Uni music school’s 'brutal' proposal to cut staff

The University of Auckland’s music school has sprung a last-minute proposal to restructure its degree and to get rid of highly esteemed staff in the process.

One of the staff members who may lose their job is internationally renowned flautist Professor Uwe Grodd.

The proposal was made public five days before the deadline for students to withdraw from their courses.

Tertiary Education Union organiser Enzo Giordani says the union is concerned about the overall process and what it will mean for the future of the music school.

“The process has been quite brutal and very disheartening for a lot of our members who are involved in it.”

Mr Giordani says the university will be removing well-regarded academics and replacing them with part-time teachers from the Auckland Philharmonia.

“Not that there's anything wrong with the quality of the Auckland Philharmonia, but highly paid and highly skilled, prestigious teachers are getting replaced by part-timers and people who aren’t really teachers.”

Third-year flute student Jacquelyn Grace says strong relationships with professors and tutors are what push music students to do their best.

Ms Grace specifically chose to attend the University of Auckland music school over other universities because of the calibre of their teaching staff.

If the proposal goes ahead, Ms Grace’s tutor of three years, Professor Grodd, will be gone and she fears this will affect her studies.

"I planned to finish my bachelors and then move onto honours and I wanted to do that with Professor Grodd.

“But with all this going on, it's not likely I’ll continue onto postgraduate studies.”

A mature music student who declined to be named says the news has left students frazzled.

"I would question whether or not this decision was announced at this time in a very calculated manner, to put pressure on students to decide to remain put or not.

“By shortening the consultation period it minimises the opportunity for people to put together submissions on this.”

She says she accepts the restructuring is to enrich the programme but the cost is too high.

“Professor Uwe Grodd is recognised internationally as one of the finest flute teachers in the world, why would you settle for anything less?”

A recent meeting between music school staff and students over the issue became heated at times.

A recurring comment by students TWN spoke to was that sacking a tutor was not the same as sacking a lecturer - tutors were a core part of a music student’s journey.

Students said the school's wealth of music professors and academics was what attracted people to study there.

The University of Auckland did not respond to TWN inquiries in time for publication.