[Globalsocialjustice] Important social justice issue unfolding here on campus and petition

[pduf2593 at uni.sydney.edu.au]

Dear all, please see below for important social justice issue unfolding here on campus.

Best Wishes
Paul

--
PAUL DUFFILL | Programme Coordinator
University of Sydney's Global Social Justice Network
Room 208 | Old Teachers' College
M +61 424 095 886 |T +61 2 9114 0905 |

Facilitator, Researcher & Tutor
Project Coordinator: Peace Journalism and Community Based Internet Media
Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies
Room 103 | Mackie Building K01
THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY |NSW | 2006
M +61 424 095 886 |T +61 2 9351 7686 | F +61 2 9660 0862
E pduf2593 at uni.sydney.edu.au  | W http://sydney.edu.au<http://sydney.edu.au/>
________________________________

Dear Global Social Justice Network and Human Rights Student Group member,

You join the University (or come back to it, if you are a returning student) in the midst of turmoil. Vice Chancellor Dr Michael Spence, its top managerial officer, has proposed to dismiss 100 academic staff, put 65 more onto teaching-only contracts (which means their research would no longer be supported) and dismiss, or fail to replace, 190 administrative staff.

This, he argues, is essential to balance the books, since student fee income, in the next three years, now looks likely to grow less quickly than had been forecast.

The staff union, the NTEU, has contested this, along with the grounds on which academics are being identified for dismissal or job reclassification. The Student Representative Council (SRC) and the Sydney University Postgraduate Representative Association (SUPRA) are supporting their action.

Formal staff consultations on the change proposal have produced near-unanimous disapproval. If you have queued for hours to carry out basic administrative functions with overworked general staff, or wished you could get more personal attention for your work from overstretched lecturers, you will understand the argument that the University needs more staff, not fewer. Many staff and students feel any necessary savings should be made from the University’s heavy commitments to discretionary building projects, instead.

Nonetheless, the Vice Chancellor intends to press ahead, seemingly regardless of any representations made.

The only body of the University above the Vice Chancellor is the Senate, whose members have legal responsibilities for key aspects of institutional governance. Its next meeting is on Monday March 19th, and an internet petition calls on Fellows of Senate to exercise these responsibilities to intervene to stop the proposed changes, including the job cuts.

It garnered 750 signatures within a day of going live. If you, too, would like to sign, it only takes a minute to do so, at the following link:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/senate-stop-job-cuts/

Yours sincerely,
--
Jake Lynch

Associate Professor Jake Lynch, BA, Dip Journalism Studies, PhD
Director, Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies
Secretary General, International Peace Research Association
Executive Member, Sydney Peace Foundation
Room 121 | Mackie Building (K01)
The University of Sydney | NSW | 2006
AUSTRALIA

p 61 2 9351 5440 | f 61 2 9660 0862
w www.arts.usyd.edu.au/cpacs
e jake.lynch at sydney.edu.au


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