Physical Education (PE) Students have raised serious concerns about the future of the PE department after reports of dwindling enrolments and budget cuts risk changes to the curriculum and degree structure. The organisation Phedders United, which formed in 2015 to represent the interests of alumni of the PE School, has amassed 422 members and recently launched a petition stating that “There is an importance in upholding practical components of a BPhed” and that student voices be “a vital aspect to be considered in regards to the future changes to University of Otago’s PE school.”
In a letter to the University Council and Vice Chancellor Harlene Hayne, co-convenors of Phedders United Louis Brown and Mary Beban, alongside the Students of Physical Education New Zealand (SPENZ), argued that there has been systematic mismanagement of the programme’s marketing over the past 10 years resulting in a dramatic fall in enrolments; from 700 applicants in a competitive entry course in 1993 to just 100 first year students in 2017.
According to Brown, “They used to have one part-time staffer responsible for marketing, and that position has been empty for who knows how long. Now you’ve just got one marketing co-ordinator for the Division of Sciences and they have 14 departments, let alone the number of products within each department.”
Phedders United made a request to the University under the Official Information Act (OIA) for a copy of the school’s Strategic Plan. The response from the University stated that the most recent strategic plan had expired in 2014, and there was no current plan or marketing plan. In Brown’s words: “Even the Tiddlywinks society has a strategic plan. Your corner dairy, any business worth its salt has some form of Strategic Plan and an idea where it’s going.”
In their letter, Phedders said “We don’t want to call this negligence, but it’s no secret a $6 Million public organisation in a competitive environment must have a sophisticated long-term plan including financials before an organisation can determine what budgets and/or curriculum need to be changed.”
“They’ve announced a stakeholders forum to us as alumni, which is apparently happening next week but we don’t know the time or details. We said ‘look, that’s ridiculous’, we’ve already got our timetables full of life and family commitments and we’re going to need at least one month to get all our people together and put forward a real voice. We eventually managed to get that pushed back to April and while we regard that as a win, it doesn’t address all of our concerns. We accept that something needs to change and there needs to be a long term plan, but we want to see the university stand up to its statutory obligations to consult with alumni.”
Phedders also raised concerns about the lack of co-ordination with alumni during the consultation process for any new plans or initiatives within the department. Options believed to be on the table include adding the option to change the four-year degree to a three-year degree or a 3+1 system with a Postgrad Diploma. Of particular concern to many students was the potential to get rid of or reduce the amount of practical lessons – camps, outdoors activities, and on the job trainings.
“It’s absolutely ridiculous,” said Brown in reaction to the potential proposals. “They can’t market one product effectively, let along three. For me, it just totally weakens the BPhed and the Phedder identity, which is now 69 years old. There is a unique, describable culture among graduates, and that means something, and a big part of that is the amount of practical application. It’s no secret that the value of degrees these days is hugely dependent on how work-ready the graduates are, and I think that’s what makes Phedders as valuable as they are.”