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University leaders have also confirmed for the first time that the legal challenge has implications for their Mirror on Society policy, which promotes prioritizing students from roads such as Māori and Pasifika.
The university will oppose the legal action.
The denials were issued amid discussions about whether the university should put limits on the number of students accepted through minority avenues.
Vice Chancellor Harlene Hayne, Pro-Vice Chancellor Paul Brunton, Maori Development Director Tuari Potiki and Pacific Development Director Tasileta Teevale issued a joint statement today.
“Part of the context for the recent discussions is an ongoing judicial challenge to the university’s regulations and processes for medical admissions,” they said.
“While the university rejects criticism of its existing processes, the legal challenge has highlighted the importance of ensuring that all admissions decisions, including those through the Mirror on Society pathways, are transparent and legally sound.”
It is understood that the university will face the challenge of choosing to accept more students through affirmative avenues than its proportion of the population.
University representatives previously said the legal action was not related to the Mirror on Society policy or fairness avenues, which no longer appears to be the case.
“It has recently become clear that the challenge will argue that the university’s ability to admit students through the Mirror on Society pathways is limited by the proportions of relevant groups in society as a whole.”
University leaders had not previously said why the idea of limits had been raised in a discussion paper. They also said that no changes to the medical admission process had been formally proposed.
Yesterday they said a little more. “The intention of the discussion paper was to allow us to pause and take stock of where we are and how we will move forward.”
The Mirror on Society policy was adopted in 2012 and is part of a broader push to increase the number of students from underrepresented groups and improve their academic results.
In the health sciences, the priority pathways are Maori, Pasifika, rural, low socioeconomic status, and refugees. About half of the 2020 intake in second-year drugs came from those pathways this year.
The university has reaffirmed its commitment to the Mirror on Society policy and preferential pathways.
Changes are off the table for this year and leaders are now pushing back on limits.
“This principle, which would slow the rate at which a representative health workforce could be achieved, is not one that the university accepts and will vigorously oppose in court.
“Over the past decade alone, the number of Maori studying in Otago has increased annually, increasing by more than 35% to reach the equivalent of 2,187 full-time enrollments in 2019. As a result, Maori now comprise over 12.5 % of our national student cohort, up from 8.5% 10 years ago.
“During the same period, Pasifika’s enrollment has increased by more than 50%, and the university enrolled more than 1,000 Pacific students for the first time last year.”
More has been invested in equity-based scholarships and targeted outreach programs.
“Additionally, investment in academic and cultural support programs and services has also supported the continued success of these students.”
“In December 2016, Otago celebrated the milestone of 45 Maori doctors graduating from Otago in a single year. We have graduated an average of 38 Maori doctors per year since 2016, compared to an average of just 14 per year for the period. 2010-2015 We have also continued to increase the number of Pasifika medical graduates.
“The Mirror on Society policy is a cornerstone of admissions to Otago’s health sciences professional programs and we are justifiably proud of it. We are not straying from the commitment it represents.
“We remain confident that all of the work currently taking place around medical admissions and our Mirror on Society policy will give us the opportunity to reconnect, renew our commitment, and establish an appropriately ambitious vision for workforce equity. “.
