As students of the University of Waikato we voice our objection to the proposed new assessment regulations which impose a restrictive cap of three summative assessments for each course. 

These new regulations would mean students could get no direct grades for (the vast majority of) tutorials, labs, smaller assignments, field-trips and other coursework. These items often dubbed 'micro assessment' are vital for students learning and we believe that these proposed changes will harm the education students gain, hurt their job prospects and by extension hurt the wider community we value so much.

These changes would mean you can't get any points from much of the work you do at university. In some courses/subjects formative assessment can be more academically challenging and educational than summative assessment meaning most of the rigirous work of some students doesn't yield any points. 
It would lead to procrastination, all or nothing assessment and the potential costs of being sick seriously increasing. We are unconvinced that the protocols to alleviate these risks are satisfactory to mitigate the impacts of the lost value of formative and smaller summative assessment. It ignores evidence and teaching expertise that regular graded low stakes assessment leads to good learning outcomes in many contexts, and it goes against common sense.

We believe individual courses and subjects should be able to have the kinds of assessment that their individual course needs.
We worry this will result in contracted employees not being paid for marking assessment vital for students getting feedback.
We know that what is dubbed 'micro assessment are vital for learning.
And that learning should be recognized. 

Thank you for your support,