Enrolment issue has many repercussions

The interests of wider New Zealand society and not just those of the University of Otago have to be taken into account in considering whether to further limit student enrolment at the university, vice-chancellor Prof Sir David Skegg says.

Any further limitation raised "a whole variety of issues" and the question of "what will most benefit society" also had to be considered, Prof Skegg said at a University Council meeting yesterday.

A higher-than-projected increase in the Otago University domestic student roll meant this was likely to be the first year the university exceeded the required 3% threshold, in relation to the agreed number of students set by the Tertiary Education Commission.

The extent of "over-enrolment" was likely to be modest, but the university would need to consider whether to limit enrolments further in the second semester, he said.

Discussing wider social considerations, Prof Skegg said the "future prosperity and welfare" of New Zealand would depend on ensuring Maori and Pacific young people could "achieve their full potential through higher education".

"It would be foolish to introduce crude academic criteria which ignored this fact."

"The university should also consider whether enrolment growth in the future should be "limited to subject areas in which the University of Otago excels internationally".

"Such a strategy might produce the greatest benefits for the individuals concerned, the university and the nation," he said.

The number of first-year student enrolments at Otago was effectively capped by the number of beds available at university residential colleges, given that the "great majority" of students came from outside Dunedin.

One of the main criteria used by colleges in selecting students related to their academic performance at school, he said.

The University Council last year decided there was no need at that stage to introduce mandatory first-year enrolment caps.

However, the council also decided that from this year, students who pass fewer than half their course points will be suspended after two years, rather than the previous three.

Some universities, notably Auckland University, introduced enrolment limits on many first-year courses from last year, causing hundreds of students to miss out on places.