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This is an extract from a letter published in The Post in March 2016
In recent months, the Executive at The University of Western Australia has come under fire for some of their decisions and public behaviours. This was most striking in relation to the announcement made by the Vice Chancellor Paul Johnson, two weeks prior to Christmas (and, perhaps more importantly, prior to any of the consultation legally required by the Enterprise
Agreement with Academic staff) of their decision to make 300 staff members (200 professional staff and 100 academic staff) redundant. This is the so-­called? ‘renewal project’. [wpdm_package id=’1091′]

Following a resolution passed at the UWAASA Forum on methods used at UWA to evaluate academic staff, I  have  requested a copy of the model used in each Faculty from the Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor. As noted in the letter, those at the meeting believed it would be useful to review and compare the approaches.

“Based on UWA’s history, precedent, the value of its brand built up over more than a century, and recognition by universities around the world, it is essential that Arts be included in the name of the new college.” [wpdm_package id=’1102′]

“My question concerns the level of optimum subsidy to be paid from teaching to research in a University as outlined by the Vice Chancellor: My question, though, is what is the best level for this subsidy and how is this determined and monitored? To this end, what are the econometric indicia used by UWA to set this subsidy and what are the measures of its benefit and costs?”[wpdm_package id=’1105′]

The Vice-Chancellor responded quickly on behalf of both himself and Dr Chaney to the UWAASA Open Letter. Read the reply yourself here. Please either comment by emailing uwaasa@uwa.edu.au or via the website. [wpdm_package id=’1108′]

The UWAASA Committee has written an open letter to the UWA Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor, requesting further information about the Renewal Project. Prior to dispatch, the letter was circulated to as many academic staff as possible in a short time frame for signature. “We, the academic staff, are committed to the long-term success and viability of The University of Western Australia, to the communities it serves, and to its role as both a regional and international institution of note. The UWA Executive has put forward a proposal for the renewal of our university, but we know such a project can succeed only with the broad-based support and engagement of all staff.” Please download the letter.[wpdm_package id=’1111′]