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| The NTEU are warning UoN's world ranking is at risk. |
The University of Newcastle is at risk of falling down the world rankings after it announced 30 jobs would be cut from non-academic staff over the next two years.
That is the view from the National Tertiary Education Union, who claim the job losses will cause extra stress on academic staff.
NTEU Newcastle branch president Associate Professor Tom Griffiths said it could also hinder academics' ability to teach students.
"[Academics] are supported by a professional staff who do an outstanding job, but cutting those positions further impacts further on their capacity to do that," Mr Griffiths said.
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| Tom Griffiths [Picture: UoN]. |
The job losses will come from departments like human resources and finance, while other departments that interact more directly with students are undergoing a review.
In an email sent out to staff, vice-chancellor Caroline McMillen said the cuts were coming amid "global, technological, professional and social change".
However, Mr Griffiths says the job cuts are a bit ironic giving a recent advertising campaign for the University of Newcastle.
"Things are always changing ... but that doesn't mean you have to proceed with a cut of 30 jobs to save $3 million," he said.
"It's rather unfortunate that that happens at the same time that a million dollars is spent on a rebranding campaign - NEW."
"There's nothing new about these sorts of job cuts."
Fairfax Media reported last November that the NTEU were predicting up to 170 jobs would be cut from the University of Newcastle.
While these cuts are lower than expected, Mr Griffiths said it is "just phase one".
"There's going to be subsequent phases, which will involve further job losses over the next couple of years," he said.
"Rather than do it all at once, they're going to phase it in over a period of time."
