The Australian | 24 October 2013
La Trobe University vice-chancellor John Dewar has flagged a possible radical streamlining of the university’s structure in which the current five faculties would be collapsed into two super faculties.
One would house all the professional degrees, with the other combining the humanities, arts and sciences in a liberal arts faculty.
While no decision has been made, Dewar told the The Australian that such a structure could “play to [La Trobe's] strengths”. He said the professional faculty would appeal to the university’s demographic, with La Trobe attracting many first-in-family students who were particularly focused on professional outcomes.
At the same time, he said, the university has a strong tradition in the humanities and sciences.
Dewar said another possibility was to restructure the faculties around research priorities.
The restructure is aimed at reducing costs and duplication as Professor Dewar seeks to close a looming $65 million budget deficit to free up money to invest in boosting the university’s teaching and learning performance. He is now consulting on the structure which, once decided, will open the way for management to decide on job losses.
See
The bare bones of La Trobe’s “root and branch renewal”
