Experienced Victoria University lecturers are being pushed out the door to be replaced by cheaper staff, according to the staff union.
VU has presented the National Tertiary Education Union with a plan to replace 13 full-time lecturing positions in the college of business, including professors and senior lecturers, with entry-level academics.
NTEU VU president Paul Adams said the proposal would dumb down the workforce and short-change students.
“Our view is that we don’t have a problem with academics starting out in the university, it’s about having staff in the right numbers doing the right jobs,” he said.
Dr Adams said VU appeared to be the point of entry for “every newfangled and nasty idea” and staff feared the move would pave the way for similar cuts across the university.
“University management are clearly compromising quality because of cost cutting and are short-changing students,” he said.
“They are trying to set up a McDonald’s university – all about the lowest cost.”
College of business dean Professor Colin Clark said the claims were not consistent with discussions between VU and the union about the objectives of the business department.
He said the changes would leave the college of business with a higher percentage of professorial staff than the national average, a slightly lower percentage at the mid-level and in line with the average at the lower level.
“In terms of the NTEU’s claims of casualisation, the existing enterprise agreement now provides for full-time academic teaching scholars to reduce the university’s reliance on sessional staff. We look forward to making such appointments in the near future.”
The NTEU has called for a moratorium on the changes until their effects can be discussed further.
