The Minister for Regional Education, Andrew Gee, has taken a swipe at Charles Sturt University, demanding it implement an "open and transparent audit of [its] financial performance and financial position".
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It comes after the minister called for an independent advisory committee to complete an external audit. The university announced on Wednesday it has now appointed advisory firm KPMG.
"Students and staff have been approaching my office and are increasingly concerned about the apparent disarray that is stemming from the lack of open and transparent information about the university's financial position," Mr Gee said.
"Now is the time for the university to open up the books and to shine some light on its finances, management and operations."
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Mr Gee said the university has apparently failed to implement "key points" of a resolution that was passed on June 2 by the University Council, before it began dolling out redundancies as part of its 'sustainable futures' program.
"[It] specifically stated that the financial audit would assess the impact of the university's sustainable futures program and would include a pre, during and post-COVID-19 data analysis of student enrolments," Mr Gee said.
"The resolution also stated that the council would report the results of the audit to the Australian and NSW governments."
Wagga campus organiser of the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) Dr Helen Masterman-Smith said Mr Gee's comments were the first she had heard of the resolution.
"What does the resolution convey about the confidence in the financial management of the university?" she said.
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Dr Masterman-Smith also said the "independent audit was never advised to staff as far as we can tell".
In May, the university announced it had an $80 million projected revenue decline. In June, it said there was a $49.5 million projected budget deficit.
The Daily Advertiser has put questions to the institution to clarify how these totals have been calculated.
The university did not answer directly, but provided a statement unequivocally saying "We are being transparent".
"[W]e are absolutely committed to working with staff. We consulted with staff on the course changes before making decisions," a spokesperson said.
"We've communicated with our students on changes, and our staff have been delivering for our students throughout COVID-19 and ensuring they can continue their studies.
"We are publicly sharing what we are doing in line with our values and with the utmost respect for our staff, students and community during this time of unprecedented change."
The NTEU has also sought further clarity on the calculation of losses throughout the ongoing sustainable futures program.
Dr Masterman-Smith said there had been a guise of transparency in the "headline figures" so far, but there is a lack of "detail and data beyond that".
"These headline figures are being used to justify hundreds of retrenchments," she said.
"I'm aware of staff who are teaching in the courses that are going to be phased out, and they're anxious."
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The first round of redundancies has been announced with administrative jobs the first to go. It is expected another round will target academic staff before the year's end.
"We want reassurances that the number of staff that remains is sufficient to do the work that remains," Dr Masterman-Smith said.
"Some critical areas are very understaffed as it is and that's before the full redundancies have been offered. What planning has been done to ensure staff will not be overloaded?"