THERE will be a number of aspects to Charles Sturt University's second phase of its cost-cutting as it seeks to address its deficit, according to acting vice-chancellor Professor John Germov.
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Professor Germov has also defended the university's spending on a logo change and new marketing strategy last year, which preceded the problems caused by the coronavirus crisis in the higher education sector.
CSU this week put out a statement saying staff had been briefed about the second phase of the Sustainable Futures program, in which academic staff affected by the university's course changes will be given the opportunity to apply for a voluntary separation. Some faculty-based technical staff will also be eligible to apply.
CSU expects around 100 full-time equivalent positions to go.
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"That's [the call for voluntary separations] now out with staff for the next couple of weeks for them to consider whether they wish to put in an expression of interest," Professor Germov said.
"But we have also flagged a number of other aspects to this second phase that will take a while longer.
"That's looking at faculty administration structures and school designs to see whether there are any efficiencies that we could gather there.
"But that will take a few months of discussion and consultation with our staff and any decisions arising from that we wouldn't be seeking to implement until early in the new year."
A persistent criticism of CSU this year, as it has announced its cost-cutting, has been that its spending on a new marketing strategy last year was inappropriate in hindsight.
Professor Germov disagreed.
"Everyone is going to have diverse views when universities refresh their image and brand and look, but we are one of the universities that spends the fewest dollars on marketing in general," he said.
"In fact, it's something that our staff often ask us about - that we should promote our courses more and spend more on that.
"We think we have got it about right for the size of the university that we are and the refresh allowed us to create a little bit more impact in the higher ed market, because many universities are competing for undergraduate and postgraduate students.
"So I don't think it was, even in hindsight, an inappropriate thing to do and, like I said, on a sector-wide basis, we're at the lower end in terms of marketing spend."
CSU's Sustainable Futures program aims to reduce the university's deficit to approximately $22 million in the 2020 financial year and put CSU on the path to a balanced budget by the end of the 2021 financial year.
