University Quietly Scraps Guaranteed Access to Lecture Recordings
Words by Ethan Manera (he/him)
As students flock back to campus for the start of the university year, confusion is rife surrounding whether they will have access to lecture recordings.
Throughout Covid-19, universal access to lecture recordings was rolled out in all New Zealand tertiary institutions. But since the removal of this temporary accommodation last year, VUW students have been kept in the dark as to whether they will be provided tools for online learning.
The university has been notably vague on the future of lecture recordings heading into 2023. Their website states that Trimester 1 will see more courses “delivered with in-person components” and citing “many advantages to being on-campus”, but an official policy outlining their approach is nowhere to be found.
Following the uncertainty from the university, VUWSA launched a petition alongside the National Disabled Students’ Association, campaigning for universal student access to lecture recordings.
Despite almost 4000 signatures, the university doubled down on scrapping guaranteed access. They told VUWSA that “staff will explicitly be encouraged to record their lectures and make them available wherever this is feasible”, but refused to mandate recordings.
When questioned by ^Salient, VUW Academic Vice Provost Professor Stuart Brock said the university's lecture recording policy is “currently under review”. But he stated the approach to lecture recordings for Trimester 1 reflects the university’s pre-Covid-19 policy. This means the decision of whether to provide lecture recordings to students is made at an individual level for different courses “depending on the pedagogy of the course”.
“Staff are not required to provide lecture recordings to all students,” Brock said.
The university also stated that there is “a robust correlation” between in-person attendance and student success, a claim that VUWSA disputes. When asked what evidence suggests this correlation, ^Salient were provided with a plethora of academic sources reinforcing the university's stance.
Potential enforcement of in-person lecture attendance has many in the university community concerned that policy changes neglect to consider the complex lives of students. Many have to juggle study with employment, mental health, and other demands of modern student life.
Amber-Rose Stinton, president of VUW’s Disabled Students’ Association is “very much against the policy changes”, saying it will create “an undue burden on students”.
“We are quite distressed about the fact that we are now going backwards on this.”
Stinton said students enrolled with disability services will now have to opt in to receive lecture recordings. This raises issues for those who do not wish to disclose their disability to course coordinators out of fear of discrimination.
“Students with disabilities need to be accommodated,” Stinton said. “The university have clearly demonstrated that it is possible to do dual delivery, so we’re a little bit confused on why exactly they have decided to go back on that.”