The Australian National University will do a major restructure to cut costs as it faces financial problems.
While all 42 existing schools, centres and institutes will stay, eight will be moved to different colleges and the number of colleges will be cut from seven to six.
The College of Health and Medicine will be closed and a new College of Science and Medicine will host all science and medicine activities.
Fifty professional and academic jobs are slated to be cut as part of the restructure.
Three colleges will be renamed to reflect new or expanded areas of focus.
The university was expecting a deficit of $60 million in 2024. This has blown out to more than $200 million.
The institution has racked up more than $400 million in cumulative operating deficits between 2020 and 2023.
ANU vice-chancellor Genevieve Bell said the university was currently facing a substantial financial challenge.
"This is not a new challenge. Our expenses have climbed steadily since 2019, and our revenue has not kept pace, meaning we have been operating at a deficit for a number of years," Professor Bell said in a statement.
"Throughout 2024 we have been working to tackle this."
The university council has directed the university to reduce operating costs by $250 million by January 1, 2026. This will be made up of $150 million in non-salary spending and $100 million in salary expenses.
More changes are expected to be made affecting the central professional staff areas in order to get the institution back on track financially by 2026, a frequently asked questions website said.
The changes will begin January 1, 2025.
Research support officer at the College of Health and Medicine Dale Horne said he was "quite distraught" when he found out earlier in the week his job would be cut.
"The current state kind of baffles belief as to how current management allowed things to get that far in the first place," he said.
"We're all here doing our jobs, and it's not my job to look after ANU's finances, and they've somehow managed to allow this massive deficit to occur."
Mr Horne supports researchers in applying for external funding. He said that workload would fall to a smaller group of people in the new College of Science and Medicine and academics could miss out on future funding opportunities.
Operational changes
Three colleges would be renamed under the plan:
- The ANU College of Science - to be renamed the ANU College of Science and Medicine (CSM). It will include the John Curtin School of Medical Research and the School of Medicine and Psychology.
- The ANU College of Law - to be renamed the ANU College of Law, Governance and Policy. It will include the School of Law, the Crawford School of Public Policy, the School of Regulation and Global Governance and the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health.
- The ANU College of Engineering, Computing and Cybernetics - to be renamed the ANU College of Systems and Society (CSS). It will include the Fenner School of Environment and Society, the Mathematical Sciences Institute and the Centre for Public Awareness of Science.
"The realignment is one of a series of measures being undertaken by the university to adapt to changing operating conditions," Prof Bell said.
She said the university had an expenditure taskforce that was looking for ways to save on buildings, travel, software licensing and procurement.
"We have also introduced a series of new operational controls this year that are making us more efficient, including to our hiring practices, managing leave balances and reprioritising capital expenditure," she said.
"Like all universities, ANU is facing headwinds in its operating environments. It is not going to be possible to grow our way out of persistent operating deficits by enrolling more students. We need to adapt to a changing policy landscape and broader economic forces by reshaping the way we do things."
A two-week consultation period has begun for staff affected by the changes. The exact number of jobs that will be cut will not be known until the implementation plan is released on November 4.
All universities have had to adjust their revenue expectations after the federal government moved to introduce caps on the number of international students enrolled at each institution from next year.
The ANU's latest financial statement showed it failed to hit its own financial target. The shortfall between revenue and running costs was $132 million in 2023 compared with the $105 million it had budgeted for.
This year, the university has been scrutinising each vacant role through a central committee, resulting in many positions remaining unfilled.
In September, the university launched a gender and culture review into the College of Health and Medicine, the college that is now set to be axed and merged with the College of Science.
The review is being led by Prof Christine Nixon and will examine issues of gender-based harassment and discrimination in the college.
Staff feel let down
National Tertiary Education Union ANU president Millan Pintos-Lopez said the restructure was a "kick in the guts" for staff.
"Today's announcement is completely inconsistent with recent actions taken by ANU in relation to the College of Health and Medicine. In July 2023 ANU committed to a $16.75 million land purchase for a health precinct to house world-leading translational and research work.
"Only three weeks ago, the ANU announced the appointment of Christine Nixon to lead a review of gender equity and culture within the college. Two weeks ago, the dean, Professor Russell Gruen, stepped down.
"Staff are right to feel let down by the chaos and confusion."
The union's ACT division secretary, Dr Lachlan Clohesy, said there was a perception the vice-chancellor was making arbitrary decisions.
He cited childcare centre closures, the recruitment approval committee, bringing in police to deal with the pro-Palestine encampment and doubling of staff and student parking fees as examples.
"Communication and consultation has been poor throughout. Staff are sick of these pronouncements from the chancelry tower, with little to no consultation, which have a huge effect on people's lives," Dr Clohesy said.
"ANU's financial situation has not been helped by the uncertainty around international student caps, and we repeat our call for the Education Minister, Jason Clare, to implement a transition plan to make up funding shortfalls due to federal government policy changes."
