22 February 2024
By email
: [FYI request #25322 email]
Tēnā koe
I refer to your information request dated 2 January 2024 made under the Official Information Act 1982
(the Act). You have requested information in relation to paper proposals “distributed for consultation
between 1 January 2023 and 31 December 2023.”
Please see below our response to your request.
1. How many (if any) of each of the following proposals/request forms were distributed for
consultation between 1 January 2023 and 31 December 2023:
a. Indicative Proposal for a Programme
b. New Programme Proposal
c. Programme Amendment Proposal
d. Curriculum Redesign Proposal
e. New Paper Proposal
f. Empty-Shell Code Request Form
g. Special Topic Proposal
h. Special Topic Transition Proposal
i. Prescription Amendment Proposal
j. Deletion Proposal
k. New Mode or New Teaching Period Proposal
l. Reinstatement Proposal
m. New Micro-credential Proposal
We have interpreted this part of your request to be for documents that have reached the stage of
being formalised enough to progress to meetings of the University
’s Board of Undergraduate Studies
(BUGS) o
r Board of Graduate Studies (BoGS) for discussion. We note that academic approval processes
inherently involve consultation as the approving boards comprise representatives from across the
University and from student leadership. Staff completing academic proposals may also consult with
other areas of the University such as the Strategy, Analytics and Reporting Office (to confirm funding
details), any affected divisions, departments, or schools (for example, if a new paper will be taught by
staff across different subjects), timetabling services (to confirm timetabling feasibility). There is no one
point when consultation occurs as it is an ongoing component of academic approval processes.
Further information on the types of proposals and related resource documents for these proposals,
such as templates, examples, and important notes for completing particular proposals, is available on
the University
website.
To answer your question, please see attached relevant parts of minutes from meetings of BUGS and
BoGS which detail the proposals considered by each Board and the recommendations made.
Redactions have been made for information that is out of scope of your request. We note that the
minutes describe the overall nature of the proposals submitted, rather than the type and number of
forms used for each overall proposal. The University does not hold the information in the way that it
has been requested, and therefore would require our staff to search through the files for each
individual meeting and manually collate the information. This would require substantial collation and
staff time. In light of this, could you please confirm whether you still require this information – in
which case we will need to consider either fixing a charge under section 15 of the Act or otherwise
decline this part of your request pursuant to section 18(f) of the Act on the basis that it will require
substantial research and collation.
2. Was there a Deletion Proposal for the phasing out of the Asian Studies programme? If so,
please attach.
3. Whas there a Deletion Proposal for the phasing out of the European Studies programme? If
so, please attach.
4. Was there a Deletion Proposal for the phasing out of the German programme? If so, please
attach.
Deletion Proposals have not yet been received by BUGS or BoGS. The University Senate and University
Council considered these matters in relation to a Management of Change Proposal. Deletion Proposals
typically involve proposals that have been initiated by the affected department or programme
themselves. Formal deletion of the relevant papers and programmes has not yet been undertaken and
will occur this year via the Humanities Academic Committee, Humanities Divisional Board, and BUGS.
In case it is helpful, please see the below excerpt of minutes from the Senate meeting of 31 May 2023,
which highlights Senate’s discussion and decision to endorse the management of change proposal.
5. Which advisory boards, committees or similar consulted on Asian Studies, German and
European Studies being phased out from 2025?
As noted above, formal deletion has not yet been undertaken and will occur this year via the
Humanities Academic Committee, Humanities Divisional Board, and BUGS.
We note that staff were invited to provide feedback on the Management of Change Proposal for the
Languages and Cultures Programme. Formal consultation was undertaken in March 2023, and resulted
in 96 submissions being received from staff within the Languages and Culture Programme, staff across
the University, students (past and present), the TEU, and the wider community. The Management of
Change Proposal was endorsed by the University Senate and supported by the University Council, and
the overall proposal and resulting changes to staffing were approved by the Acting Vice-Chancellor.
6. How many new papers are being introduced in 2024?
7. How many papers that were offered in 2023 are not being offered in 2024?
8. How many papers that were offered in 2023 are not being offered in 2024 AND intend to not
be offered again?
Subject to the following comments, please see the information you have requested below:
• The data does not include Foundation or Thesis papers.
• Please note that in some cases, adding or removing a paper does not necessarily mean that
new teaching content is added, or old content is removed. As an example, there have been
instances where paper codes have been removed and new ones have been added, but the
teaching content on offer is the same. There can also be instances where an existing special
topic is made permanent and given a new code, or where a paper is removed and a new one
added to reflect changing teaching content in a department.
o 62 new paper codes have been introduced for 2024. 57 of these papers are being offered
in 2024, and the remaining 5 have been registered but are not being offered in 2024.
o 76 paper codes that were offered in 2023 are not being offered in 2024.
o Of the 76 paper codes that were offered in 2023 and are not being offered in 2024, 45
intend not to be offered again. Please note that we only have certainty for papers that
have actually been deleted.
I trust that this information will be helpful.
If you are not satisfied with our response to your information request, section 28(3) of the Act
provides you with the right to ask an Ombudsman to investigate and review this response. However,
we would welcome the opportunity to discuss any concerns with you first.
Ngā mihi
Kelsey Kennard
Official Information and Compliance Coordinator
Office of the Registrar
