National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) members at La Trobe University will launch a major protest during Bundoora Open Day over management’s plan to axe courses and slash jobs.
NTEU members will attend Sunday’s Open Day in large numbers to distribute information about what the cuts will mean for students.
La Trobe management’s plan would:
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Result in between 28 to 55 job losses among academic and professional staff
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Cut 12 per cent of library staff
Courses slated for cuts include chemical sciences, urban and regional planning, international development, manufacturing and visual arts.
Job losses are also expected to impact anatomy, physiology and pharmacology, biochemistry and cell biology, and environment and genetics, as well as languages, linguistics, health sciences and public health.
NTEU La Trobe University Branch President Dr Martin Clark:
“Staff are extremely upset and confused about management’s plans to cut the courses they love to teach,” he said.
“Management has not given any rationale for why these cuts are necessary.
“They are only giving staff two weeks to respond to a massive restructure that will almost certainly destroy La Trobe’s Arts degree, which has seen significant growth in recent years.
“Despite La Trobe being a national leader in students with disability completing degrees, management wants to abolish the entire student services unit which makes that possible.
“This rushed restructure would slash full professors and replace them with junior teaching-heavy roles, with enormous workloads.
“That is another massive blow to best-practice research-led teaching, which sees academics share cutting-edge research with students.
“Union members will not be silent on the enormous implications this terrible plan could have for future and current students, and we’ll be making our voices heard loud and clear during open day.”
Contact details:
Dr Martin Clark 0403 936 623 / mclark@nteu.org.au
