Australian National University Vice-Chancellor Ian Young has reportedly spent an extra $1.5 million creating two new executive positions since coming into office, according to figures obtained by the National Tertiary Education Union.
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This is the same dollar amount he has earmarked to come from the budget of the ANU School of Music – requiring 13 staff to lose their jobs.
While the ANU experienced significant write-downs of its investment portfolio over the last financial year, its 2011 Annual Report - tabled in Parliament yesterday - confirmed a robust surplus of $82 million.
The report does note, however, that "this compares unfavourably with the reported surplus of $142 million in 2010". Professor Young has predicted that that figure will this year fall to $14 million with another $30 million wiped off the investment portfolio due to the global financial crisis.
The office of the Vice-Chancellor said the $82 million total for consolidated operating revenue in the annual report included "one-off capital grants and impairments on assets. When these are excluded, the underlying surplus is around $12 million."
In March, Professor Young announced blanket budget cuts of $40 million and staff losses of 150 across the ANU in order to place the university on a more sustainable financial footing. He later withdrew the threat of university-wide cuts, instead targeting the School of Music.
According to the annual report "The university’s consolidated net assets stand at a substantial $1.737 billion, with financial assets totalling $1.084 billion."
Last financial year, the ANU’s total income increased from $1.020 billion to $1.025 billion.
The National Tertiary Education Union expressed dismay at the figures yesterday, saying the picture Professor Young had painted of financial crisis was simply not the case.
The union has also condemned Professor Young’s decision to hire two new executives at a time he was cutting academic and general staff at the School of Music.
Professor Young, who took the helm of the university in March last year, has inflated his senior management team from seven to nine in the last three months.
His office countered today that one pro-vice chancellor position is due to be wound up at the end of the year and, in fact, when compared with other Australian universities, the ANU had a small executive of eight people.
His predecessor, Professor Ian Chubb expanded the executive from five to seven over a ten-year period.
By increasing the size of his executive team, Professor Young’s senior management now eats up about $7.4 million a year, according to internal Chancelry costings obtained by the union.
The two new positions include a Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic) filled by Marnie Hughes-Warrington, and a Pro Vice-Chancellor (International Outreach) filled just this month by Erik Lithander.
Professor Hughes-Warrington, a Rhodes Scholar, historian and teaching expert, was recruited from Monash University and is believed to be on a package worth around $575,000.
Dr Lithander is on a package believed to be worth $420,000, having been recruited from University College Dublin, where he was the director of international affairs.
The two positions come with support and administrative staff which add to their cost.
The Vice-Chancellor is thought to be on a package worth around $825,000.
Union ACT division secretary Stephen Darwin said the inflated senior management ranks were coming at a cost to the university at a time it was crying poor. Mr Darwin said "The ANU has one of the most healthy investment balance sheets of any Australian university".
