A surplus is anticipated for Humanities and Social Sciences

There is talk at Uni Sydney that the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences was in surplus last year, in the mid $30ms is suggested. Management responds that “the figures for 2020 are still being finalised and we will share them as soon as we are able to.”

Good o, but until that happy event, U Syders suggest HASS well in the black is certainly in-line with the result the university was expecting last September, when management discovered the COVID-19 cash crisis was not as bad as first feared. Back then all-faculty income was put at $1.799m, up YTD from $1.689m.

And by end October overall student numbers for 2020 were 5.3 per cent down on original budget – a $98m drop.

Management attributed such a relatively good result to domestic student demand and internationals sticking with Uni Sydney. Which is what is still thought. “We know that we are in a better than anticipated position” due to, “this vote of confidence by our students, both in Australia and overseas,” a university representative states.

Even so, a sizeable HASS surplus will be an achievement, given that before the good news in the September student census, an 8.5 per cent HASS deficit was forecast – expected then to be the second worse faculty result (behind bized) (CMM September 18).

If there is a substantial surplus, whatever the final figure is will surely be a better result than was feared last August, when HASS “scenario-planning exercises” included four-day pay working weeks and staff cuts (CMM August 21).