Aftershocks hit uni rolls

Continuing aftershocks in Christchurch are putting school-leavers off enrolling at Canterbury University with first-year applications down about 5 per cent.

Applications to enrol closed last Tuesday and reveal the university is battling to attract new students.

Canterbury University communications manager Jeanette Colman said while applications to enrol for returning domestic students were running well ahead of numbers at the same time last year, applications from first year domestic students were down about 5 per cent.

The university lost 13 per cent of its students in the wake of the earthquakes last year and has been struggling financially ever since. It is predicting a shortfall this year of between $12 million and $18m – around the equivalent of 300 staff jobs.

Vice-Chancellor Dr Rod Carr told the Star-Times that in its 2012 budget the University Council had made assumptions about student numbers. "There is nothing yet to indicate that the number of students enrolling is materially different from the forecast," he said.

Across town at the Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology (CPIT) enrolments are down 25 per cent, but chief executive Kay Giles is hoping numbers will pick up. The December 23 quakes forced the polytechnic to keep the campus closed for a week longer than planned over the Christmas break for engineering checks, so the enrolment process is running behind schedule.

- © Fairfax NZ News