THE University of Southern Queensland is on track to lose another 150 jobs as part of a restructure that are likely to lead to major cuts to courses.
Just under 20 percent of UniSQ’s entire workforce is now slated to be cut including the latest roles on top of the 109 jobs cut in 2024.
UniSQ has campuses in Ipswich, Springfield and Toowoomba.
The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) UniSQ Branch President Professor Andrea Lamont-Mills said university leadership had shown a lack of transparency over the job losses.
“Slashing the workforce will have devastating impacts for our communities who deserve access to the highest quality teaching and support,” Prof Lamont-Mills said.
“While management claims a financial crisis is the reason for the cuts, their operating losses over the past two years have mainly been due to depreciation and amortisation.
“The university does face financial challenges, but no crisis that justifies the scale of the cuts proposed.
“The NTEU is joining forces with students and the wider community to urge management to abandon these senseless cuts.
“It’s essential there are no forced redundancies, an end to the baseless rhetoric around a financial crisis and some real transparency from leadership.
“The lack of transparency shows extraordinary contempt for staff who haven’t even been told about the appointment of an interim vice-chancellor. The chancellor won’t even answer basic questions about the appointment process.
“These job cuts are part of a major restructure, which will define the university’s future through determining how many schools and services are cut.
“Students in southern Queensland shouldn’t suffer because of management’s incompetence.
“Let’s stop the cuts and work together on a positive plan.”
