File photo. Massey University. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
An agricultural academic says Massey University's recently announced proposed slashing of plant science, natural sciences and food tech is totally wrong for a country whose economy relies on the primary sector.
Massey University wanted to reduce staff in these areas by 60 percent - with more than 100 jobs expected to go.
Lincoln University professor of Agricultural Sciences Dr Jon Hickford said talking of cuts was "not good".
"New Zealand runs a biological economy primarily. We're at the end of the world and if you take a combination of our ag and hort and its contribution to our export earnings, that's one thing that's likely to be impacted by these decisions.
"And of course tourism is geared around our conservation estate and that in turn needs people with a good understanding of plant science and the impact of things like pest species on our conservation estate. So we're a biological economy and to see people cutting away courses in the biological sciences, plant sciences, it's frankly the wrong direction to go."
Massey's Pro Vice-Chancellor College of Sciences Professor Ray Geor said the changes have been proposed to ensure the university's core disciplines remain part of its academic portfolio.
"We are proud of our horticultural science degree that was co-designed with industry to best serve primary production, and remains a key part of our academic portfolio," he said.
Geor said given the "current financial conditions" some campus consolidation was necessary, but Massey was committed to maintaining and growing Food Technology in Manawatū, as that supported the Aotearoa New Zealand food industry.
"While we are proposing to discontinue our activities within plant science, our commitment to chemistry and our core biological disciplines of molecular and cellular biology, microbiology, ecology and conservation, and zoology remains. If the proposed changes go ahead, these specialisations will be consolidated to our Manawatū campus in Palmerston North," Geor said.
Hickford remained concerned that in recent years universities have been relying on foreign students to stay afloat, echoing recent comments by the Tertiary Education Union that there was a clear sign university funding systems needed to change if research and teaching was cut, following what could be a temporary fall in student enrolments.
Massey University has said prior to the pandemic, foreign students were a "major source of revenue for New Zealand universities".
Ministry of Education figures showed domestic and international student enrolments directly provided about 66 percent of universities' $4.35 billion income last year through government subsidies and fees.
Meanwhile, five universities including Massey have told RNZ they are forecasting deficits this year due to factors including lower domestic enrolments and rising costs and this was contributing to course cuts.
Students in Albany protested and made their feelings known about the proposals. Photo: Supplied / Niklas Polzer
Hickford said the funding model needed changes.
"Our universities have to be primarily focused on creating wellbeing and wealth for New Zealand, not necessarily surviving by bringing in foreign students - not that I've got anything against foreign students.
"But the fundamental problem is one that we've known about for a long time which is we let 17-year-olds in New Zealand really decide the strategic direction of our university sector because of our funding following students. So if a student decides to do ag and hort or plant then the university is funded to do that, but if the students don't choose that, then the funding follows tertiary students into other areas. This is a fundamental problem.
"It doesn't work. It doesn't provide a university system effectively delivering benefit to New Zealand," he said.
Hickford said he had been crunching numbers and last year there were more than twice as many students doing performing arts degrees as agriculture.
Across four universities and all years of study there were 1720 agricultural students compared to 4730 doing performing arts degrees he said.
MOE figures show agriculture students accounted for about 1.3 percent of all Bachelors enrolments last year, while enrolments in the Creative Arts accounted for just over 9 percent.
"You hear those figures and you think what is wrong. What signals are our kids getting in school to say there's going to be a meaningful career for you in the performing arts versus, hey, you have a meaningful career in agriculture.
"Our kids are directing money in the university sector towards performing arts .. and even that's being cut as we've seen at Victoria University. So we've got to get back to the fundamental question of 'how do we strategically invest in our universities?'.
"Do we no longer need plant science and genome work, high tech food initiatives at Massey, or just because there are not enough students we can't sustain running it any more and go and put our money into other things that possibly are not of any economic value to New Zealand," Hickford said.
He said it was "naive" to think if New Zealand suddenly needed plant scientists that they could be imported from overseas.
"They don't exist," he said.