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campusreview.com.au
Rufus Black. Photo: Luke
Bowden/ News Corp
UTAS hit hard,
SCU shuts doors
Covid-19 wreaking havoc
across university sector.
By Wade Zaglas
A
ustralia’s university sector is
continuing to be severely affected
by the effects of Covid-19, with the
University of Tasmania announcing it would
scrap 75 per cent of its course offerings
next year.
Vice-chancellor Professor Rufus Black
told staff in an email that UTAS was
struggling with several financial challenges
– the key one being the university’s
over‑reliance on Chinese students to help
fund courses and undertake research.
In the email, the vice-chancellor told
UTAS staff that 514 degrees could be cut to
just 120 by next year, severely limiting the
academic choices prospective students will
be able to make.
UTAS admitted that the institution was
too reliant on Chinese students, an issue
University of Sydney sociologist Associate
Professor Salvatore Babones wrote about
recently. In his view, the Australian university
sector has become “addicted” to China,
and as a result has left itself wide open to
economic catastrophes, a claim many in
the university sector have rejected.
Black said an “over-reliance on China
as a market for international education”,
coupled with the emergence of coronavirus
2
in Australia, would have long-lasting
consequences and had forced the
university to bring forward its plans.
Black went on to say that UTAS was
struggling to downsize the university and its
course offerings in such a way that it could
be sustainable for the future.
The University of Sydney halted spending
recently and expected to lose $200 million
this year. At present, UTAS is the only
Australian university to announce such a
dramatic scale-back of course offerings.
CAMPUS CLOSURE
Southern Cross University was affected
by the virus recently, with a staff member
testing positive for Covid-19. As a
precautionary measure, the Lismore and
Gold Coast campuses closed for a day.
A spokesperson for the university said the
staff member attended several workshops
at the university’s Gold Coast and Lismore
campuses on March 4–6 before returning
to the Philippines on March 7.
“The staff member fell ill and was tested
for Covid-19, which returned a positive
result [on] March 10, according to reports
from the Philippines,” The Northern Star
reported. “Southern Cross immediately
alerted health authorities and is closely
working with them.”
ONLINE DELIVERY
One of the key issues affecting Australian
universities is the quick development of
online course delivery, which will ensure
access for all students in the event that
university campuses are shut down for
a period.
Professor Denise Kirkpatrick from
Western Sydney University, which uses
an online platform, said: “Quality 24/7
one-to-one support will not only support
our students’ learning, but help them to feel
connected and supported when they may
be experiencing anxiety about study.
"For our staff, it is also important that
they are confident our students are able
to access quality study support 365 days
a year.”
GRANTS
Another way in which Australian universities
are trying to alleviate the financial and
institutional consequences of Covid-19 is
through grants to eligible students.
The University of Melbourne, for instance,
is offering grants of up to $7500 to assist
Chinese students to circumvent the travel
ban and resume their studies. However,
Babones has called such grants “morally
indefensible”.
Other universities, including Western
Sydney University and the University of
Adelaide, have also introduced a grants
scheme, providing affected students with
$1500 and $5000 respectively.
The grants are intended to help Chinese
students deal with expenses associated with
spending a two-week quarantine period in
a third country after departing China.
INDUSTRY GROUP RESPONSES
In light of the UTAS announcement,
the National Tertiary Education Union’s
Dr Alison Barnes tweeted that university
staff “should not bear the brunt of UTAS’s
over-reliance on China”.
The NTEU Tasmanian division called
for the halt of all infrastructure spending,
capital spending and consultancy work.
The NTEU national organisation is
also concerned that the sector’s large
casualised workforce could face severe
financial hardship, with fears many might
be laid off for a month or more with no
sick leave entitlements.
Not only would this bode badly for a
predicted contraction of the Australian
economy, but it could lead to the loss of
expertise in a number of disciplines. ■