UNIVERSITY of Ballarat has moved to allay concerns its recent announcement of course and staff cuts would have any “significant” implications for a future Federation University of Australia entity.
Last week The Courier in Ballarat said University of Ballarat reported a further 15 courses, and more staff, were set to go as part of the “latest rounds of cuts” at the university.
It said UB Vice-Chancellor David Battersby attributed the decision to “a $20 million deficit resulting from last year’s $300 million state government cuts”.
He also said there was a possibility of future federal government funding cuts.
The paper reported the latest blow followed the closure of 55 TAFE courses in May 2012.
It said the cuts were outlined in a restructure proposal paper sent to University of Ballarat staff for consultation, which said staff redundancies would open as soon as next month but it was unknown at this stage how many staff would go.
UB is set to take over Monash University’s Gippsland campus next year, forming the new FUA.
Last week Professor Battersby said the changes to UB’s TAFE programs would “have no significant effect on Federation University Australia” and the “range of programs offered by the new university will not be affected”.
“Our announcements were solely concerned with TAFE and not Higher Education,” he said.
