together and hear about impacts on student groups outside of their own.
This has been an idea for many different VUWSA Executives. The momentum for this needs to continue for it to take off and to retain the funding from ACSSL.
Te Tiriti o Waitangi This year at our Annual General Meeting, we brought forward a suite of amendments to the VUWSA Constitution. One of these was to give Ngāi Tauira a voting seat on the VUWSA Executive. The next step needs to be the remuneration of whoever the representative is that attends the Executive Meetings and participates given everyone else is being paid to be around the table. This participation allows for a better, active relationship between VUWSA and Ngāi Tauira. VUWSA also needs to support NT’s success because the University’s support team for Māori Students, Āwhina, is quickly positioning themselves as the on-campus whānau for Māori Students. However, this
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has always been Ngāi Tauira for many decades, and for Māori students to thrive, they need a structure that exists outside of and independently from the colonial University system.
The VUWSA Executive should also endeavour to make Te Tiriti o Waitangi training and cultural competency training as part of their annual retreats, especially when there are no indigenous people or people of colour on the Executive. VUWSA has always struggled onboarding non-white people onto VUWSA which adds to the internal and external perception that VUWSA does not represent all students.
Review relationship with NZUSA Every year we pay $45,000 to be members of New Zealand Union of Students Associations, we have been members of NZUSA for a long time. The intention of NZUSA is to provide a national tertiary student voice. Vic, Otago and Auckland are the three universities that pay the maximum fee of $45,000. Given that this is a significant fee, VUWSA should review what value for students they are getting from this membership and what NZUSA could do to support VUWSA. There is potential in being members of NZUSA. This needs to be explored, though.
Executive Restructure At the 2019 Annual General Meeting, we changed the role of Wellbeing and Sustainability Officer and Equity Officer to Equity & Wellbeing Officer and Sustainability Officer. This was because the EO often does not have enough work to do, and the WSO has too much work to do given wellbeing and sustainability are really broad portfolio areas.
Representation of President Finally, it is painfully obvious looking at the VUWSA Presidents Board in the Student Union Building that the VUSA President has overwhelmingly been a white male student. This is not representative, in fact there are more women in tertiary education. I was the first woman President after four male Presidents, and after me there is another man, and only two male candidates for the 2021 Presidency. I don’t know exactly what needs to be done to address this, but VUWSA should look into doing a representation review at some point to see how they can improve diversity on the
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Executive, or how women can be supported to put themselves forward for this key role.
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Appendix A: Sex Week Report
BACKGROUND
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In September 2018, VUWSA piloted ‘Sex in the Hub’. It was a one-day event in the Hub, comprised of stalls and interactive spaces.
Following an extensive feedback process, VUWSA re-designed the pilot. The pilot was overtly explicit and conveyed some quite confronting material with the genital artwork, lived experiences exhibition and erotica writing workshop. This meant only students who were comfortable engaging at this level would partake in the event. However, we really wanted to reach those students who weren’t already engaged with this content and create a safe environment where they can engage at a comfortable level. Sex Week (1 April - 5 April) was a week-long initiative, hosted by VUWSA, dedicated to consensual, safe and pleasurable sex. Photographs from ‘Sex in the Hub’ pilot (September, 2018)
OVERVIEW In 2019 we partnered with Victoria University, Wellington City Council and Massey University at Wellington Campus. This meant we were able to host satellite events, beyond the main event in The Hub at Kelburn, in the Law School Common Room (Pipitea Campus), The Atrium at Te Aro, and at Massey University at Wellington.
We introduced a market-place element, where local businesses with similar values could sell their goods. We designed some interactive signage which prompted self-reflection on toxic behaviours and promoted active bystander intervention. Our clubs had more of an opportunity this year to get involved, with the likes of Feminist Organisation, Law Student’s and Feminist Law Societies, Women in Tech, Politics Society, Generation Zero, Vic Uke and Mmpop Improv having stalls at this year’s event.
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PARTNERSHIPS AND FUNDING
From the left: Wendy Larner (Pro Vost Equity and Academic), Fleur Fitzsimons (Southern Ward, WCC), Tamatha Paul (VUWSA President) Justin Lester (Mayor, WCC).
BUSINESS PROPOSAL We designed a business proposal, which compared the pilot and our vision for 2019. The business proposal is an invaluable resource as it illustrates continuity and legitimacy when applying for funding.
In future, organisers should plan for upcoming funding/ grants rounds to ensure the deadline is met.
In 2018, VUWSA significantly ran over budget and absorbed this excess cost. This impaired the annual budget heading into 2019. This was largely due to poor planning and a lack of external funding.
PARTNERSHIPS In January, Tam and I had built strong relationships with key University members. Pam Thornburn, Director of Student Academic Services, considered our business proposal and agreed to increase last year’s funding by $2,000 ($5,000 total). We pitched the business proposal to the University by emphasising their commitment to ending sexual violence on campus. Historically, VUWSA has led the conversation on sexually harmful behaviours on campus and that the University should be seen to resource work which contributes to achieving this.
We also had strong relationships with key Council members, including Fleur Fitzsimons and Justin Lester. We pitched the business proposal to her by taking a ‘City Safety’ approach,
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putting a large emphasis on our ‘Don’t Guess the Yes’ partnership. Fleur spoke to Justin Lester about the idea, at which point he committed to providing $500 each to VUWSA and MAWSA through his discretionary funding line. Although we were initially disappointed in the amount, the partnership signalled a commitment to ensuring student safety both on and off campus.
These partnerships provided the event with enhanced legitimacy. Our comms and marketing were able to use both VUW and WCC logos alongside the Student Associations’, which appealed to external stakeholders and invited guests. These partnerships illustrate the growth of the event, from a one-day event to a week-long initiative.
FUNDING STAKEHOLDER RESOURCE
Victoria University of Wellington Paying up to $5,000 - via invoice
Wellington City Council Paying $1000 - $500 respectively to both VUWSA and MAWSA (Massey University at Wellington Students’ Association)
KELBURN, (THE HUB)
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On Wednesday 3rd April, we had 28 stalls in the Hub. These stalls were a mixture of arts and crafts, not-for-profit organisations/ businesses, student clubs and advocacy groups. Alongside our interactive signage and speeches from the Pro-Vost Wendy Larner and Mayor Justin Lester.
Our stalls included the following:
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● Family Planning ● Jean Chua (Artist) ● Wellington HELP ● Wā Collective ● Sexual Abuse Prevention Network and Wellington Rape Crisis ● NZ Aids Foundation ● VUW Feminist Organisation ● NOPE Sisters and Fight Sexual Abuse NZ ● Inside Out ● Student Wellbeing Awareness Team ● Disability Services ● Rainbow and Inclusion ● Student Health (Mauri Ora) and Student Interest and Conflict Resolution ● Glyde Healthcare ● Dripped in Honey ● KENTO store ● Thursdays in Black (Op Shop)
As the event was held in Trimester 1, many first-year students are based at Kelburn campus and attended the event. The student clubs that participated attracted their friends.
The market-place element increased student engagement drastically. There was a consistent flow of students throughout the day. The stalls which sold earrings, art/ prints and clothes were the most popular. Students could walk away with a tangible statement piece, like a NOPE sisters t-shirt, TIB badge, and/or body positivity print. Further, organisations like NOPE sisters, Dripped with Honey and Inside Out donate a portion of their proceeds to sexual violence prevention or supporting gender minorities organisations.
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PIPITEA
From the left: Victoria University of Wellington Law Students’ Association and Feminist Law Society
The Pipitea event was run by VUW Law Students’ Society and Feminist Law Society, with assistance from VUWSA.
We had VUW student services, a Thursdays in Black Op Shop where all proceeds went to Gender Minorities Aotearoa and a bake sale where all proceeds went to Wellington Rape Crisis.
Pipitea is an easy and lowkey campus. The cohort at Pipitea are generally well-engaged with VUWSA and general political issues. The op shop and bake sale were managed by volunteers throughout the day. The representative groups at Law School are very well-equipped and run their own events throughout the year. We were happy to continue the partnership with VUWLSS and VUWFLS on sexual harm reduction.
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TE ARO
From the left: Komal Singh (Equity Officer, VUWSA), Kimberley McIntyre (Interim Wellbeing and Sustainability Officer) and Tamatha Paul (VUWSA President).
The Te Aro event was run primarily by VUWSA exec. There was internal debate about cancelling the Te Aro event, primarily due to lack of physical space and engagement with students at this particular campus. The University only permitted us space for four stalls in the Attrium. This made it difficult to replicate the Kelburn or Pipitea events at Te Aro. We sought artists, designers and student representatives to participate. We wanted to tailor each event to the specific cohort and envisaged a student exhibition at Te Aro. However, we did not receive any expressions of interest for Te Aro. Other external stakeholders preferred to participate in the Kelburn event over our satellite events.
Nevertheless, we decided to continue with the event. We had VUW student services, student giveaways and interactive signage down at Te Aro campus.
The event received very low engagement, despite a push through comms and marketing. VUWSA must continue to work on it’s relationship with the cohort at Te Aro campus. LOGISTICS
Sex Week was organised by the WVP and President. In 2018, it was organised by our WSO. We decided to up-skill leadership on this project to the VP, as a person with increased capacity of 20 hours/ week. The VP and President have strong relationships with key University and Council members, and often have relevant expertise in sexual harm reduction campaigns.
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Overall, this project succeeded based on exceptional time management. We began planning in January, which gave us time to continue to build relationships within the University and external stakeholders.
The business proposal, invitations, and comms/ marketing plan equipped us with tools to use in meetings with key University and external stakeholders. This ensured the flow of communication was clear and consistent from the beginning.
INTERNAL
WORKING GROUP We wanted to share the workload, beyond the WVP and President. We envisaged that the WVP and President would provide strategic oversight, while other Exec members would work on different aspects of the initiative.
However, despite various working group and general executive meetings, the WVP and President absorbed most of the workload. This was perhaps due to most exec members being new and learning to balance their various commitments.
In future, the President should not absorb as much work as she did. The President should merely act in an advisory capacity to the WVP. The WVP should act in a strategic capacity, and delegate groundwork to officers. Officers must be committed and willing to share the responsibility for this project as it develops over time. In future, it is suggested that organisers work closely with the Communications and Marketing Manager so that design can begin early. Relying on officers to complete design did push back promotional timelines and not using a design brief did provide setbacks. Having the Communications and Marketing Manager liaise with a contracted designer will ease pressure off the WVP and President and ease workload of officers. Further, this will ensure the Facebook event is promoted earlier, design remains consistent and would allow more time for online engagement to foster.
EXTERNAL
STAKEHOLDERS We re-invited most of the stalls from the pilot, as well as organisations VUWSA had a pre- existing relationship with. We also sought creative artists on social media, using Instagram, which resulted in new-found relationships on similar kaupapa related initiatives.
There is a master spreadsheet of the stakeholders for Sex Week 2019.
It is important to utilise your existing connections for events such as this. VUWSA has traditionally led the conservation on sexually harmful behaviours and sexual harm reduction with Thursdays in Black (NZUSA), Don’t Guess the Yes (WCC, MAWSA, NZ POLICE, HOSPITALITY NZ) and Student Interest and Conflict Resolution (VUW). We must tautoko previous VUWSA executive members on their commitment to TIB and the “March on Midland” protest.
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I recommend utilising Instagram more, as lots of pop-up / boutique stores use this as their primary platform. In future, I would recommend getting in touch with more sustainable/ eco- friendly stores, particularly those that sell pre-loved clothing or beauty/ skin products.
MASSEY UNIVERSITY
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Jacob Paterson (MAWSA Welfare VP)
Sex Week was an exciting launch to MAWSA’s sexual violence awareness and healthy sex education at Massey Wellington. The week featured:
● A display of Massey student artwork surrounding sex and the body ● Sex-pert; Sex round table Q&A ● Black clothes op-shop ● Self-defence class ● A sexual health sausage sizzle ● Stalls on campus from 11 different services available to students around sexual health, pleasure and sexual violence help.
Expenditure
Our main expenditures for the week were supplying Koha those who contributed to the week, so paying students for printing costs of artwork and having consultants come in and talk at the Sex Q&A. Other costs including decorations for the day, printing and advertising costs.
● Artists Exhibition koha: $260 (between 8 artists) ● Sex Roundtable koha: $50 ● Self-Defence Class koha: $50 ● Sausage Sizzle: $100 ● Printing costs: $40
FEEDBACK SEX WEEK FEEDBACK 2019: https://forms.gle/UaMitCDrMJQeTNZV8 We asked the following seven questions through google form sent via email: ● Did you know the purpose/ objectives of the event? If not, what could be improved? ● Do you think it was important that this was a partnership event with the Wellington City Council and Massey University? ● Do you think students positively engaged with the event? Please give reasons why/ why not. ● Do you think the information provided was educational, without being confrontational and/ or triggering? If not, what could be improved? ● Do you think the event sufficiently addressed active and ethical bystander intervention? Please give reasons why/ why not. ● Do you think the event was inclusive of gender and ethnic minorities? Please give reasons why/ why not. ● Would you participate again?
We received 18 responses out of 25 stall holders.
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1. Did you know the purpose/ objectives of the event? If not, what could be improved?
All respondents felt that they had sufficient knowledge of the purpose/ objectives of the event.
“The purpose and the objectives of the event were really well communicated to our organisation. We really appreciated the ongoing comms from the VUWSA staff - we felt really well taken care of. Thank you so much for inviting us to such a well organised and awesome event!”
“It had a clear focus on consent and respect which was really perfect”
“Creating a safe, enjoyable space for discussion around sex in all its forms! LOVED IT.”
One respondent suggested some resources for the Nurse/ GP consultation rooms at Mauri Ora.
2. Do you think it was important that this was a partnership event with the Wellington City Council and Massey University?
The majority of respondents believed the partnership with WCC and MAWSA had significance.
“Yes - it is essential that we connect with as many tertiary and civic agencies as possible for many reasons. Firstly, we do not have the capacity as a University to independently provide students will all of the resources and services that they need. Secondly, when our students leave Victoria we need have have supported them to build connections with the wider community, rather than being reliant on services at the University, so that they can continue to grow and live independent lives.”
“Yes - very important that WCC is seen to be supporting these initiatives led by students.”
One respondent commended the “Wellington-wide” approach and recommended expanding the partnership to include Te Auaha (Film School), Whitieria and Weltec for 2020.
“Yes. It sends a very clear and unified message to students throughout Wellington about the importance of sex positivity, respectful relationships and ethical bystanding. I would encourage the organisers to approach Te Auaha, Whitireia and WelTec for 2020 to broaden this initiative further.”
3. Do you think students positively engaged with the event? Please give reasons why/ why not.
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The majority of respondents agreed that students positively engaged with the event. From those respondents, those who participated in the 2018 pilot commented on the increase in student engagement at the 2019 event.
Many respondents commented on the accessibility and approachability of the 2019 event.
“Yes! It was great to have a variety of service providers so that students could get the information that they needed from services that work for them. The 2019 event was slightly less intense than the 2018 event (no giant sets of genitals or panel discussion) which I think helped to make things more approachable. Panel discussions can be great, but I guess need to be conducted in a space that people can go into, as opposed to a space that is open to all, including just passers by.”
“Yes i the event was successful and had good interest and participation from students. From what I heard about last year this years event was a lot less intimidating and exclusive.”
“Yes - people were able to walk past and engage without feeling threatened.”
However, many respondents commented on the lack of engagement at the Te Aro event.
“I think that a lot more students felt comfortable approaching the stalls in the Hub than they did last year. I think that VUWSA needs to work more closely with students at Te Aro, to find out how VUWSA can engage with them in [the] future.”
“The event at Te Aro had particularly poor engagement. There were very few stalls compared to the event in the Hub but regardless of this the students did not seem at all engaged. The event in the Hub was wonderful - huge amount of student interest, wonderful connections built with staff, and a fantastic opportunity to network with organisations and groups from outside of Victoria. I did not attend the Pipitea event but hear that it was far more successful than Te Aro.”
Many respondents made recommendations to increase engagement in 2020: ● Put the Condom on the Dildo Game (popular in 2019) ● Giveaways ● Interactive Stalls (e.g. life drawing) ● Panel Discussions in a safe environment (e.g. not in the Hub like during the 2018 pilot)
4. Do you think the information provided was educational, without being confrontational and/ or triggering? If not, what could be improved?
The majority of respondents answered that the information was not confrontational and/ or triggering. From those respondents, most agreed that the information provided was sufficiently educational.
“The line of consent around the whole event was an awesome idea, as was moving any discussions to rooms/lecture theatres. I also really liked the educational videos that were
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running throughout the event (I think that they were made by VUWSA?) - they were sitting there in the background, which meant that people could watch them if they wanted to but weren't blaringly loud (subtitles were a great idea).”
“It was excellent. Fun, informative, non invasive.”
“Yes I think it was very educational. I think the event was less confrontational than last years. Be good to have the panel discussion back again.”
Other respondents thought that there could have been more of an emphasis on the educational aspect. From those respondents, some thought that there could be a separate space where more educational material could be provided via peer to peer or panel discussions.
“It would be great to run a mini event at Kelburn for students who did not feel comfortable engaging with sex themed tables in such a public space on campus. Perhaps the opportunity for students to meet in a more private space with a selected number of tables (such as AM 102/104) could be beneficial.”
“Yes however I think the event encourages the culture that you should be having sex that if you’re not you should change that. The way the university encourages safe sex is encouraging sex with condoms and consent, (all good things), not having sex is the abnormality.”
One respondent suggests a separate area for sexual violence services as included in the 2018 pilot.
“I think it was good. I know this was not the plan and the uni had double booked, but we ended up in the main area downstairs whereas last year there was a sexual violence area up top. This meant that we had minimal engagement this year, and I think it's definitely important to keep the sexual violence services in a separate area so that people feel safe to have a chat or disclose.”
5. Do you think the event sufficiently addressed active and ethical bystander intervention? Please give reasons why/ why not.
We intended to address active ethical bystander intervention through our interaction signage, provoking self-reflective behaviour, and the active bystander intervention video playing on the big-screen/ DID’s at all three campuses.
Overall, the responses were mixed. Many respondents did not understand what active and ethical bystander intervention was supposed to look like in terms of the event or did not think it was addressed to the extent it should have been.
“From our perspective, we were having lots of discussions with attendees about respectful relationships, and ethical bystanding would always be something that we would thread into conversations. It would be great to have more representatives from organisations that are
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involved in this space - maybe White Ribbon as an example? I think that active and ethical bystander invention is perhaps best addressed with workshops, to give people the skills to be able to know what to do and when to do it.”
“Yes, the signs everywhere were a good idea.”
“Aside from conversations I had with Student Conflict and Resolution I was not aware of conversations taking place elsewhere at the events around bystander intervention.”
“I think more was needed in this area.”
“No, I think there could be more on that i.e. more posters/talks.”
In 2020, VUWSA should work collaboratively with Student Academic Services and Student Interest and Conflict Resolution team to engage students about active and ethical bystander intervention.
6. Do you think the event was inclusive of gender and ethnic minorities? Please give reasons why/ why not.
The majority of respondents thought the event was LGBTQ inclusive. However, of those respondents, many believed that further work was required to include ethnic minorities.
One respondent suggested having a private space to discuss intimate topics, as there is a greater stigma around sex in many ethnic minority communities.
“It was really great to have a Rainbow and Inclusion presence at the events. In terms of ethnic minorities, I know that some students (particularly Muslim students) did not feel comfortable engaging in the event where males and females were in the same space talking about such intimate topics. Providing a more private mini space for conversations in the future with students who wish to have more privacy would be great.”
“Yes, there were a few rainbow stalls around. I personally didn't see anything that focused on ethnic minorities which is important and should get a bigger focus.”
In 2020, VUWSA should work collaboratively with SHAKTI and Takatāpui organisations.
7. Would you participate again?
All respondents agreed that they would participate in Sex Week again.
“Yes! Sign Family Planning up for 2020. Also, well done team for a fantastic event.”
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“Absolutely, lovely vibe and leadership.”
“YES!”
“Absolutely! Thanks for organising.”
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Appendix B: Mental Health Report
Urgent recommendations
1. Online Recordings of All Lectures All lectures across the University must be recorded and made available online. A University- wide policy should mandate that all lectures be recorded with the inclusion of an opt-out option for sensitive content, made on a lecture-by-lecture basis. This policy should work towards increasing accessibility and creating equitable learning for all students.This accessibility would not only support students’ wellbeing through flexible learning, but would also increase accessibility for students from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds who are disproportionately affected by mental illness. The University have stated publicly that they possess the technology to make recording of all lectures a reality and have mandated that all lectures be recorded before in times of crisis.
2. A Diverse Approach to Mental Health Support For mental health support, there must be culturally-appropriate methods of talking therapies and counselling - not restricted to cognitive behavioural therapy alone. We also need to promote holistic student services like Student Finance and strong advocacy services who can guide students through hardship and issues in their personal lives because these are the issues that prevent students from focussing on study. This also includes empowering and equipping representative student groups with the tools and resources to deliver their own support for their students. This could be in the form of cultural celebrations, support groups, study support, spiritual nights and so on.
3. Reflection of Diversity in the University’s Physical Space Mental health is deeply rooted within how the environment andour surroundings build a sense of collective belonging. It is important that spaces students’ spend majority of their study in, is reflective of the vibrant and diverse student culture here at VUW. With the increasing rate of white supremacy is appearing across Aotearoa and within our tertiary institutions, it is important to also send a clear message that at Victoria, we celebrate the multicultural makeup of our student body and recognise the melting pot of cultures here at Victoria as one of our biggest strengths. Knowing that you and your identity are valued, that you belong, and that you are in a safe space are fundamental in maintaining mental wellness.
4. Upskilling of Academic Staff Academic staff create the environments where students learn. As a main point of contact to the University for students on a day-today basis, lecturers and tutors can, and do, have a massive impact on students’ wellbeing. Making sure academic staff are supportive when dealing with student disclosures is essential and having some level of cultural sensitivity training is suggested.
Acknowledgements | Ngā Mihi - Faculty Representative Groups VUW Law Students’ Society
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Victoria Commerce Society STUDiO - Architecture & Design Students - Representative Groups Ngāi Tauira Pasifika Students’ Council UniQ at Victoria CanDo at Vic VUWSA International Students’ Association Victoria University Feminist Organisation - Faculty Equity Representative Groups Ngā Rangahautira - Māori Law Students’ Association Ngā Taura Ūmanga - Māori Commerce Students’ Association Pasifika Law Students’ Society Pacific Island Commerce Students’ Association Asian Law Students’ Association VUW Feminist Law Society - The Wait is Over Organising Team - Student Wellbeing Awareness Team - Residential Advisors - First-year students
Context | Horopaki As fellow students, we know students often experience unfavourable circumstances while studying which can have adverse effects on their mental health. Recently, Wellington was declared the most expensive place to rent in Aotearoa. Many students are settling for dodgy rental contracts and unlivable housing conditions due to a rental market where demand far outweighs supply. Public Transport in and around the Greater Wellington Region only offers discounts to full-time students. The price of food and living necessities continues to skyrocket while wages remain stagnant. some cases, Victoria University of Wellington is one of the harshest grading universities in New Zealand. These factors combined with New Zealand’s already shocking mental health and suicide statistics, means the wider, societal issue of mental ill health in New Zealand permeates right through to University level.
He Ara Oranga, the Report of the Government Inquiry into Mental Health and Addiction, identified two key points in regard to mental health in Aotearoa which are relevant to young people and students: 1. There is a large number of New Zealanders experiencing mild-to-moderate mental distress who have limited access to mental health services because they are considered to be “not bad enough”. A large number of our students can be described as experiencing mild-to- moderate mental distress and their limited access to mental health services has been particularly pronounced in recent years. 2. There is an emphasis on community throughout this report, with an acknowledgement that people are best served by fellow members of their communities. A major recommendation is for the government’s intervention in the wider mental health crisis to focus on strengthening and resourcing communities to deliver their own solutions.
The Wait is Over | Kua tae mai te wā
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For years, students at Victoria University of Wellington reported waiting long periods of time to see a counsellor at our Student Counselling clinic. Some students reported waiting as long as six-to-nine weeks for one counselling appointment, with very little access available for students based at Te Aro campus. The issue became particularly prominent during 2017.
In 2018, the students of Victoria University of Wellington banded together to demand for better resourcing of our university’s mental health services and to encourage open and honest kōrero around mental wellbeing. This campaign was called The Wait is Over and was organised by a team of 10 students - three members of the VUWSA Executive; Tamatha Paul (former Engagement Vice- President), Rhianna Morar (former acting-Academic Vice President), and Marlon Drake (former President); and seven students from diverse faculties, ages and cultural backgrounds.
From this rally,and the tremendous bravery and courage displayed by the three student speakers who shared their experiences with mental health,VUWSA secured ongoing meetings with the Minister of Health, David Clark, put tertiary student mental health on both the university’s and the national political’s agenda and encouraged students to normalise conversations around mental health.
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2019: Starting the year strong | Kua kaha ai te timata o te tau
Support for student mental health started strong in 2019 when the Ministry of Health announced the Piki pilot in Porirua. ‘Piki’ is the name for the free counselling pilot for 18-25 year olds in Aotearoa which was launched in the Wellington region. The pilot’s main purpose is providing free counselling, however, also includes intentional peer support and mental health online platforms (self-referral website and mental health maintenance application for mobile) as components of the overall ten million dollar pilot.
Positive change within any society requires a balance of structural and cultural support. Now that we have a lot more structural support within the University due to the aforementioned developments, the next logical step for VUWSA was to find out what community solutions look like to then spark cultural change and complement cultural change.
There are a number of diverse communities within the wider VUW student community; faculty representative groups, Māori and Pasifika student groups, Rainbow student groups, and more. VUWSA believed that in order for positive cultural change in regard to mental health to permeate throughout the student community and result in meaningful change, that student leaders and representatives must be empowered to create their own solutions. Furthermore, we should do whatever we can within our power to support the success of these community solutions.
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It was clear we needed to create a safe space for students from diverse backgrounds and faculties to come together and talk about what solutions for them look like. A wānanga was decided as the best way to facilitate these discussions.
The Wānanga
As the University marae was unavailable until late May, too late in the year to find out what our students need to support their mental wellbeing. Therefore, another Wellington marae, Tapu Te Ranga Marae,was approached and booked in for March 15 and 16.
The overall cost for the wānanga took into account: • Transport to and from the Marae in Island Bay • Accommodation for one night • Catering for two days • Cost for speakers to travel down • Koha for speakers
The overall cost was estimated to be approximately $12,000 with most of the costs being attributed to catering. The marae kaimahi preparedo ur kai, so that attendees could focus their energies on the wānanga at hand.
VUWSA applied to the VUWSA Trust for $12,000 for this wānanga - emphasising the need for continuity of VUWSA’s student mental health initiatives after such a strong year in 2018. The Trust approved unanimously, and all of the costs for the wānanga were covered.
We reached out to a number of student groups within the university: • Faculty Representative Groups
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o VUW Law Students’ Society o Victoria Commerce Society o STUDiO - Architecture & Design Students • Representative Groups o Ngāi Tauira o Pasifika Students’ Council o UniQ at Victoria o CanDo at Vic o VUWSA International Students’ Association o Victoria University Feminist Organisation • Faculty Equity Representative Groups o Ngā Rangahautira - Māori Law Students’ Association o Ngā Taura Ūmanga - Māori Commerce Students’ Association o Pasifika Law Students’ Society o Pacific Island Commerce Students’ Association o Asian Law Students’ Association o VUW Feminist Law Society • The Wait is Over Organising Team • Student Wellbeing Awareness Team • Residential Advisors • First-year students
Thefocus was on inviting student leaders and representatives as they are leaders within their respective student communities. As the aim of thewānanga to be solutions-based,we believed student leaders would have a better understanding of the environments they navigate and what solutions could look like.
Guest speakers with different perspectives and experiences were important in ensuring as many people could be engaged as possible. he following speakers presented at the wānanga:
Mary O’Hagan
Mary is the Developer and Director of PeerZone. Mary was the first Chair of the World Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry; an Advisor to the United Nations; an Advisor to the World Health Organization; and the Mental Health Commissioner for eight years under the Labour-Clark Government.
PeerZone is the social enterprise tasked with coordinating the Peer Support component of the Piki Pilot therefore, the wānanga served as a way for Mary to better understand the student service users from Victoria University of Wellington - a main partner to the Pilot.
In her presentation, Mary spoke about her experiences as a user and survivor of psychiatric services in New Zealand. Through her lived experiences and
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conversations with fellow users and survivors, Mary has been able to identify key changes necessary within the New Zealand health sector to create more empathetic, effective remedy of mental distress. This would mean moving away from a heavily- medicalised, individualised approach known as “Big Psychiatry”, towards a community-centred, holistic approach called “Big Community”.
The Wellbeing Manifesto,a submission on the Government Inquiry into Mental Health and Addiction prepared by Mary O’Hagan and ActionStation,outlines the exact approach that VUWSA wishes to implement. o not only improve students’ mental wellbeing, but also empower student groups to manifest their own solutions and support them in seeing these through.
Ezekiel Raui Ezekiel started up Tū Kotahi,a nationwide, suicide prevention programme in schools. Ezekiel is involved in various mental health kaupapa like Te Rau Ora and Key to Life Foundation.
In his kōrero, Ezekiel challenged students about what the role of government was in dealing with mental health, versus the responsibilities of whānau, hapū, iwi, community and individual. This stirred up a lot of constructive debate and helped establish what roles and responsibilities we believe each aforementioned group played in dealing with the mental health crisis in Aotearoa.
Kassie Hartendorp Kassie is an activist in the rainbow and indigenous communities. Kassie currently works for ActionStation, mobilizing communities to manifest their own solutions.
Kassie was the final speaker of the day on Day 1, and discussed what underpins her activism. Whanaungatanga, kotahitanga and rangatiratanga. Kassie emphasised
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that communities already know what solutions look like, we don’t need to rush in and do everything for everyone. Rather, we need to empower and mobilize communities to pursue the solutions that they want and need. Empathy, listening, weaving connections and empowerment were some clear themes underpinning Kassie’s mahi, and everyone felt very inspired after her kōrero.
Christchurch Terrorist Attacks - March 15 Late afternoon on Day 1 of the Wānanga, news broke of the white supremacist attacks on Muslim people in Christchurch. This deeply disturbed and upset attendees of the Wānanga so after checking in with the University to see how our Muslim students were being supported in the aftermath of the attacks, we decided to go and offer emotional support at one of the support hubs at the University.
We returned to Tapu Te Ranga for dinner and drew Day 1 to a close. We were all feeling overwhelmed and emotional. Josiah Tualamali’i was arranged to fly up from Christchurch as our fourth speaker to discuss his experience around mental health in Aotearoa and on the Government Mental Health and Addiction Inquiry Panel. However, Josiah was unable to make it following these attacks.
The original attendance list for Day 2 was greatly reduced due to the Christchurch Terrorist Attacks. We began the day by acknowledging the tragic events of the previous day, and reflected on what we felt grateful for. From here, we broke out into three random groups to discuss what the specific challenges facing the students that we represent. We then had our final meal for the Wānanga, and reconvened after lunch.
Each team presented their identified challenges which were all written down. After listing and categorizing each challenge we began discussing solutions. This is what we found.
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Stressors and Solutions for Student Mental Health at Victoria University of Wellington.
Four main subjects were identified as causes of distress for students and as areas needing improvement: 1. THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE 2. IMPORTANCE OF IDENTITY 3. EMOTIONAL RESILIENCE 4. EMPOWERING TANGATA WHENUA
The Student Experience: Issues The Student Experience encompasses all things directly related to being a student. From being in the lecture theatre, the learning environments in tutorials, assessment design and criteria, student support services like Student Health or Student Learning, University- supported components of the student community such as Clubs, and the ability to survive as a Student.
Inside the Classroom The main purpose of being at University is obviously getting a qualification, whether it be a Bachelor’s Degree, Diploma or Postgraduate Qualification. large number of issues raised at this Wānanga were related to learning and how students’ mental health can be best supported to not only fulfil their course requirements but to also thrive and find applicability for their new knowledge.
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In terms of extensions, lecturers’, course administrators’, tutors’, and academics’ empathy and compassion, is inconsistent. At best, staff would go above and beyond by offering no- questions-asked extensions. However, at worst, lecturers’ would be unsympathetic and unsupportive to students who sought extensions due to various reasons, which was more commonly experienced based upon discussions. In addition, a common experience for students was to have an unfair, excessive amount of due dates for assignments and tests in the same week, particularly for students studying double degrees. Students also noted that there is a highly individualistic way of assessing academic capacity or academic rigour throughout University courses.
Outside the Classroom The environment outside of the classroom are just as important for ensuring student success.Living conditions is a well known struggle among students,whether settling for a mouldy, damp student flat, experiencing the rising cost of rent with Wellington, or the limited and often unreliable means of public transport. External factors such as these clearly impede students’ ability to perform their best in the classroom.
First-year students noted that as they transitioned through their studies, they did not know how to apply for a Student Loan for their consecutive years. After their first year free, they missed being educated on the loan process in High School. First-years also said that support with renting for the first time and understanding their rights as tenants would be helpful. The University Halls facilitate Flatting Forums to help with renting each year, but not all students attend or live in Halls. A lot of students are unaware of their rights as tenants. Furthermore, students further into their studies often struggled with maintaining direction or a sense of purpose as their studies progressed.
In terms of student support services, students felt Student Health and Student Counselling at Kelburn Campus was a dark, invisible place to find. In terms of creating strong student community, Pasifika students said that they need their own common space, especially for their representative group Pasifika Students’ Council to operate out of. Formerly, they had Pasifika Haos, an entire house to themselves on Mount Street,now they only have a single desk in that space. Students based at Rutherford House commented on the total lack of common areas. On top of having no common spaces, there is limited study space outside of the library. The absence of social space at Rutherford House means there is little community-building opportunities, and students do not spend much time besides being there immediately before and after their classes.
The Student Experience: Solutions
Online Recordings of All Lectures The most important recommendation from students was for the University to record of all lectures and make accessible online. Lecture recordings would result in greater flexibility for students and increase access to learning. Fundamentally, the recording of lectures would enable students to: • Fulfil their familial and cultural obligations, • take rest when they need, particularly when students are living with mental and physical disabilities, • Not be required to physically attend a lecture if they felt unsafe under any circumstances, • and if the student’s primary language is not English, allow them to revise and thoroughly understand what was said in the lecture. The compelling reasons for lecture recordings far outweigh the arguments against and would have a tremendously positive impact on students’ mental health. If lecturers and academics
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wish to mitigate the attendance issue that may arise from having lectures recorded online, then we encourage them to create opportunities for humour, movement, creativity and collaboration within their classrooms.
In cases where the content of lectures are not appropriate to be recorded, lecturers should make allowances for one-on-one meetings with students or provide detailed notes to students unable to attend those lectures. Lecture recordings will allow for students to focus their attention and energies on listening and engaging during class time.
Compassionate teaching More compassion and empathy afforded to students when they request extensions would have an enormous positive impact on students’ mental health. A blanket 24-hour, no- questions-asked extension should be available to students so that it encourages students to communicate when they are having a hard time, which may lead to a willingness to ask for help.
Lecturers should also reassure their students about the importance of feedback and constructive criticism so students’ view feedback positively. Content warnings for sensitive topics should be given at least a day in advance, especially in courses like Criminology and Law. Lecturers should familiarise themselves with the use of students’ preferred pronouns - which includes familiarising themselves with they/them pronouns.
While staff, academics, and lecturers are overloaded with stress and time pressures. Further support for staff from Institutional Leadership can counterbalance these additions, as recommended in the Tertiary Education Union State of the Sector Report would mean staff did not suffer from compassion burnout and unnecessary stress.
Support Outside of the Classroom To ensure a positive and holistic student experience, our University Student Academic Support Services are essential.
Solutions from established Student Support Services should include: • Teaching first-year students moving into second-year, who benefit from First-Year Fees Free, how to apply for Student Loan and/or Student Living Costs. This should be integrated into Student Finance, a service that students can use to receive financial advice and apply for the Student Hardship Fund or Equity Grants.
The main external issues affecting students are at a Local, Regional and Central Government level. The University, its Alumni and other powerful stakeholders should wholeheartedly support these solutions with their influence in Wellington and in New Zealand.
Solutions include: • A higher tertiary discount of public transport for students which includes both part- time and full-time students. The current discount is 25% however,should be more in line with other University rates for Public Transport. This would need to come through the Greater Wellington Regional Council. • Short, medium and long-term plans to address the Housing Crisis in Wellington. These should come through Wellington City Council and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.
Importance of Identity: Issues
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Identity emerged as a core theme throughout the discussions with the student groups. Identity often spurs from a group an individual belongs to. Identity is important to students for many reasons, such as fostering a sense of belonging, offering feelings of acceptance and being apart of something bigger than themselves. When people can feel grounded by their identity, it allows them to weather a lot of life’s challenges, as they feel like they are not facing them alone. Furthermore, wrapped up in those identities are often culturally specific ways to overcome those challenges. For example, using Māori ontology and epistemology to deal with Māori students experiencing mental distress.
Culture and intersectionality Students from Māori, Pasifika and International communities carry cultural obligations which were not accommodated by the University. Students of colour felt their cultures are trivialized, not taught respectfully, and their names mispronounced daily. These microaggressions are detrimental to an individual's’ sense of self worth. Students referred explicitly to the ways their cultures dealt with death and how this was difficult to convey to academics.
University practice makes little room for bereavement leave extending the conventional, nuclear family membership and does not account for the length of time some grieving requires. For example, a tangihanga (Māori funeral) can require a week of preparation, three day funerals and a week following to support whānau. Many Māori and Pasifika students said that their obligations to their families were not given weight when requesting extensions or additional support.
Broadly, students of colours felt they did not belong at this University and that the physical University environment reflects this, with little to no aesthetic quality celebrating diversity or cultural expression.
Collective identity as young people Anaspect negatively affecting students’ mental health negatively are specific challenges that come with being a young person in 2019. Primarily in terms of climate change and social media. Students felt overwhelming anxiety when thinking about the prospects of our survival on this planet due to accelerated global warming, degradation of our forests, pollution of our ocean, commercialisation of our waterways and the little attention afforded to this crisis by decision-makers.
The prominence of social media means that young people are held to an unattainable standard of beauty and perfection. It increases students’ competition against one another and it can serve as a platform for hate speech.
Importance of Identity: Solutions
Equipping staff with knowledge and tools There should be a range of courses and training for staff that work with students to access that will help them to be culturally sensitive and supportive of students’ diverse needs.
• Te Hāpai is a programme on offer which teaches staff basic fundamentals of Te Reo Māori and assists with pronunciation and the politics of why the usage and revitalisation of Te Reo Māori are essential. • Tātou Tātou is a collective based on creating a trauma-free, informed, safe spaces for marginalized students. Currently, they have worked with tutors in the School of Anthropology and Cultural Studies.
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We encourage courses that also teach staff how to work with students with disabilities and with students from LGBTQIA+ backgrounds. As well as, courses or trainings on how staff themselves can look after their mental wellbeing, because staff working conditions set the level of compassion and empathy in which staff are able to give their students. This also means senior leadership need to listen to, support and respect all staff but most importantly, those dealing with students.
The University do not need to craft these trainings themselves and instead, should collaborate with community organisations to deliver these. The University and student groups within it should also collaborate more with these organisations to facilitate events and campaigns for students. Some key community organisations are:
• Dealing with disclosures o Sexual Abuse Prevention Network • Supporting rainbow students o InsideOut o Gender Minorities Aotearoa • Supporting Māori students o Tātou Tātou o Hei Reo Whānau o Te Taura Whiri • Supporting Pasifika students o Ministry for Pacific Peoples o Pacific Climate Warriors
Emphasising diversity With white supremacy, hate speech and alt-right groups festering in New Zealand and in our University communities,it is increasingly important now, that we emphasise diversity and the importance that that contributes to our student community and wider University. Students at the Wānanga were inspired by the art, symbolism and rich storytelling behind the aesthetics of Tapu Te Ranga Marae and thought that there was a lot of potential for the University physical environment to be more reflective of the diverse student community.
Big social spaces like The Hub, which was partially paid for by Student Services Levy money, should not be plain, boring and uninviting for the sake of usage by external businesses and groups of people. Although the University’s impressive art collection is valuable, it does not empower or uplift students. There are so many creative students and potential for more vibrant spaces on campus. The University’s physical environment needs to reflect cultural diversity to foster a sense of inclusion; Wellington City features like the Rainbow crossing and the Te Matatini pedestrian traffic lights, are small aesthetic improvements to the physical environment which are appreciated by diverse communities.
The University’s Recruitment and Orientation team should utilise Orientation to show diversity and promote values of Te Tiriti. There are Māori, Pasifika and International student orientations yet little space for those groups and mainstream orientation groups to mingle, creating silos. Integrating orientations with communal events throughout the week could provide greater inclusion and diversity. Halls of Residence’ students should all be shown where the Marae is, and introduced to the vibrant student and staff community we have here at Victoria.
Empowering Tangata Whenua: Issues
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Victoria University of Wellington has a Treaty of Waitangi Statute which is a principle-based framework adopted by the University Council to discharge its duties under the Treaty of Waitangi. Victoria prides itself in having the spirit of the Treaty as one of their principles and ‘distinctive qualities’. For the University to actualise this commitment, they need to address issues being faced by Māori students. Especially, when the University constantly refers to the ‘Missing 1000’ Māori students that will [...]. Māori are over-represented in negative national statistics on mental health, addiction and suicide.
Māori students at the Wānanga discussed in addition to their whānau and cultural obligations,the racism they encounter every day and the lack of culturally-appropriate support services on offer at the University, despite being amongst the most vulnerable student groups. The students expressed not feeling welcome in common spaces, with one student saying “you can’t expect the missing one thousand to come to University if the Māori student space only fits fifty people.”
Many rangatahi Māori (young Māori) are still impacted negatively by the consequences of colonisation; loss of cultural identity, loss of connectedness to whānau/ iwi connection, loss of their native tongue Te Reo Māori. These factors result inshame and can be attributed to the over-representation of Māori in negative mental health statistics.
Empowering Tangata Whenua: Solutions
Kaupapa Māori solutions The University’s mental health counselling is subject to enormous demand, with a national counselling work force that needs growth. There is little room for counsellors who specialize in kaupapa Māori methods of healing and addressing the specific issues that are detrimental to Māori mental wellbeing. Therefore, the University should enable Ngāi Tauira, the Māori Students’ Association and Āwhina, the Māori Students Support Team, alongside external organisations to facilitate tikanga (custom), whakapapa (family connections) and Te Reo Māori wānanga (workshops, conferences). There are a range of available kaupapa Māori tools to increase Māori emotional resilience, such as understanding the critical balance of tapu and noa and the essence of wairua.
The Mahi a Atua Pūrākau model, which uses Māori ontology and epistemology to overcome challenges, is a well-recieved model for kaupapa Māori solutions to supporting the mental health of Māori students’.
Staff and University infrastructure Staff and senior leadership’ obligations to Te Tiriti should be made explicit in employment contracts and course outlines to ensure more accountability and adherence to the University’s Treaty of Waitangi Statute.
There is a need for an increase in Te Reo Māori around the University. The Wellington City Council has adopted a strategy to be the first Te Reo Māori City in Aotearoa. This strategy was co-developed by a Te Reo Māori lecturer at Victoria University of Wellington, Vini Olsen-Reeder. Therefore, the University should consider adopting a similar strategy, especially considering the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Prof. Rawinia Higgins is the Chairwoman of Te Taura Whiri, the Māori Language Commission.
Emotional Resilience: Issues
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From kōrero at the wānanga, students want to be taught skills and tools that allow them to withstand many of life’s challenges, as opposed to tackling individual problems as they come. Equipping young people with emotional tools isa more sustainable approach and will generate resilience. he tools students would find useful are as follows:
Addressing trauma Students indicated support dealing with past, unaddressed trauma would be a useful tool. Many students come to University with experiences of historical trauma and many students of colour suffer from unaddressed intergenerational trauma. If left unaddressed, trauma can manifest in harmful behaviour or students abandoning tertiary education altogether. Students of colour commented on the lack of culturally-appropriate mental health services on offer, with mainstream counselling methods being unsuitable in addressing spiritual and cultural aspects of mental wellness. Students also commented on the individualistic nature of counselling and how the issue of mental distress is transferred from the collective to the individual to address on their own, only assisted by their counsellor in private.
Support types and access Students talked about the importance of maintaining a level of physical health and regular exercise and how this allowed for better emotional resilience. Many students commented on how they did not use or attempt to engage with the Victoria Recreation Gym as it was small and expensive.
Students commented on how awareness of student services was difficult when based at Te Aro campus. Counselling sessions at the campus were described as uncomfortable, as students who used the service found the room small and confined. Booking spaces to facilitate student-led initiatives in general, is found to be very difficult, with little prioritisation of student initiatives and student groups booking spaces by management down at Te Aro Campus.
Emotional Resilience: Solutions Practical tools for tauira We need to empower and enable student groups to facilitate events, campaigns and workshops that upskill and empower the students they represent. The University currently facilitates wellbeing workshops for students, for example, the sleep and meditation workshops through the Student Wellbeing team. It was clear that students at the Wānanga would be likely to take up opportunities when they are facilitated by their peers. We should resource student groups to facilitate the following focussed workshops and wānanga: • For Māori students: o Te Reo Māori Workshops o Whakapapa Wānanga o Rongoā workshops • For international, refugee and migrant students o Support celebrations of their diverse cultures and languages o Supporting spiritual wellbeing workshops • For all students: o Understanding stress and selfcare o How to set expectations and boundaries o How to deal with unaddressed, past trauma o Coping with loss and grief o Dealing with stress, depression and anxiety
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Appendix C: Check the Rec Report
VUWSA ‘Check the Rec’ Campaign
Reporting on the consultation with Victoria University of Wellington’s students about consistent lecture recordings.
Victoria University of Wellington Student Association
Introduction
At the beginning of 2019, the Victoria University of Wellington Students’ Association facilitated a wānanga (conference) on students’ mental health at Victoria University of Wellington. Key feedback was students felt having their lectures recorded, and made available online, was a massive stress reliever for a number of reasons further outlined within this report. As we looked deeper into the issue, we saw that there were a number of positive spill- over effects that arise from having lectures recorded and made available online. Lecture recordings have since become one of VUWSA’s major welfare and academic focuses for the year with our “Check the Rec” campaign. In this report, we have outlined both student and staff perspectives on consistent lecture recordings at VUW, derived from student submissions, student anecdotes, academic representative group statements, and VUW academic staff statements. We understand that the implementation of a lecture recording policy requires change therefore, VUWSA strives to work collaboratively with the University to achieve an outcome best for students and staff. We acknowledge that Schools’ and Faculties have their own academic autonomy and integrity. Our approach has been grass-roots, engaging with academic staff from different areas of our University to ensure we take all perspectives and opinions into account. We would like to thank all of the students and staff who have taken the time to engage with us on this issue. Consistent lecture recordings have the potential to revolutionize
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access to education and to bring Victoria University of Wellington up to a level that many other Universities are already operating at. We want to be a world-class, compassionate University who values quality pedagogy and equity of access to learning. We hope that we can be a part of the step in the right direction. Rinaldo Strydom VUWSA Education Officer [email protected]
1. Recommendation
VUWSA strongly supports a comprehensive policy that will allow consistent lecture recordings at Victoria University of Wellington. Additionally, for staff to better understand the student's perspective through this report. It is clear there would be student support for more consistent lecture recordings that will help them with the various circumstances students may find themselves in. VUWSA believes consistent lecture recordings is a step closer towards making Victoria University of Wellington a more equitable place of learning. Recommendation from the VUWSA Students’ Mental Health Report: 1. Online recordings of all Lectures. All lectures across the University must be recorded and made available online. A University-wide policy should mandate that all lectures be recorded with the inclusion of an opt-out option for sensitive content, made on a lecture-by-lecture basis. This policy should work towards increasing accessibility and creating equitable learning for all students. This accessibility would not only support students’ wellbeing through flexible learning, but would also increase accessibility for students from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds who are disproportionately affected by mental illness. The University have stated publicly that they have the technology to make recording of all lectures a reality and have mandated that all lectures be recorded before in times of crisis. 2. Student Submissions
This report discusses the VUWSA submission process from 30 May 2019 to 7 July 2019 and examines its significance. The purpose of this report is to positively communicate the student perspective on lecture recordings and provide VUWSA’s position moving forward.
1. Results
The ‘Check the REC’ campaign allowed students to express their views on lecture recordings through a petition available online and in paper form (Appendix A). While
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“Do you support a consistent lecture recording policy at Victoria University of Wellington” was asked as the main question, three supplementary questions were included to gauge student reasoning behind their choice (Appendix B). A total of 1551 submissions were collected, of which 98.6% supported a consistent lecture recording policy at Victoria University of Wellington (Table 1).
Table 1. Question 1 Summary of Results Do you support a consistent lecture recording policy at Victoria University of Yes No Wellington
Responses 1530 21
Percentage 98.6% 1.35%
Total 1551
2. Student Anecdotes
Student anecdotes about how lecture recordings have or would have helped them were also collected throughout the submission process allowing students to provide additional comments (Appendix C). The common theme amongst the stories is an idea of equitable learning. It is clear students have different external factors that provide challenges during their time of study that can limit their ability to successfully learn. Lecture recordings is one tool that the university could implement in order to help students overcome challenges that spawn from these external factors and further ensure an equitable learning environment. The external factors experienced by students are expressed as the following:
• Language Barriers • Timetable Clashes • Mental Health • Physical Health • Family • Extracurricular Commitments • Learning disabilities
1. Language Barriers
Students from around the world attend Victoria University that may not speak English as well as they would like. This can affect their ability to comprehensively understand and learn in lectures. Lecture recordings can help international students revise topics at their own pace and help overcome the language barriers currently facing international students. “As an international student, it’s very much needed. English isn’t my first language although I scored well for IELTS. I still struggle to understand English due to people’s accent and fast speed. There is a limitation to the amount of note I could take during the lecture. I need to relisten to take comprehensive notes. University of Auckland & University of Canterbury have it. They have much higher rank so I don’t understand
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why we cannot have it. If it’s to secure funding, there should be another way. The effects shouldn’t fall on the students, the management should try to find another incentive maybe.” - Anonymous
2. Timetable Clashes
Students will face timetable clashes throughout their time of study at Victoria University. Timetable clashes can limit student’s ability to attend all lectures despite wanting to. Lecture recordings will be a great tool for students to use when they have timetable clashes. "I would really appreciate lectures being recorded because as someone who takes very random classes I often end up with timetable clashes! It happened last year 3 times when I took science courses alongside business courses. But even this semester, I'm taking all commerce classes and still manage to have 2 clashes! I feel like I shouldn't be at a disadvantage to everyone else and I should be able to take whatever class I want without worrying about missing out on the lectures. Just my experience, thanks heaps!" - Anonymous
3. Mental Health
This is another issue that is highlighted in the VUWSA Student’s mental health report mentioned above. It has become clear that mental health is important and something we must bring attention to. Students at VUW facing mental health issues may need to take time off from studying. Lecture recordings can ensure that students can take the time they need to recover whilst not missing out on crucial content. “I don’t always use it that’s the thing. But I know people that consistently use it. Also, there’s a good angle to it. For example, if you feel you need to take a mental health day and can’t go to uni it stops you from falling behind“- Jonah
“I do a conjoint degree of Law and Science, majoring in Computer Science, and the workload is frankly unmanageable at times. Being in a Socratic environment, when you have had no time to complete recent readings, is debilitating in regard to mental health. Also, sometimes you may be up at an unreasonable hour attempting to finish one of many assignments, and the expectation to get up three hours later to attend a lecture is not entirely do-able. Sleep is important! Not burning out is important! Having those lectures recorded is important! Students need to be able to sleep, recover, and remain healthy. Last year, when I had found out a student in my tutorial had committed suicide, I decided to go to a law lecture, as it was not recorded. As a result, I was too upset to answer a Socratic question. My lecturer toyed with me in front of a class of 250 people, shouting "Why aren't you sure?" multiple times. I was clearly not in a good place, but he did so anyway. I do not believe it is acceptable to force students to attend lectures, which are an unsafe space for them, simply out of fear they will miss out on notes. It would clearly benefit the mental health of students who are experiencing times of hardship.” - Anonymous
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Mental health is an important aspect for students and the wider community. This is an issue that can affect a student’s ability to successfully learn. Students seem to agree that lecture recordings can help them cope with university study and mental health with 99.2% of students voting in favour of this (Table 4, Appendix B
2.2.4 Physical Health
Similar to mental health, physical health issues can cause students to miss lectures. It seems unfair that students will miss out on class due to an accident outside of their control. Lecture recordings can ensure that students still have access to content during their time of recovery. “I fractured my ankle two weekends ago so I haven’t been able to make it to uni for the past week and a half now. And only one of my papers have recorded lectures, which means that I am missing out on six hours of lecture content every week, and it really sucks. Obviously, a fractured bone takes over a month to heal so I don't know when I’ll be back at uni. That stresses me out because I’m missing vital content that I will probably need for my assignments. When I emailed my lecturers and told them I won’t be at uni for a while they just said that I’ll just have to look at lecture slides. But, obviously you get way more content when your lecturer is explaining each slide. I just think it’s really annoying for the people who really need it. There’s a difference between people being lazy and not being bothered to make it to class compared to people who genuinely can’t; like me” - Kiana
“I have a neurological condition which means I have to spend periods of time in hospital or at home and movement is not always possible. Because of this lecture recordings help me keep up with my work and help in me feeling like I’m doing something when health problems arise.” - Anonymous
4. Family
For most students at VUW, it will be their first time living away from home, whether it is in a hall or third year flatting. It is an important part of student’s lives and study cannot be placed above family. Lecture recordings can help students take care of family business without putting their studies at risk. “I am a mature student returning to University after an almost 20-year break. I have two school age children, one with ASD. While at Canterbury, where I graduated with a B.A., I was diagnosed with having specific learning disabilities at the end of my first year. I was offered a few different kinds of assistance, but the best was the ability to re-listen to my lectures. At the time it was all on tape, and not all my lectures were recorded. I would appreciate having this access again as I found it invaluable. I have seen firsthand how being able to re-listen to lectures is of benefit and can increase grades. I can see that many students would benefit with this access. I live in the Wairarapa and will be commuting in on the train, allowing me an hour each way to listen to lectures, most students commute and would benefit from this time being filled listening to lectures. If a student is sick or has a family emergency they would be able to access lectures and keep up with the information. It was also very useful while
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studying for exams as it gave me the opportunity to be sure of my knowledge acquisition.” - Anonymous
"Hey just on lecture recordings would rather my name isn't used or anything but they were immensely helpful in the wake of the Christchurch shootings when i went home for the week to see my family. Ensured i didn't get behind and is definitely something that should be implemented across the university " - Anonymous
“My hometown is Christchurch and when the shooting happened in May, I had to go home to see my family in Christchurch for my mental health. The student councillor sent all my lecturers an email stating that I should receive additional class material so that I could keep up with my studies while I am away for the week. But since none of them record their lectures, I ended up having to just work harder when I came back. I didn't think that was very fair.” - Anonymous
5. Extra-Circular Commitments
Students have various other commitments they take on during their time of study. Some commitments may arise unexpectedly similar to the stories above. Lecture recordings can help students by providing another comprehensive method of accessing the content. Students understand the importance of lectures and other commitments as well with 98.8% voting that lecture recordings can help them cope with university study and other commitments (Table 3, Appendix B). "Over the past week I have had a full day off-site for work and also had to fly down to Christchurch for two days at the end of the week for internship interviews. One of my lectures were recorded, and I was able to keep up with the work from a distance. Another of my lectures was not recorded so, as is recommended by the university, I organised a friend to pass on their notes to me. Unfortunately, they were unwell so didn't attend the lecture. The next friend I asked also had missed the class due to a work training. This wild goose chase of trying to get a hold of the content I have missed has just added to the stress of being away from university. Myself, and my friends, had valid reasons for missing the lecture but do not feel like we are being provided the support we need to do our best at university. Lectures being recorded would go a long way towards helping this." - Alana
“The argument that lectures shouldn’t be recorded because people won’t show up is an absolute joke. Don’t punish people for how they learn or WHERE they learn. The reality is, we’re all juggling. I’m a student with two jobs & I can barely survive. When I can go back over past recorded lectures I have an A average but I’m sitting on a B- for everything else. The only difference is the recordings. Focus on the fact we’re learning and stop punishing us for not flourishing in an environment not built for the majority of students. As a disabled student I’ve missed half my lectures this semester
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due to symptoms or medical appointments. I can read someone else’s notes all I like but they’re not actually helpful. I need those recorded lectures and instead I’m going to barely pull through.” Anonymous
“As a student who travels 1.5 hours each way to university, it's often unrealistic to do so when I only have one lecture on a certain day at 5pm. As I am moving soon further north and my sporting commitments require me to live at home, recorded lectures for the days that I only have one or two lectures on would be a huge help for me” - Lilly
“As someone who has many religious and cultural commitments during the year, it’s very difficult to stay on track with university when I'm unable to attend a lecture. The slides posted on blackboard don’t always have all the information provided in the actual lecture. I think this could really help students.” - Narjis
6. Learning Disabilities
Students with learning disabilities may struggle to keep up with other students in their class. They may not be able to write as fast or follow the lecture as well as their peers. They will need to work twice as hard to achieve the same grade as others. Offering lecture recordings can help students with learning disabilities review the content after class. “When you have a learning disability, often just attending lectures is not enough. Being able to listen and go over notes more than once is an incredible help to people who cannot learn as fast as some others.” - Anonymous
3. Academic Statements
In addition to collecting student submissions with the ‘Check the Rec’ campaign, VUWSA reached out to academic staff members who have recorded their lectures to get an academic perspective on the experience of recording lectures. Giacomo Lichtner Associate Dean (students) Faculty of Humanities touched on his prior concerns and how he felt the process of providing lecture recordings went in his statement below:
“I started recording my lectures in 2018, in response to an unusually large 300-level cohort that required a different delivery method. I came to recording lectures with some trepidation, around issues of intellectual property, the possible misuse of my voice and, most of all, the likely decrease attendance levels. In spite of these misgivings, some of which I retain, I settled on recording because I am committed to removing barriers to education for all students, or for as many as we can. Like so many of my colleagues, I believe in a democratic, inclusive, accessible university and making the content available online is just one of the actions we can take, alongside removing physical and cultural barriers to education for instance. Recording the lectures has not affected attendance, but I also note that the recordings are mostly accessed by students who have also attended. This is a sobering reminder that granting access does not equate with 'entering'. It's incumbent on our students to remember that a
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campaign for inclusiveness should go hand-in-hand with an increased sensibility to the fact that there can be no substitute for the wonderful and difficult daily work of engaging with our subjects” (Giacomo Lichtner Associate Dean (students) Faculty of Humanities).
Another perspective to lecture recordings from one of our academics is the opportunity to let creativity flow. It can get rid of the monotonous static learning and allow for more creativity and humour (Tarapuhi Vaeau, ANTH101 Lecturer, School of Anthropology and Cultural Studies).
4. Equity group submissions
4.1 Ngāi Tauira Māori Students Association
Ngāi Tauira Māori Students Association 'Check the Rec' Statement
We as a Māori Students association believe that lecture recordings will help all students, including Māori with their studies. This allows us to take days off from uni when we are really not feeling well which can be physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually. Sometimes when these things feel out of balance, we do not see the need to see a professional, but when a lecturer asks for proof eg. a medical certificate, to record the lecture and we cannot provide it, we go without that class time which we've already paid for. We actually pay for these classes and it is unfair to say that lectures will not be recorded when we've spent hundreds of dollars already. Having lectures recorded will improve our overall hauora and break down the barriers to a better education, such as going to the doctor and extra admin with lecturers/tutors when all you really need is sleep and recharging.
Consistent lecture recordings will also help when students need to attend tangihanga as having to ask for lecture recordings and go through those same barriers just puts more pressure on students, especially during such a hard time. This will also take pressure off academics as students can then go back over lecture recordings to help with exams or assignments and not have to ask their lecturer or tutor about the content.
We also recognise that lecturers should be held accountable for their words and actions. On many occasions we've had students complain about casual racism or cultural appropriation in the lecture room and not be able to prove it. With lecture recordings, students can feel assured that they are in a safe environment. This is not to put pressure on lecturers as there is many other positives to recording the lecture but it's another way students can feel supported.
Ngāi Tauira Māori students association is in full support of the 'Check the Rec' movement towards making lecture recordings more consistent at Victoria University of Wellington.
Ngā mihi Te Mapihi Tutua-Nathan- Ngāi Tauira Academic Officer
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4.2 Victoria International Students’ Association Submission for the recording of lectures 9 August 2019 Dear Sirs / Madams, The Victoria International Students’ Association (“V-ISA”) is making this submission on behalf of international students enrolled at Victoria University of Wellington (“VUW”), regarding the push for consistent recording of all lectures. V-ISA is fully in support of the notion to record lectures at VUW, as we believe that this will benefit both domestic and international students. We have gathered much feedback from our students, and the majority of us feel that lectures should be recorded. Firstly, students miss classes at times due to various reasons; illness (physical or mental), bereavement, transport breakdowns, and other unforeseen circumstances that affect attendance. As such, when these circumstances do occur, it would be immensely helpful for students to be able to catch up on what we missed. Secondly, students feel that recording of lectures will help us in our revision for final year examinations or major project work. We can review key points covered by lecturers during our revision, straight from the source, without having to second guess ourselves or doubt whether our memories or notes are accurate enough. Thirdly, while many of us are proficient in English, it can be difficult to adapt to an accent that we are not used to. Especially if one is new here, it can take some time to adapt to the different speaking style – more so if they come from a country where English is not the primary language. Recording lectures will help these new international students keep up with their peers, as they can rewind and repeat parts of the lectures that they are unclear about. This heavily applies to foreign exchange students, as we have received feedback that many of them are unable to keep up with the lecturers’ speaking pace and accent. Lastly, this applies to both domestic and international students, but everyone learns at a different pace. We understand that a lecturer cannot slow down for the sake of a few students who have yet to grasp the concept being taught, at the expense of the rest of the class. Recording lectures can help these students go through the concept at their own pace, being able to pause, rewind and repeat areas that they do not grasp. Therefore, recording of lectures will serve to benefit the student population at large, particularly international students. We understand that the VUW might have concerns regarding the negative effects of recording the lectures – such as low lecture attendance rates and privacy/copyright concerns. Regarding the low attendance rates to physical lectures, we do not think that this is a valid reason to withhold this resource from students. Students (especially international students) pay exorbitant amount of fees and it is ultimately up to us to decide how we would like to study. Moreover, most of us are aware that lecture recordings are no substitute for attending the actual lectures, as we miss out on class participation and the ability to clarify questions in real time with our lecturers. For example, lecturers can choose to stop recording at the end of lectures while they take questions from the class. This will further “incentivise” students to show up, and not solely rely on lecture recordings as a substitute. Some lecturers might be worried about privacy or copyright reasons if their lectures are recorded. However, many students already record lectures using their phones and share it among their friends for revision – with or without the lecturer’s permission. It would benefit both the school and lecturers if the recording was an
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official one, to prevent the lecturer’s words from being taken out of context or being edited to mean something completely different. VUW can also put a disclaimer on websites stating that everything mentioned in lecturers is strictly for educational purposes. In conclusion, we would like the school to seriously consider our submission for the consistent recording of lectures. It would benefit all students – those who miss lectures, while doing revision, and students who are not used to the Kiwi accent. It would also benefit the school by ensuring that the lecture recordings are uniform and consistent throughout the faculties as well. Questions regarding this submission should be directed to: [email protected]
5. Conclusion
This report has discussed the student perspective on lecture recordings through a number of real stories from students. Clearly, lecture recordings can help students cope with study while dealing with issues like their mental health, physical health, family or religious commitments and learning disabilities. The submission process aligned with feedback received during the mental health wānanga (conference) and has significant support from the student body. VUWSA believes it can help create a more equitable learning environment for students and improve the welfare and academic success of students faced by external challenges. Moving forward, VUWSA hopes to work collaboratively with the university to achieve an outcome best for students as well as university staff.
5. Appendices
Appendix A. Submission Form
“Do you support a consistent lecture recording policy at Victoria University of Wellington? *
Yes
No
Any additional comments?
Do you think lecture recordings can help you cope with university study?
Yes
No
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Any additional comments?
Do you think lecture recordings can help you cope with other commitments? such as employment, cultural, religious or family commitments.
Yes
No
Any additional comments?
Do you think lecture recordings will help you to maintain your education when unable to attend class due to illness, grievance or mental health?
Yes
No
Any additional comments? “
Appendix B. Submission Result Table Summaries
Table 2. Question 2 Summary Do you think lecture recordings can help you cope with university study Yes No
Responses 1511 40
Percentage 97.4% 2.58%
Total 1551
Table 3. Question 3 Summary Do you think lecture recordings can help you cope with other commitments [Such as Yes No employment, cultural or religious commitments]
Responses 1532 19
Percentage 98.8% 1.2%
Total 1551
Table 4. Question 4 Summary Do you think lecture recordings will help you to maintain your education when unable Yes No to attend class due to illness grievance or mental health
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Responses 1538 13
Percentage 99.2% 0.8%
Total 1551
Appendix C. Student Anecdotes
"I’m honestly not sure how people managed to learn anything before lectures were recorded. I am a very visual person, so having something talked at me while I scramble to write it down and make sense of it at the same time is borderline impossible. With the lectures being recorded, it lets me pay attention to what is being said during class, then when I’m at home I can go back and take detailed notes that make sense to me. It also gives me an adequate amount of time to process the information, and stop and start where I need to. " - Julia
“Lecture recordings make it much easier for me to study especially having ADHD, because I can easily lose focus during lectures and miss certain concepts in the moment. Lecture recordings allow me to go back and watch the sections I missed or was confused about. Also sometimes there's clashes with work and other classes and it's absolutely ridiculous not to have recordings be mandatory.” - Anonymous
“Recording would allow for better understanding as students can go back and listen to difficult concepts. This has been so helpful in my LAWS312 Equity lectures where I am so often confused that listening back truly helps if I haven't understood something in class.” - Anonymous
“It seems unfair that my courses (PHYG & PSYC) have consistent recordings, yet my friends who study law not only have a difficult degree, but also cannot review the content of those lectures easily. I was sick and in the hospital early this tri, and having lecture recordings helped me not need to redo any papers or even need any extensions. It seems unfair that if I studied a different subject, I would be unfairly disadvantaged. “ - Anonymous
“As an international student, it’s very much needed. English isn’t my first language although I scored well for IELTS. I still struggle to understand English due to people’s accent and fast speed. There is a limitation to the amount of note I could take during the lecture. I need to relisten to take comprehensive notes. University of Auckland & University of Canterbury have it. They have much higher rank so I don’t understand why we cannot have it. If it’s to secure funding, there should be another way. The effects shouldn’t fall on the students, the management should try to find another incentive maybe.” Anonymous
"I would really appreciate lectures being recorded because as someone who takes very random classes I often end up with timetable clashes! It happened last year 3 times when I took science courses alongside business courses. But even this semester, I'm taking all commerce classes and still manage to have 2 clashes! I feel like I shouldn't be at a disadvantage to everyone else and I should be able to take whatever class I want without worrying about missing out on the lectures. Just my experience, thanks heaps!" - Anonymous
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“I don’t always use it that’s the thing. But I know people that consistently use it. Also there’s a good angle to it. For example, if you feel you need to take a mental health day and can’t go to uni it stops you from falling behind. “ - Jonah
“I do a conjoint degree of Law and Science, majoring in Computer Science, and the workload is frankly unmanageable at times. Being in a socratic environment, when you have had no time to complete recent readings, is debilitating in regard to mental health. Also, sometimes you may be up at an unreasonable hour attempting to finish one of many assignments, and the expectation to get up three hours later to attend a lecture is not entirely do-able. Sleep is important! Not burning out is important! Having those lectures recorded is important! Students need to be able to sleep, recover, and remain healthy. Last year, when I had found out a student in my tutorial had committed suicide, I decided to go to a law lecture, as it was not recorded. As a result, I was too upset to answer a Socratic question. My lecturer toyed with me in front of a class of 250 people, shouting "Why aren't you sure?" multiple times. I was clearly not in a good place, but he did so anyway. I do not believe it is acceptable to force students to attend lectures, which are an unsafe space for them, simply out of fear they will miss out on notes. It would clearly benefit the mental health of students who are experiencing times of hardship.” - Anonymous
“I fractured my ankle two weekends ago so I haven’t been able to make it to uni for the past week and a half now. And only one of my papers have recorded lectures, which means that I am missing out on six hours of lecture content every week, and it really sucks. Obviously a fractured bone takes over a month to heal so I don't know when I’ll be back at uni. That stresses me out because I’m missing vital content that I will probably need for my assignments. When I emailed my lecturers and told them I won’t be at uni for a while they just said that I’ll just have to look at lecture slides. But, obviously you get way more content when your lecturer is explaining each slide. I just think it’s really annoying for the people who really need it. There’s a difference between people being lazy and not being bothered to make it to class compared to people who genuinely can’t; like me” - Kiana
“I have a neurological condition which means I have to spend periods of time in hospital or at home and movement is not always possible. Because of this lecture recordings help me keep up with my work and help in me feeling like I’m doing something when health problems arise.” - Anonymous
"Hey just on lecture recordings would rather my name isn't used or anything but they were immensely helpful in the wake of the Christchurch shootings when i went home for the week to see my family. Ensured i didn't get behind and is definitely something that should be implemented across the university " - Anonymous
“My hometown is Christchurch and when the shooting happened in May, I had to go home to see my family in Christchurch for my mental health. The student councillor sent all my lecturers an email stating that I should receive additional class material so that I could keep up with my studies while I am away for the week. But since none of them record their lectures, I ended up having to just work harder when I came back. I didn't think that was very fair.” - Anonymous
"Over the past week I have had a full day off-site for work and also had to fly down to Christchurch for two days at the end of the week for internship interviews. One of my lectures were recorded, and I was able to keep up with the work from a distance. Another of my lectures was not recorded so, as is recommended by the university, I organised a friend to pass on their notes to me. Unfortunately, they were unwell so didn't attend the lecture. The next friend I asked also had missed the class due to a work training. This wild goose chase of trying to get ahold of the content I have missed has just added to the stress of being away from
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university. Myself, and my friends, had valid reasons for missing the lecture but do not feel like we are being provided the support we need to do our best at university. Lectures being recorded would go a long way towards helping this." - Alana
“The argument that lectures shouldn’t be recorded because people won’t show up is an absolute joke. Don’t punish people for how they learn or WHERE they learn. The reality is, we’re all juggling. I’m a student with two jobs & I can barely survive. When I can go back over past recorded lectures I have an A average but I’m sitting on a B- for everything else. The only difference is the recordings. Focus on the fact we’re learning and stop punishing us for not flourishing in an environment not built for the majority of students. As a disabled student I’ve missed half my lectures this semester due to symptoms or medical appointments. I can read someone else’s notes all I like but they’re not actually helpful. I need those recorded lectures and instead I’m going to barely pull through.” Anonymous
“As a student who travels 1.5 hours each way to uni, it's often unrealistic to do so when I only have one lecture on a certain day at 5pm. As I am moving soon further north and my sporting commitments require me to live at home, recorded lectures for the days that I only have one or two lectures on would be a huge help for me” - Lilly
“As someone who has many religious and cultural commitments during the year, it’s very difficult to stay on track with uni when I'm unable to attend a lecture. The slides posted on blackboard don’t always have all the information provided in the actual lecture. I think this could really help students.” - Narjis
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Appendix D: Student Assembly Constitution (Draft)
Victoria University of Wellington Student Assembly and Te Kaunihera o Ngā Tauira
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Constitution August 2019
Part I: Introduction
1. Interpretation In these rules, unless a contrary intention appears:
Assembly refers to the Victoria University of Wellington Student Assembly and Te Kaunihera.
Association or VUWSA refers to the Victoria University of Wellington Students’ Association and Te Rōpū Tauira o te Kura Wānanga o Te Ūpoko o te Ika a Māui Incorporated.
Faculty Representative Group refers to a group of elected students who represent the
Representative Group refers to an organisation representing a defined constituency of students.
Salient means the current student media of the Association.
Student Executive, VUWSA Executive or Executive refers to the ten elected students who make up the VUWSA Executive as per the Constitution of Victoria University of Wellington Students’ Association and Te Rōpū Tauira o te Kura Wānanga o Te Ūpoko o te Ika a Māui Incorporated.
Tumuaki means ‘President’ in Te Reo Māori
Tumuaki Takirua means ‘Co-Presidents’ in Te Reo Māori
University refers to Victoria University of Wellington.
Year refers to the calendar year commencing on the 1st of January and ending on the 31st of December.
2. Goals of the Student Assembly 2.1 The Student Assembly is a Council of students representing the collective voice of students through providing comprehensive feedback from various areas of the University. 2.2 The Student Assembly will act in accordance with Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the Treaty of Waitangi. 2.3 The goals of the Assembly are: 2.3.1 Representation for all - Unite the student voice by having cross-faculty, cross- cultural representation. 2.3.2 Equity of representation - creating a diverse, inclusive and meaningful consultation mechanism by removing cost as a deterrent to participation 2.3.3 Accountability of the University - by formalising the student voice in a forum setting, we can give power to the student voice by ensuring cross-cutting is not
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performed by the University and that they are accountable to their decisions made on behalf of students. 2.3.4 Civic leadership: for students to perform their function as a critic and conscience of society. 2.3.5 Connectedness: for students across the University from different areas and backgrounds to connect, be informed by views outside of their immediate groups, and support their fellow student leaders.
3. Powers of the Student Assembly 3.1. The Assembly may exercise the following powers in pursuance of the Goals contained in Section 2 of Part I. 3.1.1 The Student Assembly, subject to the provisions of the Constitution, may do all things deemed by it to be necessary or expedient for the fulfilment of the objects and goals of the Student Assembly 3.1.2 The Student Assembly may create working groups or sub-committees of the Student Assembly
Part II: Membership of the Student Assembly
1. Membership 1.1 The membership of the Student Assembly shall comprise of: 1.1.1 VUWSA members a. President of VUWSA b. Academic Vice President of VUWSA c. Welfare Vice President of VUWSA d. Engagement Vice President of VUWSA 1.1.2 Equity members a. Tumuaki (or Tumuaki Takirua in the instance where there are Co- Presidents) of Ngāi Tauira, representing Māori students at Victoria University of Wellington b. President of Pasifika Students’ Council, representing Pacific students at Victoria University of Wellington c. President of VUWSA International Students’ Association, representing International students at Victoria University of Wellington d. President of Victoria University Feminist Organisation, representing students who identify as women and gender minorities at Victoria University of Wellington e. President of UniQ at Victoria, representing LGBTQIA+ students at Victoria University of Wellington f. President of CanDo at Victoria University of Wellington, representing students with disabilities at Victoria University of Wellington g. President of Vic Without Barriers, representing refugee background students at Victoria University of Wellington 1.1.3 Faculty members a. President of the Postgraduate Students’ Association, representing Postgraduate students at Victoria University of Wellington b. President of Victoria University of Wellington Law Students’ Society, representing all Faculty of Law students at Victoria University of Wellington
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c. President of Victoria University of Wellington Commerce Students’ Society, representing all Faculty of Commerce students at Victoria University of Wellington d. President of the Victoria University Arts Society, representing all Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences students at Victoria University of Wellington e. President of the Victoria Engineering Club, representing all Faculty of Engineering students at Victoria University of Wellington f. President of STUDiO, representing all Faculty of Architecture and Design students at Victoria University of Wellington g. President of Victoria University of Wellington Science Society, representing all Faculty of Science students at Victoria University of Wellington 1.1.4 Student members a. Two student members of the Victoria University of Wellington Council b. Two Residential Advisors representing all Residential Advisors at Victoria University of Wellington Halls’ of Residence c. Two student Tutors representing all student Tutors employed by Victoria University of Wellington
1.2 Members shall be selected in the following circumstances: 1.2.1 the VUWSA Executive Members are chosen in line with the VUWSA Constitution 1.2.2 the Presidents of Faculty Representative Groups shall be elected in line with their respective Constitutions 1.2.2.1 if a Faculty representative group is inactive, their membership will be substituted with the VUWSA Delegate for that Faculty. 1.2.3 selection of the representative from the Faculty of Law and Faculty of Commerce equity representative groups shall be facilitated by the Faculty Representative Groups and chosen by the equity representative groups 1.2.3.1 if student-led equity representative groups are created within other faculties, the Membership should be amended to reflect this 1.2.4 the two representative Residential Advisors will be selected during the Annual Residential Advisor Training at the beginning of each year
1.3 Representatives of the Assembly shall cease their representative function in the following circumstances: 1.3.1 are no longer enrolled at Victoria University of Wellington 1.3.2 absence for three consecutive meetings 1.3.3 end their elected term
2. Remuneration of Members
2.1 Members of the Student Assembly who are not already being remunerated for their time providing representation are eligible for remuneration per meeting they attend. 2.1.1 A Living Wage will be payable to each Member that fits the above criteria for 8 hours for their attendance 2.1.2 The cost of transport to and from the meeting venue will also be covered in the remuneration cost, within reason
2.2 Payment shall be administered through the Victoria University of Wellington Students’ Association.
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Part III: Meetings of the Student Assembly
1. Meetings of the Student Assembly
1.1 Meetings of the Student Assembly shall be held at least four times a year 1.2 Twelve members of the Student Assembly shall be quorum 1.3 A meeting of the Student Assembly may be called by any member of the Student Assembly 1.3.1 Only meetings called by the VUWSA President shall be subject to remuneration 1.4 Every member of the Victoria University of Wellington Student Association shall be entitled to attend any Student Assembly meeting, and shall be given speaking rights upon resolution of the Student Assembly 1.5 Any group or member of the Victoria University of Wellington Student Association desiring to bring business before the Student Assembly must do so by means of a deputation, and give notice to the Chair of the Student Assembly 1.6 Any staff member of Victoria University of Wellington desiring to bring business before the Student Assembly must do so by means of giving notice to the Chair of the Student Assembly
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Appendix E: Student Assembly Discussion Paper Victoria University of Wellington Student Assembly Discussion Doc
Values of the Student Assembly
Representation for all Unite the student voice by having cross-faculty, cross-cultural representation on business/ issues affecting students at Victoria University of Wellington
Equity of representation Creating a diverse, inclusive and meaningful consultation mechanism by removing cost as a deterrent to participation
Partnership By formalising the student voice in a forum setting, we can give power to the student voice by ensuring that decisions made by the University are supported by students and vice versa.
Civic leadership For students to perform their function as a critic and conscience of society.
Connectedness For students across the University from different areas and backgrounds to connect, be informed by views outside of their immediate groups, and support their fellow student leaders.
Why?
The Victoria University of Wellington name change saga of 2018 revealed that the voice of current students paled in significance compared to that of alumni, wealthy stakeholders and the university’s senior leadership team. The University often cites student feedback when making sweeping decisions, such as the Trimester 3 Timeline Changes of 2019 which put International Students’ interest at the heart of those changes.
‘Student consultation’: a buzzword distributed generously throughout supporting documents of the University’s ventures. Is it consulting with VUWSA? Is it talking to a random group of students? Is it an email survey? There is a lot of uncertainty around the use phrases like “student feedback”, “student consultation” and “students as partners” when some areas of the University consider co-design to be crafting University-wide policy together, and others consider it to be a 1 hour forum attended by three or four students.
The University attempts to bridge this gap by introducing new committees, working groups and advisory groups every year to work towards addressing the deficit in student consultation but falls short on one critical aspect; addressing the critical power imbalance that arises when students are the only ones at the table not being paid for their time. Many students can’t attend
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these meetings in the first instance due to work and study commitments. This creates a fundamental imbalance of views, with students from low socioeconomic backgrounds unable to provide their feedback and increase the equity of outcome for students.
What?
The Student Assembly is a forum of student leaders at Victoria University of Wellington from a range of cross-faculty, cross-cultural backgrounds who come together to discuss business/ issues affecting students.
The Assembly meets at least four times a year. Every student* who attends is paid a Living Wage for the full day and has their transport costs covered. Students and staff from Victoria University of Wellington and other local/national stakeholders are able to bring business to the Student Assembly for deliberation. All discussion and proceedings are recorded, and advice from students is fed back to relevant stakeholders.
The Student Assembly is intended to increase access, participation and quality of consultation on business relevant to students, while strengthening the unified student voice, holding the University to account and building networks of students across backgrounds and faculties.
Examples of issues that might be brought to Student Assembly; Victoria University of Wellington name ‘simplification’, changes to the 2019-2020 Academic Timeline dates, the Draft Sexual Harassment Policy, Academic Programme Reviews of prolific Schools or Faculties in need of systemic or cultural change, stance on Cannabis Referendum 2020.
The Student Assembly is not a governance or advisory board. It does not pass decisions or motions on behalf of all students, except in the case of unanimous consensus on particular topics. It is a platform to gather consultation and feedback from the student body. This feedback will be fed back formally to the University through a report written by the Secretary of the Assembly and sent to key stakeholders within the University.
* apart from those already being remunerated for their time
Who?
The membership of the Student Assembly is comprised of the most important student leaders across Victoria University of Wellington and aims to be as diverse and inclusive of backgrounds, viewpoints and experience as possible.
This includes equity groups like Pasifika Students’ Council, faculty groups like Victoria University of Wellington Law Students’ Society and student members like student/staff members of our community or the two Student Representatives on the University Council (who previously had no formalised mechanisms to gauge student opinion on issues or be held accountable for decisions made).
When?
The first meeting of the Student Assembly is to be decided based on availability but there is money set aside in the Victoria University of Wellington Provost budget to have a Pilot meeting in Trimester 2 of 2019. Funding for the Student Assembly out of the Student Services Levy is set aside for four meetings of the Student Assembly in 2020.
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