A female student was found dead in her dorm room in the Lincoln University Halls of residence on Monday. Photo / Lincoln University, Facebook
A female student was found dead in her dorm room in the Lincoln University Halls of residence on Monday. Photo / Lincoln University, Facebook
The Green's tertiary education spokeswoman Chlöe Swarbrick has criticised Universities NZ after a female student of Lincoln University was found dead in her room at the halls of residence.
The student's death is not considered suspicious, and will be referred to the coroner, a police spokesperson said.
Police would not comment on how long the student's body, which was discovered on Monday, had been there.
Swarbrick has recently criticised Universities NZ, the statutory body representing the country's universities.
And in response to the death of the student, she continued to question why none of the eight universities has fully implemented the pastoral care code.
But Universities NZ's chief executive has rejected the Auckland Central MP's claim.
The code was expanded after another student, Mason Pendrous, was found dead in his room at Sonoda Village at the University of Canterbury in September 2019.
The expanded and updated code came into effect on January 1, 2022.
Swarbrick highlights that student welfare has consistently been disregarded as an issue within New Zealand and said that it "just wasn't good enough".
"It is disappointing, this is a process in which time and again we are seeing students and their welfare and their wellbeing have consistently been put on the back burner, and we have been told due to the likes of the pandemic that we have to have delays in the implementation in what I believe most people would assume are really core fundamentals around the wellbeing of students in tertiary education," Swarbrick said.
Greens tertiary education spokeswoman Chlöe Swarbrick said that student welfare has been "placed on the back burner" and it's not good enough. Photo / Michael Craig
She urges Universities NZ to be transparent given the state of affairs within the tertiary sector currently.
"I think it's really important that we have clarity about where the shortfall currently is and what the game plan is to get up to speed."
New Zealand Union of Students' Association (NZUSA) vice president Sam Blackmore said although the NZUSA acknowledges the code "could not have been implemented in a heartbeat", he is "disappointed" that it is taking this long.
"We knew it was coming into force on the first of January, we've known for a long time what the code was going to hold, so it is frustrating to hear still from Universities NZ that it hasn't been fully implemented at this stage," Blackmore said.
Universities NZ chief executive Chris Whelan rejected the claims that none of the universities has implemented the pastoral care code.
He maintained that all universities were compliant in "most areas of the code' and that they are providing the New Zealand Qualifications Authority, as code administrator, with regular reports on progress in closing these remaining gaps.
"To date, there has not been any suggestion that progress is inadequate or that outstanding gaps are creating undue risk to students' safety and wellbeing."
Whelan said the student's death was "felt across the entire sector".
"The safety and wellbeing of our students are paramount to New Zealand's eight universities and our thoughts are very much with the family and friends of the student who has died."
