University of Wollongong staff will meet on Wednesday to discuss management's latest plan, they fear could result in many more jobs being lost at the university in 2021.
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On Monday outgoing Vice-Chancellor Paul Wellings raised the possibility of further staff cuts in the wake of declining revenue. He also informed staff of the university's new approach to deal with the ongoing impacts of COVID-19.
Professor Fiona Probyn-Rapsey said staff had little detail about the One-UOW' plan.
"Staff are going to be deeply concerned about the timing. A lot of this is going to happen over the Christmas and New Year break. It is going to mean quite a dramatic restructure of professional staff in particular ," she said.
Prof Probyn-Rapsey said staff had already made a huge number of sacrifices in relation to both agreed salary cuts and agreed leave.
"Although we don't know the full number, we've had about $12 million of salary savings through staff leaving and through the early retirement scheme," she said.
"Whenever staff leave that has a huge impact on those left behind.
"In the face of all these sacrifices that we've made in 2020, it is disappointing to see another round of cuts proposed, with very little detail at this point."
The presentation on Monday warned that "all staff will be impacted to some degree, either directly or indirectly" by the One-UOW model.
The first change will start on January 18 next year and will involve changes to faculty administration, financial services, student accommodation and student recruitment.
Consultation with those employees in the affected areas will begin on Wednesday and continue until December 18.
"We know that all staff are going to be impacted in some ways. What we can't really say at this point is the level and the depth of those proposed cuts," Prof Probyn-Rapsey said.
"The timing seems really poorly thought through and this version of the cuts is largely going to affect professional staff.
"Professional staff are by and large women, so it is going to have a disproportionate effect on women who work at the University of Wollongong........and of course that means that the whole of Wollongong is impacted because of the way the university reaches right into the community."
UOW National Tertiary Education Union )NTEU) members will meet on campus from 2pm on Wednesday to discuss their options.
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Agron Latifi
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
