Fees will be rising more for 2010 than they have in recent years. Massey says fees need to rise for the sake of quality delivery, enhanced support and Massey’s reputation. They are likely to be right, but there are areas where students should question the rise.
Firstly the student services levy: an increase from $31 to $60 should deliver some improvements in support. A good proportion of these improvements are going to be targeted towards students in danger of not completing their studies. That means some students will be paying for support services they may not use. In the Fees Forum Steve Maharey said the learning environment must be healthy for all students, a user pays environment will erode the capability that delivers support. Without capability the support cannot be delivered when needed. Notably this is the same position taken by student associations. Students should seek clarity about the improvements of service. As your representative on campus I will ensure this is followed up and will post summaries of service improvements on www.EXMSS.org.nz That way students will be able to judge for themselves whether Massey is delivering on their proposed improvements. I would suggest the same clarity is needed from your student association.
Secondly the $1000 increase in research postgraduate fees: “How did we get to the point where such an increase is needed?” students asked Maharey at the Fees Forum. This proposal flies in the face of the fee setting principles: student affordability and clarity of benefits. Unlike the student services levy this has no clear improvements associated with the rise. It appears to be simply to keep up with the Jones’.
So have your say
I will be able to express your views at the final fee setting meeting on the 2nd of October. Let me know what you think of this, with your support there is potential for students to have a real say in this matter.
Link to fees forum
Fees Forum in the News http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/2850733/Students-pressure-Maharey-on-fees
In the current eco-political environment fee rises seem inevitable if we hope to see a maintenance of paper quality and quantity, and university run support services.
Let us hope that Steve sticks to his buzz word ‘transparency’ and any levy increases that go through are actually applied where they were allocated; I recall a wandering library levy a few years back.