‘Low fail’: Student union slams QUT amid ‘toxic culture’ claims

Queensland University of Technology’s student union has accused the institution of cutting courses and recycling content just a week after claims were made about internal bullying and harassment.

Queensland University of Technology’s student union has joined a growing chorus of criticism at the institution, taking aim at clumsy online learning and falling course quality.

Following The Courier-Mail’s revelations last week of plummeting staff morale among an alleged toxic culture of bullying and harassment, the QUT Guild has come out swinging, declaring the university’s performance in the wake of the COVID-19 a “low fail”.

Senior academics have backed the union’s allegations, claiming tutorial sizes have ballooned from about 25 students to more than 50, resulting in the recycling of content and classes cut altogether.

Academics have been forced to ask students not to email them and to dramatically cut contact hours as crucial administration staff were let go by the university in a mass restructure.

Hundreds of teaching staff have also not had their contracts renewed, meaning those that remain are shouldering larger workloads.

“QUT students witnessed a disappointing institutional response to the pandemic, falling behind other leading Australian universities,” the Guild’s cutting assessment read.

“Changes were made which severely impacted the collective teaching and learning experience of 50,000 plus students.”

QUT student union president Olivia Brumm. Picture: Tara Croser.

President Olivia Brumm said the university had refused to budge on their “harsh” grading system, as students begged for extra concessions while attempting to navigate the pandemic.

She also said while students were led to believe they would be able to return on campus for study in 2021, in reality few students were given the option.

“There’s less quality time with lecturers and tutors, a lot of tutors cannot reply to emails because they’re not remunerated for that time,” she said.

QUT was also criticised for charging full fees to overseas students who were unable to enter the country, while other institutes offered discounts.

Multiple academics backed the claims that students were being let down by poor management decisions which have affected their teaching capabilities.

One senior staffer said they “feel very sorry for the students”, and that they were being short-changed on the university experience.

“The questions of ‘are they being challenged, are they developing?’ have been thrown out the window,” he said.

“They are seen as customers from which to detract income.”

Another academic says she is too fearful to speak up about her lack of understanding to content changes in her course, for fear she will lose her job.

A QUT spokeswoman said the vast majority of on-campus and online tutorials have maximum enrolments of between 15 and 44 students.