Peter Ridd’s James Cook University “Significant Decline in Student Enrollment” – Interested in That?
Essay by Eric Worrall
Perhaps the scandal of the trampling of academic freedom has taken its toll.
James Cook University to cut 130 jobs to combat dramatic drop in student enrollment
ABC North Qld / Via Lily Nothling and Jade Toomey
A university in North Queensland is planning to cut 10 per cent of its workforce as student enrollment continues to plummet.
Main attractions:
- JCU plans to cut 130 jobs, about 1/10 of the workforce
- It hopes to make back the millions of dollars lost due to the drop in student enrollment
- The university said it could provide more redundant jobs in the coming years
James Cook University (JCU) has unveiled proposals to cut about 130 jobs among 1,300 employees at the university’s Townsville and Cairns campuses.
Vice-Chancellor Simon Biggs said JCU has reduced its domestic students by 25% in the past five years.
He said the job cuts would allow the university to recover $11 million in annual payroll costs.
“Simply put, our student population has been declining for a number of years and Australian universities are paid according to the number of students they teach, but our headcount has not decreased in the same period. time,” said Professor Biggs.
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Impact on staff;
15 SEP 2022 4:11 PM AEST
James Cook University wants to cut professional jobs by 10%
James Cook University has launched a radical proposal that would cut professional staff positions by 10%.
The Change Management Proposal (attached) would cut 130 of the 1313 professional staff jobs at the university.
The plan will make 78 employees redundant and eliminate 52 unfilled positions.
The three-week consultation period will end on Friday, October 7, with the final Change Plan to be published three weeks later on October 27.
Quote from NTEU Queensland Minister Michael McNally:
“This will hurt those who have discovered that their proposed position is redundant. It also takes a toll on the colleagues who stay, who face the double tragedy of losing friends and colleagues and having to take on jobs that are inevitably left behind. “
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Read more: https://www.miragenews.com/james-cook-university-wants-to-slash-10-per-855365/
Why does James Cook University have such a problem attracting students?
Part of the reason may be due to the widespread perception of JCU’s hostility to academic freedom. Peter Ridd is not the first James Cook University scholar to be publicly accused of abuse. Before Ridd was Bob Carter, an emeritus professor who was even stripped of his library cardapparently due to his climate skepticism.
Peter Ridd’s alleged mistreatment caused public outrage, a new federal law was passed, to strengthen the protection of academic freedom.
What impact do these famous public scandals have on student perception? If JCU doesn’t hesitate to mistreat famous graduate professors, how does it treat junior professors and students who violate university governance? People who don’t yet have the stature to draw public attention to their plight? You don’t have to be a climate skeptic to worry that it might one day be your turn to attract the attention of JCU management.
Maybe JCU isn’t as devilish as I thought – I’m not a member of the JCU faculty, nor have I ever been a student there. Perhaps there is another explanation for the drop in enrollment, like difficulty finding work in areas where JCU specializes in teaching.
Whatever the truth, the optics are not good. Alleged professor mistreatment, declining student numbers, and new federal laws aimed at preserving academic freedom, which appear to be direct responses to JCU’s conduct, do nothing to enhance the University’s reputation study James Cook as a good place to study or work.
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