Staff and students at Federation University have held a "fiery and loud" rally to protest against massive job cuts and changes to university courses they feel will rip the heart out of the institution.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
They have called on university management to not lose sight of what makes Federation University matter, and stand out from other institutions - the higher staff to student ratios, the extra support and pastoral care that students get, and the relationships built between students and staff.
In March the university announced it would slash 200 jobs and make changes to courses as part of a Future Fed plan to help bring the university back to financial sustainability.
In its annual report, released on May 1, it was revealed the university recorded a massive $81 million loss during 2023 - $23 million more than forecast and almost double its deficit in 2022.
Holding a sign saying "With 200 less staff, THERE WILL BE NO FUTURE for FED", Graduate Research School staff member Rebekah Bailey said she had seen many students come through TAFE, finish their undergraduate degree and to on to pursue their PhD at the university.
"That's not something that people can go to the city to do - These cuts will put that under threat," Ms Bailey said.
She urged management to not go through with further staff cuts, which come on top of job losses since 2020
"We are experts in our roles and we're experts in what we do. And the idea that they can get professional staff out of this institution means that they will leave it hollow," she said.
Third year nursing student Cynthia Leehane, enrolled as a full-time nursing student, said she was only in class for six to eight hours a week.
"The majority of our work is actually done online," she said. "International enrolment has dropped overall, and they are using this as part of the reasoning behind the budget cuts. But is this why we don't have staff to teach on campus?"
The changes proposed under the Future Fed program would also look to streamline courses and units, re-engineer systems and processes to remove bureaucracy and red tape, look at more digital-first options and expanded digital learning opportunities, and improve efficiency.
Claire Blake, who has been involved with the university for more than 22 years as a student and now a staff member, said the university was "top heavy" with management disconnected from staff and students.
She said staff and students were anxious about their futures and the university had not communicated with them after the first announcement meeting.
"They're supposed to be the ones who are making a university vision that we can all go forth with," she said. "It's all chaotic."
"We are regional. We are smaller - We are never going to be a bigger university. We have to play our strengths," Ms Blake said.
More than 100 people rallied in the main quad of Federation University's Mount Helen campus on Thursday to protest the proposed changes.
National Tertiary Education Union Federation University branch president and rally organiser Dr Mathew Abbott said the Ballarat rally was a culmination of three days of protests across the university's major campuses.
"We are calling on management to stop this proposal which we think the university just can't sustain," he said.
"It is about our jobs but it's about much more than that as well ... it's about the institution that we serve.
"We have a more generous staff to student ratio and management want to reduce that but staff and students know that's what is at the heart of this place."
