By Matthew Sims
A congregation of Federation University Berwick campus students and National Tertiary Education Union filled out the foyer of Building 901, with a number of speakers demanding Federation University’s council stop proceeding with a proposed program which would lead to 200 full-time equivalent job cuts.
Congregating outside the entry of Building 901 on Tuesday 30 April, the protesters demanded for senior management to stop the cuts proposed by Vice Chancellor Duncan Bentley, citing concerns it would lead to the cut of further courses and undermine already stretched student support services.
NTEU Federation University branch president Dr Mathew Abbott led the protest, while a number of speakers spoke to the congregation via megaphone about their demands and concerns.
NTEU members at Federation University held an all-member meeting last week in which they vowed to join protests at the university’s three major campuses to oppose the Future Fed proposal, with other protests being held at the Churchill campus on Wednesday May 1 and at the Mt Helen campus on Thursday May 2.
Announced on Friday 22 March, the Future Fed program would lead to 12 per cent of ongoing staff being made redundant, with the university inviting staff to express interest in a voluntary redundancy process.
This comes as the university has struggled to return to an operating surplus after a drop of $79.1 million in the university’s revenue since 2019
According to the university, the number of international students was down 49 per cent compared to 2019, leading to a $79.1 million decline in revenue, due to unexpected changes to international student visa arrangements.
Federation University NTEU members previously called for Mr Bentley and chief financial officer John Blair to resign following the announcement.
Dr Abbott said the NTEU branch were optimistic they would be able to force the Federation University’s hand to reverse the proposal.
“Our branch’s organising team has been very busy putting up posters, handing out leaflets, and engaging staff and students in conversations to build these important rallies,” he said.
“Our branch has taken on this rogue management in the past and won and we are aiming to do so again.
“The stakes are very high as staff members believe our university cannot survive cuts of this scale, as they will make our problems with student enrolment and retention far worse.”
Student Ramesh Durai said students were concerned about the cuts and proposals from the university’s Provost to replace valued staff with chat bots.
“As a current international student, I would be greatly disappointed should the discussed changes, specifically those regarding the redundancy of staff and replacement with automated systems, be meted out,” he said.
“I would consider it a failing of the university to fulfill their contracted charge of proper tertiary education.
“If I wanted a chatbot handling my requests I would take that to Maccas, not my university.”
