“When that happens, PGSA fails”:PGSA in Limbo Amid Funding Cuts

Dan Moskovitz (he/him)

The future of postgraduate representation at the university remains unclear, with a funding cut to the Post Graduate Student Association (PGSA) for 2026, and VUWSA’s attempt to step in stymied. 

The PGSA has struggled for a while now. The organization has little funding and is reliant on volunteers, meaning its ability to provide steady services year on year is limited.  

Furthermore, the PGSA focuses primarily on community building, which has come at some expense to its advocacy role. Positions on various boards for postgraduate representatives have experienced ongoing vacancies. This means certain post-graduate course reviews, for example, have no student representation. 

VUWSA, who represent undergraduates on these boards, wanted to step in to fill the void. VUWSA wanted funding—through the student service levy—for a Postgraduate Officer on the executive, and a staff member to support them.

Unfortunately for VUWSA, the Student Levy Advisory Committee decided to only fund VUWSA’s executive member, who would work 15 hours a week.

PGSA Vice-President Events Vladislav Ilin was unimpressed by the decision to only fund an executive member. 

“If that person gets busy with their Ph.D or masters, then the position might not be as effective than if you had someone working full time [on postgraduate representation] with KPIs to hit.”

To make matters worse, the position ultimately went unfilled during VUWSA’s executive elections. VUWSA CEO Matt Tucker says VUWSA has options, including holding a by-election next year for the position, or hiring someone to work as the Postgraduate Officer without executive voting rights.

PGSA meanwhile, also sought $68,000 from the Student Levy Advisory Committee to continue their community building while hiring staff to support their executive, and to reduce their reliance on volunteers. They got $15,000. 

“They underfund us, and volunteers run out of energy and steam. When that happens, PGSA fails, and there’s no one to represent postgrads” said Ilin. 

“And so the funding gets cut further.”

Illin and his fellow PGSA Vice-President Mariel Lettier think PGSA could only fund one event each month next year, after admin costs are factored in.

This raises the question; how important is community building? 

Both Tucker and Lettier agree that for postgraduates, it’s vital. Postgraduates are predominantly older, foreign, and lack connections in Wellington. If you’re doing your Ph.D as an immigrant in your forties, then there’s not a whole lot of common ground between you and a 19-year-old undergrad from Wellington.

Tucker meanwhile notes how universities like Cambridge and Havard are renowned for their postgraduate culture outside of the classroom.  

All of this leaves postgraduate representation in a state of limbo. VUWSA has some—but not an ideal amount—of funding for it, but no staff, exec or otherwise. PGSA’s community building will be happening at a reduced rate. The resulting situation is one no one is happy with. 

“I’m not sure if what’s happened is necessarily better than the status quo,” said Tucker. “Because with PGSA’s funding cut, they may not choose to do certain things.”

“If they don’t, who will?"