University of Wollongong job cuts climb from 95 to 270

Planned job cuts at the University of Wollongong (UOW) could hit 270 after the university announced it will extend its cost-cutting measures to non-academic staff. Re-designing its organisational structure and cancelling between 155 and 185 full-time equivalent positions, or about 10 per cent of its non-academic staff, will save between $22 million and $26 million year-on-year, the institution said. In February, UOW confirmed it had disestablished 91.6 FTE teaching positions, resulting in $21 million of recurrent savings. The cuts come after the financially-strained university found a $35 million drop in revenue due to, it stated, limited international student enrolments. The first change proposal document, seen by Campus Review and related to teaching and learning, stated that if the university did not find those savings, it would become inoperable by 2027. That document also warned of professional staff cuts in 2025. That proposal outlined a plan to dissolve some study areas in the university's Arts and Humanities faculty, including Cultural Studies and all languages, along with some Science and Technology and Human Geography study areas. Twenty-five disciplines across four faculties were identified as "in-scope" to be disestablished, downsized or consolidated into other teaching areas. The institution later decided to retain Human Geography and some teaching in Earth Sciences, French, Spanish and English Language and Linguistics after consulting with staff. This change proposal, related to operations, is looking to merge those four faculties into three and cut the number of schools from 18 to 11. The university said it will mostly impact professional (non-teaching) staff, but "both professional and academic staff are potentially affected. However, academic staff affected by the first change proposal aren't in scope for this change. The Faculty of Business and Law would be combined with the now majorly-downsized Faculty of the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities, to form the Faculty of Arts, Business and Society. Some health-related social science disciplines would be moved from the old Arts faculty to the Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health. A university spokesperson would not specify which professional staff jobs are in-scope for disestablishment, but confirmed the changes will not negatively impact student and staff experience. Related stories: 92 jobs cut and subjects ‘disestablished’ at Wollongong uni | New UOW vice-chancellor announced | Unis ranked by best employability, teaching quality: See the lists "[The changes] will not impact the delivery of courses to students. The proposed changes are designed to enhance the services and support that students receive," a UOW spokesperson told Campus Review. "The proposed new faculty and school structure would deliver a leaner management structure, the opportunity for greater interdisciplinary collaboration and provide an opportunity to strengthen our teaching, research and engagement." Staff and students are worried the university will be unable to service the Illawarra and South Coast areas properly after these job cuts. UOW's main campus is the only one local to the area, apart from its research and technology-oriented Innovation Campus. The University of Wollongong's main campus. Picture: Newswire The uni also has four campuses in regional NSW, three in Sydney and four international locations. NSW Community and Public Sector Union branch assistant secretary Troy Wright has said although affected staff have been notified, emails with information were sent to staff late and included broken hyper-links. "The University of Wollongong was established under a state act and that state act specifically states that the university has a specific function in providing education and research with regards to the needs of the Illawarra region," he said. "What we all want is for the university to explain how these cuts are consistent with that act." Staff can give feedback for the next six weeks and a final change plan is expected July 23.