The James Reed Plan for Universities in Distress: Close Them Down Now! By James “Razor” Reed
Thanks to my brother in Adelaide for emailing me this one. I am glad my nephew is finishing off his STEM degree soon, at an undisclosed university, and will get out of the university system before it falls down around his ears. That vice chancellors get over a million dollars a year is simply a joke, and an even bigger joke is when to make budgets balance, over a hundred staff must be laid off. This is not to say that I have any sympathy for university staff, as I would sack the lot, but I would not discriminate, and senior staff like vice chancellors would go first. There is a lot of valuable land that universities have that could be made into housing villages for … I don’t know … the refugees, how does that go?
“The three South Australian university bosses would have their enormous salaries slashed by hundreds of thousands of dollars under a new political push.
SA Greens MLC Robert Simms has drafted a Bill that would cap the salaries of university vice chancellors to the same level as the SA Premier – just over $400,000.
University of South Australia boss Professor David Lloyd was paid $1.18m in 2019, while Flinders vice-chancellor Professor Colin Stirling earned $1.17m in the same year.
University of Adelaide vice-chancellor Professor Peter Hoj’s salary will be revealed in the university’s annual report later in the year.
When he was announced as the new boss in February, a spokesman said Prof Hoj’s salary package would be lower than both Prof Lloyd and Prof Stirling.
It was revealed on Thursday the University of Adelaide would cut 130 administrative staff to help make up for a $22m financial shortfall.
“Unfortunately, the continuing impact of Covid-19 on the sector’s future revenue from international students makes it critical for our University’s students and staff – and for the State – that we address our looming financial shortfall to ensure our institution’s future sustainability,” Prof Hoj said.
Mr Simms said he would introduce his Bill to the upper house when parliament resumes later this month.
“At a time when staff in our state’s university sector are facing so much uncertainty, it’s appalling that vice chancellors are continuing to receive exorbitant salaries,” Mr Simms said.
“Australian vice chancellor salaries are some of the highest paid in the world, meanwhile their staff are subject to ongoing casualisation and wage and job cuts.”
All three universities did not respond when contacted by The Advertiser.
Under Mr Simms’s Bill, the university bosses would be paid the same as the Premier.
“Given the Premier is effectively running the state, the idea that you would pay the vice chancellor of a university more than the Premier, I think most people would find it quite outrageous,” Mr Simms said.
Prof Stirling on Friday sent an email to all Flinders staff following the cuts announced at the University of Adelaide.
“We achieved a financial surplus in 2020 and our projections indicate that we will do so again 2021,” Prof Stirling said.
“The University undertook a significant restructure in 2017 and we have shown that we are well-positioned to respond to changing circumstances.”
Prof Stirling, however, did not rule out some staff cuts, saying “while some further saving measures may prove unavoidable, there will be no University-wide restructure in the foreseeable future”.
A Uni SA spokeswoman also did not rule out cuts.
“Uni SA continues to respond to the situation through close financial management and is seeking to minimise impacts on staff and students,” she said.”
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