Charles Sturt University has reversed some of the planned course cuts at Wagga and Bathurst, with a union claiming 12 jobs have been saved.
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The Nation Tertiary Education Union claimed victory in its “sustained campaign” against CSU dropping the Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Liberal Studies courses.
“We have received confirmation from university management that the change proposal has been withdrawn,” NTEU CSU branch president Dave Ritchie said.
“We are delighted to announce that these courses continue to be open for business and available to students in our community who are considering study in these areas.
“They are an important regional resource and we encourage potential applicants to not be confused by the temporary unavailability of information on these courses and apply to study at CSU.”
A CSU spokesperson said plans would go ahead to suspend intake for Bachelor of Arts (Honours).
“In September this year, Charles Sturt University announced the intended phase out of the Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Liberal Studies (Arts) with no new student intake from 2019,” the spokesperson said.
“Since that time, the University has been engaged in a period of consultation with stakeholders to gather feedback relating to the changes proposed.
“Following the closure of the consultation period and review of feedback provided, the University has withdrawn the change proposal.
“The Bachelor of Arts and the Bachelor of Liberal Studies (Arts) will be open for a student intake in 2019, while the Bachelor of Arts (Honours) will remain in a suspended state. The University expects business as usual with regard to teaching activities.”
An NTEU statement said the decision to reverse course cuts also meant that 12 “local jobs at CSU” had been saved, though it did not clarify how many job cuts would have been at Wagga.
CSU did not respond to requests to clarify any previously planned job cuts.
Earlier this month, CSU Wagga Bachelor of Arts recent graduate Alisha Eade said the planned changes were “tragic” for staff and students and would set the region back years in terms of equal opportunity.
NTEU accused CSU’s Course Planning Committee of having “failed to meet the required processes for implementing major changes at the university”.
Dr Ritchie said the union remained concerned about the “lack of transparency and lapses in governance” around managing course changes.
“We have offered to work collaboratively to resolve these issues with the university, however, if our offer is ignored we will continue to use all the processes available to ensure the integrity of our university and its role as an important regional community resource,” he said.
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