Almost 10 jobs are likely to be axed when two departments at
the University of Otago's School of Business are merged, a
draft merger proposal says.
Most of those to go would be lecturers, the proposal, leaked
to the Otago Daily Times yesterday said.
The university plans to merge the accountancy and business
law department and the finance and quantitative analysis
department into a single entity. Some papers would be
discontinued and business law courses would be taught by law
faculty staff.
Together, the departments employ 29 academic staff and 5.8
full-time equivalent (FTE) administrative staff, but the
proposal is for a new structure comprising 21 academic staff
and four general staff, an overall reduction of 9.8 FTE
positions.
All jobs would be disestablished, then staff would be invited
to apply for the new positions.
The merger was announced by School of Business dean Prof
George Benwell in May to address his "enduring concern" about
the department's poor performance-based research fund
ratings.
Applicants' research records will be the main criteria for
selection for new academic positions, the proposal document
shows.
A two-week consultation period on the proposal closed
yesterday, with the final proposal due in a fortnight. A new
structure will be in place by the beginning of the 2011
academic year.
A School of Business staff member, who would not be named,
yesterday said the mood among staff was "pretty negative",
especially for lecturers who believed they were most at risk
of missing out on positions in the merged department.
People working there were concerned about their own futures
and concerned about colleagues who might lose their jobs, the
staff member said.
Some were angry about the emphasis on research in the
selection criteria for new positions and believed the
research and publication requirements were tougher than those
in their existing job descriptions and employment contracts,
the staff member said.
Like other tertiary institutions, Otago is trying to cut
costs and streamline operations because of increasing cost
pressures and a signalled reduction in Government funding
from next year.
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