Travel bans leading to a decline in international and interstate students has put pressure on the University of Tasmania, but job losses are not on the cards.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
UTAS vice-chancellor Rufus Black said while the university was under some budget pressure, the institution's response to the global coronavirus pandemic had it in reasonably good stead.
Coronavirus: All the latest updates on COVID-19 for Tasmania
Professor Black was responding to calls made by Universities Australia last week, which flagged potential job cuts to the tertiary sector and called for urgent support from the federal government.
However, on Sunday, federal Education Minister Dan Tehan announced an $18 million support package, which also included provisions to slash the cost of short courses to encourage those who have lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic to reskill.
IN OTHER NEWS:
Professor Black said it was the university's mission, as part of its strategic plan, to ensure it continued to offer quality education for its Tasmanian students but it was facing budget pressure from the loss of both international and interstate students.
He said heading into the second semester was where UTAS would be facing the unknown.
"We usually get a reasonable influx of enrolments in the second semester, but we just don't know what that will be this year," he said.
"But we anticipate that it will be a smaller group."
While he said job losses were not on the cards yet, it was not something that could be ruled out because a lot of the impacts of the pandemic were still unknown and it was too difficult to predict how long the social distancing measures would be in place.
"Our priority is to retain staff," he said.
He said the university was preparing for the impact of the pandemic to potentially play out over a few years.
"We don't know but we might see lower enrolments over the next few years," he said.
However, Professor Black said the university was committed to being here for its Tasmanian students.
What do you think? Send us a letter to the editor
The pandemic has also impacted on UTAS' research, with all research that can be done now being done remotely.
However, field research has been suspended indefinitely.
Professor Black said the university had a role to play in the recovery from the pandemic, as it would assist to retrain and reskill those people who lost their jobs but also would be involved in the research that follows the lifting of the social distancing restrictions.
The tertiary package announced by Mr Tehan has guaranteed funding for universities at existing levels, even if there is a fall in domestic student numbers and provides regulatory fee relief.
Our COVID-19 news articles relating to public health and safety are free for anyone to access. However, we depend on subscription revenue to support our journalism. If you are able, please subscribe here. If you are already a subscriber, thank you for your support.
