3 months ago
18
Teaching degrees would be preserved by “streamlining our subjects and redesigning our degrees”, he said.
While the university would continue to offer a “redesigned and transformed” international studies degree, he said undergraduate public health degrees would no longer be offered.
University of Technology Sydney vice chancellor Andrew Parfitt.Credit: Getty
The vast majority of academic redundancies will be voluntary and a proposed merger of the faculty of Law, the Business School and the Transdisciplinary School will not progress, Parfitt said, while a number of other faculties are expected to merge.
“Organisational change of this magnitude is challenging, but these difficult choices are necessary to set UTS up for resilience and future success in a highly uncertain and constantly changing environment, which will include a very different mix of domestic and international students under the University Accord,” said Parfitt in the email.
The financial plan that underpins the cuts points to likely “modest revenue growth,” the email said.
“The university’s financial plan… is calculated to deliver a strong basis for transformation and strategic investment in the future.”
Labor’s Dr Sarah Kaine has called on UTS’ vice chancellor to resign. Credit: Janie Barrett
Dr Sarah Kaine, who chairs the NSW Legislative Council Inquiry into the university sector, called on Parfitt to “follow the ANU’s Genevieve Bell example and resign”.
“This crisis narrative at UTS is just not true. This is purely a corporate decision by university management that was not justified to its staff.
Loading
“There is not some fiscal cliff they were about to fall off, it was about how quickly they could amass a surplus”, the Labor MLC said.
UTS Students’ Association president Mia Campbell agreed, saying she was hopeful this was the first of several rollbacks.
“It does just show that it wasn’t a financial necessity, it does undercut the main argument they’ve been putting forward,” she said.
Parfitt was forced to defend his position as vice chancellor before the NSW Parliamentary inquiry earlier this month, saying he had the council’s confidence to “address very substantial shocks to the system” which are “essentially due to policy decisions that are out of our control”.
The National Tertiary Education Union’s NSW division secretary Vince Caughley said that while the union “certainly welcomed” the walkback, the process remained “the worst-run change process in the sector”.
The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here.
Most Viewed in National
Loading
