They’re not planning an academic reorganisation at Uni SA – it’s way more than that

Where  this came from: At the start of the year Vice Chancellor David Lloyd asked staff to consider reorganising teaching around … teaching – grouping people in units based on what students learn instead of academic disciplines (CMM February 7).

What it’s about: The idea has gone through a bunch of ever-expanding iterations, from executive retreats to open meetings of hundreds of staff. “Names are withheld to protect the freaked-out,” Professor Lloyd tells the university community.

The objectives are a structure that is a means to the end, course-focused organisations and fewer silos.

The basic business model (UniSA:X for now) is for an academic unit to have an executive dean, a dean of students, a dean of research and three programme deans, who each lead programme directors, then course coordinators.

It’s a way, “to cluster our programs in logical and innovative ways – to pivot our structure and organisation around our core products. And to organise ourselves in this fashion.”

What’s next: It looks like there’s a plan – observers suggest council is ok with the idea and a discussion paper is imminent covering roles and responsibilities and budget models, plus the big question – how will teachers and support staff be grouped together to serve teaching and learning that does not fit on existing academic org charts.