Understanding the university's approach to enrolment, support, and handling of issues raised by international students.
Salient Magazine made this Official Information request to Victoria University of Wellington
This request has an unknown status. We're waiting for Salient Magazine to read recent responses and update the status.
From: Salient Magazine
Dear Victoria University of Wellington,
Under the Official Information Act 1982, I am requesting information regarding international student outcomes, enrolment policies, support initiatives, and complaints. My interest lies in understanding the university's approach to enrolment, support, and handling of issues raised by international students. Specifically, I request information on the following:
1. Pass and Success Rates of International vs Domestic Students
For each of the last five academic years, please provide the pass rates and overall completion rates of international and domestic students, broken down by:
- Undergraduate programmes
- Honours programmes
- Master’s programmes
- PhD programmes
Are there any significant differences in academic performance trends between international and domestic students? If so, please provide analysis or data on the factors that may contribute to these disparities.
2. International Student Enrolment Policies and Academic Readiness
What specific admission requirements or assessments are required for international students applying to undergraduate, honours, master’s, and PhD programmes? This includes any mandatory language proficiency tests, academic readiness assessments, or prior qualifications verification.
Has the university implemented any testing or pre-admission evaluations aimed at determining an international student’s likelihood of success in a New Zealand tertiary environment? If so, what are these evaluations, and how are they factored into the admission process?
Does the university have policies or guidelines that outline differences (if any) in the enrolment criteria between domestic and international students?
3. Support for Transition from International to Western Academic Systems
What resources or support services does the university provide to assist international students transitioning from non-Western education systems? This includes any orientation programmes, language support, academic workshops, or mentorship initiatives specifically designed for international students.
Are there specific policies, plans, or documents outlining the university’s strategies for supporting international students’ transition academically and socially? If so, could you provide copies of these documents?
Has the university conducted any evaluations or studies on the effectiveness of its support systems for international students? If such evaluations exist, I request a summary or copy of any findings from these assessments.
4. Scholarships for International Students
For each of the last five academic years, how many international students were offered scholarships, and how does this compare to the number of domestic students offered scholarships?
Of the international students who were awarded scholarships, how many completed their degrees under those scholarships, and how many were removed from their scholarship programme before completion? Please provide comparative data for domestic students as well.
What are the criteria and processes for awarding scholarships to international students, and are there any differences compared to the processes for domestic students?
5. Complaints by International Students
In the last five academic years, how many complaints have been lodged by international students regarding lack of support, particularly in academic, language, social, or mental health services?
If possible, please provide a general summary of the nature of these complaints, ensuring that all responses comply with privacy standards and do not disclose individual information. Specifically, I would like to understand any recurring issues or systemic concerns raised by international students regarding the university’s support services.
6. Long-term Tracking of International Student Success and Retention
Does the university track the retention rates of international students as compared to domestic students? If so, could you provide these rates for the last five years?
Are there any reports or analyses related to the long-term academic or employment outcomes of international students post-graduation? If available, please share insights or summaries.
Thank you for your attention to this request. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if further clarification is required. I look forward to your response.
Kindly,
Salient Magazine.
From: OIA Requests
Victoria University of Wellington
Kia ora Salient
Official information request international student issues
I am writing to acknowledge receipt of your official information request
dated 15 November 2024.
We will endeavour to respond to your request as soon as possible and in
any event no later than 13 December 2024, being 20 working days after the
day your request was received.
If any additional factors come to light which are relevant to your
request, please do not hesitate to contact me so that these can be taken
into account.
Ngâ mihi,
Blair Doherty
Senior Advisor, Official Information and Privacy
Legal Services
Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington
[1]www.wgtn.ac.nz
show quoted sections
From: OIA Requests
Victoria University of Wellington
Kia ora Salient,
We would like to clarify one point of this request. For question 1, you
are seeking “pass and success rates of international vs domestic
students”. If we want to try and measure the rate that students that are
granted a qualification at the end of a period we would need to look at an
enrolling cohort and their qualification results at the end of a 3-5 year
period but this data would be incomplete. Completion based on a metric of
qualification granted working backwards from the last 5 academic years
will not capture the students that are not allowed to continue in their
qualification due to underperforming students being placed on Academic
Hold as these students will remain on “Qualification Sought” indefinitely.
A better approach may be to look at the GPA of domestic and international
students in their first year of a qualification from the 2019 – 2024
academic year. This will somewhat show the success rate and performance
levels of international versus domestic student in their first year.
We can then look at which new domestic and international students
enrolling in the last 5 years have been placed on academic hold which will
show which students are having difficulties in their studies and have not
been allowed to continue in their programme.
Please let us know if you would like to proceed with this alternate
approach.
Ngâ mihi,
Blair Doherty
Senior Advisor, Official Information and Privacy
Legal Services
Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington
[1]www.wgtn.ac.nz
show quoted sections
Things to do with this request
- Add an annotation (to help the requester or others)
- Download a zip file of all correspondence