Staff have condemned the loss of 230 administrative jobs, voluntary early retirement for academics and increased students numbers at the Australian National University - saying the resulting workload threatens to overwhelm those staff remaining at the university.
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A plan to also rein in the ANU's $118 million financial liability for unused annual and long service leave by forcing staff to take their outstanding leave further threatened workloads, according to the National Tertiary Education Union.
Students, however, reacted mildly on Tuesday, saying that apart from increased tutorial loads, the core education and teaching experience appeared to be preserved.
NTEU acting ACT division president Deborah Veness said the cuts would be devastating for academic and general staff, who would be forced to increase their workloads by a reduced workforce, compulsory leave-taking, a planned increase in student numbers, and the implementation of new systems.
''Adding insult to injury, remaining staff members will be forced to pay more than twice as much for parking when they are on campus,'' Ms Veness said.
There will be a pay rise of 2 per cent from this month that the union said would be taken up in increased parking charges for many staff. Staff members earning less than $65,000 a year paying for undercover parking would take home less next year than this year, Ms Veness warned.
The union also warned services to on-campus students were likely to diminish in quality and quantity, as commercial accommodation facilities like Graduate House will be required to pay a levy to the university while maintaining current prices.
''The union deplores the cuts to funding for the higher education sector that have forced the ANU to make these drastic decisions,'' said Ms Veness. ''The consequences for students and staff are ominous.''
But the Australian National University Students' Association expressed ''relief'' that ''university management has chosen not to cut funding to education and teaching at the ANU''.
Association president Aleks Sladojevic said: ''Undergraduate students at ANU can breathe a sigh of relief that funding for their education will not be decreased due to the recent federal government tertiary funding cuts.
''By making these budget decisions, the university has acknowledged that quality education is key to the university's continued success.''
Ms Sladojevic said the government's cuts were ''always going to be a huge challenge for the ANU. Whilst it is regrettable that professional staff numbers will be decreased, the quality of education and teaching at the university is now secure.''
She did, however, express concern that plans for increased student numbers would affect tutorial sizes at the ANU. ''The university must ensure that tutorial sizes do not increase as student numbers grow at the ANU,'' she said.
