On Monday, senior management at the ACU released a draft plan confirming 32 full-time equivalent jobs would be cut at the university as part of its latest restructuring. It follows more than 80 full-time and academic professional job cuts earlier this year.
Academics have reacted with dismay to the news, which spills 52 positions to fill just 19. The areas of philosophy, history, theology, gender studies, social sciences and religion are hit the hardest, with the medieval and early modern studies program entirely disbanded.
The director of the program, Megan Cassidy-Welch, described it as a “myopic decision”. An open letter to save the program had received more than 500 signatures in two days….
The ACU National Tertiary Education Union branch president, Dr Leah Kaufmann, said the job cuts were a “disaster”.
“There is no way excess spending can be solved by job cuts that risk ACU’s ability to deliver core work, particularly teaching, supporting students and conducting research,” she said. “Budget management and leadership accountability is needed, not job cuts.”
The draft plan, which is the second of three intended to address ACU’s financial shortfall, is open for consultation for the next two weeks.
ACU posted a modest surplus of $200,000 in 2022, down from $56m in 2021.
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