OPINION: Want More Students On Campus? Rethink Your Approach

Words by Zoë Mills (they/she)

Last week, Salient published a feature interviewing Vice Chancellor Nic Smith. The piece revealed that Smith was keen on “listening” and “understanding” university students and staff. Smith emphasised his focus on building connections and community, highlighting the need to get more students on campus post-Covid-19. It’s clear that Smith is incredibly out of touch with what it’s like to be a student at VUW in 2023.

In the interview, Smith’s focus on bringing students back to campus diverts attention away from the fact that this is not an issue of students being lazy or anti-social—it is an issue of affordability and accessibility. Not attending uni in person is a product of being a student during a cost of living crisis. An example of this is the mandate on lecture recordings. Smith says that bringing students to campus and keeping campus businesses alive go hand and hand. That’s definitely true, but placing pressure on students—who are already struggling to make ends meet—is simply unfair.

Maybe, just maybe, more students would come to campus if they had the option of cheap or subsidised food, free public transport fares, or were not being pushed out of the city due to outrageous rent. More students would attend in-person lectures if they didn't have to work 20+ hours a week to support themselves.More students would be on campus if they weren't immunocompromised and at risk of major illness if they contract Covid-19. 

It is vital that Smith focuses on caring for the community that already exists, regardless of whether that community is on campus 100% of the time. He needs to look into ^how we can build connections post-Covid-19 within the lifestyles of already overworked students and underpaid staff. If Smith wants more students on campus in person, he needs to engage directly with current students to understand the barriers that are preventing them from being on campus in the first place. Reaching out might be a better solution to making Love Island TikToks.

Let’s hope that Smith reaches into that VC pot of gold and rethinks his approach sometime soon.