Massey students have as much rights as Mcdonalds customers, explains staff member

Massey students have just as much right to influence university decisions as “people who walk into McDonald’s” explains a staff member at forums two weeks ago.  

A student and staff forum titled ‘The Neoliberal War on Universities’ was held on every Massey campus on the 9th of August.  

Last month, Massey vice chancellor Jan Thomas invited staff to express interest in Voluntary Enhanced Cessation.  

Richard Shaw, professor of politics and social sciences at Manawatū, called staff and students “neoliberal customers” of the university. 

The Guardian defined neoliberalism as an ideology which sees competition as the defining characteristic of human relations. It redefines citizens as consumers, whose democratic choices are best exercised by buying and selling, a process that rewards merit and punishes inefficiency. 

Shaw said, “In a neoliberal world, you are not conceived as citizens, you’re conceived as clients or as customers.”  

“Therefore, the corresponding rights to responsibilities and obligations that you have are those of people who walk into McDonald’s.” 

“You can walk into that place, you can walk out of that place. You do not have rights of voice.”  

Shaw said his department, the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, could lose up to 40% of its 170 staff.  

In June, 245 staff members were invited to voluntarily resign, however Shaw said these are just the ones people know about. 

“What you don’t know about is all of the other people who have quietly left this place”.   

He said students’ education had been replaced by “functional training” and 65% of the jobs being trained for won’t exist in five years.  

He said with more online classes, “your relationship with us becomes very very transactional”. 

He warned students that with the changes, classes will become bigger but be moved online into zoom rooms with many cameras and screens off, what he called a “dispiriting experience”.  

“You will experience the implosion of an institution that many of us have given large amounts of our working lives to.”   

Fine arts student Julia Kohlhaas felt a responsibility to speak out for younger generations of students. 

Kohlhaas was concerned fourth years like herself would be “the last ones to have this diversity and range of different courses,” especially as many classes transition online. 

Massey has finalised its ‘No and Low Enrolment’ policy and the ‘Digital Plus’ policy which means the Senior Leadership Team can cut courses without input from the staff. 

The ‘Digital Plus’ policy aims to anchor each college to be taught at just one physical campus with online study unless it could be financially justified.   

Kohlhaas said people can't make a connection to someone who is performing a lecture online to “dark screens with names on it”. 

She criticised Massey for cutting in-person lecture time while paying the same fee, “being told that it's already the intensive version of the course”. 

“I would really encourage the student association to inform the students and bombard them with what is going on, because I feel like a lot of things are not known.” 

Sean McFadyen is a part-time politics student who works full time researching at Massey’s poultry unit to support his family.  

“We’ve been reduced to only two staff members from six when I started and thirteen before I started.” 

In this job, he said himself and his co-workers have needed to chase their own funding and “constantly justify” their jobs. 

McFadyen was concerned he won't be able to finish his degree as more Massey staff are cut. 

“Will the papers I need still be there when I need them?” 

He said students have transformed from citizens of the university to clients, to fill in consumer satisfaction surveys and “generally remain passive”. 

He said Massey was suffering from 40 years of public divestment from universities which has forced the institutions to transform into “pseudo-commercial enterprises”. 

Julie Douglas, senior lecturer and national president of Tertiary Education Union was sad to say, “Students are already halfway there in being enculturated into thinking in the neoliberal way.”  

Massey staff member Cassie is a mother working contract to contract, she said you cannot put the value of complex labour into spreadsheets.  

“Popping your head up above the parapet is dangerous in this place”. 

Massey University declined to comment.