News

Update about changes at ACU

Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research and Enterprise Professor Abid Khan clarifies some of the changes recently proposed in the draft change management plan.

Since the release this week of ACU’s Academic Draft Change Management Plan there has been some inaccurate reporting of the nature and scope of the changes being considered.

It is important to note that:

ACU has not disestablished the Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences and is not proposing such action.

ACU has not stopped teaching or research of philosophy. This area is proposed to be integrated into the Institute for Religion and Critical Inquiry and the Faculty of Theology and Philosophy.

ACU has not stopped teaching or research of history, including in medieval studies and early modern history.  There is no intention to do so.

Each of these disciplines is vital to our broad and excellent range of studies and a key component of a Catholic university.

We will continue to conduct both teaching and research into these areas through a re-shaped community of academics that will still present a substantial offering compared with other Australian universities.

Over the past few years the number of staff in these areas has grown considerably; so much that our staffing profile is disproportionate to the number of students in these subjects and  is out of step with the rest of the higher education sector. So we are moving to realign and better integrate our teaching and research in these areas.

ACU has to address a forecast financial deficit which exceeds $30 million and is expected to grow unless significant further cost-cutting measures are undertaken. This plan is one of a number of measures across the university being taken to reduce costs and raise revenue.