UTS announces massive proposed cuts to jobs and courses amid funding crisis
One of Sydney's largest universities plans to slash hundreds of jobs and courses in a dramatic restructure amid a ‘challenging environment’.
A Sydney university has flagged plans to axe more than 100 staff, 167 courses and 1100 subjects in an $80m cost cutting move, due to changes in government funding and restrictions on revenue growth.
The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) has revealed the proposed changes include axing 134 full-time equivalent academic roles, 167 courses and 1100 subjects as well as further cuts to its casual workforce, expected to affect about 32.7 full-time equivalent academics.
It would merge the law faculty with the business school into the newly created Faculty of Business and Law and multiple schools including education, public health and international studies would be closed under a measure to standardise and simplify faculty structures.
It means its six faculties would shrink to five and 24 schools into 15.
Its courses would reduce by 28 per cent, with 31 per cent less subjects on offer.
Under the proposed measures, affected courses would be discontinued from next year and no new students would be admitted.
Subjects with less than 50 students enrolled annually were identified for axing. Of the 1101 to be discontinued, 463 had no student enrolments and weren’t taught in 2024.
Current students would still be able to complete their courses and compulsory subjects.
The university stated subjects with low demand would also be cut from 2026.
It says the cuts will contribute to an expected $80 million budget reduction and streamline its offerings, in addition to a further $20 million savings expected from cost-cutting measures like limiting senior staff and executive remuneration.
The university said it was consulting with university staff on the changes following a review into its “challenging environment”.
The changes will be confirmed after the university completes its consultation process.
UTS stated changes in federal funding, limits on its ability to raise revenue and the Covid-19 pandemic had led to a “period of financial instability that must be addressed”.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Andrew Parfitt said he “deeply” regretted the job losses and did not underestimate the anxiety and concern staff may experience.
“UTS is focused on achieving a sustainable future where students can continue to get the quality of education they expect and we can continue to deliver research outcomes for the communities that benefit from our work.
“During this time of proposed change across UTS, we are keenly aware of the potential impacts on the health, wellbeing and safety of our staff.”
Dr Alison Barnes, national president of the National Tertiary Education Union said the planned changes were “devastating” and a “disaster for the community”.
“I can’t remember seeing cuts of this scale with almost a third of all teaching being slashed, and in critical disciplines like education and public health,” she said.
“This is what happens when university executives treat our public institutions like profit-driven corporations: the public good is abandoned.”
Originally published as UTS announces massive proposed cuts to jobs and courses amid funding crisis
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