Victoria University Wellington has joined Otago University in announcing substantial job cuts in the wake of financial strain. Because of course they did, they’re always trying to copy us.
The announcement that Otago will be entering a newer, slimmer staffing era (so chic!) sent ripples through the tertiary education blogosphere, with the keen-eared policymakers at Vic not missing a beat. Not one to look late to the party, Vic’s admin have decided to cut staff as well to keep up with the Clocktower’s ahead-of-the-curve trendsetting.
Maia Ingoe, co-editor of Salient Magazine (Critic, but in Wellington), was keen to give an insider’s perspective, but what she disclosed shook us to our core: “I was feeling a little bit left out for a while there,” she said, referring to Vic Uni’s staffing cuts announcement. It came in the wake of similar announcements, not just from Otago, but from AUT and Waikato in years prior. “I was like, ‘Oh, all these student mags have these great stories and we just don't... It was really hard for us here at Salient Mag, when we’re not losing our jobs. Yet.” But the turbulent budget announcements mean more news, and more news means that we’ll keep getting paid. “Wait a minute,” said Maia. “You guys are getting paid?”
Speaking of getting paid, a bunch of lecturers are about to not be. “It’s a $33 million hole,” said Maia. Rookie numbers compared to Otago, but who’s counting? “If you count the fact that we're meant to be making a $10 million surplus to kind of break even and pay back debt, there's a $43 million hole.” Maia’s counting (unlike the Uni accountants, apparently).
It’s an impressive achievement. Otago will always be number one - that’s why we all pay so much money to go here - but Vic is nipping at our heels, even in this contest. And they’ve been making some serious progress. Otago has cited lower domestic enrolment numbers as a critical factor in their financial debacle, but Vic is jacking our style even in this department: “It’s not easy to have the lowest domestic market share of enrolments,” said Maia. “Like you really have to fuck shit up to do that.”
It’s a major play from Vic, but at least in the debt department, Otago can still say they’re #1. And that’s why I studied at Otago: nationally recognised excellence. Always topping the charts, and an indiscriminate attitude towards what charts those are.
What we don’t know is how much of a hand Salient Mag had in the recent announcement. We know for sure that announcements like this keep people like Maia employed, but who’s to say what she got up to behind the scenes? Whatever it was, though, it wasn’t enough. Otago’s still number one, baby. Don’t even talk to me until you turn “$40m surplus” into “$60m deficit” over the course of two years.