With one big restructure bedded down at Flinders U the campus union warns more changes are imminent. VC Colin Stirling replies changes are indeed coming in academic positions, using the agreed formal restructure process and that the university wants to see value for its investment in research.

Back in 2016 Professor Stirling started a restructure, replacing four faculties and 14 schools with six colleges, addressing “excessive bureaucracy and hierarchy.”

And now campus National Tertiary Education Union head Andrew Miller warns a second stage of change is imminent, with teaching and research staff being assessed by management on research performance and teaching only positions to be created. Dr Miller suggests management will announce the new restructure after the (imminent) end of enterprise bargaining.

Last night Professor Stirling replied the union has previously agreed to the university implementing teaching specialist positions through a “formal restructure process,” and that “the university intends to implement teaching specialist positions and so is examining the best options to meet the union’s requirement for a restructure.”

As to assessing research performance, Professor Stirling says, “the university is currently providing clarity by formalising our research expectations. These expectations will differ by academic level and will also vary to reflect performance metrics applicable across different research disciplines.

“The university invests significant academic resources in research and it is appropriate that we should expect to see high quality outcomes as a result.”