We, the students of the University of Auckland, find it extremely unfair that large ensembles have been cancelled due to so called "budget cuts".
There has been NO consultation with students; the main people affected. We signed up for a degree with large ensembles and expect to be able to participate in them throughout the degree. The university can't just change how the degree is assessed halfway through our degrees!
If we knew of this in advance, maybe we would have chosen to study in different music programmes, such at Victoria University of Wellington which has TWO big bands, let alone the other large ensembles they have.
Large ensembles are an important part of jazz music and to have this taken away with NO consultation OR forewarning is unacceptable. The skills learnt in large ensembles are essential for a well rounded musician. 
Some of us only found out through a Facebook post the day semester 2 started, telling us not to come to big band rehearsal that night. 
Getting rid of all the part-time combo instructors is also another blow. They will be missed greatly, and is a deep shame their knowledge is now absent from our course.

Bring back large ensembles and part-time instructors!

NOTE 1: Big band will still run but only for second years. All other large ensembles have been cancelled. These are saxophone, choir, guitar and percussion ensembles. 
NOTE 2: Only 2nd and 3rd years were currently being marked on large ensembles which made up half the marks for a paper. This is because the 1st years are following the new degree structure which does not require them to be marked on it until 2nd year (although they have still been participating).