Eminent scientists sacrificed for UNSW budget bungle
Monday 13 March 2006
University of NSW’s School of Chemistry has been instructed to retrench 5 of its 18 academic staff to achieve annual budget savings of $500K. While the staff proposed alternative ways of saving $300,000 without redundancies, these have been ignored. This follows media reports over the past week containing varying estimates of the UNSW financial position ranging from a $65 million capital works deficit to a $39 million operating surplus. Amongst belt tightening measures announced are significant cuts to teaching staff.
Between 2002 and 2005 the School has responded to ongoing under-funding by actively earning commercial income ranging from $100,000 to $660,000 per year. From 2006 Senior Management has arbitrarily transferred this income from the School’s budget to finance a new Analytical Centre.
Modelling indicates that one-third of the undergraduate courses taught by the School will be un-teachable due to the loss of expertise from the School and the simple impossibility of the same academic teaching two classes at once with severe consequences for current students.
Irrespective of which configuration of staff are made ‘redundant’ the outcome for the UNSW School of Chemistry will be dire.
The loss of such a high number of specialised teaching and research staff is likely to resonate uncertainty to current students and future students about the discipline and the institution itself.
The expected loss of internationally significant knowledge is also a consequence of the proposed cut backs.
Dr Anne Junor, Academic Vice President of the NTEU UNSW Branch said that “the University Management has to explain how a school with above average success in gaining large research grants with stable and increasing research output and with constant enrolments find itself in the situation where the university cannot afford to pay the salary of one quarter of it’s staff.”
The NTEU UNSW Branch President, Susan Price said “a University without a commitment to a vigorous and progressive School of Chemistry loses its right to be considered a leading, technology-focussed institution”.
For further information contact Dr Anne Junor, Vice President NTEU UNSW Branch: 0418 451 180