Staff and lecturers are demanding further clarification on the sudden sabbatical of Charles Sturt University vice-chancellor Andrew Vann.
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It was announced earlier this year that Professor Vann would embark a six-month research sabbatical from June 22.
Today, a university spokesperson said the sabbatical had been "agreed prior to the COVID-19 outbreak" and would involve him "focusing efforts on a project related to Indigenous higher education".
In his absence Professor John Germov has been appointed acting vice-chancellor. The university has also begun actively recruiting for a full-time replacement for the vice-chancellor role.
"The recruitment for the next vice-chancellor commenced in February 2020 and the position was advertised in May 2020 in line with an announcement to staff on 26 May 2020," the spokesperson said.
"Like all recruitment processes, the exact timeframe for completion of this is not known."
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But the timing of the sabbatical has been questioned by members of the National Tertiary Education Union.
The university is currently rolling out course and job cuts in an attempt to reduce an almost $50 million projected revenue loss as a result of the COVID-19 economic crisis.
Assistant secretary to the NTEU Dr Damien Cahill spoke to The Daily Advertiser and called for the university to show "greater transparency in this situation".
"The feeling among the staff is one of disbelief," Dr Cahill said.
"It defies belief that the management would allow a sabbatical to go ahead while it's sacking staff and gutting courses."
Last week, the university announced it would be trimming 20 subjects without enrolments and 28 low enrolment subjects from its national listing.
Meanwhile, it will also change the campus location or offering mode of up to 61 courses.
Earlier this year, the university also rolled out its first round of job losses with administrative staff largely affected. It is expected to offer a second round of redundancies to academic staff later this year.
"Staff on the ground are very worried for their job security and very fearful of speaking out at the moment," Dr Cahill said.
"The university should be transparent about the decisions made in its governance."
Dr Cahill is also questioning the decision to install an independent advisory firm, KPMG, to undertake an external audit of the university.
The university spokesperson said this decision has been made on the advice of the Minister for Regional Education Andrew Gee.
"KPMG will report back to the university council at the completion of its audit," the spokesperson said.
"The NSW Auditor-General undertakes annual financial audits of the financial statements of NSW universities, which are publicly available along with the detailed financial data that is published in our annual reports.
But Dr Cahill is calling for further clarification on the situation, saying staff have been left in the dark.
"Staff and the wider community have a right to know exactly what KPMG are investigating," he said.