Union and management at Western Sydney U are not agreeing to disagree over managing science infrastructure

The university wants professional staff to exclusively manage kit across all campuses, instead of the existing arrangement where there is a mix of professional and academic WSU-ers. “The focus of the central research facilities is to facilitate research and increase the capability of all our relevant researchers not for the centralised research facility managers to be the researchers themselves,” management tells staff.

While only seven continuing and ten fixed term positions are effected the proposal is alarming some users of equipment – with suggestions that a single management model across all facilities will not work well, and that hybrid models of academic and professional staff managing centres can be preferable

The campus branch of the National Tertiary Education Union is now said to be getting involved, with it, HR and staff set to meet.