Research time tight at ACU, again

There is alarm at Australian Catholic University over the allocation of research hours, with the union claiming 58 of 203 recommendations from faculty workload review panels are over-turned by DVC R Wayne McKenna. In seven cases staff research hours are said to be completely cut. National Tertiary Education Union branch president Leah Kaufmann warns, “when the peer-reviewed recommendations are unilaterally overruled by the deputy vice-chancellor, it damages the faith staff can have in the process.”

Dr Kaufann calls on Vice Chancellor Greg Craven to ensure staff can see original review panel recommendations and have “access to a fair avenue of appeal.”

To which Professor Craven replies;

“ACU has a rigorous research workload policy with the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research determining allocations according to the most recent enterprise agreement. The policy aligns with previous enterprise agreements.

It certainly aligns with upsetting staff. After the last enterprise agreement was adopted people also complained of cuts to research hours, (CMM November 7 2014).


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