UOW has revealed its draft operations plan which includes more significant staff cuts.
The University of Wollongong (UOW) could cut up to 185 more positions, seven schools and one faculty, with a draft proposal looking to save more than $22 million.
But among the reductions is a plan to introduce a new executive role, growth portfolio and additional resourcing to the office of the vice-chancellor to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of operations.
Potentially impacted UOW staff were notified about the Draft Change Proposal to UOW Operations this week with the next stage of consultation underway.
The proposed redesign of the organisational structure, which would include a reduction of four faculties to three and 18 schools to 11, intends to “enable UOW to grow sustainably, amplify our impact and deliver exceptional outcomes for our students, staff and communities”.
“The names of the proposed new faculties and schools haven’t been determined, but the working titles are the Faculty of Arts, Business and Society, Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences, and Faculty of Science Medicine and Health,” a UOW spokesperson said.
“The Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences would include the School of Computing, Information Technology and Mathematics, and the School of Engineering.
“The Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health would include the School of Graduate Medicine, School of Medical, Indigenous and Health Sciences, School of Nursing and School of Sciences.
“The proposed changes to faculties and schools would not affect the delivery of courses to students.”
The university anticipated the changes would lead to a reduction of 155 staff, to 185 full-time equivalent positions, which is in addition to the more than 91 positions made redundant as announced in January.
“We must continue to make challenging choices now to set the university up for a brighter future,” Interim Vice-Chancellor and President Senior Professor Eileen McLaughlin said. “Our priority is to strengthen our foundations and deliver a sustainable future for the university while ensuring that UOW remains competitive and innovative.
“We are committed to continuing genuine and meaningful consultation with staff throughout this process and encourage all staff to engage constructively in the weeks and months ahead.”
While some positions could face the axe, a new executive position – chief academic officer – is being proposed, alongside the creation of a new growth portfolio and resourcing the office of the vice-chancellor to “ensure a fully aligned team to support strategic coordination, effective governance, and high-level operational support”.
“Current portfolios are too large and functions too fragmented,” a UOW spokesperson said. “The proposed redesign will enable strategic co-operation and future-focused activity.
“When benchmarked against other universities the proposed executive structure aligns with standard organisational models and maintains an efficient leadership to staff ratio.”
In a submission to the Senate inquiry into quality of governance at Australian higher education providers, the National Tertiary Education Union’s (NTEU) UOW branch called for universities to be “compelled to release information about salary packages including all ‘perks’ into the public domain” and “information about all consultancy contracts (who and how much)”.
“The impact on staff and students of excessive executive remuneration is felt largely as a profound disconnect between a managerial elite and cash-strapped operations at the teaching and research coalface,” the submission stated.
“This disconnect shows no signs of abating and is evident in a recent decision (Feb 2025) to advertise for a new senior leadership position (DVC role) with a salary estimated at between $300-400k while management is seeking to cut jobs by a further $30m.”
The appointment was paused following backlash from staff and the community.
A NTEU report from November 2024 revealed that six executives at UOW were paid a higher salary than the state premier’s ($416,440).
The NTEU also recommended “vice-chancellor salaries should be capped and restructured in a way that reflects industry standards” and all deputy vice-chancellor/president, provost, dean, division roles.
“These positions currently constitute the vast majority of salary expenditure in management.”
UOW assured that the plan had not been finalised and it would undergo an extensive consultation process, but the NTEU was skeptical about whether communication had been effective regarding previous changes.
“Students have been left in the dark about changes to their curriculum and sudden departure of HDR (higher degree research) supervisors,” the NTEU inquiry submission said.
“Students who are in the middle of degree majors are left without in-person classes or with multiple subject gaps now that staff and subjects are cut.”
The changes were prompted by UOW’s significant financial challenges, with the institution suffering a $35 million drop in revenue in 2024, with ongoing impacts forecast for 2025.
While UOW attributes some of the struggles to the “Australian Government’s changes to visa processing and migration policy and a sharp reduction in international student numbers” the NTEU report was critical of the university “trying to pass the buck”.
“Under the proposed caps the University of Wollongong will be receiving a large increase in student numbers in 2025 versus 2024,” it stated.
“On top of this, no major policy changes have come into effect under the Universities Accord that have negatively impacted university finances.
“In fact, the government has formally proposed increased regional and low SES loadings, and the accord report itself has proposed increased funding per student.”
It is anticipated the UOW Operational Final Change Plan will be released on 23 July.
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