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Root and branch change at La Trobe U, again
Rob Pike wins the game-to-have-a go-award as he moves to provost for university transformation
His move from Provost, Science, Health, Engineering, follows VC John Dewar announcing work will re-start on a new structure, put on hold when COVID-19 kicked in (CMM May 13). It’s for four months – which should be busy ones.
It’s just six years since an academic reorganisation and administrative restructure at La Trobe U (CMM June 24 2014) was bitterly opposed by the campus branch of the National Tertiary Education Union, which argued it was not necessary (CMM July 28 2014). Perhaps the obvious impact of the pandemic will make things easier for Professor Pike.
There’s more in the Mail
In Features this morning
Back in February Frank Larkins (Uni Melbourne) explained how Group of Eight universities were so dependent on students from China. As Beijing piles on the pressure it’s worth another look.
Liz Branigan (La Trobe U) argues on-line learning is core business when properly done. It’s this week’s selection by Contributing Editor Sally Kift for her series, on what we need now in teaching and learning.
Garry Carnegie (RMIT) and James Guthrie (Macquarie U) on the hard lesson in financial risk management taught universities by COVID 19.
And Merlin Crossley (UNSW) welcomes chips on shoulders (if they are the right type of chip).
Monash VC presents plan to save 190 jobs
But 277 FTE positions will go
The bottom line: Vice Chancellor Margaret Gardner says Monash U’s finances are not as bad as reported in the media and savings so far “have mitigated our revenue loss for 2020” which she puts at $350m. However, “there are not enough non-salary savings or reserves to bridge the revenue loss in 2021.”
How to deal with it: Professor Gardner was one of four VCs who negotiated an accord with the National Tertiary Education Union to protect jobs by temporarily cutting staff conditions.
The union withdrew the national agreement after half the country’s VCs rejected it, but Professor Gardner has consistently said it will be the basis for Monash U’s savings plan.
What’s proposed: Staff savings include, *freezing all increment progressions to July ’21, * deferring the Enterprise Agreement’s 2 per cent pay rise, due in December to July next year, * redeploying staff, * staff reducing leave balances above 30 days, * a voluntary five-day leave purchase.
How jobs could go: Voluntary separations before targeted redundancies. The university commits to, “only make targeted redundancies where there is a permanent abolition of a substantial work function or insufficiency of work in a particular unit or work function.”
Existing casual and sessional staff have “priority for work opportunities where they could have reasonably expected to work and where that work is available.”
What won’t happen: no non-executive salary reductions, no stand-downs, no forced reductions in fractions, no cuts to casual and sessional pay, no compulsory long-service leave.
What next: The university will use the process set out in the national accord. The plan goes to the federal leadership of the National Tertiary Education Union and then to a vote of union members at Monash U. If they approve, all staff will be invited to vote in the last week of June, on required changes to the enterprise agreement. And if the union rank and file says no, it’s back to savings under the existing enterprise agreement, which would not be good.
The yes case: “It is our hope we can achieve the required job reductions through voluntary separation packages. This is only possible if we are successful in a yes vote for the enterprise agreement variation,” Professor Gardner says.
But, and it’s quite a but: “There is no scenario, based on current information, that allows us to avoid 467 job losses, without the enterprise agreement variation. We have worked cooperatively with the NTEU to develop a temporary variation to protect as many jobs as possible at Monash U. This proposal is estimated to save 190 jobs.”
The 467 FTE that would go under the existing enterprise agreement are 179 academic full-time equivalents and 288 professional staff FTE. And they would need to go by year end, “ to deliver the savings needed for 2021.”
Julie Bishop makes it clear: this is no time to keep quiet
With Beijing warning students that Australia is not a safe place to study universities need to speak up
Deakin U VC Iain Martin responded yesterday that Australia was a safe and multicultural society and, “with the reopening of our campuses now on the horizon, we look forward to welcoming new enrolments from students all around the world, including China.”
ANU Chancellor Julie Bishop, said much the same, “Canberra is one of the safest cities in a country widely regarded as one of the safest in the world. We look forward to continuing to welcome students from all over the world to ANU, to our community, to our campus and to our capital city.”
No, they will not have any impact on the Chinese government which is looking for maximum pressure for minimum effort – barley exports one week, international education the next.
But universities have to speak up. Assuming diplomacy will calm things down ignores the biggest risk in international relations, what Harold MacMillan is said to have called, “events.” A decade back not-many attacks on Indian students, mainly in Melbourne, created a huge problem when the Indian Government responding to local political pressure, issued a travel warning.
When a former foreign minister decides it is time to speak-up it assuredly is.
Rankings promoted quietly
With international marketing a bit quiet, university hoorayathons over the new QS ranking yesterday seemed subdued. But at least QS was noticed – apart from Curtin U the week’s other ranking was pretty much ignored
And yet the World University Ranking (from the Centre for WUR) is no less than QS – apart from a marketing budget. Indeed, CWUR says it is different to other rankings, being all data-based and not relying on surveys or institution-supplied information.
Compared to QS (CMM yesterday), Australian universities rate lower in the WUR, but the pattern is similar. This year Uni Melbourne is 63rd in the world (64th last year and 71st in 2018), Uni Sydney is 98th (100th and 71st), Uni Queensland is 106th (115th and 74th), UNSW is 112th (113th and 119th), ANU is 123rd (108th and 82nd), Monash U is 130th (102nd and 124th), UWA is 151st (126th and 145th). Uni Adelaide is way back at 221st (217th, 229th), Curtin U is 361st (360th and 400th) and Macquarie U is 378th (371st and 324th).
The CWUR rankings appear to have settled down this year and last, with no more big swings, as occurred in 19-20 from 2018-19. This might have something to do with a change methodologies for last year’s issue, (CMM August 9 2019).
Rebuff for ANU VC
Union members were evidently unimpressed with Brian Schmidt’s statement on the need for cuts to staff conditions (CMM yesterday)
They voted to oppose the enterprise agreement variations that go to an all-staff vote starting June 17. Casual and fixed term staff also got involved yesterday, with an open-letter to Professor Schmidt stating that they have long made sacrifices to keep the ANU show on the road. “Casual and fixed-term staff in this university (and who make up the majority of staff across universities combined across the country) have shouldered the burden of ‘saving money’ for our higher education sector for years now.”
They put it in writing
As Uni Melbourne staff voted on the university’s savings proposal yesterday 80 or so law school staff wrote to Vice Chancellor Duncan Maskell
They backed colleague Joo-Cheong Tham’s critical analysis of the university proposal.
“The legal analysis provided to colleagues by Professor Tham is cogent and based on sound legal reasoning. The analyses are not based on misrepresentations or manifestly incorrect.”
And they do not think much of management rebuttals. “We appreciate that these are extraordinary times. Many staff, including ourselves, are willing to forego salary in exchange for guaranteed job protections. However, in failing to acknowledge valid criticisms, the university risks eroding confidence that its actions will in fact benefit staff.”