By Rowey Worner Butcher
Students attempting to enrol in their classes at the ANU have been faced with difficulty as many subjects, some of which are necessary to students’ graduations, have been cancelled.
While changes to subject and degree availability have been under scrutiny at the ANU for several years, some students and staff have suggested that this year’s enrolments have been affected by the ANU’s recently declared deficit of $200 million.
Observer was contacted by several students who stated that classes which are deemed mandatory to complete in their degree plans are no longer available, sparking anxieties about their ability to graduate.
Emily, an Arts and Law student at ANU, stated “in CASS, cancellations seem to be the norm, rather than the exception.”
“For my International Relations major, despite a whole swath of courses being listed as falling in this major, very few are run – and those that are run, are rarely at a higher level.”
“This has resulted in facing the following dilemma: take a course I actually have little interest in or delay my graduation. With BA courses nowadays costing heaps, I genuinely feel stuck.”
In an an anonymous email obtained by Observer, one student stated that upon cancellation of one of their courses, they were contacted by their lecturer who claimed that the decision to cancel the course had been made because of “various indirect and direct effects on the operation of different areas” as a result of ANU’s “financially difficult circumstances”.
The email continued, “we have just learnt this week that particular resources that we’d told would be available and on which we were depending were no longer guaranteed.”
“Under these circumstances, we are forced to make some difficult decisions.”
Observer spoke to another student who would prefer to remain anonymous, who alleges that a subject necessary to completing their major in South East Asian Studies was cancelled this year.
After meeting “several times with department and college heads,” they were able to nominate a replacement subject for their major. However, they were told that the alternative subject might also be cancelled “depending on enrolments” and that they “won’t be informed until uni starts”.
They stated that in meetings with department heads, the alternatives they were offered were “in the region” of their study, however, due to cancellations and low enrolment numbers they have “had to nominate classes outside [their] major as backups”.
They were allegedly informed by CASS that “the college is not allowed to make a degree take longer than the advertised full time unless the student wants to”, but said that “if I did not reach out to the CAP student office I don’t believe they would have done anything.”
This was a regular sentiment amongst students Observer spoke to.
“What frustrates me the most is that there seems to be little communication or student engagement in why, which and how courses are cancelled” Emily stated.
Even when able to enrol in subjects, frustrations have continued to mount as students are faced with the prospect of increased class sizes and higher student to staff ratios.
Director of ANU Centre of Social Research and Methods, Professor Matthew Gray, told staff in a recent email that his budget for casual and sessional staff had been reduced two-thirds, from $160,000 to $53,467.
A student campaign to “fight the cuts” at ANU has been advocating against these changes.
In a Google form which encourages students and staff to get involved in the campaign, they state “staff and students should not have to ensure the profitability of this university”.
Observer spoke to Jamie, a spokesperson from the campaign, who stated “ANU is undergoing a really severe restructuring, implemented by management.”
“$250 million is to be cut from the budget, including $100-150 million in salaries – equivalent to around 650 full time positions. In the meantime, 5 schools, 2 centres and 1 institute from College of Health and Medicine are being merged into 3 other colleges, and several other schools are facing reallocation.”
“These cuts are unprecedented and will negatively affect staff and students alike, but are from the first such cuts. Former VC Schmidt cut 500 jobs during COVID and hundreds of courses in 2022.”
He stated that in order to stop these cuts being implemented, there would need to be a “mass student fightback”.
The campaign has allegedly received “several testimonials from students about sudden course cuts”, referring to the axed Geography major, to those in the Fenner School, who he alleges will have less access to science courses due to the restructuring of colleges announced late last year.
A spokesperson from the ANU has stated that ANU’s curriculum of over 4,000 courses is a “living one”.
“Every semester we have new courses and some that become redundant. This regular turnover keeps the curriculum up-to-date and aligned with recent knowledge developments, student interests and staff availabilities.”
“Through the Renew ANU process, new courses may be offered, while others might be modified in the way they are delivered or may become redundant.”
“The University will ensure that all students will be able to undertake all compulsory courses for their degree in a timely manner.”
“If students have questions about courses in their program, they should talk to their course or program convenor, or contact Student Central by calling +61 2 6125 3339 or by emailing [email protected].”
More information on the No Cuts at ANU campaign can be found on instagram @no.cuts.at.anu.
Graphics by Shé Chani
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