Enrolment experiences and challenges

Close to two-thirds of students across all groups experienced significant difficulties with enrolment procedures and were disappointed and frustrated by their first formal contact with university. Automated telephone and on-line services were experienced as confusing and unresponsive (e.g. when students tried to enroll in conjoint degrees, or were not told what constituted a full-time enrolment for StudyLink purposes). Difficulties contacting university student services, or academic staff who could assist them with subject choices or timetable clashes, proved frustrating for many and a major barrier for some (to the point where the researchers felt ethically obliged to intervene with information, advice and, in a few cases, with active support to ensure the students knew

what decisions had or had not been made in response to their applications and what options were still available to them).

It took a couple of weeks. I kept ringing up and getting passed on to another person. So that was my first experience of university being kind of impersonal.

They just kind of shove you off to the next person to deal with your problems… It wasn’t a very good first impression to be honest, and they just seemed so disorganised… They just kept saying “email the help desk” which I’d done, but I wasn’t getting an error report so they weren’t interested… But eventually I got hold of a girl who was really helpful and she sorted it out for me. But it was a bit frustrating and slightly disconcerting when I couldn’t even enroll in my courses.

(European/Pākehā female)

For some students this was the first experience of having to solve what should have been minor but sometimes became major problems, or make important decisions on their own, without the help of their school teachers (who were no longer available) or parents (who in most cases had no experience of dealing with university systems).

Students applying for limited entry programmes were particularly anxious when they did not hear if their applications were successful and when, despite numerous telephone calls, they were unable to get a response. In some cases the student’s enrolment status was not confirmed until one to two weeks before the commencement of lectures. (In two cases, students from Northland, who had paid deposits on accommodation in Auckland and were all set for the move, were informed a little more than a week before the start of the semester that their applications were not successful. They chose to accept places in their preferred degree programmes at different universities further afield, but felt very anxious about going much further away from home than they had planned, and about trying to find accommodation at such short notice, in places they did not know, and at a time when there were already long waiting lists for places in university halls of residence.)

More than a third of the participants experienced difficulties with StudyLink and at least 10 of the 37 students who commenced semester one did so without financial assistance in place. Some students lacked adequate information and did not appreciate that failure to pay their tuition fees (contingent on receiving a student loan) would, in some cases, limit their access to university resources such as on-line and library services. Rural students, whose move away from home involved significant accommodation and living costs, were generally more proactive and organised in relation to their financial support, although those without significant family or scholarship assistance knew they would be struggling to meet the costs of university hostel accommodation. For some urban students, StudyLink finances were a welcome addition but not essential to their ability to pay university fees. For others student loans and allowances were critical. More Pacific

than other students failed to have their student loans and allowances in place by the start of the academic year. Lack of financial resources to cover tuition fees was a contributing factor in one of these students withdrawing from university within a few weeks of commencement.

Of the 37 students who commenced tertiary studies, 10 were declined enrolment in their course of choice (in health, commerce, business, law or visual arts). Among them were three students who did not achieve UE and whose only option was to enroll in a bridging/preparatory certificate programme, as well as a student who achieved UE and 97 NCEA Level 3 Credits in approved subjects but was not accepted into the limited-entry degree programme and was directed into a preparatory certificate programme. As well as having to deal with the disappointment of not getting into their programme of choice, many of these students had to make alternative plans with limited time before the start of the academic year and, often, had difficulty accessing academic advice and help. Eventually, of the 10 students not accepted into their course of choice:

• four enrolled in preparatory certificate programmes at the same or a different university;

• three enrolled in their course of choice at a different university;

• two enrolled in a different degree programme at the same university;

• one, rejected from a conjoint degree, managed to enroll in the two degree programmes separately.

Five of the affected students were Pacific and three came from Northland. This initial setback did little for the confidence of most of these students, although three commented on being even more determined to succeed and to learn from the experience by studying hard and achieving grades that would give them entry into the degree programme of their choice at a later point.

For other students, rejection from their programme of choice was a “wake up call”; their first encounter with the reality of a competitive world they were struggling to enter.

Having achieved UE and the NCEA Level 3 Certificate they expected the university doors to be wide open. Instead, with the doors before them closed, they had to embark on a hastily chosen alternative, in some cases unsure of where it would lead them.