News

In the wake of the closure of the Design Studies Department, Critic can reveal that three other departments are also under review.


 
The three departments are: the Department of Social Work and Community Development; the Departments of Accountancy and Business Law and Finance and Quantitative Analysis; and the College of Education.
A Task Force was set up last year in response to funding cuts from the Government. Vice Chancellor Sir Professor David Skegg tells Critic that rather than imposing cuts across the whole University, it was decided to confine academic restructuring to four areas which have required significant and continuing cross-subsidies from other departments.
“In some of these areas, the possibility of merging parts of existing departments is under consideration,” Sir Professor Skegg says. He also says no final decisions have been made.
Sir Professor Skegg’s comments came after negative press in the Otago Daily Times, and Critic receiving a leaked document outlining why the Departments of Accountancy and Business Law and Finance and Quantitative Analysis are in the firing line.
The document outlines a plan to merge the two Departments. The proposed changes would see Business Law disestablished, with teaching responsibilities moved to the Faculty of Law and utilising “predominantly research-active staff.” Accountancy and Finance and Quantitative Analysis would then be merged into a single department, the ‘Department of Accountancy and Finance’, which would become the largest in the Division.
The document makes it clear that any staff without strong research records would face an uncertain future. The five-page plan calls for “strong and focused leadership and an increased senior research capability” and also reveals that papers would be streamlined, with teaching responsibilities for the core business statistics paper, BSNS102, to be passed to the Department of Economics.
The Business Law minor currently offered would be “phased out,” although students currently enrolled would be “supported by transitional arrangements.”
The moves have been planned in response to the continued poor performance of both departments in the Performance Based Research Funding rounds. Finance managed a score of 2.5 in the 2006 round, while Accountancy managed only a 1.2, by far the lowest score in the Division. As a result both departments have required large transfers of funds from other departments to make up shortfalls.
Last week the ODT ran an article asserting that morale amongst University staff was low. “Naturally this is a very unsettling time for staff in the four areas concerned, and all of us feel sympathy for those affected,” Sir Professor Skegg says. “I would reject, however, the suggestion in the ODT that staff morale across the whole institution is low. Many of our staff would be very worried if the University were not taking appropriate steps to prepare for the changed financial environment.”
Sir Professor Skegg told Critic that the restructuring was necessitated by financial difficulties, and that “academic priorities should be paramount and that the University must support its areas of greatest strength.” In effect, this means that academic jobs are at risk in departments without strong reputations for research, while other departments remain unaffected.
Sir Professor Skegg is optimistic that after these areas had been looked at, no further restructuring would be necessary in 2010 or 2011, and had assured the University Senate to this effect.
“It should also be emphasised that any changes that arise as a result of recent proposals will not be sudden, because the University is definitely not in a financial crisis. We will be taking particular care to ensure that the needs of currently enrolled students are taken into account.”
[SIDEBAR]
In addition to the Design Studies Department, three other areas of the University have been under review for restructuring:
The Department of Social Work and Community Development (Division of Humanities)
The Departments of Accountancy & Business Law and Finance & Quantitative Analysis (School of Business)
The College of Education