Who Pays the Price for AUT’s AV Redundancies? Students Do

NEWS | WEB EXCLUSIVE

Written by Mila Van Der Plas (she/her) | @mila.vdp | News Editor

You probably don't think about the audio-visual tech department/AV crew when you go to AUT events. Projectors switch on, microphones work, screens display just as they are supposed to; glitch-free, trouble-free, effortless. And that is the whole point: when it works, you can't even tell. But driving that seamless experience is a dedicated in-house team with decades of combined know-how.

Now, AUT is proposing to make its entire in-house AV staff redundant on September 13th and replacing them with outsourced contractors. On paper, the university says it's about cost savings. In reality? It could end up costing students more, lowering event quality, and turning our learning spaces into a frustrating game of technical roulette. 

It's not just a staff issue, this is a student issue. And students can help stop this.

A current staff member told me the AV team does not just rig up kits. They know the spaces, the events, and the people who run them. They anticipate problems in advance. They know what lecturers, students, and event hosts need sometimes before they even ask. That kind of experience takes years to develop. You cannot just buy it through an outsourced contractor.

The university argues that outsourcing will save money, but the numbers tell a different story. According to internal estimates:

An average school event which currently costs a small amount to produce with the in-house AV staff would require several times more with an external provider.

According to the staff member, a major university showcase event usually costs significantly less when run internally. When outsourced? Estimates go up to many times higher.

Where does it originate from? Ah, yes: student fees. Higher AV cost leads to fewer events, fewer chances to learn, and fewer contributions to the student experience as a whole. A textbook case of "cutting costs" at the expense of the students.

The staff member I spoke to confirmed what most people already believe: the AV team has consistently turned a profit, yet the university has not provided tangible evidence that the team is financially in trouble.

The current AV team has decades of combined experience. Contractors will most likely be junior staff who are not aware of campus spaces, culture, or expectations. Every time there is an event, they will have to be briefed, trained, and coordinated, providing hours of work for students and staff.

The staffer asserted that AV staff were informed of the redundancy plan only months after negotiations had reportedly begun. The staff had been kept in the dark, and the university had failed to present evidence that it is actually better value financially or operationally. This lack of transparency undermines trust, and the students and staff do not know if change is in the interest of the university or the students.

Thankfully, the decision isn't quite final yet. AUT invites submissions until Monday, September 1. Students can make a submission against the change by e-mailing fari.kapadia@aut.ac.nz. Note that this is the personal email of an AUT staff member - please be respectful.

If you plan to make a submission, think back to your time in University, have you gone to any events? Or even hosted and used AV yourself. Personal anecdotes are strong decision-making tools. Use AUT's provided feedback form or simply describe how the redundancy would affect your student experience.

While outsourcing AV may appear cheaper on paper, there is a real risk of it costing students more, with poorer quality and lower reliability. This is your education on the line - whether it should be outsourced into someone else's spreadsheet is up to you.