EDUCATION
More than 170 jobs could go at Victoria University if management goes ahead with plans to outsource services, according to staff.
Speakers at a forum held at the Footscray Park campus outlined a range of concerns about outsourcing, including a reduced service quality and loss of more jobs on top of 400 axed in the past two years.
Senior lecturer Paul Adams (pictured) told the forum the university’s difficulty in retaining students would be exacerbated by outsourcing areas such as IT and childcare.
“We’re really worried about the future of the university,” he said. “We’re worried [outsourcing] could destroy the institution.”
Dr Adams, the National Tertiary Education Union VU president, said services crucial to the institution should continue to be run by the university.
He said the management figures on outsourcing tenders understated the likely true cost. “It’s an ill-thought-out proposal,” he said. “There’s a lack of transparency, a sense of secrecy that things are happening behind closed doors.
“It’s poor management and we’re saying ‘stop, think about it’, because it’s so hard to unravel something once it’s rolled out.”
University of Canberra staff member Katie Wilson spoke of a loss of morale at the university following outsourcing there.
VU deputy vice-chancellor Professor Duncan Bentley confirmed further job losses were expected this year and said changes were necessary for the university to be a “well-run and efficient organisation that offers students the best possible experience”.
“The university is looking at as many ways as possible to improve its efficiency, not simply job losses,” he said.
He said the university would consider outsourcing where it could improve services to students and staff and allow focus on the “core business of teaching and learning, research and knowledge exchange”.
BENJAMIN MILLAR
