Comments on: Gender and Women’s Studies not down with Karori Kool http://www.salient.org.nz/news/gender-and-women%e2%80%99s-studies-not-down-with-karori-kool Sun, 21 Mar 2010 01:57:02 +1300 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Jonathan Ah Kit http://www.salient.org.nz/news/gender-and-women%e2%80%99s-studies-not-down-with-karori-kool/comment-page-1#comment-380184 Jonathan Ah Kit Mon, 09 Mar 2009 01:37:39 +0000 http://www.salient.org.nz/?p=7677#comment-380184 Wha…? I run off on GWS in the middle of my honours year to get married in the US and this happens? Clearly the campus change between the lines is designed to reduce popularity to the point where the university can at least try to justify a closure a la Russian Department style. (Apparently noone speaks Russian? Isn't it like a UN official working language?) To an extent, I did see a lot of this coming. I mean, why the [insert your favourite expletive here] would you have the second lecturer, assistant lecturer and administrative assistant all on temporary contracts, not to mention another of the lecturers conventiently seconded as Head of School, if you weren't planning cuts at some point? Oh wait, oops, my bad. I didn't mean just cuts, I meant closure. Sometimes I wonder if WCE was merged only with the intention of getting possession of the real estate at Karori. I found GWS rather supportive of doing research during my undergraduate and honours years. Doing so during my BA actually encouraged me to continue in GEND either at VUW or an American university, which I guess is no longer an option, or at least soon, at VUW. My goodness, all this support was in part because we could easily consult other lecturers and faculty on the Kelburn campus. Like a certain GWS lecturer or research associate whom shall remain anonymous said once to me, if GWS moved to Kelburn, it would be its death knell. Not to mention keeping library books on the 'wrong' campus. Last time I was in NZ and I checked, incidentally, the university had conveniently kept the Russian books as a testament, I presume, to their (in?)finite wisdom. (They did have those red Collection Appraisal Project stickers on them, however.) Are they trying to set up (or pull the middle finger at) postgraduate candidates to fail? Am I glad FHSS let me bugger off with a GEND GradDipArts in absentia, otherwise my honours year would have been for nothing. If either VUW, VUW's alumni office or VUW's US 501(c)(3)-compliant charity ever come calling again for donations, I'll be in quite the bind about whether to pony over even the smallest amount of cash I have, let alone in today's economic climate in the US. It will, for once, Make Me Think™. Wha…? I run off on GWS in the middle of my honours year to get married in the US and this happens? Clearly the campus change between the lines is designed to reduce popularity to the point where the university can at least try to justify a closure a la Russian Department style. (Apparently noone speaks Russian? Isn’t it like a UN official working language?) To an extent, I did see a lot of this coming. I mean, why the [insert your favourite expletive here] would you have the second lecturer, assistant lecturer and administrative assistant all on temporary contracts, not to mention another of the lecturers conventiently seconded as Head of School, if you weren’t planning cuts at some point?

Oh wait, oops, my bad. I didn’t mean just cuts, I meant closure. Sometimes I wonder if WCE was merged only with the intention of getting possession of the real estate at Karori.

I found GWS rather supportive of doing research during my undergraduate and honours years. Doing so during my BA actually encouraged me to continue in GEND either at VUW or an American university, which I guess is no longer an option, or at least soon, at VUW. My goodness, all this support was in part because we could easily consult other lecturers and faculty on the Kelburn campus. Like a certain GWS lecturer or research associate whom shall remain anonymous said once to me, if GWS moved to Kelburn, it would be its death knell.

Not to mention keeping library books on the ‘wrong’ campus. Last time I was in NZ and I checked, incidentally, the university had conveniently kept the Russian books as a testament, I presume, to their (in?)finite wisdom. (They did have those red Collection Appraisal Project stickers on them, however.) Are they trying to set up (or pull the middle finger at) postgraduate candidates to fail?

Am I glad FHSS let me bugger off with a GEND GradDipArts in absentia, otherwise my honours year would have been for nothing.

If either VUW, VUW’s alumni office or VUW’s US 501(c)(3)-compliant charity ever come calling again for donations, I’ll be in quite the bind about whether to pony over even the smallest amount of cash I have, let alone in today’s economic climate in the US. It will, for once, Make Me Think™.

]]> By: Kerry http://www.salient.org.nz/news/gender-and-women%e2%80%99s-studies-not-down-with-karori-kool/comment-page-1#comment-380166 Kerry Mon, 09 Mar 2009 00:42:51 +0000 http://www.salient.org.nz/?p=7677#comment-380166 Good slant, Michael. We had a lot of students come up to the Women's Group table during clubs week, who would have taken a G&W paper, if it had still been taught - many had been unaware that some of last year's papers would not continue to be taught this year. The University has expressed a preference for G&W to become a purely post-graduate school within the FHSS/EdFac boundaries - currently, some post-grad quals are administered by FHSS, some by EdFac, with undergraduate papers administered through School of Ed. This year's cuts to papers offered make it impossible for a BA major or Hons to be completed in G&W, if one is starting in 2009. Does make those of us who have graduated in G&W into rare humans; and I dare say there will be rumblings from abroad, where many ex-Grad's are pursuing further education in this field. International students in particular were heavily represented in enrolments for some years. Good slant, Michael.
We had a lot of students come up to the Women’s Group table during clubs week, who would have taken a G&W paper, if it had still been taught – many had been unaware that some of last year’s papers would not continue to be taught this year.

The University has expressed a preference for G&W to become a purely post-graduate school within the FHSS/EdFac boundaries – currently, some post-grad quals are administered by FHSS, some by EdFac, with undergraduate papers administered through School of Ed. This year’s cuts to papers offered make it impossible for a BA major or Hons to be completed in G&W, if one is starting in 2009.

Does make those of us who have graduated in G&W into rare humans; and I dare say there will be rumblings from abroad, where many ex-Grad’s are pursuing further education in this field. International students in particular were heavily represented in enrolments for some years.

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