Acting COO Craig Barling announced yesterday 48 senior admin roles will be abolished  

“We have been listening to the feedback provided by our staff, students and the broader community. We’ve heard consistent themes around the need to rebalance our university towards our academic mission,” he told staff.

The 48 jobs abolished will be replaced by 18 new roles. With some of the targeted positions vacant and after possible transfers by displaced staff there will be a net loss of 18 senior professional positions.

All up there are 113 senior manager roles in the professional services divisions in-scope.

“We know staff feel that our systems and processes make work more difficult than it should be, that we need to do more to ensure our leadership is focused on supporting people, that we need better communication, consultation, and co-design of services, and more resources devoted to directly supporting staff and students,” Mr Barling said.

Positions to go are in the COO division, plus student recruitment, HR and academic support.

Mr Barling adds no academic positions nor professional staff outside senior management are involved.

The news comes as a committee of the state’s Legislative Council continues its inquiry into the university’s governance. Vice Chancellor Rufus Black and Chancellor Alison Watkins faced polite and constructive questioning in hearings last week but there has been intense criticism of the university’s leadership in submissions to the inquiry and community protests over the relocation of the Hobart campus from its present Sandy Bay site to the Hobart CBD.