Staff received a proposal last week which suggests removing the pathways to professorship within the department.
Dr Tessa Romano, who lectures in voice, said the news was a ‘‘death blow’’ to staff and could have major implications in the coming years.
It seemed particularly ill-timed considering the department was about to celebrate its centenary in September.
‘‘All of the lecturer-to-professor pathway staff will be phased out and everyone who’s not retiring will essentially be demoted to the senior teaching fellow.
‘‘Our contracts will also fluctuate per year based on the number of one-to-one students we get every year.’’
Even students doing double majors in music performance and another subject would be affected because of the limits for promotion in music.
The proposed changes would make the department ‘‘vulnerable’’ to further cuts or restructuring, Dr Romano said.
‘‘It would bar us from having any leadership opportunities or promotion opportunities in the future.
‘‘It also doesn’t create any stability for staff or students.’’
In a proposal sent to staff, the University of Otago said student numbers were declining and then plateauing.
There were also issues about the cost of the programmes, ranging from staffing to the number of instruments available.
Dr Romano said the department’s student numbers were dwindling, but this was a reflection of the decline in the classical music courses worldwide.
‘‘I’ve always recommended stepping things up [in terms of promotion].’’
The department had never received a big share from the university for marketing.
‘‘It’s difficult to do our own recruiting and marketing while teaching — it leaves us very little time to do so.
‘‘So, both recruiting future quality staff and recruiting students is at risk with this proposed change.
‘‘I also feel that we have untapped markets abroad that we could take more advantage of.’’
The Otago University discussion document said there had been issues with the recruitment pathways in the department.
‘‘Over a period of many years, permanent positions have generally been offered on the teaching fellow pathway rather than the lecturer-professor pathway.
‘‘The lecturer-professor model of employment for music performance, which includes significant workload allocated to research and performance, has become progressively more unaffordable.’’
The document said conservatoire programmes were under pressure, ‘‘particularly as this is a very expensive model of teaching to deliver, and is being delivered to a decreasing pool of students’’.
A university representative said there were 13 permanent staff in the music programme.
Of those, there were eight permanent staff for whom a core component of their role was teaching an instrument (music performance).
These eight roles would be affected if the proposal proceeded.
‘‘We are considering different employment arrangements that for some, if approved, could result in a significant change to their role.
‘‘The university is committed to securing the future of music performance at Otago.
‘‘We are looking at ways in which we can better streamline the delivery of performance teaching and plan for a sustainable future.’’
The proposal documents suggest some changes could happen next year, while others could be phased in between 2028 and 2030.
If fully implemented, the proposal would deliver $325,000 of permanent salary savings by 2030.
Submissions on the proposed restructure close on July 22.
