University of New England staff have fired a warning shot at their superiors, saying they have “no confidence” in an academic restructure currently being proposed.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Related stories:
UNE plans to squash 10 schools into three faculties but Deputy Head of Law Eric Ghosh said the consultation process was “badly flawed”.
“The academic restructure will mean law and business will merge into a single school with agriculture and science,” he said at a meeting hosted by the National Tertiary Education Union on Tuesday.
“No cost benefit analysis was ever prepared.
“A proper process would respond to submissions made but instead there is no indication that our detailed submissions were considered.”
The Express can also reveal a leaked letter written by members of the university’s Professoriate, calling on the UNE Council to be more transparent.
“There does not seem to be any plan, nor has there been joint planning with the schools about how to manage the issues that will arise, and how to minimise the risks,” it reads.
“High-risk decisions are being taken without sufficient engagement, analysis and process.
“At a school level we are very aware of the risk of substantial losses of 2018 enrolments.”
The Professoriate suggests a full leadership team be put in place for the restructure and wants the Council to be more open with business cases and risk management plans.
Associate Professor from the School of Humanities, Richard Scully was on the restructure working party and received around 80 submissions from staff. But no one was sure why they were there, he said.
“There was a great deal of encouraging language,” he said.
At a school level we are very aware of the risk of substantial losses of 2018 enrolments.
- UNE Professoriate
“But it seems all we were there for was to collate, synthesise and put into usable form those 80 submissions. Whether or not we were recommending anything I’m not sure.”
The union will meet with the Executive next month to bargain a new collective agreement on behalf of the university’s employees.
The NTEU are also bargaining to abolish the trimester system which was introduced in 2012.
The Express has contacted the Vice-Chancellor and is awaiting comment.